Hi SYED,
No, we don't know what the majority of the border states think or rather thought of Siddarmark before the SoS.
From what RFC has now said, it's quite possible the middle and lower classes were very favorably impressed by the RoS, and wanted to join, and being frustrated by the temple's [and/or KotTL's] refusal, preventing their economic and political progress.
Perhaps we might see some fifth column type sabotage in the Border States, especially after Sarkin, and Nynian's SSK's possible background help in finding the best way for the alliance to appeal to that past attraction before the alliance armies advance into their territories.
We know the 'levelers' were very active there and might have had up to 10% of the population if I remember HFaF's background correctly, but if the SR had expanded peacefully for centuries before the ~200 year conflict with Desnar, it's appeal to those of like mind with the 'levelers' probably encouraged many of them to travel and stay in the republic.
Which begs the question will they learn from the mistake of being used by the SoS and avoid it?
If the republic was so unusual that it mainly expanded by peaceful agreement rather than conquest because people sought to share the same values;, that alone may have set all the aristocracies [including the church's] teeth on edge, they were doing it differently, NTM far more cheaply.
For those provinces that joined the republic, their nobles had to basically agree with the RS's philosophy [because they didn't join or support a reactionary aristocratic opposition], to accept and abide by the RS's laws, to become big fish in a larger pond rather than the biggest in a small pond, quite a unusual attitude, so I suspect they went to finishing schools in Siddarmark if they didn't call them colleges.
L
SYED wrote:It is said that in the early days of the republic, some of their neighbours were eager to join for the financial opportunities.
the treaty of silkiah was to stop the republic from expanding all the wat in to the desnair empire, and the church eared expansion too close to temple lands. Do we know what the border states thought about the republic? Was it possible at some point they wanted to join the republic? Sure they would loose a lot of independant power, but the nobility would change from the out right rulers, into the influential family, and with eir resources able tto active in the political field.