The Free Cities of the Broken Coast are a collection of city states bound together by culture, language, mercantilism and common interests.
Government
Each of the Free Cities is a city state independently ruled by an upperclass of trade company owners and guild officials. Each city runs it's governmental afairs based on laws and regulations passed by the Guilds. Representatives of each guild meet toghether in City Hall to form the College of Guildmasters. At the head of the Free Cities are a council of the largest companyowners in the cities, known as the
LordsXV.
Guilds
Each merchant, workshop, and tradevessel in the Free Cities belongs to a Guild, associated with their professon. These Guilds draw up regulations that affect their members, negociate with other guilds, and send representatives to the College of Guildmasters to decide on legislation. Notable Guilds are the Artefabrian's Guild who make magic items, the Gunnery Guild who produce Sparkpowder, the Shipwright's Guild who build ships, the Whaling Guild who hunt and process whales, and the Spicer's Guild who trade with the Sankarat Basin for exotic spices.
Legislative Body
Legislation is dawn up and ratified by the College of Guildmasters. Amount of members in the College from a single Guild is determined by how much profit a Guild has erned throughout a term. This means that larger Guilds are more influential in determining legislation. While Guilds are able to write regulation concerning their own members, collective rules must be ratified by the College.
Judicial Body
Infractions on the rules by the Guilds are handled by selected comitties from the College of Guildmasters. Day to day crime is handled bij the City Guard, under direct control of the LordsXV. Judges are appointed by the combined aproval of the LordsXV and the
Church of the Silver Flame, under advice of the Temple of
Loec, the Rulemaker.
Executive Body
The daily running of the city is handled mostly by the individual Guilds. Even policing of the cities is done by guards hired by the Guilds. Collective responsibilities such as the City Guard, large infrastructure projects, or military matters are handled by the LordsXV.
Public Agenda
The LordsXV have declared the Stormlords as their allies in driving back the
Klassenberg Reich. They are stirring up fears in the populace that the Reich will not stop at the Stormlands and will continue their conquest of with the Free Cities. The renesance of fabrial technology is now making the Free Cities an important player in global politics, and the Cities are set to exploit this fortune to its furthest potential. A new Golden Age is comming, and the Cities will be at the heart of it.
Foreign Relations
The Free Cities are currently in open warfare with the
Klassenberg Reich. This war is mosly fought on the lands of their allies, The Stormlords. Free City merchants have great trading relations with the people of the
Sankarat Basin. The Cities are connected to the global tradenetwork thought Seringit caravans and Vesper's Pass, and have many holdings allong the Middlestrait, and Dunia Coast.
Assets
The Cities posess a large amount of gold from trade with the rest of Dunia. Trade Caravans and fleets belonging to Free City Merchants can be found all over the world. Freecompanies of the Cities are small in number, but well equiped and unmatched on open water, due to the use of Sparkpowder weaponry. High levels of magical technology give them an edge over their rivals.
Currency
Copper shards are the currency used in day to day purchases. These copper eightsided penies have a gemheart depicted on them. Silver Flames are minted in the Cities for larger purchases, and depict the religious symblol of the
Church of the Silver Flame. For larger amounts of money the Free Cities use Golden Dragons, the global trade currency.
Agriculture and Industry
Production of Sparkpowder weaponry and fabrials are the most valuable products produced. Whaling and fishing are the largest aggricultural industries. Conventional farming is not possible on the Broken Coast, and grains are often traded for. Harvesting magical ingredients from Leviathans is a major source of income. Mining the hills of the broken coast for minerals is possible, but not on a large scale.
Trade and Transport
The only way to transport goods between Cities is via ship. No large roads exist on the Broken Coast, except for the newly built route into Vesper's Pass. Therefore, tradeships are constantly ferrying goodst between cities and trading with other countries for resources. The Cities produce little raw resourches execpt what they can fish out of the sea and the occational mining operation. This means that they are reliant on shipments of food, lumber, and metals from their neighbours.
Major Imports
The Cities import food and spices from the
Sankarat Basin, and food, lumber and metals from the
Stormlands. Trading for local food and magical ingredients with the
Coastborn is not uncommon.
Major Exports
Asside from fabrial and Sparkpowder, the Cities make some of the finest ships. Luxury products such as spices, tea and sugar are imported via the Sankarat Basin and shipped all over the world.
Technology
Early Renesance, Early Magitech, advanced maritime tech.
Education
The citizens of the Free Cities are relatively well educated compared to other countries. Literacy is high, and even the working classes are educated basic arithmatic. The Free Cities contain some of the greatest scholarly minds and engineers in the world, and highly value their pursuits.
Infrastructure
There exist no roads between the five Cities. The only way of transporting goods and people between them is via ship. Therefore, the Free Cities have the best engineered ports in the world. There exists a single maintainded road on the Broken coast that goes through Vesper's Pass linking Séala to Mount Dunia.
Military
The Free Cities do not have an organised military, but instead use Freecompanies. These are smaller units of soldiers with their own ships. Trade Companies hire these Freecompanies to protect their cargos. In times of war the LordsXV can directly employ these Freecompanies to fight for them on the battlefield. Freecompanies often use pike and shot formations, and smaller units of skirmishing cavalry. Larger companies have access to Sparkpowder artillerly.
State Religion
The
Church of the Silver Flame is the prominent religion in the Free Cities. Many of the Temples have ceremonial and functional roles in government. These include the inaugeration of the LordsVX and College of Guildmasters.
Locations
There are five cities allong the Broken coast that each specialize in a separate industry:
Spréach (Spray-ech), where Sparkpowder is refined.
Séala (Shay-laa), where Fabrials are made.
Longchlós (Lon-gloos), with its masive shipyards.
Sealgair (Sal-gar), were seamonsters are hunted for their gemhearts
Ceannaithe (Kan-na-he), were goods from Klassenberg, the Stormlands and Rhodania are shipped through the Hazed Sea to the rest of the world.
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