Asterea

Asterea is a jungle colony on the Sahara Sea coast, flanked by Taygea on the northwest and Halcya on the east, with Awalawa inland to the south. The colony is merely a thin coastal strip, since no one dares go far into Awalawa's dreaded jungles.

Its original people, a hunter-gatherer albino tribe found nowhere else, were once fierce warriors but are now mostly Amazon slaves. Some have fled to the edge of Awalawa, choosing risky freedom over safe bondage, and secret resistance groups fight sporadically with the garrison; some of the most radical have allied with the Gorgons, who raid Asterea more than any other colony.

Facing both rebellion and invasion, Asterea has by far the largest garrison, close to a thousand troops and three squadrons of six ships, making it the most militarily important governorship, though Celaenea is more prestigious. It yields hardwoods, furs, rhinoceros horn and ivory, and its capital Aster is a big fortified garrison town on the coast near Taygea.