ConfederateBaronies

Overview

If ever there was a land that was made of entirely minor nobility, this was it. The land is held under charter, and is often divided up between families and knights. The same land is then merged through marriage and treaties. Generally there is no single leader of the Confederate Baronies, often a delegation is sent to deal with individual incidents, or internal problems are dealt with in the simple process of negotiation, war, or marriage.

The land is gifted to former Kights of Light by the City-State of Ithica. This has caused some small problems with the locals that stupidly thought that the land belonged to them.

History

The confederate baronies was formed when Ithica sought to reward some of the most notable of the royal knights. In the most traditional way of royalty, they claimed land around the most profitable trade route out along the Great River. The Great River was the primary link of Ithica, and the surrounding lands with the rest of Dellan. As many of the other routes out from Ithica were either trecherous, such as the routes through the Outlands, or through the mountains of fire, a route that led through the Eastern Dessert to the Mercian sea made for the quickest and most prosperous route.

The land around the Great River was parcelled out to the most experienced knights. This made it easier to protect, and the baronies became prosperous on the back of that trade.

In order to build the quickly growing kingdom of Ithica, the biggest trade began in stone, precious and semi-precious materials. This was quickly replaced with artisans, followed by slaves. Arguably, the largest part of the wealth of the baronies came from their reliance on slaves in the initial years.

The Obsidian Revolt

The Obsidian Revolt's affect in the baronies was incredibly disruptive. The large reliance on slaves, and their tendency to form peaceful protests, such as refusing to work ground many of the countries to a halt. As the laws of Ithica changed to effectively outlaw slavery, the baronies refused to listen to the authority of Ithica, and themselves attempted to succeed from Ithica, claiming that the land belong to them. The newly-formed Knights of Ithica objected to this attempt to succeede and began a systematic attack of the Baronies to protect the interests of Ithica. This, coupled with the contininuing actions of the Obsidion revolt led to a state of war. It was eventually economic, rather than military pressure that forced the change. As Ithica and Elmar, under public pressure, began to refuse to trade with the confederate baronies. Initially, the baronies closed their borders, knowing that they had one of the most profitable routes out of the geographical bowl. What they were not counting on is the tennacity of the guild of light who were dispatched to establish routes through the Easter Dessert, and the Outlands. It took but a few short years before such routes were open, and logistic stopping places built along the route to ensure that those walking the dessert could do so in safety.

The route through the outlands was less successful, predominantly due to the marshy terrain, and frequent floods. That said, there are still a number of good that travel this way, and good money can be earned by the experienced caravan owner.

All of this served to force the baronies into re-opening their routes, and removing of their slaves. However, as the new routes had lower taxes, the damage was done.

The Slow Decline

Following the removal of it's major trade routes, and the loss of it's major source of income, the confederate baronies began turning against each other to gain a bigger part of the great river, and the money that it represented. Ithica still laid claim to the lands, and demanded it's tithe from them for their administration. The war between Ithica and the Baronies was never officially ended, and an uneasy truce was established, where the baronies would pay a smaller tithe, and Ithica would continue to lay claim to the lands. As they became less economically useful and the war was expensive to continue, Ithica ceased it's blockade, but continued to demand tithe.

The baronies found it increasingly difficult to find a trade that would return it to the glory days. Many of them have ostentatious castles and defences that have become impossible to repair. Occasionally, someone will attempt a war of unification against the other barons, but such a move was often ended by brief alliances of barons to protect their interests. Over time, the barons gave themselves titles such as 'kings' and 'queens' though they have no legitimate claim to them. Such titles were frowned upon in Ithica, and often led to political sanctions. This tended to lead to entrenchment of the position, and the barony/kingdom becoming impoverished.

This decline is not unilateral amongst the baronies. Those that fell in line and paid their tithe found that Ithica would, in turn, support them. This was helped by the use of Wolfsbane as the place to send the youngest son of the Ithican line. Originally the most prosperous of the Baronies, it is the gateway into the baronies from the Fertile Strip through the Eastern Dessert.