Season 4.5, Events from the Free City of Volantis
General Summary
After the birth of the New Valyrian Freehold in 422, came the year of Reform in 423, the rebuilding Freehold of New Valyria rapidly implemented a series of reforms promising to revolutionize the lives of every citizen of the Freehold and to help integrate and organize the Flood of Refugees liberated from the Dothraki yoke or pushed out by the settlers of the "New Vale". This massive influx of population threatened to destabilize the barely recovering and newly self sufficient Freehold still reeling from the Tragedy recently passed.
To ensure the recent and rapid progress the Freehold had made wouldn't be lost to the incoming chaos, the structure of the government needed to adapt to the changing times, thus leading to the Senate spending most of the Year establishing the State managed Guilds to better focus efforts, maintain order and continue to control the growth of the building Freehold along the lines of the national blueprint.
The first Guild was The New Valyrian Artisans' Guild which was in fact Established the previous year by necessity due to a shortage of farming and construction tools requiring the focus of the Freehold's blacksmiths. The Establishment of the guild was proposed by Wyvern Senator "Little Master" the Dwarf Master Smith of the "Silver Forge" of old Volantis who has openly expressed his intentions to uplift the previously neglected Artisan Class.
After the initial success of the Guild managing to make up for the equipment deficit and increasing overall output through cooperation under the guidance of the state, the Senate began preparing the foundation the next Guild to Establish.
The Next Guild established was the New Valyrian Merchants' Guild with the initial purpose of stabilizing the price of goods that were rapidly fluctuating due to the efforts of foreign price gouging merchants seeking to profiteer off of the disaster of the Doom by restricting important goods. Though the impact of this was lessened through agreements found with the ETC, New Valyria was nevertheless intent on strengthening and gaining a much firmer control of the Freehold's economy.
The Merchants' Guildmaster, the Wyvern Senator Malleus Essanar, who's efforts had kept the Budget somewhat controllable over the initial 2 years of struggle in the rebuilding process, is a long standing and experienced Volantene Merchant with many connections across Essos and much like his counterpart guildmaster in the Artisans' Guild, he seeks to uplift the Merchant class that has long been scorned and oppressed by the Aristocratic class.
The next Guild to be established was the Entertainment Guild, temporarily under control by Senator Ashara Valyr. The Entertainment guild was established in response to unscrupulous people exploiting the unfortunate who sought joy to escape the misery of their lives in the Post Doom world in which they found themselves. In the previous 3 years, there were countless underground pleasure houses and gambling dens reported for their unsavoury practices, rigged odds and exploitation of their workers and customers.
To combat this threat to New Valyrian society while not restricting the people's right to enjoy their recreational activities and providing safe work opportunities for many of the neglected and ignored in society, the Senate outlawed these illegal and exploitive establishments and created new ones that were cleaner, fairer and safer for all who might enjoy them, with the profits contributing back to the Freehold and it's people.
Alongside the Entertainment Guild was the Establishment of the New Valyrian News Guild. This Guild accompanied new policies proposed in the Senate by Senator Valyr with the objective of wanting the people to be increasingly educated and informed of current events, though these policies themselves met much more resistance and wouldn't be established for the foreseeable future. While Senator Valyr didn't get all she sought, she managed to garner support for the Guild's establishment after the success of the previously established Guilds.
The News Guild, led by Senator Valyr's personal Assistant, Maess Valyr employed many who could read and write to copy special reports from the Senate to distribute across the Freehold once a month to allow people to better see the progress of the Freehold's efforts to build a new and greater society in the Ashes of the old. Alongside the written forms, many orphans who are better at speaking were hired to shout the reports out for those who couldn't read. The New Valyrian News Report, while initially awkward and still requiring some work to perfect, quickly established itself as an unbiased and trusted source of important News and increased public sentiment for the radical factions in the Freehold.
The Final Guild Established was the Enforcement Guild. Ever since the initial evacuation to Selhorys, the City and by extension the Freehold's internal security was being managed by the Army. This divided the Army's attention from the Dothraki Liberation efforts and led to friction between soldiers who didn't properly understand the responsibilities of Guards and the citizens they were supposed to be protecting. There were many attempts over the initial months and years to establish a proper City Watch to free up the Army's focus, however the first 2 years especially were a scramble with every healthy man and woman being conscripted into all kinds of work with no spare time or manpower to train for this role.
It was only in 423 with the success of the New Valyrian State Guilds that this conversation came to rest with the Establishment of the Enforcers' Guild led by a Commander rather than a Guildmaster in the form of Arrilos Ostramahn, a former Slave who's heroic actions during the Doom led to his freedom and great respect among the people who fled Volantis. Though his establishment enraged the Turtle faction, the Turtles as a whole had little influence in the Senate in 423 due to a recent scandal involving 1 of their Senators, so they were unable to stop the Commander's appointment.
The Guild was Established with 2 Branches, each led by a Captain. The External Branch were in charge of the Defence of the city and the surrounding area with the extremely large outer City and 2nd wall taking a lot of manpower. The Internal Branch on the other hand, were in charge of maintaining order and security within the city itself, though the extent of their work and responsibilities is strangely obscured and difficult to learn about.
Report Date
30 Mar 2025
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