History of PopularFreedom
PopularFreedom is a country of 101 million inhabitants that occupies the northern portion of the Heartland continent of Ratio. Inhabited for approximately 500 years, PopularFreedom has evolved from a number of city states into an officially bilingual (English and French), multicultural federation, having established itself as a unified nation of nine equal regions in 1954. Though the first settlers in the soon to be nation were of Spanish speaking origin, PopularFreedom came to be completely dominated by English speaking traders and settlers by the 20th century. Its history has been especially affected by its inhabitants, its geography, and its relations with its nearby neighbours.
Jose Ruiz discovery & the Valle Picante settlement
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| A caraval, believed to be similar in design to the ship Jose Ruiz was travelling on when he discovered the mouth of the Jose River, in present day Victory Union. |
The northern part of the continent of Ratio was completely absent of known human habitation until the late 1400's.
In 1473, a trading ship heading to the village of Mar Y Vida was blown off course during a vicious storm on the Sea of Cervidia and took refuge in the mouth of the Jose River, in present day Victory Union. Though the crew of this ship only stayed in the vicinity for a few days to make repairs, the immediate coastal region and a few kilometres up the Jose river were mapped by famed explorer Jose Ruiz, who happened to be a passenger on the ship. When the ship departed days later, a few kilometres of river and ocean coastline had been mapped of what is today, downtown Victory Union.
In 1551, explorers using a number of maps from the Ruiz Cervidia Collection, left the trading post of Mar Y Vida to explore the western part of north Ratio. Their expeditions led to them setting up a resupply and trading post, called Valle Picante, along the mouth of the Jose River in 1553.
Over the latter part of the 15th century, the north Ratio trading post became prosperous with numerous spices, including nutmeg and mace, found in abundant supply along the Jose River. With this prosperity came waves of traders, especially from English speaking countries, looking to make a fortune off the purchase and resale of spices and supplies. The trading outpost also grew in terms of the permanent population that settled there and by the end of the century a number of shops and services had been set up to allow the village of Valle Picante to be somewhat independent from its founders from Mar Y Vida.
