The first Hispanian colonists made planetfall in lifeboats from the sleepership around the North Pole of the planet which at the time was the closest possible landing zone. Although the colonists predominantly were comprised of people from Iberian peninsula of Old Earth, it was the Greek minority that with some ingenuity organised the first settlement capable of self-sustenance and independent of the supplies brought from Hispania in the most fertile lands of the planet. The establishment and domination of the Hellenic minority in the first decades after the colonisation, the apotheosis of which was naming the whole planet “Crete”, caused cultural tensions and prompted gradual exodus of non-Greek majority in all sides.

The deserts and rocky ravines of equatorial Crete were settled by the Sefardi, Berbers, and Cretan Turks who were more famous with the terrain and conditions and established themselves as traders and middlemen controlling the lucrative trade routes between the resources-rich poles and overseeing the artefacts excavation carried out in ruins scattered across the equatorial zone.

The Greeks remained in the North where the fertile valleys provided a more prosperous and hunger-free life that in turn allowed them to hone their scientific and military skills. One of the most prominent Greek faction on Crete is Custodi, “the preservers”. No longer shunned for the cultural hegemony of their ancestors, they are still viewed as “the elite from a more civilised era”.

The Iberian majority eventually spread out in all directions and settled wherever the territory had still been vacant. The resources abundant South in particularly lured many Spaniards and became of the regions traditionally regarded as “Hispanic”. As the initial rule of the minority gave road to the Corsair Councils following the re-invention of long distance space faring technologies in 5th century AS, the region quickly adapted to the new needs of Crete, becoming one of the rapidly growing industrial powerhouses of the planet.

Montañaria - is a harsh mountainous region close to the southern pole of planet Crete. Due to the proximity to the pole, moderately cold climate and permanent cold season, the region is minimally used for vertical farming of cold-resistant. Nevertheless, the population is numerous because of rich rare metals deposits and rapidly developing mining industry feeding the ever hungry Corsair warmachine.

Despite being an underdog region not playing any prominent role in Cretan race for power, Montañaria has known a lot of shifts of power. Since the establishment of the first settlement in the region in 481 A.S., the local rulers were overthrown 68 times, often with a lethal result. And because of general disdain for human life on Crete, each of those times was accompanied with a massive bloodshed, cleansing the territory from extra hothead people.

The last 68st time occurred in August 824 A.S. when a local warlord, Enrique Herrera amassed a band of followers and mercenaries and drowned Montañaria in blood, eliminating all the actual and potential opposition and earning his nickname “El Carnicero” - “the Butcher”.

Unlike his many predecessors, Herrera was more educated and had some understanding in politics and thus recoursed to “manifested destiny” ideology and convinced his followers they were not merely slaying for another coup but for the future of all Corsairs. At this point the ambitions of an upstart warlord did not end in Montañaria. With the use of scheming and ruthless murder, Enrique “El Carnicero” Herrera lived up to his name and managed to subjugate adjacent minor provinces by 825 A.S. Now controlling most of the territory around the southern pole of Crete, El Carnicero was in charge of a “ring” around the pole with significant deposits of precious metals, such as gold and platinum, and territories with meagre farming potential enough to keep the miners and personal army sustained with food. Herrera’s land soon got its name: Círculo de oro - “circle of gold”.

In spite of owing its name to the obsession of Cretans with riches and anything that represents them, the true treasure of Montañaria are the relatively vast compared to the other parts of Crete reserves of liquid water in regions where normally ice caps would be. Because the temperature on Crete almost never falls below zero, the region has a lot of big lakes and smaller ponds, some of which have drinkable water while the rest have significant admixture of minerals and require filtering. This water infused with minerals proved to be bad for farming. Thus, not having much land fitting for agriculture and having water detrimental to crops, Montañaria has to export minerals to the rest of Crete in exchange for extra food supplies or steel for the warmachine.

Like any other part of Crete, Circulo de Oro also has plenty of ancient ruins full of artefacts. While the number of the ruins is much smaller compared to the equatorial regions, difficult terrain, harsh climate, and remoteness of the ruins prevented the majority of the dig sites in Circulo de Oro from being looted, thus remaining a viable source of income for rough times. Besides, what respected Corsair does not trade artefacts?

The true challenge of a Corsair warlord is not assuming the position of power but manage to hold onto it. To create some legitimacy for his rule, Herrera as excentric as he might be, exceeded any expectations and proclaimed himself the King of Montañaria. The title of a monarch sounded impostingly and attracted attention from many young Cretans willing to fight for something “guay” in addition to the riches of Montañaria, as well as prospects for securing position for offsprings. With the amassed forces the newly proclaimed King quickly established a tyrannical rule, bathing in blood of those daring to resist.

