The city of Port Astra was a major settlement in northeastern Bao-Mou, known for its large port and naval bases, as well as its academic prestige in both the naval military and civilian fields.

Founding

The settlement was first established by military settlers and their families in the initial reconquest of Bao-Mou by the Meliphites in 67 OW, when it was called Fort Ulnashifens. It served mostly as a naval and road link in the less strongly reconquered eastern Bao-Mou, which had a very large ogre population remaining, and was far enough away from the power centers to fall under the control of autonomous local warlords, rather than either that of Ashyne or the eastern Meliphite general.

Following Lue's Sea Crusade in 70, the settlement - which had grown with rapid settling of surrounding ogres, and new human arrivals - became the new head city of the entire surrounding Hunderen region, full with a prefect and a college established in 75 OW. In 78 OW, the city - which did not have a very clear name, using both a former Boen settlement's name and Fort Olnash - decided to call itself Port Astra, after the Saint-Queen.

A new city core was built along one side of the old palisade walls, at the same time as a first proper port was dug on the shore, in 86 OW. A lead engineer in this project was a Silver Star. In following years, the East Coast Road was built connecting Port Astra inland, and the city also became home to a major textile producing company.

The city mayor was initially appointed by the prefect, and the rest of the administration (divided into departments) similarly constituted out of bureaucrats from above. However, first public elections for a "city secretary" were held in 83 OW to gain some popular representation in town government, and by 99 OW the city appointed all of its key officials, and got to vote on major budget decisions.

The city was very well located on the Northern Sea, and was used accordingly by the navy, but even its new port could not house the large old-fashioned caravels, and there was a general lack of space. Imperial efforts to build a proper naval base, including repair infrastructure, on the other side of the bay began in 94 OW.

Military City

The Fleet moved its headquarters to Port Astra in 108 OW, after an four year extension project of the naval base. Soon, large numbers of warships were stationed in the bay, and it became the fleet's largest base. The city was influenced by the large naval presence, notably by the establishment of a naval college sharing the college campus, and the appearance of state organs like the Northern Ocean Survey Office in the city.

Port Astra gained in importance as the Northern Fleet expanded to match the growing eastern security needs in the 160s. It also served as a major staging base for imperial forces in their suppression of communist insurgencies.

Upon Bloody Tsempre's accession to power in Cuprien and establishing a mostly terrestrial dominion for himself in eastern Bao-Mou, Port Astra found itself at the center of a power struggle between Tsempre and the national government on one side, and the autonomy-seeking admirals on the other. Tsempre made sure to keep the regional prefecture under his control, and he used national funds to create an army Military Academy in the city. He even resided in the city from 191 - 196. His focus moved away from the Bloody Coast to Royal and grander things around the turn of the century, leaving space for the fleet.

The Northern Fleet became increasingly powerful as an independent institution, to the point of acquiring pieces of land including the southern stretch of the Stellar Bay, as well as controlling shares in many Astra-based companies. The Fleet sponsored half the cost for the establishment of a university in Port Astra in 205, which naturally focused on engineering and meteorology. The prefect was also a Fleet person, and the entire region was becoming a Fleet dominion. Naturally, the navy also had a very large economic and political weight in the city proper. It was however decidedly curtailed by Bloody rule, and the city enjoyed full self-determination and freedom from Fleet intrusions, for example keeping the university free.

Northern Fleet

The fleet became brashly autonomous as soon as the senior Tsempre died in 221. It established its own internal government and attempted to secure larger swathes of territory. In an awesome demonstration of self-determination, it reached an agreement with the powerful admiralty yielding most of Hundeln north of the Stellar Bay to its own administration. The city executive of the mayor remained elected, and the legislative/exchequer and rural administration consisted of the city's metropolitan administration, the admiralty's Port Astra Authority, and the national vice-prefect office.

The Fleet made efforts to make Port Astra a protectorate and one of its Fleet Cities, but the strong democracy staunchly refused. It nonetheless had major control of domestic politics, and got 50% control of the university board in 245. A naval boarding school was established in 239 to relieve the naval college, and the military academy was dissolved without replacement in 272.

