The Cato region had a long, narrow coastline with plentiful fishing resources. Though it lacked a good deepwater harbor, the people there had made their fortunes from fishing ever since the Bosia Confederacy was founded.
Thanks to its pleasant climate and proximity to the Emerald Forest in the Antani region, the area was rich in natural resources. As a result, Cato had long been a thriving commercial district within the bounds of Old World human civilization.
It enjoyed a favorable location, and its connection to the Genoa Peninsula had allowed the seeds of engineering to take root there. Back when the barbarians of Transia were still fighting with cold weapons, some of Cato's factories were already using halfling machinery to make their fortunes.
Ever since the Bosia Confederacy was founded, Cato had been its purse.
Its status was much like that of Kahovka, the granary. The vast, divided, and feeble Confederacy had practically survived on the two regions.
Sadly, the nation that had survived four Black Calamities had ultimately fallen to the Ten-Year War. After the Plantagenets and Nordtov joined forces to carve up the Bosia Confederacy, the northern barbarians seized the Kahovka granary, while the Plantagenet Kingdom occupied Cato, its purse.
King Louis had intended to use Cato's budding engineering industry to help his country complete its "technological revolution." Thus, in the second year of the Ten-Year War, the region had already been absorbed into the kingdom. Now, after nine years of Plantagenet occupation, its local administration had been fully replaced, and the technological spread King Louis had hoped for had become a reality.
Seven of Cato's ten largest factories had relocated to the Plantagenet heartland. The remaining three hadn't stayed because they'd defied the king's orders; all three belonged to the staunchly royalist Capet family.
Ever since Brigadier