Seabreeze
Overview
Seabreeze is a small island town to the south of the Solurian Empire’s capital city, Sol. Previously an independent trading waystation, Seabreeze developed into a small town and came under the protection of the Solurian Empire late in 1802.
History
Seabreeze, as a town, wasn’t founded until early the early 1700’s. Prior to this, however, Seabreeze was a small trading station south of Sol which was established anywhere from 1050 to 1075. Use of the Seabreeze trading station was limited, due mostly in part to the small scale of its facilities and the relative closeness to a major port. Most larger vessels would simply continue on to Sol or even detour to Alwasy. As such, Seabreeze was mainly used by smugglers or pirates as a small point to take a rest and repair after engagements with local solurian vessels.
After an effort by the officials of Sol in 1321 to clean up the waters around the capital, Seabreeze was slightly refurbished and hidden spots on the small island for storing illegal goods were destroyed and filled in with dredged sand. Unfortunately, this brought the elevation of the island down to near sea level, resulting in constant wear and damage to the onshore facilities. Due to this, Seabreeze remained a fairly unused trading station and was mostly a spot to rest before small scale traders would sail to Alwasy or Mar.
Pre-war Seabreeze
Prior to the Solurian Civil War of 1717, Seabreeze underwent a small renovation funded by some investors in Sol. A large shipyard was installed on the island, since the deep waters surrounding Seabreeze allowed for easy construction of large vessels. However, when a hurricane hit that summer and wiped out the shipyard, due to the low elevation of the island, a smaller, sturdier shipyard was instead added. Thus, before the civil war began, Seabreeze was mainly dedicated to the creation of small fishing boats which were sold to Alwasy and Sol.
A few small buildings were added, with the bottom floors intended to act as supports for the top floors, which contained the various furnishings and items needed for living. These few buildings for the shipyard workers saw the beginning of Seabreeze’s transformation into a town. Over the next seven years, from 1704 to 1711, Seabreeze grew slowly, adding small shops and more living space to the small island. In 1716, a small repair spot for the small boats popular in town was founded, with the intent to keep up repairs and boat quality for the residents of Seabreeze.
Seabreeze during the Civil War
During the war, Seabreeze was basically overlooked as an objective for either side of the conflict. Often, military vessels would overlook using it as a waystation as most docks were in use by the fleet of tiny fishing boats, and the rest of the island was under a few inches of water. In mid-1717, an Avetissmens force attempted to occupy Seabreeze but the soldiers and sailors got bored of the small island and the constant flooding, and were driven off by a record-breaking thunderstorm which struck on June 7th, 1717. The residents, used to this flooding and the various storms which could strike, remained unfazed by the weather.
The rest of the war passed with little consequence to the tiny, independent town.
Post-War Seabreeze
After the war, Seabreeze saw a sudden increase in investment from Alwasy, as fishing had begun exploding into popularity. With this funding, Seabreeze established their second small shipyard, and founded a large inn for visitors as well as multiple more houses. Due to the sudden increase in trade, the small warehouse used to store goods temporarily became heavily run down, and eventually broke down. As a result, citizens of Seabreeze ended up using their small boats to simply go to the trading vessels and buy or sell goods directly on the ships themselves. The dilapidated warehouse was turned into a small storage facility for old sailboats as a result of this.
In 1802, due to the relative closeness to Sol, officials offered Seabreeze the services of the Solurian Empire in return for Seabreeze becoming the first Protectorate of the Solurian Empire. After a small amount of debate, the residents of Seabreeze agreed wholeheartedly, and Seabreeze came under the governance of the Solurian Empire. As a result of this, Seabreeze was refurbished in the same style as Sol, and collected funding for several new docks and housing developments. A small town hall and various offices for officials were also made out of several close houses.
Modern-Day Seabreeze
From 1802 to roughly 1974, Seabreeze saw an increasing issue with flooding, to the point that specialized door frames and doors were made to prevent water from leaking into the first story of buildings during the day. With the help of funding and materials from Sol, water breaks were placed on the shorelines where docks did not exist, and the sandy top layer of Seabreeze Island was replaced with a sturdy swamp grass which originated from Gosd. This grass, acclimated to saltwater, quickly grew and helped retain more land and drain water which had made it on-shore.
To aid with water erosion, small scale water walls were placed around the first stories of the buildings on the island. With this new installment, waves would easily break on the walls and not the buildings, greatly reducing year round town repair costs. The decrease of constant raw material import also helped reduce the wear on the docks around town. In 1987, during the heaviest hurricane season recorded for Seabreeze, the old sailboat storage facility was destroyed and the small loading dock ruined. The loss of the oldest standing building for Seabreeze was a hit upon the community, and the wreckage remained untouched until the idea of placing a research base in that location came up. Thus, in 1988, the Seabreeze Research Base was founded and began being used by the Solurian Empire.
