The Dwarn Republic

The Dwarn Republic is a large nation that formed only a century ago.  It is by far the youngest of the great nations.  The Republic is a semi-democratic place ruled by a combination of old, wealthy families and the will of the people.  Roughly eighty percent of the Dwarn Republic's population are halflings.  The Republic is the first large primarily halfling nation ever to exist on the continent of Krat.  It is located to the south of the Empire of Ralo and the Monarchy of Kune.  The Republic is the freest of all the nations, absent an explicit class separation or government religion.

The Dwarn Republic formed from over a hundred small halfing confederacies combining over a period of twenty years, when the halflings became increasingly nationalistic and assertive of their culture and borders.  After these nations decided to combine and eventually hashed out a long and moderately centralized constitution, the Dwarn Republic was officially begun.  But it lacked an army.  While the halflings were willing to fight and provided legions of rogues supplemented by rangers and spellcasters of all stripes for these armies, they found themselves lacking direct combat soldiers.  So they looked inwards, to the enemies they had originally unified to protect themselves against: orcs.

Roughly twenty percent of the Dwarn Republic's population are orcs.  This is because the halflings struck a deal with the orcs.  If they were willing to live in peace and contribute large numbers of melee soldiers to the army, orc communities would be exempt from all federal and provincial taxes (local taxes and tariffs would still apply).  Thus orcs and halflings live together in peace within the Republic's borders, providing security for one another.

The Dwarn Republic's army suffers badly from a lack of fortifications along the borders.  They do not have any special magical or engineering abilities to create these forts, despite how badly they are needed along a border so easy to cross.  Instead, the halflings provide for their defense with mobile patrol units, where as many as ten halflings wander the woods and dispatch minor threats, reporting major threats.  Major threats are then dealt with by the main armies, which are roughly two-thirds orcish.  The Dwarn Republic has faced threats by many outside groups seeking to test the strength of the newborn nation.  These threats include orcish and goblinoid tribes, ogres and trolls, giant kingdoms, gnoll clans, even raids by the dwarves.