Randomiser wrote:Iorwerth wrote:Given that Chisholm is the next best thing to an island and quite isolated you would have thought (?) that naturally they be a naval power.
Well, they were to some extent. That is why the CoGA co-opted their navy into the attack on Charis in OAR. However they are much less industrialised and mercantile than Charis so had less need for a merchant fleet and the ability to protect it on the seas. Charis' navy was just much bigger. The nobility on Chisolm seem to have focussed on struggles with each other and especially with the Crown rather than overseas matters, so military power on land was what was wanted and valued. As SHV posted, the royal army seen in the books was developed by the Crown to wrest power back from the nobles and to keep them in order. Also Howell Bay's strategic position in Charis' history predisposed the kings of Charis to focus on ships. There was no similar reason for the kings of Chisholm to do so.
Right. Getting stuff and going places on Charis calls for water transport, across a bay, across a channel, sometimes across an ocean. Getting stuff and going places on Chisholm requires crossing Chisholm. Oh, you have to watch the coasts and the ocean is an alternative for getting about Chisholm's perimeter; when Trellheim gets cheeky, you need a navy to discourage them; and there will be some trade with other islands and cheekiness out of them to handle. But for the most part, Chisholm's problems, challenges, and opportunities have been accessible on foot.
