The Barony

The Barony is a loose confederation of island city-states located off the southern shores of the Core. They wield the largest navy in the Core Empires.

History
When the Old Empire began to collapse roughly 3,000 years ago, the first areas it lost control of were the Barony states. For hundreds of years rebellious Barons fought the remnants of the Old Empire, until the Empire no longer had armies to fight for them.

The Barons grew close due to the wars, but after the Empire's collapse, the many city states began to fight amongst themselves. It took the rise of the Celestine Empire and an intense rivalry with the Alfaxmos Imperium to convince the withering Parliament of Barons to strengthen their unity and direct their efforts towards something constructive.

Slavery and the Divide
A sizable portion of the Barony's population are slaves or indentured servants, the vast majority of whom live and work in the larger but less densely-populated eastern half of the Barony islands, notably around Ashburn Sound.

Slavery in the Core Empires is illegal, and importing goods made by slave labor is greatly frowned upon. In practice however, the goods they produce are irresistibly cheap, and the nobility of the Empires buy these goods from the Barony in one way or another.

An exception to this is the western half of the Barony isles, consisting of Freefort and Tethar, where slavery is very much illegal, and political pressure is constantly placed on the eastern half to switch to a "more moral" economic model. However, this has created a deep political and cultural divide, and the two sides drift further away from each other as the days go by.

Government and Structure
Villages, Towns, and cities are all headed by a Baron (or Baroness,) who has complete control over their local territory and governance. The many Barons will occasionally meet at the Parliament in Tethar to discuss Barony-wide cooperation and strategy both economic and political. It is on this level that the Barony operates as one of the Core Empires.

General order is maintained by the fact that while the Barons rule by themselves, not all Barons are equal. For example, Baron Howe rules the metropolis of Ashburn Sound and commands hundreds of thousands of troops, as well as assets totalling well into the billions of gold. The Barons of the surrounding hamlets would need to unite and combine their resources in their totality in order to remove a Baron of such power. However, if one of the greater Barons began to abuse their neighbors, the lesser Barons have historically jumped at the opportunity to topple their betters and plunder their lands.

This situation has made the Barons renowned thoughout the Core Empires for their caution.

Military
Each Baron has their own personal retinue, which, drawing from a total population of 90,000,000 amounts to 1,000,000 men-at-arms and constables, by far the lowest of any of the Core Empires. These recruits are volunteers, and are given expert training by the Barony's most experienced veterans. Soldiers with the aptitude are given the option of seeking to join the ranks of the elite Royal Marines commanded by Lord Tethar.

The Barony's Men-at-Arms and Royal Marines are career soldiers, and are outfitted with some of the finest equpiment in any known organized fighting force by the Westmoreland Trade Company and Redfield Incorporated.

Economy
The Barony is renowned for its luxury craft exports such as furniture, clothing and textiles, select cash crops such as tobacco and cotton, and high-end smithed goods such as weapons and armor. However, most of its major exports are produced by indentured servants and slaves, a topic most controversial to the people of the Core Empires. Local economies rely almost entirely on service jobs and investment both domestic and foreign.

Average salary is ~1,200g per month.

Diplomatic Relations
The Barony enjoys warm relations with its distant ally, Kesh, who in turn appreciates the Barony's omnipresent navy.

The Celestine Empire is the historical rival of the Barony, however, the two allies currently enjoy warm relations.

The rise of the Alfaxmos Imperium has greatly concerned the Barons, especially regarding the rapidly growing Imperial Navy.

The Barony is only mildly hostile towards their enemy, the Kingdom of Dumat, but takes great pride in their ability to harass the Kingdom's navy from the opposite side of the Core.

Post-Coalition War
The Barony has seen little peace since the Coalition war. After a blistering defeat at the hands of the Imperium, already tense relations erupted and blame for the loss turned inward. East and West made demands of the other, with debates on indentured servitude turning sour and civil war was seen as the only solution. War has been raging between the two biggest rivals, Baron Tethar and Baron Howe.

Influential leaders Barons Freefort, Tethar, and Howe are in attendance, along with representatives of Redfield, Westmoreland, Celestine, Alfaxmos, Kesh, and the Vanguard, guided by Primach Zadar, have recently intervened and have made a bid for peace talks and there is currently a cease-fire between the Barons. Most say they are not going well.

Major Cities
Tethar

Freefort

Ashburn Sound

Port Candice