City-State of Jowston

The City-State of Jowston (ジョウストン都市同盟, Aka Tsuki Teikoku), also known as the Jowston Alliance or simply Jowston, was a nation located on the Northern continent. It is the setting for Suikoden II and also appears in Genso Suikogaiden Volume 1.

Information
Established in order to counter balance the growing power of the Highland Kingdom in the Dunan region following the collapse of the Dunan Kingdom in SY 252, the Jowston Alliance was signed by the three principal states that made up the former kingdom; South Window, Muse and Two River as well as the Matilda Knightdom, a military organisation founded by Muse which had gained it's own independence.

SY 314 saw the formation of the City-States of Jowston with the agreement being signed at Jowston Hill in Muse City. Originally intended to be named after the Muse hero, General Jowston, who was famed for defending the region from Highland. However, insisting that they had played a greater part in that defence, the Matilda Knights opposed the name. A quick compromise was reached when it was agreed that the new nation would be officially named after the hill and not the person.

History
The years following the establishment of the alliance saw the foundation of the Grand Leaf Academy in 362, located within the Greenhill region of Muse in order to be a centre of education for all citizens of Jowston. The alliance expanded in the year 366 with the incorporation of the western frontier mining town of Tinto. Seven years later, 373, saw the Greenhill region, it's importance haven grown, insisting upon the "independence of higher learning," Greenhill petitioned the Jowston Alliance for independence which was granted. By 378, Greenhill was accepted into the City-State, now an independent member.

The continued tense situation with Highland exploded in 428 with the Jowston-Highland War beginning with the invasion of Muse. Caught unaware and under the poor leadership of Muse mayor Darel, Muse soon fell, along with Greenhill and Matilda. Forced to engaged in guerilla tactics against the Highland occupied territories under 432, the tactical ability of Genkaku led to what became known as the Great Offensive with the reclamation of all occupied territories.

The war ended in SY 434 with the loss of the Jowston territory of Kyaro to Highland following a duel of champions between Genkaku and Highland's Han Cunningham.

Following the war, cracks began to appear within the alliance. Internal discord and politics began to infest the member states and support was lacking. SY 447 saw Tinto forces attack the Scarlet Moon Empire to take advantage of the discord caused by the Scarlet Moon Succession War. Without support, they were eventually repelled.

During the Gate Rune War, Mathiu Silverberg of the Toran Liberation Army sent forged documents to South Window and Tinto informing them of (untrue) Imperial plans to invade their territory. Outraged, Tinto and South Window invaded the Senan region thus forcing Imperial General Kasim Hazil to surrender to the Liberation Army. Senan would be held by Jowston until 458 when the newly found Toran Republic set out to recapture the lands lost during the Toran Liberation War. Known as the Toran-Jowston War, South Window was forced to pull back first leaving the Tinto forces in danger who also retreated.

The fall of Jowston came in 460 when Highland finally broke the cease fire truce between the two nations and rapidly attacked, and torched, the towns of Toto and Ryube in eastern Muse. Muse called for help under the terms of the Jowston Alliance but by now the cracks that had formed in the Alliance were too great and Muse was mostly rebuffed.

After Muse fell, the Alliance quickly collapsed, with each state closing its borders and trying to either fight or negotiate with Highland individually. Eventually the New State Army emerged to unite the fragmented city-states and repel the Highland invasion.

Geography
The City-State of Jowston was located in the centre of the Northern Continent, around Lake Dunan. Jowston shared land borders with Harmonia, Highland, the Grassland and the Toran Republic. Its capital was Muse City, located in the nations main province, Muse Principality.