The deep loading bay and dock, though small, allowed for easy entrance of submarines and research vessels with sensor arrays on the bottom. Much like the rest of Seabreeze, if the loading bay and dock had been bigger, the research station would likely be highly used and very important. Unfortunately, a sentiment much shared by the residents of Seabreeze, the island and town are just too small for anything of real significance. Despite this, residents of Seabreeze say they enjoy their simple lives, and have a good time relaxing and fishing in the surrounding deep waters.
Seabreeze Research Base
Seabreeze is home to one of the few research bases in the Solurian Empire which is capable of housing a submarine capable of deep sea exploration. Out of the few submarines which can fit in this housing, the one which usually calls Seabreeze its home is known as the Yellow Diver, and is one of the oldest deep sea exploration vehicles in the Solurian Empire. Seabreeze was one of the first civilian research bases founded due to the rapid drop-off of the sea level around the town.
The idea of a research base was originally brought forth when a combination of flooding and fire destroyed the old sailboat storage facility during hurricane season of 1987. Seabreeze’s town council approved the resolution on the condition the nearby local government of Sol would field the funding necessary for digging out the rock and gravel in the ocean below where the base would be built. This was quickly approved by the mayor of Sol, and construction of the research base started in early 1988. Early on, the design was intended to be sturdier than the rest of Seabreeze’s local construction, so stone was imported from Mar to the west and used to reinforce both the foundation and the walls of the building. The hope was if storm surge flooded the rest of the island, the research facility would remain fairly intact in comparison.
The few times hurricanes have brought storm surges of two meters or higher, since 1988, the station has survived with little to no damage to the interior machinery. As technology advanced, the submarine station in Seabreeze became outdated to all but few select submarines, and now the station is mostly used for the vast amount of computing and processing power it has available. Recently, the research station in Sol has announced a joint effort with the Seabreeze Research Base, stating that they have retrofitted the small submarine, Yellow Diver, with advanced sensor units that they hope will shed more light on the exact makeup of the sunken ocean temples that dot the Shire’s deep oceans. This research expedition is expected to go underway sometime in late 2019, when the crew and data analysts have had correct training for the new sensor arrays.
Accompanying this new expedition is the renovation of the research base to allow for multiple submarines to be docked, as well as extension of the data processing center and the addition of maintenance and support rooms for the various new equipment and tools. This extension was slated for early 2018, but delays due to heavy storms and rough seas have pushed the beginning and completion dates closer to the late 2019 deadline.
Seabreeze’s Sailing Exports
Seabreeze’s main exports are all sea-related, due to the complete lack of raw materials left on the island itself. The main two to focus on, however, are closely related. Seabreeze is well known for its export of high quality wooden fishing boats, sailboats, and row boats. Seabreeze is also well known for its export of freshly caught deep sea fish, which flock to the island due to the deep ocean reefs and forests which surround it. These reefs and forests likely flourish due to the lack of large scale vessels which dock at Seabreeze, since most docks either cannot fit large vessels or are already in use by the plethora of fishing vessels the residents use for trade and fishing.
Due to the tight-knit community of the island, only one company is in charge of exportation of these two main products, Seabreeze’s Sailing Exports, or SSE for short. SSE is well known around the Solurian Empire for its quality, home-style goods and fish, as it is not corporately owned and has no other branches anywhere else in the world. As such, much trade in Seabreeze is due solely to SSE, leaving government funding for the research base out of the equation. Many of the residents are heavy supporters of fishing regulation and environmental protection of the surrounding sea life, since their entire livelihoods depend entirely on the health of the reefs. Often, Seabreeze-centered fishing groups will chase off deep-sea fishers from Sol or Alwasy, as competition for the fish is likely to hurt the reefs and thus the economy.
Currently, a case is ongoing in the Solurian Supreme Court as to whether this behavior is legal or if it breaks the laws for assault and threatening assault. Though it is a small ruling either way it goes, it could lead to the destruction of Seabreeze’s economy so the residents are putting up quite a fight, and public support has been rising in the recent months.
Seabreeze Flooding Risk
The major factor in Seabreeze’s existence is, of course, the constant flooding risk present on the island. Prior to the dredging in 1321, Seabreeze only experienced occasional flooding during the hurricane seasons in the western seas. However, due to the dredging,Seabreeze would flood anywhere from two to nineteen inches during varying tides and storms. Flooding during hurricanes would sometimes even reach four or five feet, practically rendering the bottom floors of buildings inhabitable.
