The Saffron Winds Trade Union SWTU
Brief Overview
The Saffron Winds Trade Union (SWTU) is a merchant coalition originally founded by Kozukan traders, designed to break through monopolistic control and create trade opportunities beyond the borders of their homeland. While the Basara Trading Company (BTC) dominates maritime power and the Rahani Mercantile Consortium (RMC) controls inland commerce, SWTU fills the gaps neither faction prioritizes—specializing in exotic imports, high-risk trade ventures, and independent merchant protection.
Though smaller than BTC, SWTU’s fleet is renowned for its speed, maneuverability, and precision, making it a dominant force in high-value, high-risk trade routes. Their economic reach extends far beyond the Sultanate, securing exclusive trade agreements with Kozuka, the Dominion of Kafka, and other foreign factions.
SWTU’s success comes from its ability to adapt, pivot, and negotiate, ensuring profitability even in times of economic instability. Their leaders are cunning, pragmatic, and fiercely independent, seeing themselves as the protectors of free commerce against monopolistic oppression.
The Saffron Winds Trade Union is more than just a merchant guild—it is a trade empire that values freedom, adaptability, and opportunity. Though smaller than BTC, its strategic alliances, elite fleet, and mastery of foreign trade ensure that it remains an unshakable force in the world of commerce.
While RMC controls the land and BTC commands the seas, SWTU navigates the ever-shifting currents of trade, ensuring that those who sail with them always find fortune on the wind.
Core Trade Specialties
Exclusive Kozukan Trade Agreements – Handles silks, spices, alchemical reagents, and rare artifacts from the secular and secretive land of Kozuka.
Independent Merchant Protection – Provides security, trade access, and diplomatic leverage to smaller trade companies operating under SWTU’s banner.
High-Speed Maritime Transport – The Grey Fleet is designed for fast, strategic movement, ensuring goods arrive on time, no matter the risks.
Go-Between for Major Trade Powers – Maintains the balance between BTC, RMC, and international markets, preventing conflicts that could destabilize commerce.
Structure
1. Marquis Milim Tsunemori – Supreme Leader of SWTU
Oversees all major trade negotiations, political alliances, and fleet management.
Holds final authority over trade agreements, merchant protections, and foreign partnerships.
Personally commands the largest warship in The Grey Fleet, ensuring direct oversight over critical operations.
"The sea does not reward the timid. Neither does trade."
2. The Ryūsankai (流産会) – The Council of Flowing Prosperity
The Ryūsankai serves as SWTU’s governing body, ensuring economic, military, and diplomatic stability. This council is comprised of four high-ranking merchant-lords and fleet commanders, each specializing in a critical aspect of SWTU’s operations.
Key Council Members:
Isamu Kurozawa (Master of Foreign Trade) – Oversees SWTU’s footholds in Kozuka and other foreign markets, ensuring exclusive trade rights.
Rokuro Maren (Master of Fleet Operations) – Commands The Grey Fleet, ensuring naval superiority through speed and tactical maneuvering.
Zara Wren (Master of Independent Merchant Affairs) – Acts as the bridge between SWTU and smaller merchants, ensuring fair trade under SWTU’s umbrella.
Kasumi Daigo (Master of Espionage & Trade Intelligence) – Controls SWTU’s network of spies, informants, and trade intelligence operatives, ensuring they stay ahead of rivals and pirate threats.
Ryūsankai Philosophy:
"The wind does not demand, nor does it force. It carries those who know how to move with it."
3. The Stormborn Legionnaires (嵐生軍, Arashisei-gun) – SWTU’s Regional Leaders & Fleet Captains
The Stormborn Legionnaires are SWTU’s elite merchant-lords and naval commanders, responsible for ensuring trade operations across the world.
Unlike BTC’s militarized command structure or RMC’s noble hierarchy, SWTU operates through a network of independent but loyal captains and trade lords.
These Legionnaires govern regional trade operations, ensuring fluid commerce across the seas and foreign ports.
Each Stormborn Legionnaire commands their own fleet or trade network, answering directly to the Ryūsankai.
Stormborn Saying:
"A ship that waits for calm seas never reaches its destination."
Public Agenda
1. Ensuring Free Trade & Merchant Protection
Provides smaller merchants with security, legal representation, and economic support.
Shields Kozukan traders from being strong-armed by the Sultanate’s larger trade factions.
Maintains neutrality in economic disputes, ensuring continued stability in trade routes.
2. Expanding Kozukan & Foreign Markets
Maintains exclusive trade ties with Kozuka, ensuring a steady flow of exotic goods.
Acts as intermediaries between Kozukan merchants and the Sultanate, keeping trade routes open despite Kozuka’s isolationist tendencies.
3. Maintaining the Balance Between BTC, RMC, and Other Merchant Powers
Prevents BTC’s aggressive expansion from overwhelming free markets.
Ensures RMC does not completely monopolize luxury trade.
Encourages cooperative trade agreements rather than economic warfare.
Assets
1. Financial Wealth
Holds vast reserves of gold, silver, and trade credit.