The city maintained an urban militia since the time of Lue, which had since transformed into a police and fire force. It did still train its citizens in basic infantry maneuvers and maintained stocks of rifles, a formation which was counted as a Fleet reserve naval infantry unit in case of war, and which cooperated closely with the Fleet even in peacetime. The militia also had a cadet organisation for 10 - 15 year old boys which was supposed to prepare them for civic militia service and considerably reduced their militia obligations.

Like Cuprien society more broadly, the city was relatively patriarchic. Militia service was restricted to men, as was the right to vote. Property and marriage rights (influenced by Silver Stars and Queen Lue) were however very egalitarian, and many important industrialists and merchants in the city were women, and so there were a few women in appointed positions of the urban government. The very high percentage of female officers in the Fleet elite was matched in the urban population.

Grand Empire

The city mobilized partially in 323, and fully in 329, for the Anarchist conflict. Citizens were deployed to garrison Fleet Cities to the south and even act as infantry reserves in the open field; cadets were used as firemen, for goods inspection, and more because of the missing men.

The city was conquered in 330 and, after being briefly put under provisional military administration, was allowed to adopt a new democratic government. Phoenix soldiers remained garrisoned within the city. It became the capital of the Eighth Baovuldian Prefecture of the Grand Empire in 332, and its well-educated citizenry was a key part of the administration of both a wide swathe of civilian territory and key military infrastructure including the base on Stellar Bay.

The militia system was largely abolished and replaced by a volunteer fire brigade, a smaller professional police corps, and of course semi-voluntary overseas service in the Grand Armies. The cadet extension was paused until some military officers chose to reinstate a similar system, the precursor of the Astra Cadets.

Nationalist Cuprien movements led by Darina Tsempre became a source of major civil unrest within the city, which was met with force by militia police and soldiers. Prefect Clara kept the topic out of public discourse, but there was nonetheless a strong feeling among a minority of Astrans that they would like a government focused on their own needs, rather than the expansionist and totalitarian rule of Korpeon.

Free City

The prefect joined Port Astra (and her broader prefecture) to the Cuprien Union in 347. There were attempts to restore a Fleet nation instead, but the political will, social network, and hardware necessary for this was lacking.

Port Astra was the capital of the federal state of Anden, to which most Korpeonic bureaucrats moved over, and it kept its democratic metropolitan government, headed by the former nationalist and half-brother of Darina's, Henbend Muin-Tsempre. Central legislature was much more powerful now, notably regulating the creation of professional civilian police and fire departments, absolving the citizen militia. After a push for enfranchisement, all full-age people married or born from a citizen were given Union citizenship (including women) were granted citizenship in Anden, and were thus eligible for municipal elections.

The city continued to be a major academic city and population center, a relatively important industrial and moderately important financial city, and adjacent to a large (but now considerably less important) naval base.

Port Astra was far from the National Royalist movement that shook Cuprien from 407 OW onwards, though the locals were overwhelmingly in favor of accommodating new state-supported arms factories in the bay in 409.

At the State of Nations, Port Astra became part of the State of Humanity. Though the regional Anden government was weakened, the metropolitan administration remained largely similar, and the economic situation improved somewhat. The city's importance grew largely because of the State's rebuilding of the nearby naval base for the Hope Navy and massive military research programs, including the discovery of Gaunterian iumite synthesis which was achieved at Port Astra University. Port Astra was considered one of the capitals of the "New People".

Kerk'un gained a powerful foothold in Port Astra, and as a result caused major tensions with the Hope regime in 456. The Northern Fleet also engaged in a competition with the Hope Navy for the naval base, even attempting an armed takeover of city government but getting rebuked thanks to a major popular uprising. For protection, the city asked a Hope officer to station an armored division, renouncing much of its self-determination in the process.

In 460, the city came under Dwarven rule, and lost its name.