Coral Empire

After Rhoska claimed the title of St. Clotilda, an influential noble in the Coral islands declared independence and her own empire. The noble was born Florissa Valens and crowned The Rising Coral Empress. Her family had been the guild masters of the Artillery Guild and their hidden knowledge enabled her to quickly consolidate her regime over the islands. Control of the guild makes them one of the few states fielding gunpowder weapons. Most of these are large ship mounted guns. The empire’s attempts to gain land on the mainland have been unsuccessful for the most part. Some rulers have conquered lands but all have been driven back to the sea in a generations time. Any long time holdings are small, heavily fortified forts supported by their navy. While support for the empire outside the islands is nil the Rising Coral Empress was a shrewd populist who wielded a generous but brutal hand. The islands are dotted with coliseums, amphitheaters, and bakeries. Grand public progresses are frequent with the resplendent empress personally throwing bread tokens to crowds. The state cult established by Florissa was successful in getting the public to recognize her claim as an empress.