Ostia

At the heart of the continent of Ilunia, between the fledgling nations of the Confederacy and the Empire of the elven folk, lies a great city and it's outlying county, the Free City of Ostia. Formerly a great empire stretching across much of what is now the Confederation, Ostia has long been home to vampires from Clan Rozainium, in particular such famous figures like Count Luther Isaac Augustus Thorvald, Lysander Sanudo Thorvald, and Ramilies Scarlet. Ostia is also famed for their neutrality and mercenary attitude to foreign affairs.

History
While many scholars theorize that Ostia has always had a notable vampire presence, scholars of House Virguma have noted that there are no recorded mentions of undead activity until about a century before the asencion of Count Thorvald. Up until that point, Ostia existed merely as a mortal nation, building up from it's humble origins as a collection of small fishing villages to become the sizeable (though rather unremarkable) Grand Duchy of Ostia.

Darkness Ascendant
Around 100 years before Thorvald's embrace (BTE), vampires of Clan Rozainium began to make their home in Ostia. At this time, most vampires belonged to other, now mostly extinct Clans, and preferred a bestial, feral lifestyle or a grim domination of shadowy castles to the urban, seductive, almost romantic image attributed to most vampires today. The civilized tendencies of Clan Rozainium led to the embrace of numerous vampires, one of which was Lord Thorvald. The subsequent rise to power of Thorvald led to the downfall of the last Grand Duke and the purging of all non-loyal vampires. This began the House system that divides Clan Rozainium to this day.

With a new order in line (the First Ostian Empire ), worship of the Marasin cycle, i.e. the creation myths of Clan Rozainium and the propagation of ancestor worship became a widespread practice, justifying the rule of Thorvald. Society was restructured and a new military created, the Blood Legion. Lysander Sanudo and Ramilies Scarlet were chosen to lead this army, the conquest of the northern human tribes began.

Empire and Decline
Having subjugated the human tribes, the Court of Blood adopted a policy of arranging the governments of the conquered lands based on sheer pragmatism, not any cultural or historical tradition. While this has had a clear impact on modern society and boundaries, it also created much strife between the undead and ghouled governors and the mortal subjects.

The Blood Legion led attempts to put down dissent and were largely successful. To offset the negative feelings created by this repression, the Court instituted a mercantile policy that led to the cultural and economic growth of Ostia and her outlying cities. Thus the early legacy of the Ostian Empire became one of decadence, great cities arising from the ashes of the burnt human villages.

The greatness of the Empire was not to last though. A mortal population boom that began around 950 ATE and ended around 1000 ATE gave the humans the resources to take up arms against the vampires, viewing them as terribly unnatural oppressors. First starting in Kaffspar and then spreading to the rest of the Empire, the Human Wars of Independence were some of the bloodiest conflicts to reach the continent, though it did result in the loss of nearly all of Ostia's land, and the end to the Empire, creating the Free City.

Ostia Resurgent
The defeat of Ostia in the war resulted in their present neutrality, but by no means was it forgotten. Ostia began taking a neutral attitude towards politics, and the Blood Legion and Scarlet Hussars became available for contracting. While Ostia continued to retain their influence as a diplomatic power, Count Thorvald and Lord Scarlet never quite forgot or forgave the human races that had betrayed them. When the Confederation and Empire began to struggle against each other, Ostia saw for herself a chance to expand. The Men of Westhaven, who had always been wary of the Confederation and had, long ago, eliminated the rival vampire clans in Westhaven, offered a mutual protection pact, and when the Skaldine folk of the Shadik Republic attacked Westhaven, the Count Enternal knew it was time to strike. The armies were raised, and the Count's navy deployed, and time will tell as The Just War is fought to the end, if the Thorvald's dreams of Empire will be secured or shattered, forcing him to wait for yet another opportunity to strike.