The Estrelian League

Although there has been no formal government in Estril since the end of the great war, there are still several powerful factions vying for power in the region. One of the most prominent, and certainly the most successful, is the Estrelian League.
The Estrelian League is a league of powerful merchants who have assumed the leadership of many Estrelian cities and towns in the wake of the collapse of the old kingdom. In the eyes of the old kingdom, they are nothing more than rogue states; but in reality, the League conducts itself in a very structured manner. Indeed; the League enforces its own legal system, maintains armies for mutual defense and foreign wars, and currently holds a territorial majority within the borders of Estril. Although not considered a state, or nation of themselves; most outsiders consider the Estrelian League to be Estril's de facto form of government.

Structure

The Estrelian League governs its holdings on a 'free city basis', with a few feudalist cadences. The Merchant Lords own the land of their cities and its hold, leasing the land to Aswārs (Asvars) in exchange for their service as soldiers and merchants. From there, the Asvār will typically lease small portions of their newly acquired land to the serfs who would then farm or mine it.
The borders of each hold are murky at best and in international eyes, it's best to consider any one territory held by the league to be as homogeneous as the next.

Public Agenda

The overall agenda of the League is to improve commerce amongst the Estrelian peoples and their allies. They seek to bring gold back to Estril by way of Ivory, Spices and other exports. Though while their goal is good-natured, some Merchant Lords have amassed massive treasuries in the process through various illicit and immoral methods.
The League also seeks to rid Estril of largescale wars, and though the treaties and truces between cities had generated a general peace, it has inadvertently created a wide range of proxy conflicts across the various regions of Estril. Even still, Estril is more peaceful now than it has been for the last thousand years.

Assets

The Treasury of The Estrelian League
(Wide Approximations Of Combined Wealth)

Platinum Reserve: Anywhere between 300 and 400 thousand Coins; Various collections of platinum treasures valued at roughly 13 million. (Price in Gold)

Gold Reserve: Roughly 1 million gold coins; A collection of gold treasures valued at roughly 7 million. (Price in Gold)

Silver Reserve: Nearly 9 million silver coins; Various collections of silver treasures worth about 6 million. (Price in Gold)

Copper Reserve: Nearly 37 million copper coins; Various collections of copper treasures worth about 2 million. (Price in Gold)

Gem and Jewel Reserve: Most Estrelian jewel vaults were raided during the great war, as such the League has appeared to have only amassed an amount worth roughly 4 million gold.
Spice Reserve: Analysts claim that the spice owned by the League is valued at approximately 52 million gold pieces.

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Military

There are no state-run military factions within the borders of Estril, and enlistees are instead sourced from the many Aswārs that have exchanged land for military service as well as the peasants and serfs of those Aswārs. Merchant Lords within the League have also been known to hire mercenary companies to supplement their armies.
It's estimated that any Merchant Lord could raise an army 30,000 strong in a relatively short time. As these armies are often divided, it would be nearly impossible to accurately measure the power of any given Merchant Lord. Estimates will instead be provided for a total count across the entirety of the League.

Aswārs: 136,000+
Mercenaries: 82,000+
Militia: 300,000+
Camel Power: Roughly 420,000+
Elephant Power: Roughly 12,000+
Horse Power: Roughly 45,000+
Navel Fleet: 190 Cogs, 93 Kenebits, 57 Balingers, 34 Galleys

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Fortifications

Castles: 2
Migdols (Forts): 24

History

After the collapse of the Old Estrelian Monarchy, much of the desert land was up for grabs. A handful of factions attempted to consolidate as much power and territory as possible in the chaos following the great war, but none were more successful than the individual merchants of the land. Where national wealth had diminished, the merchants felt no such strain. Where structure had been dissolved, the merchants encountered no such turbulence. In a unique position, the desert merchants saw an opportunity that was too great to pass up and in only a year's time, they had arranged a formal meeting to discuss the founding of a merchant's league.
It would be a league supported by Estrelians, for Estrelians. The league would serve the people, and act in their mutual defense should wartime ever rear its head again. In a unanimous decision, the merchants agreed. Though this decision was not without its criticisms. Those with high positions in the league would not be bound by law, and their families would be bound only in cases that were determined to be a detriment to the Estrelian peoples at large. Even still, the people, by-and-large, needed structure. The chaos of the monarchy's collapse was becoming too great for even powerful cities to bare, and so it was done. The Estrelian League was born.
The remnants of the Old Monarchy condemned the League as a group of apostates and traitors to the crown, but with little power left to rally the people, these condemnations often fell upon deaf ears. Over the last 500 years, the League has grown in size and power, now occupying a majority of the Estrelian territory and dwarfing most other factions in the region. Not only this, but their influence has done well to reinvigorate the Estrelian economy; even in areas not under League jurisdiction.
Over the years, however, greed has grown into the hearts and minds of merchants at all levels of the League, as is evident by the concentrations of wealth and adoption of a number of feudalistic policies. Even still, there are many within Estril's borders that support the group on the promise of protection and economic stability.

Let There Be Peace In Estril, Under Spice and Coin.

Founding Date

2E 622

Type

Financial, Merchant League

Alternative Names

The Merchant Council of Estril, The New Estrelian Lords

Demonym

Estrelian

Location

Estril

Related Ethnicities

• Estrelians