Phorean Earldom

Phorean consists of scattered islands officially under one earldom as a whole, answering to earl Leopold Zercher, who in return answers to the king of Achitar. The inhabitants of this region lives on many of the islands in The Emerald Archipelago, most of them being in the Strafworth region.
Phorean consists of the scattered islands located around The Emerald Archipelago. Due to the generally scattered land, the earldom enjoys a certain degree of autonomy

Structure

Unlike the mainland where it is easy to keep control over the individual subjects, Phorean has a bigger degree of autonomy. Because of this, the various titles within the earldom holds a different degree of power.
At the top is the earl, indisputed leader of the archipelago answering directly to the king. Most of his attention is taken by administrative efforts of keeping the islands in check due to the autonomy given, ensuring that while they are often free to do as they wish, they still follow the Crown.
Under him are the counts, responsible for the administration of several islands neighboring eachother. Often their seat of power will lay on the biggest of these islands, along with a fort or other military installation to house troops.
At the bottom of the ranks are the barons, official owners of the island they rule on. Much like the barons on the mainland, they attend their own territory, often only taking a special notice of their neighbors should a dispute about fishing rights occur.
A special part however are the admirals. Officially the admirals answers to the earl and the king and their primary duties are protecting trade routes against pirates. Due to their importance, each admiral commands a considerable amount of both respect and power within the earldom. The position itself is almost exclusively filled by nobles who aren't in line to inherit their father's title or whose own father are an admiral.

Military

The military in the earldom can easily be divided up into three groups. The army that guards the harbours and settlements from pirates, the navy that protects trade routes and keeps pirates at bay and the privateers who hunts pirates and other high value targets that manage to evade the navy.
The army is the simplest of these, being stationed at larger settlements to man the fortifications in case of attacks and enforcing the peace within the cities, acting in many ways like a combination of both the army and the watch unlike the clear distinction back on the mainland.
The navy differs from the main navy under the command of the king in being under the earl too. All major harbours contains facilities for the fleets to resupply and rest, with each fleet commanded by an admiral. The different fleets are most often tasked with patrolling trade routes, areas with settlements or staying ready near major harbours should they be needed. Due to their importance, discipline is enforced even more strictly than that of the army, with variation among the different admirals.
The privateers are the most diverse group. They consist of armed ships under a captain that has a letter from the king or earl himself granting them the rights to hunt pirates within the earldom. They don't enjoy many of the benefits of the navy in the ports but they do however enjoy great freedom as they hunt pirates down and search for the most infamous bounties available.

Agriculture & Industry

The islands within the earldom have become famous for their export of sugar and rum. Many of the settled islands, on top of their fishing and food farming to feed themselves, have sugar plantations where the sugar is grown and exported from. Some of it to various rum distilleries around the archipelago, while the rest are exported to Port Prine to be sold into the world at large. A large chunk of the people working on the plantations and a decent part of the distilleries are indentured servants, paying off their debts.

Trade & Transport

The earldom's main trade partner is Port Prine, but a major part of the trade is internal as well. While the lack of mines forces the import of most metals, the internal trade of lumber, food and the like tends to keep them from having to import it from the outside. In particular the smaller settlements take tours to the larger ports to trade or are visited by merchants specialising in providing what they need and taking what they sell in return. The larger ports then sells the goods further out into the world, usually through Port Prine which then sells the goods to the old world.

DM
TGW

Type

Geopolitical, Province

Demonym

Phoreans

Major Exports

• Sugar
• Cocoa
• Cacao
• Coffee
• Coconuts
• Molasses
• Rum

Major Imports

• Metals
• Stone
• Spices
• Meat
• Cloth

Parent Organization

Achitar

Location

The Emerald Archipelago

Controlled Territories

• The Emerald Archipelago

Neighboring Nations

• Achitar