Coalition of Cities

Worthless, godless weaklings without a soul in their bodies. When a horde of them charges you cut them down like the mindless animals they are! - General Aurelius to his soldiers during the Heretics War.

Structure

Each associated city is given a Councilor in the government, with each city proposing a candidate for High General and voting amongst the candidates to decide who will be the military leader for the next 10 years. The High General has executive power over the military in times of war, but is otherwise powerless. Each city has self-rule, but the Council makes generalized laws and ensures fair dealings, and covers trade agreements. Each city is required to donate a militia based on its population to the army in times of war.

Public Agenda

Cohesion of the cities, defense from foreign invaders.

Assets

large tracts of fertile land, large quantities of copper and tin, mass amounts of food.

History

formed during the Heretics War to defend against Masked Lander aggression after several city states were destroyed in retaliatory actions, they put up a proper defense and counter-attack until the Masked Landers had no choice but to accept a peace treaty, built the Border Towers to act as a front-guard and a border-watch to keep out both the peoples and monsters of the Masked Lands, have remained stalwart in their pacts ever since, to the point that it is no longer solely a military matter.

Demography and Population

There are a few dozen cities, most of which have dozens or hundreds of small outlying villages around them. They are primarily human and genasi, though there are also halfling and elf populations. There is a fairly high birthrate, and whilst disease can be a problem in some places there is a relatively low deathrate due to the relatively peaceful, and sometimes downright tranquil environs.

Territories

Roughly one-third of the continents land, including much of the most fertile farmland and the eastern coastlands, held since the founding and kept as ancestral lands.

Military

A small standing army of roughly 450 soldiers, roughly evenly spread between cities with garrisons and the border-towers/outposts with the masked lands, with the ability to muster a massive army if need be.
They use war-chariots with bronze blades attached to the wheels and have both a driver and up to two warriors on board, usually using glaives or spears with an atlatl. The soldiers are outfitted with bronze or lamelar armor, a shield and a spear.

Technological Level

Copper and bronze forging, refinement of whale oil from blubber, lamelar armor, atlatls, and war chariots are their most notable technological advancements, though they also have fairly powerful telescopes for the resources they have access to.

Religion

The Masked Gods are not acknowledged or accepted within the Coalitions member cities, and the primary/common religions are a combination of ancestor and spirit worship, primarily spirits associated with the land and notable ancestors.

Foreign Relations

The Coalition has always had negative if not outright hostile relations with the peoples and organizations of the Masked Lands. With the attempted pillagings after the end of the Masked War and the resulting counter-invasion leading to the Coalitions creation to the numerous hostile actions taken by individual organizations from the Masked Lands in supposedly peaceful times, such as the Bear Knights maintaing a fortress in ceded territory or the Wolf Masked's mercenary bands offering their services in times of strife or to bandit factions. The Coalition and its people believe that the people of the Masked Lands are violent savages in a land filled with monsters and madmen, and the people of the Masked Lands often consider Easterners heretics or weaklings, and both nations covet the resources the other has, the Masked Lands wanting the stretches of extremely fertile farm-land, and the cities of the coalition hungering for the rich sources of iron and mithril that the masked lands contain in abundance.

Agriculture & Industry

Large fields of wheat and rice, with fields of cranberries and sweet potatoes also being common, and smaller/supplementary fields of taro and asparagus. Large harvests and nearly year-round growing seasons have led to larger crop yields and fewer famines, to the point that even the poorest families are able to maintain decent stores of food and continue to eat well. One of the only large exports to the Masked Lands is carts of rice, which are sent to the Court city, one of the few places that can afford the inflated prices in any conceivable quantity.

Trade & Transport

A small trade-navy, many carts and paved roads (major cities have roads made of "paver-stones" which are carved with the aid of earth spirits to fit together perfectly, smaller roads and paths between villages an connecting villages and cities are usually dirt paths, but wooden or brick ones aren't unheard of.)

Education

There are schools in every city and in many villages, though attendance is not mandatory and some of them do have a charge, most are free to anyone born in the city/village therein. The level of education varies from place to place, but the majority of people are at least semi-literate. The most educated class are those who go into worship, who are likely to learn multiple languages and learn on any number of subjects, ranging from astronomy and theology to alchemy and embalming.

Infrastructure

boarder towels, a bridges over waterways, expansive road networks and several large ports.

Founding Date

270

Type

Political, Confederation

Alternative Names

Eastern lands

Demonym

Easterners,Cohorts

Government System

Democracy, Representative

Power Structure

Confederation

Economic System

Traditional

Currency

Electrum coins are the "common coin" universal between cities, though individual cities may mint their own coinage for use within their walls only a few continue to do so, most using the universal electrum coins.

Major Exports

large quantities of rice, small amounts of whale oil.