To deal with this, construction crews were forced to always build with a minimum two story limit on buildings, with the bottom story being disposable due to flood risk. Sturdier buildings in the more modern years were made with watertight bottom floors, but most older buildings still had to deal with the flooding. However, since the large majority of the island itself was at sea level, even small waves would bring large amounts of water inland, bringing a constant wear risk to the buildings. As a response to this, in 1974, water breaks and stone inclines were added around the island to either break up the waves or halt the power of the waves by forcing them up an incline. Also prior to and during this time, specialized waterproof door frames and doors were invented and installed in all buildings, decreasing the chance of indoor flooding and the damage such flooding could do.
Waterproof windows were installed using high strength, shatter-proof glass to decrease the chance of windows shattering due to flood debris or particularly powerful waves. In general, these additions greatly added to the strength of the buildings and reduced the cost of repair in the town. Despite this, flooding still occurs and makes it difficult to travel around the town during a particularly bad flood period, resulting in a high volume of small water craft which are used during such times.
Demographics
Seabreeze is one of the smallest towns in the Solurian Empire, due mostly to its odd location and the risks associated with living on an island at sea level. With the new renovation of the research base looming on the horizon, population is likely to increase slightly due to the influx of researchers and construction workers, as well as manning staff and support for the base. Despite this, Seabreeze is unlikely to have a population exceeding 1500 any time in the near future.
According to the 2016 census, there were 435 Solurians, 102 Gribbans, 179 Primalians, 203 Humans, 5 Sammichians, 3 Enderians, and 7 Acadians living in Seabreeze in a permanent manner. The total permanent resident population is 934, as of the most recent census. Seabreeze is currently the smallest town in the Solurian Empire.
Religion
Seabreeze is one of the least religious towns in the Solurian Empire, despite its relative closeness to the major religious center of Sol. Shrines, if any, are private and located within residential homes, and the harsh life of living on Seabreeze leaves little time for prayer or worship. Evangelists are often driven away by the harsh conditions and some of the more extreme religious groups see Seabreeze as a testing ground to see if their missionaries can withstand difficult living conditions and a quite antagonistic environment. The citizens of Seabreeze see these challenges of will as distasteful and stupid, and often do little to aid these missionaries, often compounding the stress of living on the small island.
According to the 2016 census, only 35.21% of Seabreeze’s population bothered filling out the religious affiliation forms on the census packet, and of that 50.21%, only 17.4% said they were actively practicing religious believers. Of that 17.4%, 87.3% stated they followed the Solurian Sect, while 11.7% stated they followed various cultural or social religions relating to their individual races. The remaining 1% of people who filled out religious practices opted to withhold their religious views on the 2016 census.
Political Climate
The political state in Seabreeze leans overwhelmingly towards the Solurian National Group, or the S.N.G. Due to the extremely reliable state of Seabreeze on import and export of specialized goods, parties such as the Collaborative Solurian Party and the Principal Sol Compact have found it difficult to establish a voting base on the island. However, due to the tiny population of Seabreeze as a whole compared to the overall Solurian Empire, these other two parties haven’t put much effort into campaigning for support. Even if the effort was made to campaign, the economic policies of the S.N.G. are far too parallel to the needs of Seabreeze’s population to allow for any other economic path.
For those who chose to put the information on the census forms, the S.N.G. holds the majority support at 98.7% of the population, with 1.1% supporting the C.S.P. and .2% supporting the P.S.C. 98.17% of the population of Seabreeze filled out political affiliation on the census forms.
Military Climate
The military climate on the island of Seabreeze is practically nonexistent, due to the limited space and the limited reach something small enough to be stationed at Seabreeze would have. The constant lack of supplies or raw materials, as well as the cost of moving more durable and high tech materials to the island, would incur a massive spending budget which would be better put to use at Mar or Sol itself. For now, with the lack of a military base or structure, Seabreeze’s waters are often patrolled by the farther reaching naval vessels and aircraft of Sol’s military force, and the island’s protection would likely fall upon those same craft.
Build History
Seabreeze was originally started by a brave, forgotten soul sometime in 2016, but after a long period of silence, was absorbed into the Solurian Empire by Master_Chief and made into a protectorate, and was then added onto, with the exterior being finished in mid to late 2017 after a palette swap. The interior and surrounding reefs are likely to be done when the server updates to 1.13 sometime in late 2018.