History
Recent History
After the second Great War, the Kota family moved away from their Mercenary society. Realizing the need for some independence they finished their third flying city and began work on a fourth, with the intention of it being built without outside help at all. Settlements were built near ore deposits and a great many mines were opened. With the hope of continued peace, Kota began building rapport with some of the other families, most notably Magrina and Laguerre, who paid handsomely for their exported materials.
Laguerre relations were quick to solidify. Laguerre's need for materials was enormous and their own efforts were unable to keep up with the demand. In addition, Kota's air barges and oxygen equipment allowed them to land on mountain peaks inaccessible to others, and dig into previously untouched ore veins. When they realized the opportunity, Laguerre quickly approached Kota and struck up a deal.
Magrina were also quick to approach Kota, but were significantly more hesitant. It took nearly a decade but eventually Kota ships were a semi-regular sight in Magrina skies. The desert made travel difficult for most, but the Kota barges sailed above it without effort. While interested in Kota ores and other mined resourced, Magrina's main interest was in Kota's technology and in exchange they offered their own advancements in making air vehicles more lightweight. Today the two families regularly continue trade, as Magrina's biggest supply line to the world outside the desert.
Of course, Kota's achievements did not go unpunished. Their haste to ally themselves with Laguerre economically drew the immediate ire of the Maret family. Unwilling to go to all out war with Kota, Maret settled for taking only the best deals they could get from Kota and charging exorbitant prices whenever they traded with the family. This was felt throughout Kota as they had regularly relied on many of the Maret engine designs for their own vehicles and had to balance the cost of creating their own with the now exponential cost of simply buying from Maret.
In addition to this, tensions grew between other families and Kota for having nearly exclusive access to the Magrina. Many Kota merchants had Magrina products brought back across the mountains, but it was nearly always bought up immediately and of course prices continued to soar.
To top it all off, much of Kota's focus was on their flying cities, especially the building of their fourth, and many of the Kota settlements which were peppered across the coast line and mountain ranges were left to their own devices, resulting in many confrontations with the Enoka and Lenui. These conflicts often grew violent and only after would Kota step in to chastise their citizens, pay reparations and then turn a blind eye once again. Ultimately, unless a settlement stopped producing, the Kota left it alone.
After several years of Kota flying their barges and cities where they needed, the other families began to put restrictions on their territory and airspace, requiring Kota ships to send flightpaths in advance. While some couldn't truly do anything should Kota cross their lines without allowance, Kota has so far agreed to the terms for the sake of peace and cooperation.