Such a bold move quickly attracted all sorts of people from around Crete, seeking for recognition, power, and wealth. Soon, those who managed to gain the favour of el Rey or proved their worth got position of prominence at Herrera’s side. This clique promptly became known as “the Black Court” for the obsidian chambers of Escorial, the royal palace, and for the blackened dried blood of those they executed at the throne hall.

While new nobility could enjoy the perks of their status, they did not possess any land or personal levies not to challenge monarch’s rule. Those who roll on with Herrera - get paid handsomely in goods and money, those trying to conspire against him (and getting caught) add up to the piles of corpses giving the Black Court its name.

The short 2-years despotic rule of El Carnicero made King Enrique famous (or infamous) in Southern Crete. Nobody in the region dared to challenge his rule, and his power within his “kingdom” was absolute. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Growing maniacal about power, El Carnicero decided to go big and started probing the grounds for becoming the Emperor of Crete and all Corsairs.

There were two main reasoning, both quite seemingly simple and even stupid for an outsider.

1. There is Corsair Empire, yet no Emperor. Then, there must be one.
   
   
2. Corsairs need more glory and power, and only the big boss, a.k.a “the Emperor” could bring it about.

The third reason might be just the fanciness of the position, and as it is known, fanciness is popular within the Corsairs.

Such plans, however, might be an issue for Herrera and his short rule as up until this day nobody outside of Montañaria and adjacent poor regions cared about some irrelevant “King in the South” and his plans. His claims on all of Crete, however, would rival some of the strongest of the Corsair warlords. Because of this, Herrara propagated his ambitions as reformist agenda of already existing Corsair Empire to make it more cohesive and absolutist, with him “humbly” offering his candidature for the Imperial Throne while being opened to pledging fealty as a vassal to anyone else deemed worthy becoming the Emperor. The reaction from the rest of Corsair society has not yet followed, the majority probably ignoring a “mad maniac in the South”. In spite of this, King Enrique declared Montañaria to become the first asset in the upcoming Iberian Empire. Thus, warlord Enrique “El Carnicero” Herrara remains de facto and de jure self-proclaimed usurper-king of Montañaria Kingdom, and a self-proclaimed aspirant to the throne of Corsair-Iberian Empire without any recognition.

The Iberian Imperial Army is a typical example of Corsairs ground forces - loosely organised warbands with the most talented, experienced, and tough hombre, the “officer”, in charge. The lack of formal organisation is compensated by the courage and aspiration to prove oneself, which in conditions of abundance of manforce to spare and scarcity of resources to feed it is a part of natural selection and societal ladder. Iberian Imperial Army is equipped with all sorts of munitions one can find on the black market as well as of Cretan production. Richer soldiers can afford heavy exoskeletons allowing to carry mobile artillery, or other sorts of custom equipment like long-range energy sniper rifles, strike drones, etc. Soldiers are grouped by equipment and skills into combat units. The army also retains a typical rank hierarchy that is a token of tradition to Hispania and dreams of its crew, including its soldiers.

Iberian Imperial Armada despite the imposing name is but a small fraction of Corsairs fleet, having a few heavy capital ships and comprising mostly armed transports, the “frigates”, as well as numerous fighters and bombers. Natural riches of Montañaria allow to provide the needed tithe to Corsairs’ shipyards for Imperial Armada to be maintained and repaired, as well as for the construction of new ships. The flagship of the Imperial Armada is a Legate-class dreadnought “Cáceres”

Current economy of the Iberian Empire is limited to the Kingdom of Montañaria and is heavily focused on mining and heavy industry. The trade predominantly includes exchange for food with neighbouring Cretan states, and from outworld sources. While not well developed due to relatively recent settlement of the region and bloody succession wars, it is still enough to supply the ruling tyrannical elite with luxury at the expense of huge income gap with general population. The middle class is represented by skillful craftsmen, soldiers and mercenaries, rare researchers and other specialists, while the majority of miners and farmers live in which one can call poverty.

As any Empire, Iberian Empire has to rely on expansion to feed itself. And here lies the predicament: further expansion within Crete is barely possible without provoking a large-scale war with the rest of big families and entities which would be the end of a new imperial court. Outworld expansion is complicated by lack of fleet and invasion forces as all Corsairs barely managed to expand with the might of all Corsair Empire. Thus, while expansion is necessary, it heavily relies on cooperation with the rest of Corsairs society to acquire foreign goods in the absence of feasibility of territorial expansion.