A National History of Bastok

In the following post all writing in blue itallics is taken from a post by Caith on the Tapestry forums.

Every nation in Vanadiel has a history on how it was founded and rose to power. They have national heroes and leaders of renown and epic stories that bend the truth a little. If you grew up in the Republic of Bastok you can seriously improve your RP by knowing a little of its history.



The history of Bastok begins when wandering tribes of humes encountered Galka who had settled in Quon after the destruction of their own lands in Kuztoz long ago. It was here that both peoples would unite, seeing how each complimented the other, and formed the nation of Bastok. With the physical strength of the Galka and the ingenuity of Humes, Bastok quickly became wealthy on the natural mineral wealth of their surrounding lands.



A young Near Eastren hume named Mayer hearing of the gold rush's promise of easy wealth, stowed away on a ship bound for the Quon, and began life mining in the Gusgen Mines earning himself the nickname of "Ironman Mayer." After his wife was killed by a San d'Orian soldier he led a force of Galka and Hume against the San d'Orian army by luring the Elvaan into a narrow ravine, gaining him fame and respect among the working class.



The Republic of Bastok was declared in 494 and Mayer was elected its first president to hold this office for life. Mayer forged diplomatic relations with other countries and drafted the nation's constitution. Thus the foundation for this country was laid. It was during this time that Bastok founded both Selbina and Jeuno as fishing villages in an attempt to help feed their rapidly growing population, and fuel trade. Mayer was assassinated nine years later by a Galkan youth.



Now under President Freidrich, with the new wealth Bastok looked for more resources to expand their influence. This would happen to be at the same time the nation of San d' Oria, fresh from conquering Windurst, was seeking to expand.

The first battle, The Battle of Valkurm, ended in overwhelming victory for the San d'Orian army, and massive tracts of land, including the entire Zulkheim Region, came under their power.

The first Battle of Konschtat lasted for days, each side never really making real headway. Finally San d'Oria gave one last push to drive Bastok from the Highlands under the leadership of their first woman officer: Lady Eldie Montiont, the Empire succeeded but at a steep price, all of their legions had been wiped out.

Bastok retreated back to their own borders to lick their wounds and it was during this time that the nation made a technological breakthrough in Firesand. The iron workers, and craftsmen quickly developed this new discovery into weapons called Firearms.

The San d'Orian Army was bogged down when it came under attack by the full might of the Quadav beastmen. Although the San d' Orians ultimately won they endured heavy loses. It was then they came back to find the Bastok government again challenging them.

The Gustaburg Incursion, as that battle became known, marked the turning point in the Bastok-San d'Orian War. The San d'Orian Army had decided to penetrate into the heart of Bastok, Gustaberg. The Bastokan Army aimed stop the invading army at the Konschtat Bridge (which is inside of Gustaberg). While the San d'Orians advanced they built a fortification with cannonry and when the elvaan got there they were met with a hail of cannonballs and bullets weapons that they had never seen before. Forced to pull back, having lost many men, they built their own fortified wall. Both armies remained at a stand off for 69 days until General Bavor of the Mithril Musketeers took all of the mithril musketeers and 20,000 of the regular Bastokan soldiers on a surprise attack. Drawing out the elvaan forces to make an attack Bavor and his men struck cutting down many before retreating and sealing the tunnel again. Seriously decimated the San d'orians pulled back and after 20 more days at the position they retreated at night. When it was discovered that the San d'Orians had retreated, the city erupted into celebration. General Bavor was named a hero of the republic, and he has given full command of the entire army.

For 6 more years, the Bastokans slowly regained ground, until they had Gained the entrance to Konschtat. The President of Bastok at the time, President Vlak, decided to send the Hero of the Gustaberg Incursion, General Bavor of the Mithril Musketeers and his men to capture the territory, which was then lightly defended. However, San d'Orian spies reported this movement, and the King of San d'Oria sent General Bague of the Royal Knights and his army to counter the attack.

The Second Battle of Konschtat began after the Bastokan Army had penetrated deep into San d'Orian Held Territory, reaching the foot of the Crag of Dem. Upon their arrival the San d'Orians launched a surprise attack forcing the Bastokers to fall back to hide in the Crag. This allowed the Mithril Musketeers to fire at the San d'Orians using muskets while the San d'Orians wouldn't be able to effectively respond. The Bastok Army using the tactics of their preeminent scholar and military tactician Gunther Schultz, armed with heavy armor, swords, muskets, and the use of well-trained Galka Beserkers, cut down 20,000 and General Bague forcing the San d'Orians to retreat from the Konschtat Highlands.

On new-years day, General Bavor was found dead in his room in the Metalworks. There was a dagger in the back of his head, and on the wall were written the words Long live the king!. This enraged the Bastokan people, and the largest Army ever raised by Bastok was sent to destroy the San d'Orian Capital. Over 250,000 soldiers marched to La Theine Plateu, where the bloody Battle of La Theine was fought. The army never did reach the city of San d'Oria, but it proved to be the final Battle in the War.

After 27 years of war, both sides were exhausted.

Two years after his defeat at the Second Battle of Konschtat, King Raigegue massed his remaining knights in La Theine and awaited an opportunity to retaliate against Bastok. Seizing upon his brother's absence, Prince Fellenant mobilized the Temple Knights and took control of the city of San d'Oria. He demanded a peace treaty be drawn up with Bastok, having sought their support for his new regime should he succeed. The King, as a ruse, decided to send the Scepter Royaulais to Prince Fellenant and abdicate in his favor. Vijartal Caphieux convinced Fellenant to reopen the city after preventing the prince's assassination. Prince Fellenant surrendered to his brother and the King, true to his word, still called for a treaty for the cessation of hostilities with Bastok to be ratified.

