Kjoqvist-Calinan Trading Company
The Kjor have done in a decade what the Avadians have been doing for millennia. This Company is going to shake the future of trade - and politics - in the Calinan Sea. I suggest we keep an eye on them.The Kjoqvist-Calinan Trading Company is a trading company established in the Calinan Sea by explorers and traders from the Kingdom of Kjoqvist in northwestern Arikanda. Currently led by Prince Eliksen of Kjoqvist and headquartered in the city-state of Solathi, it is the focal point of of Kjor expansion into the Calinan, and a potential challenger to the Mariner's Guild as the foremost trade organisation in the world. The Company trade in a variety of goods; the amber produced in their home nation of Kjoqvist is prized across the Calinan, and their stakes in the gemstone and silver trades make them a supplier of luxuries to many nations and cities on both sides of the Calinan Sea. This is bolstered by forays into shipping in textiles and foodstuffs, traditionally the domain of Avadian merchants.
-Halukalis Trax, intelligence officer in the Helikan Civil Service
Structure
The Company answers directly to King Arjor of Kjoqvist as the prime backer of the company. He has delegated authority to his son Prince Eliksen, who leads operations in the Calinan Sea. A number of Kjor nobles and high-ranking clan members work underneath Eliksen, directing the various subdepartments such.
The company is divided into a number of departments handling various aspects of the company's operations, such as settlement administration, naval trade, land trade, and workforces. Of particular significance, the company has its own private army, supplemented by the Kodiak Guard, and its own naval force to protect its interests.
Culture
The Company's culture is very Kjor-centric; whilst it does employ people from a range of nationalities, Kjor almost exclusively make up the executive and upper echelon of the organisation. A number of Solathine nobles have also been brought into the fold in light of their arrangements with the Duchy, and they occupy positions in the upper and middle echelon. The physical workforce consists of a mixture of Kjor thralls and contracted workers from Solathi and other Calinan nations.
Extra-organisational Relations
I wouldn't get between that Kjor and that Avadian right now, wayfarer. If one of them even stares too long, there's going to be a fight in here.The Company has established a mixed range of relations with the various organisations in the Calinan Sea. Their strongest ally is the Duchy of Solathi, which has forged both economic preferential deals with the Company and diplomatic ties with the Kingdom of Kjoqvist through the betrothal of Prince Eliksen to Dux Nerala's daughter Kara Avila. They have been granted exclusive access to mining grounds in Lygon, and both the company and the Duchy have grown richer for this. The Company maintains a non-aggressive, but somewhat confrontational rivalry with the Avadian Mariner's Guild and Avadian trade companies in general. Avadians have been the dominant sea and trade power in the Calinan for millennia, and the recent arrival of the Kjor threatens to challenge that hegemony, leaving a lot of Avadians in a defensive position. For their part, the Kjor see the Avadian companies as the single largest stumbling block to their prosperity in the Calinan Sea, and while no hostilities have broken out, it is believed it may be just a matter of time.
-overheard in a Solathine winehall
Public Agenda
The Kjoqvist-Calinan Trading Company's public goal is the establishment of trading networks and partnerships between the Kingdom of Kjoqvist and the various settlements and nations of the Calinan Sea.
Assets
In addition to its material wealth, the Kjor control a number of trade outposts for their exclusive use in the Calinan, and even have exclusive mines for their use in Lygon. They also have a sizable security force and a navan force of an estimated 40-50 biremes in addition to their own trade galleys.
History
The Kjoqvist-Calinan Trading Company is a recent arrival in the Calinan Sea, having been formally established nine years before the present day. For decades prior to this, Kjor sailors and traders had been putting the pieces in place for an expansion for some time, having set up outposts across the western coast of Arikanda, and expanding out into the Calinan with the reign of King Arjor.
It was Arjor who decided to formalise the expansion into a royal company, which he inaugurated in 460 TE. Prior to this, the Kjor traders had appeared to operate independently, and their solidification took the Avadian trade monopolies by surprise. In a matter of two years, trade routes had been set up across the Calinan and up the west coast of Arikanda, and in 462, Arjor sent his heir Prince Eliksen to lead the company's expanse with a contingent of Kodiak Guard and Kjor nobles, forging diplomatic ties with the Duchy of Solathi to strengthen their hold on the Calinan. This was only solidified with the betrothal of Eliksen to Kara Avila, daughter of Dux Nerala, in 466 TE.
In 469 TE, the Company has a near-unshakable grip on the northeastern edge of the Calinan continent, with a major presence in Solathi and Lygon. This has brought them into friction with other players in the Calinan, who have struggled to adapt to the Company's rapid expansion.
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