Republic of Mona

The Merchant's Republic of Mona (/'mo:na/) is a small, but wealthy polity located on the northern western coast of the Torian peninsula. Like its neighbors, it is resource-poor, and survives largely on trade with the many dozens of fellow wealthy countries along the great sea. Despite it's small size, it boasts an impressive population, due to the population density of the highly developed territory it governs.
While some distrust Mona's merchants. The results of their work couldn't be denied, considering the cities wonderful living standards and massive development, they do a good job of spreading this wealth as well, purchasing goods and selling them elsewhere for a huge markup, and even locally producing goods like fine glass, art, and even weapons.

Structure

Like many of the other merchant republics of Toria, Mona is governed by a 'Most Serene Doge', who's first and foremost duty is to increase the wealth of the city. This is usually done by securing lucrative trade deals with other countries and merchants, but many Doges also indulge developing the city of Mona itself along with the territory surrounding it, leading to Mona's reputation as a city of wealth and luxury, even for the lower class. In theory, the Doge enjoys absolute power over his territory, but this is hardly the case, as his power his constantly checked by the other powerful families.
These powerful families, called the 'inner circle' are the wealthy merchants that own the republic, constantly both competing and co-operating with each-other. The families themselves view each-other with suspicion unless they've specifically allied with one another, despite this, they often collaborate with one-another when it comes to matters concerning the city itself's well-being.
The families themselves, as well as the number of them, are in a constant state of flux, frequently changing with the times, some families will have been around for centuries, while others have only risen to power in the last couple of decades. A family will only be allowed important enough to have a vote in electing the new Doge when the other families recognize it as such.
As a merchant republic, the Doge of Mona is selected by a council of wealthy families. Upon the death of a Doge, these families will all internally select a leading patriarch to go to the council and choose a new doge from among themselves. If a family cannot choose a patriarch in time, then they will not have the privileged to vote.

History

The history of the republic of Mona isn't as long as others, but it is certainly dense. The city's position as one of several centers of trade in the Torian peninsula has made it the center of numerous historical events as well, quite a few over it's three-hundred year history.
The proper history of The Republic begins at the end of [url=]Aurelio The Conqueror's reign, after a brief kingdom was established as a rump state. The kingdom's grasp on the land was weak and it had nearly no legitimacy among most other countries, allowing for a class of increasingly powerful merchants to purchase a powerful class of mercenaries to remove the corrupt king and instead establish themselves as rulers. Similar events happened in other Torian states, creating the numerous merchant and condotierre states.
After the formal creation of the merchants republic, the city-state enjoyed relative peace and prosperity. Although it has seen its fair share of wars with the other wealthy powers of the peninsula. The plutocratic system of government that Mona embraces has hardly ever been threatened before, isolated from any major outside threats, the only threats to the merchant republic's system have been internal. Even these, however have been quickly thwarted by other merchants allying to take back power and restore the status quo. The durability of a merchants republic is hard to deny. It is said that when a new power arrives on the stage, most states would see a competitor, while the Monans would simply see a new trade partner.

Territories

The territory held by Mona is not vast, in fact, it hardly eclipses the city itself. This is no bother for Mona, however. Expansion is hardly important since the Torian peninsula is largely resource-poor, and almost all resources are imported. Along with that, like the rest of the peninsula, the territory held is highly developed, and boosts a higher population density than almost anywhere else in the world. In fact, the smallness of Mona's territory could be considered a blessing, as communication is extremely fast and efficient from one side of the country to another.

Military

Due to the nature of merchant republics, most Torian countries prefer to rely on mid-sized mercenary armies lead by condotierri. Despite the stigma attached to the name 'mercenary', the condotierri are fair and honorable, and have hardly ever been known to break a contract, even if their opponents offer more for their 'services'. These mercenary armies generally wield spears and muskets, along with crossbows designed to be faster-loading than muskets.

Agriculture & Industry

Although Mona deals extensively in trade, it is also known to produce a fair amount of luxury goods. The city specializes in glass, producing massive amounts of gorgeous stained glass to be used in construction all over the world. On the subject of art, Mona is particularly famous for the generous arts endowments given by its by its upper class. Many major and minor merchants order spectacular art produced, be it statues, paintings or stained glass. This art is often sold to foreign nobles for another large markup.
Due to its large population density and small amount of territory, Mona imports most of its food from the fertile kingdoms to the northwest, who it is careful to maintain the best possible trade relations with.

Trade & Transport

As one would expect from a merchant republic, Mona makes quite a few trade deals. A fairly common tactic for Torian traders is to buy expensive goods from one side of the great sea, and sell it on the other side for a massive price increase, netting them thousands of easy ducats. Countless kings, dukes, counts and emperors have made deals with monan merchant, not always willingly, however. monan merchants have a general reputation for honest and fair buisness, although this reputation is often tested when a deal is simply too good to pass up, with merchants sometimes engaging in borderline piracy they feel they've been shorted on a trade deal. Mona itself has contracts with ports all across the great sea, paying small premiums for docking rights. Some cities have even allowed monans to dock at no cost at all.

Truth & Trade

Founding Date

4655

Type

Geopolitical, City-state

Capital

Mona (City)

Demonym

Monan

Government System

Plutocracy

Power Structure

Unitary state

Currency

Florin

Major Exports

Glass, art, guns

Major Imports

Dyes, various minerals

Legislative Body

The Great Council of Mona

Notable Members

• Anghela of Mona