The two countries sent delegates to the Neutral city of Selbina. After 17 days the Treaty of Selbina was signed by both sides, and the war was over. On that day the Age of Power ended and the Age of Technology began.



A young hume named Friese becomes an apprentice to a Galkan blacksmith at an early age. Her work caught the attention of the chief of the Republic's Department of Industry who assigned her the task of building the windmills in Konchacot earning herself great fame. During the construction of Bastok's windmills, Friese records her observations of the Quadav which impressed the Mining Department's Senator. On his recommendation she is appointed as the captain of the newly formed Gold Musketeers.



In 684 the Gold Musketeers struck mythril in Palborough Mines. The area had a heavy presence of Quadav however and the current captain of the Gold Musketeers at the time, Friese, lead a brutal campaign against the shelled beastmen using a devastating weapons only known as "Dancing Flames". The campaign was successful but would create an eternal enemy for the Republic.

It would also be during this period that the animosity between Humes and Galka would appear as more and more Humes would become richer, while Galka would continue to be worked in the mines sometimes in very poor conditions.

In 859 an assembly is held in Jeuno with the San d'Orian King, the Bastokan President, and the Representative of Windurst's Parliament of Patriarchs and with their joint signatures they recognized Jeuno as a duchy independant of Bastok.



It is unknown if the dark days of the Bastokan Blight occured during the years of war with San d'Oria or after but the official site tells us:



On top of the already horrific and growing number of victims, unsubstantiated rumors and utter despair spread rampant through all quarters of the city. It was in this climate of social turmoil that the Bastokan Song of the Damned was taken up by the masses. Using magic to animate the remains of the deceased, throngs of the hopeless and grieving would choke the streets in processions of living and dead, booming in chorus as they danced the Totentanz in a form of morbid catharsis.

Despite the government's initial efforts to quarantine those infected by the blight, the frenzied nightly gatherings were at first reluctantly tolerated. This changed however, as the growing popularity of the Totentanz carried it to the frontlines of battle, where the crazed enthusiasm generated by the now ritualistic dancing led no small number of soldiers to neglect their posts. This being an unacceptable state of affairs in wartime, a series of prohibitions was promptly issued with unforeseen results... An air of insurgency and rebellion swept the people, as dancing crowds began to take to the streets even with the sun still high in the sky. President Wilhelm was left with no recourse but to declare a state of emergency and mobilize the republic's main garrison of Galkan troops against the citizenry to suppress the escalating chaos. It is indeed a sad page in Bastokan history.

Through the efforts of the Alchemists and the healing power of the Kriegstanz dance the plague was at last defeated.

Bastok would continue to prosper for sometime until a great fire ravaged the town, which at the time was predominately made of wooden buildings, and nearly destroyed it, also killing current the president. Bastok's treasury had recently taken a hit to its stores, having lost the wealth generated by Jeuno which declared itself a nation, and investing so much into new technologies. One of the senators at the time Karst, would propose to ask the citizenry for donations to help rebuild the city. Initially this idea wasn't received well until Karst declared his intent to rebuild the markets and merchant homes a priority. This idea would quickly kick start the rebuilding of Bastok, but also didn't sit well with the citizenry. Despite this though, Karst won the election for president with the backing of High Engineer Cid, and continues to hold office to this day. However just as the nation was getting back on its feat from the fire things once again changed.



The Crystal War otherwise known as the Great War of 20 years ago had begun. Through the coordinated efforts of the Shadow Lord, Quadav had dug tunnels from their strongholds in the north into the heart of Bastoks key mines and began to strike. Meanwhile the ancient Anticans, the Galkan enemies of old, began to attack the nation through the old tunnels which brought the Galka from Kuztoz. Bastok quickly realizing that it had been cut off from the rest of the war, and its allies knew it had to defeat two armies. Bastok began to use its technology to seal off the mines and tunnels their enemies were using against them, they were able to stop the Anticans from advancing on the mainland, and push the Quadav back to their own fortified territories. Though these tactics worked countless Hume and Galka soldiers lost their lives ensuring that the mines and tunnels were sealed. Throughout the continuation of the war, Bastok would send what aide it could but was forced to spend nearly all of its resources on securing its own borders. However Bastok did contribute in other ways, High Engineer Cid along with a team of scientists from Jeuno were working on a technology to replace the Hot Air balloons Bastok had been using, though to little effect. The combined efforts of Jeuno and Bastok produced the Airship, but this weapon would never seen combat as the allied Forces of Light would make a push to the Obsidian Throne and the bastokan hero Volker would bring defeat to the Shadow Lord. Which brings us to the current age.



There is great conflict in Bastok after the war. Karst's control on the presidency seems to be slipping as more and more people find dissatisfaction with the way things are run. All public works are behind schedule, and the Department of Industry is forced to pick up the slack. The Senate continues to push and push to have the people vote a new president in, but the common man still sees Karst as the reason Bastok was rebuilt so quickly, and he has the High Engineers support still. Galka and Hume tensions are on the rise as the Galka Talekeeper was lost before the war, with this development the Galka are finding it hard to maintain their racial identity for the next generation, and many are beginning to believe that its time to separate from their long time allies. Also, things are still bad between Bastok and the Quadav as the beastmen have a continued presence in the mines which disrupts the Bastok economy on occasion.



FFXI Tribune: Mayer

FFXI Wiki: Bottomless Gorge

FFXI Wiki: Montiont Silverpiece

FF Wiki: The Bastok-San d' Oria War

FF Wiki: Gustaberg Incursion

FF Wiki: The Second Battle of Konschcot

FF Wiki: Sigmund G. Bavor

FFXI Encyclopedia: Raigegue R d'Oraguille

FFXI Encyclopedia: A Timely Visit Plot Details

FFXI Official Article: Dancers Maidens of the Battlefeild