Confederation of Aldoon

Overview
Located on the eastern edge of the Free Realms, there exists a dour bunch of human princelings who have taken much of the worst lessons from their time as a province of the Dwarven Empire and the most expedient understanding of the teachings of the Divine King. This group of petty oligarchs squabble amongst themselves almost as much as they lord their dominance over an overworked and underserved commonfolk population. East of the Kingdom of Eos, the Confederation of Aldoon balances their need for good trade relations with their neighbours with a jealous need for uncontested control of their individual holdings.
Centering around a cluster of ancient impact craters from the mountainous highlands bordering the Badlands nearly to the coast bordering the Imperial Remnant's string of fortified towns, the lands of Aldoon are only unified by their need to defend themselves from the goblinoid threat looming over the ridges and mountains to the north and their need to keep both the King of Eos and the Dragon Court of the Imperial Remnant from intervening in their affairs. Those who rule the Confederation of Aldoon are formally called Princes, though their actual titles vary from Baron to Count, Marquess and Duke depending on what was proclaimed during the time of the Dwarven God-Emperor. The Princes rule their own holdings quite directly, but they share common jurisdiction over matters that concern three or more of these oligarchs. In a confederation of seventeen various Princes with variously sized holdings, many things are shared in common jurisdiction.
The Confederation is ruled politically by the Council of Princes as a whole, but its more direct executive functions are undertaken by a Chancellor chosen by a convoluted but elective decision of the Council. The Chancellor may select a Cabinet of other Princes or "other nobles of sufficient quality" to oversee such concerns as the Treasury, Foreign Affairs, War, and Justice. The Chancellor also appoints governing Lord-Mayors for the three Cities of the Confederation and the Magistrates who oversee legal matters such as law interpretation and dispute resolution, though these candidates must be confirmed by a simple majority in a sitting of the Council of Princes. The Chancellor and the Cabinet are ostensibly the rulers of the country as a whole, but the more-powerful Princes tend to avoid directly serving as the Chancellor or on the Cabinet, and prefer to direct their own energies and resources at maintaining their dominance.
Aldoon, The City of Confederation
The capital city started off as a Free City that was largely regarded as neutral territory for those in the area of the Confederation since before the rise of the Dwarven Emperor. Situated on an island upon a lake that shares the name of Aldoon, the City of Aldoon is quite large in area but only middling in population. Near the center of the island is a natural spring that feeds a crystal-lined pool. That water is renowned for its healing and calming abilities, and it is bottled and sold by an antecedent of the Church of the Divine King -- the Temple of the Martyr's Tears. The city has one major bridge built from its closest point to the mainland which was built during the time of the Dwarven Emperor, and it is an architectural wonder, more than forty feet across and often sixty feet from the ground or waterline. The Great Aldoon Bridge hops from three small islands before connecting to the largest island of Aldoon itself. 
The city is split into six districts. 

1. The Temple District: the Temple of the Martyr's Tears, a Cathedral of the Church of the Divine King, and an Open Shrine of the One Faith (Divine King). 
2. The Noble District: Manor Houses and specialized shops, restaurants, saunas and bath-houses exclusive to the Princes of Confederatioin.
3. The Palace of Confederation: A gigantic stone structure houses the Hall of the Council and the offices of the Chancellor and Cabinet. 
4. The Commercial District: The Grand Market, Banker's Row, the Court of Justice, countless shops and inns and the Tower of the Arcanum all exist here. 
5. The Foreign District: Embassies, Chanceries and Consulates are all built here, as are dedicated housing and commerce for foreign representatives. 
6. The Outer Ring: Everything else, roughly two thirds of the total area is outside a fortified inner wall and inside a fortified outer wall.

Aldoon is well-maintained. With funds contributed from the realms of foreigners who use Aldoon as a neutral territory to negotiate treaties, even the outer ring and connected islands have an impressive degree of common space: public gardens, sporting fields, walking paths, bath-houses and fountains available to even the most menial of commoners. The city is well-regarded externally, and treated as holy ground by most who hold to the Divine King. In a very messy and often petty confederation, the City of Aldoon is most-often held up as the paragon of human cityscapes. 
Foreign Relations
The Confederation of Aldoon is regarded with two concurrent notions: (1) the lands and commonfolk are beautiful, bountiful and prodigious, but (2) the politics of its rulers are ridiculous in their sheer avarice and jealousy. Despite itself, the Confederation balances their need for good relations with their neighbours for external trade relations, which are the lifeblood of a majority of the Princes with their need for a sense of internal order and control, especially within the personal holdings of those very Princes. As a result, most foreigners stick to the City of Aldoon or the other two "freer cities" within the Confederation, rather than the towns and countryside. For certain, there have been stories circulating amongst the diplomats and envoys in the foreign district that unwitting travelers have as often simply disappeared as they have returned from forays into the capricious countryside.
The relationship that the Confederation has with the Kingdom of Eos is becoming more and more strained. Much of the Confederations rulers depend upon the revenue generated from trade through the Old Dwarven Pass, as their access to the waterfront is severely restricted by geography and poor relations with the increasingly militarized dwarven city-states to their south. With the goods continuing to move freely, things are reasonable, but there is a perceived threat with King Euwen's Regency over the infant Duke in the major port city used by the Free Realms. As a result, it is widely believed by the Princes that once Euwen consolidates power over the Port of Orliac, he will tighten his grip over trade from the passes into his realm and use it as yet another means to control the conduct of the Free Realms "for the good and juste" as he defines. 
Military
The forces of the Confederation are quite varied from Prince to Prince. Most of the troops within the country are professional mercenary companies contracted to specific Princes, and they are mostly arrayed against one-another and used to control the countryside population. The Free Cities have their own mercenary companies, and the capital city has its own volunteer corps of defenders that has existed since before the time of the Dwarven Emperor. There also exist bodies of knights and men-at-arms sworn to the Princes, but they are slowly diminishing in number compared to the mercenary companies. 
These companies are slowly increasing their reach and grasp beyond the Confederation, some of which have incorporated large commercial interests into their mandates that make them less a military unit and more a corporate endeavour much like the Arcanum. In addition, these companies are starting to seek out arcane practitioners that operate outside the purview of the wizard's guild, and it's creating a very acute and chronic dispute between these companies and the Arcanum that has erupted into actual combat between these organizations. 
By and large, the mercenary companies are consisting of large groups of pikemen and crossbowmen, supplemented with light cavalry and siege engines. These mass blocks are supplemented by various numbers of auxiliaries like heavily armed and armoured footknights in plate harness wielding poleaxes, and the aforementioned magical practitioners who are much akin to walking siege engines. These companies rarely clash in the open field, however, and most of their battles are either drawn-out sieges or small skirmishes along the spongy borderlands between Princely domains. 
More to come...

Unity and Prosperity

Type

Political, Confederation

Alternative Names

Aldoon, the Confederation

Demonym

Aldoonian, Confederation

Location

The Free Realms

Neighboring Nations

• Kingdom of Othune

Related Historical Events

• 2756
  Landfall in Northern Aldoon