Not in the modern sense. There is the Thellini Republic, located at the extreme tip of the North Arm islands (the archipelago extending north and east from the NE corner of the East Isles, pretty much directly east of Vormain). The Thellini Republic is rather similar to Plato's Republic, but sadly not identical. Greg Fried has heaps of information on this place, which is one of the major power groups of the East Isles.
There is a republic-like Unity in Fonrit. Various cities and city states are run by councils, such as Pavis before the Lunars came. However, these aren't democracies, in that the guild rulers and council heads aren't elected officials, though they must answer to their constituency.
Now, in my long-standing tradition of wandering afar off the point, I present a list of the various groups contending for mastery in the East Isles.
POWER GROUPS OF THE TEN THOUSAND ISLES OF DAWN HARAGALA -- an island ruled by a council of ship captains which has organized a loose trading empire. The Dragon's Eye, a cluster of four dragonewt-inhabited isles, is somehow associated with them. The dragonewt raiders do not attack ships which fly the Haragalan banner. It is unclear whether the Haragalans have made an alliance with the dragonewts, or just taken advantage of this quirk in their behavior.
GOLDEN MOKATO -- the island which once ruled all the area, but voluntarily gave up its dominion to escape the castatrophes which devoured other Second Age empires. The Mokatans are now restricted to their home island, and must work solely through agents. (Secret: they plot constantly and subtly to regain their control.)
THE RATUKI -- Shark-hsunchen who have no permanent island of their own. They cruise throughout the Isles, pillaging and looting. However, since the end of the Doldrums (the Closing's manifestation here) they have been occupying islands, installing governors, and gradually building a slave empire of their own. The Ratuki are accompanied by ordinary human pirates, who are like their "pilot-fish", scouts, and scavengers. These scum are more often encountered than the terrifying Ratuki themselves.
The Ratuki home is a Leviathan, a colossal sea-monster on which their town is built. This monster is accompanied by a mass of sharks that constantly badger it, snapping at its flanks to steer it, and chewing into its belly blubber to keep it at the surface (lest the town be submerged). Thus, the Ratuki Isle is followed by a huge slick of blood and fat floating atop the water. Hardly anyone has seen this horror.
THELLINI REPUBLIC -- a large, rich, and powerful island, they regard their institutions as logical and perfect, and furthermore are missionary-oriented; they fully expect to spread the benefits of it throughout the world. First, however, they are faced with some real problems. Mainly the Vorumai.
VALKARIAN COALITION -- a group of islands ruled by a High Sorcerer-Priest (the current HSP is a puppet of the Talking Council, ostensibly his advisors). They are technically Malkioni, but two of their tenets are rather interesting:
THE EMPIRE OF VORMAIN -- the new Vormain empire, currently quite imperialist. This expansion is rather erratic, as different noble families have been assigned different directions of expansion. Thus, the Hairun family is trying to conquer the North Arm, and are the main foes of the Thellini. The Surabaya and Jayangar families are foes of the Valkarian Coalition, which is just south of Formain.
Sandy p.
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