neighpon [Lore] Dosanko

[Bellosh]

Dosanko - Bastion of the Homeland

 

Comfort and serenity are not things easily found on Dosanko. While by no means an uncivilized or even rustic Home Island, this northwestern region of Neighpon produces a hardy lot of ponies known for their above-average grit and determination. This is by necessity; not only do the winters get rough, but the specter of Viking Caribou raids always hangs like an ominous cloud overhead.

 

Dosanko’s climate is on average much cooler than the rest of Neighpon, owing to cold ocean currents flowing from the northwest. These currents bring constant rainfall, enabling pine forests to flourish on lake shores and rugged hillsides. Yet this comes at a price; when winter comes, the island experiences crippling blizzards which offer snowbound ponies a taste of the brutal winds of Whitescar. Weather teams work round-the-clock all through winter to mitigate the worst of the snowstorms and keep the local ports from freezing over with ice, but there is only so much equines can do to oppose the will of Mother Nature.

 

Most of Dosanko's residents make a living off fishing, sealife being plentiful in the surrounding waters. It is a life though that few ponies nowadays are content to live. More than any other Neighponese Home Island, ponies born on Dosanko yearn for an academy education that'll enable them to sail off to warmer pastures. Joining the military is also another popular aspiration for youths; an patriotism-fueled aspiration born out of Dosanko's troubled past (and present) with the Viking Caribou.

 

As long as ponies lived on Dosanko, they have always needed to be wary of potential raids from caribou warriors. The same currents and weather patterns that deliver snow from Whitescar each year also make it trivially convenient for caribou ships to sail to Dosanko. In times past, whole towns were repeatedly plundered and destroyed to sate the bloodlust of the ferocious caribou. Because of this, all branches of the Neighponese military station a significant presence in Donsanko, which has a significant effect in deterring large-scale attacks.

 

In response, rogue caribou warriors in modern times (in defiance of High King Dragonsong of Whitescar) prefer covert landings on Dosanko's shores. Instead of sacking towns, these cutthroats are more interested in kidnapping an islander or two, then sailing with great haste back to caribou waters. If captives are not saved in time, they will suffer a grim fate as slaves for caribou rebels. Thanks to these incidents, there is no love lost between Dosanko ponies and Viking Caribou. 

~Neighpon in Bloom

Dr. Tong Zei