The Maritime Republic of The Koos

Boundaries: The Coos Republic is centered mainly on the peninsula / island that lies in between the the Coos Gulf which swallowed the old estuary of the Coos river, and the Coquille estuary to the south. Small parts of the southern end of the peninsula (See the Dragon Forge Gap, attached), as well as the north bank of the Coquille and the community of Leneve. To the east lies The Neck, a brackish marsh which is completely unsuitable for roads but makes a perfect haunt for the local swamp folk. In short, there is no real road off of the island.

The only real land route out of Coos follows the Coos River to and old logging road WTC800 over the summit then down Cedar Creek to Roseburg, and even that doesn't go all the way to Coos, the Road begins at the end of the sea inlet at a farming community called West Creek about 12 miles upstream. That distance must be conveyed by barge. Finally, the road isn't even open during the snow season. Besides, it's far easier to take the Umpqua inlet to Elkton and take the road from there to Roseburg. It's of little wonder that the Coos rely on ships. 

Government: President who is elected by the Council of 12 Notables. How does one become Noteable? By being filthy rich and buying enough support so everyone agrees you are. Or you could always assassinate the other guy holding one of the 12 chairs. That works to.

Legal Code: derived from Old World US standard

Climate: The Estuary of the Koos lies at what amounts to the confluence of the southward Barents Sea current from the north and the warm equatorial current from the south. The end result is a mild, warm climate with frequent light rain intermixed with sudden coastal storms punctuated by high winds. It is by no accident that most of the trees lean to the East.

Population: 75,000 in Koos city and the colonies, about 30,000 in the Protectorates.

Economics: Trade via merchant shipping, some agriculture and lumber interests.

Agriculture: fishing, wheat, rice, cranberries, tubers, goats and sheep.

Trade: Extensive and robust. If any nation can be said to be based on Trade, it is the Maritime Republic. Immense wealth has been garnished through the creation of plantations in central Americas and contacts with the Hawai'i, and the trade exotic goods up and down the western coast of the Americas. This is the basis of her wealth and power.

Religion: Post Rapture Order of the Redeemer 75%, 20% Gaianism.

Standard of Living:

Society: Highly stratified between the well-to-do

Gender Equity: Moderate to fair. Women are considered a ‘protected’ class, and discouraged by social pressure from engaging in ‘damn-fool’ professions. But, as they say, there are always black sheep.

Armed Forces: Minor constabulary army, the Protectorate Legion, comprised of the desperate and the lower class given writ to impose Law, and the Navy with its attached elite Marines. The army is Koos is barely worth mentioning. The Legion specialized in combat engineering, fortification and COIN. The Navy and Marines are the 900 pound sledge hammer.

Dominant Magical Tradition: Miracles, Weird Science.

History: The town of Koos exists because the native population were to damn stubborn to move when the seas began to rise. They built concrete walls around the highlands on the leeward side of the peninsula (which eventually became an island, moved the port so it was just off of Old Koos Road, and said the hell with it. Good enough.

Today the city state of Koos lies atop the bones of the highlands of old Coos Bay, on what amounts to a large island. From there the descendants of the original town have created a Maritime Nation based on their expertise in all things Naval. This is reflected by their colonies around the Koos inlet, and their 'Protectorates' up and down the pacific coast (lets face it. Protectorate is an euphemism for 'forcibly occupied under threat of round-shot by large vessels setting off the coast and bayonet wielding marines).

Thanks to the Sunset Bay Shale formation, the Koos were one of the first to be able to put oil burning steamers to sea. Their fishing fleet is mostly sail driven to this day, but being this first to have steam driven gunboats sailing the coast allowed the Maritime Republic to project far more power, further, and more quickly than any other nation on the Pacific Rim. This explains why such a small upstart of a country is able to dominate trade up and down the west coast. Not to mention the advantage of allowing dedicated freight steamers to sail to Hawai'i year round, not simply when the trade winds allow it.

This is why nine times out of ten when you see a crate of pineapple, cane sugar, central american bananas or coffee the crate will bear the tax seal of Koos.

Anti piracy, and the conquest of the Protectorates: For the past 40 years, The Republic has been on a crusade to reduce the amount of shipping they loos to pirates. This is their official explanation for most of their acquisitions of Protectorates. Yaquina in particular was called by some 'New Tortuga' and in its heyday it was more of a threat to commerce than Baja or the Haida. Of course, others would point out that this was a convenient excuse to eliminate competitors, but who's counting. Cabo san Lucas and the Santa islands were established for very different reasons: the Santas as a jump off point for salvage runs into Los Angeles and San Diego, while Cabo is a fortified refueling station allowing The Republis to exert control over the Gulf of Baja and provide regular patrols all the way down to The Central Americas.

Noteworthy things:

Protectorates: Eureka, Port Orford, Yaquina, Brookings, Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa, Cabo san Lucas

Colonies in the Koos inlet: Kentuck, Sunny Hill, New Dellwood (on the South Coos River)