Ferio Province
Ever since the foundation of the Empire of Turelion, Ferio Province has been a crucial player in its military and economic life, with its exports of high quality timber harvested from the southern valleys of the Dragons' Tears Mountains going all across the Empire, either as transport ships, or as part of the Imperial Navy’s ships, which are constructed in the province. It's timber producing capabilities along with the dockyards of the city of Angtarrion means that the Province is considered to be an area of strategic importance by the Emperor.
Structure
Like all provinces with the Empire of Turelion, the administration of the Province is overseen by a Satrap, who is theoretically responsible for management of all areas of Ferio. To aid them in this, the Satrap of Ferio Province has a staff of provincial officials and administrators who oversee the bureaucracy of all things, from the state of the road network to the taxes levied on fish imported to the province.
Demography and Population
Due to its labour intensive primary industry, the majority of Ferio Province’s population are deemed to be ‘working class’ and are employed by the lumbering lumber processing industries in the foothills of the Dragons' Tears Mountains in the west of the province, or in the dockyards of Angtarrion on its coast. Most people from this section of society live in communities in and around their places of work, and which tend to be properly connected to the main employer in the region, rather than to other communities in the outside world. However, some labourers who work in more remote parts of the province, such as the lumberyards in the Dragons' Tears Mountains are often housed by their employer as part of their contracts, which in reality makes them essentially enthralled to their employer.
However, there are a growing number of lower income bracket families who are attracted to Ferio, thanks to a provincial policy which offers willing people large tracts of land in The Wresmella in exchange for becoming full citizens of Ferio, paying taxes and working off the debt that the gift of land itself creates. Despite the tough conditions of the Wresmella and the fact that the terms of the deal mean many fall into debt, a large number of people have travelled to the region from the rest of the Empire and beyond to set up sheep and goat ranches in the Province.
The presence of so much lumber production and other industries in the province means that there is a strong middle class who own smaller operations in their own right, or who make money either through mercantile activity linked to the Province’s produce, or through secondary processing or manufacturing activities, such as sawmills or makers of sail cloth for example.
There is a well established upper class in the province, but it represents a much smaller percentage of the population than it does in Turelion Province , and most of the upper class citizens live in either the provincial capital Jakott or in the province's second city Angtarrion.
As part of the Empire of Turelion, the vast majority of Ferio Province's population are from the Turelite ethnicity.
Territories
The borders of Ferio Province very much mirror the borders of The Wresmella, the area of scrubby grassland that makes up the majority of the Province. The Province's area of control only deviates from the boundary of the Wresmella in the west, where Ferio has managed to claim dominion over numerous mountain valleys, whose timber they exploit for the dockyards of Angtarrion.
Military
Like all Imperial Provinces, Ferio has access to its own standing army of Provincial troops, who are dispersed across the province in garrisons, ready to be called upon as needs be. For the most part, these troops act as town and city guards and police forces for the areas they are stationed to. In times of crisis, the Satrap can mobilise units in the Provincial Army from their garrisoned stations to become mobile units that can be deployed were necessary. The Provincial Army has units of infantry, cavalry, artillery and Firewings at its disposal, as well as a dedicated naval force to protect its coasts. The Command Headquarters for Ferio’s Provincial army is in the Provincial Capital Jakott.
Unlike the other provinces of the Empire, Ferio province tends to have a larger than average navel presence in its waters, as many warships travel back to the shipyards in Angtarrion to be repaired and re-fitted.
Religion
Though the Imperial Church of Astartes has a strong following in the province, especially amongst the provincial elite who wish to ingratiate themselves with the Imperial Court.
However, the isolated nature of many of the Province's communities means that almost all of the Divines have at least one settlement in Ferio where they are regarded, albeit unofficially as the predominant deity.
In general the further that one gets from the provincial capital, Jakott, the fewer people one will find who claim to be followers of the Imperial Church of Astartes.
Agriculture & Industry
Because of the rather sparse nature of The Wresmella, arable farmland is at a premium, meaning that virtually all of the grain and vegetable crops produced in the Province remain there for local consumption, and that the province has to import most of what it consumes from other areas of the Empire. However, reasonably large supplies of meat are produced in the province, thanks to the provincial initiative (see above) that has encouraged many to travel to The Wresmella to establish ranches.
The main industry of Ferio Province, however, is the production of lumber. The hardwood rich valleys of the Dragons' Tears Mountains are carefully exploited so that lumber is harvested all year round and processes into all manner of products, from planks and masts used to fit out the ships of the Provincial and Imperial navies and all manner of other craft used by the Empire of Turelion and beyond, to materials for the construction of buildings, to furniture and barrels. Indeed the relative proximity to the supplies of high quality wood ideal for ship building, has meant that the coastal city of Angtarrion has become the epicentre of military ship production in the Empire, producing warships for the Imperial and Provincial navies alike.
As the importance of the lumber industry for Ferio was recognised early on in the Province’s existence, it has been the policy of all Provincial Governments to accompany each lumber project with re-planting, to ensure that there is always an ample supply of trees ready to be felled. Associated woodworking industries have also sprung up in the Province’s towns and cities to turn some of the produced lumber into objects that can be sold onwards, and the quality of Ferio’s carpenters is well known across the Empire.
Trade & Transport
Ferio Province has strong trade and transport links with the rest of the Empire of Turelion, Turelion Province and Pelenar Province to the east especially, as well as to the other nations which exist around the Centric Sea. It is also connected to the geopolitical entities on the extreme west of the continent of Euristan via the Wyvern Pass which cuts through the Dragons' Tears Mountains and which connects The Wresmella with the Wyrm Steppes.
Internal links within the Province are more tenuous, with the only major roadway being the so-called Plains Way which connects the lumber harvesting communities of the mountains to the provincial capital Jakott and eventually connecting them to the coastal city of Angtarrion. Communities not close to this major thoroughfare quickly become more and more isolated with each mile of distance between them and the Plains Way.
Education
Across the Province there is relatively easy access to basic education in the large towns and the Provincial Capital Jakott, where there is a ready market for upper-middle and upper class families, who have made their money through the logging trade, to have their children educated to a relatively high standard.
Beyond this there are only two higher educational institutions in Ferio Province, the Imperial Naval College, which is based in the city of Angtarrion and a single independent House of Learning, Maltar House, which is based in Jakott.
Type
Geopolitical, Province
Capital
Demonym
Ferions
Leader Title
Power Structure
Semi-autonomous area
Economic System
Mixed economy
Parent Organization
Related Ranks & Titles
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Related Ethnicities
Related Myths
Comments