Profits from high-risk, high-reward trade ventures, particularly in spices, silks, and rare alchemical materials.
2. Real Estate & Infrastructure
Headquarters in Milas, controlling the eastern Sultanate’s most valuable port city.
Major footholds in Kozuka, particularly in the Port Cities of Inari and Tachibana.
Exclusive mining operations north of Milas, providing rare metals, salt, and alchemical minerals.
3. Military & Security Forces
The Grey Fleet (60+ Ships):
20 Swift Corsairs – Used for merchant escort and high-speed transportation.
15 Armed Frigates – Fast warships designed for interception, anti-piracy, and defensive skirmishes.
5 Heavy Galleons – Large ships serving as flagships and strongholds for key operations.
Several dozen trade vessels under SWTU’s banner, most lightly armed but optimized for speed.
Mercenary Contracts & Privateer Alliances – SWTU regularly hires and deploys independent fighters to protect trade interests.
4. Trade & Business Holdings
Exclusive Kozukan Trade Rights – Ensures no other Sultanate trade faction can deal directly with Kozuka without SWTU’s approval.
Exotic Spice & Silk Monopoly – Dominates the market for rare Kozukan goods, ensuring steady demand.
Middleman for High-Risk Trades – Deals with black markets, hidden auctions, and rare luxury sales.
History
The Saffron Winds Trade Union began as a small merchant coalition in Kozuka, but through strategic expansion, powerful leadership, and adaptability, it grew into one of the most influential trade organizations in the Sultanate and beyond. Though it lacks the sheer military strength of BTC or the noble prestige of RMC, SWTU’s ability to navigate both legal and shadow markets has made it a formidable player in global trade.
1. The Founding of the Trade Union (317 AEL)
Founder: Asuna Ryugamine (317-355 AEL) – The First Wind
Asuna Ryugamine, a brilliant Kozukan businesswoman, recognized the oppressive monopolies controlled by noble houses and shogunate-backed trade guilds.
She gathered independent merchants and lesser trade houses under one banner, forming what would become the Saffron Winds Trade Union.
Focused on fair trade, collective bargaining, and protection from exploitative practices.
By 330 AEL, SWTU controlled a significant portion of Kozuka’s independent spice, silk, and rare goods trade, operating primarily from the Port City of Inari.
Asuna’s Philosophy:
"A single merchant is a pawn. A thousand merchants are a force of nature."
Notable Achievements Under Asuna’s Leadership:
Established trade routes between Kozuka’s eastern ports and the Sultanate.
Broke the power of predatory noble-backed merchant houses, giving smaller traders economic security.
Created the Ryūsankai, SWTU’s governing body, ensuring decentralized power and adaptability.
2. The Expansion & Shadow Conflicts (355-402 AEL)
Leader: Shinobu Hatakana (355-402 AEL) – The Venara Merchant Queen
Shinobu Hatakana, a cunning Venara woman, expanded SWTU’s reach beyond Kozuka’s borders.
Under her leadership, SWTU gained access to high-risk trade ventures, dealing in forbidden goods, rare alchemical components, and smuggled artifacts.
SWTU fought against noble-backed mercantile assassins and corrupt samurai factions, protecting independent merchants from brutal retaliation.
By 390 AEL, SWTU had secured footholds in Tachibana, establishing a naval presence capable of rivaling state-sponsored fleets.
Shinobu’s Warning:
"A good trade deal is like a well-placed dagger—it cuts deep, but leaves no blood."
Notable Achievements Under Shinobu’s Leadership:
Created covert trade routes for goods restricted by Kozukan isolationist policies.
Founded SWTU’s first official military protection force, the Stormborn Legionnaires.
Expanded operations into the Sultanate’s eastern coastline, quietly competing with early Basara merchants.
3. Beyond Kozuka – The Global Expansion (402-449 AEL)
Leader: Hiro Mashima (402-449 AEL) – The Kenku Shadow Broker
Hiro Mashima, a shrewd Kenku merchant, was the first to expand SWTU beyond Kozuka’s strict borders, bringing its influence into foreign markets.
In 421 AEL, Hiro negotiated a landmark trade agreement with the Dominion of Kafka, giving SWTU exclusive access to northern Granheim’s fur, medicinal herbs, and rare minerals.
In 437 AEL, Hiro secured the first permanent foothold in the Sultanate’s Port City of Milas, marking SWTU’s official entry into the Sultanate’s trade wars.
Unlike BTC’s militarized aggression, Hiro ensured SWTU remained flexible, focusing on negotiation, subtlety, and playing major trade factions against each other.
Hiro’s Strategy:
"The trick is not to own the market—the trick is to control who buys and who sells."
Notable Achievements Under Hiro’s Leadership:
Brokered the first Sultanate-Kozuka trade agreement, opening rare goods markets for the first time in centuries.
Established secret contracts with the Rahani Mercantile Consortium, ensuring mutual benefit without direct rivalry.
Funded the first high-speed trade ships that would later form the core of the Grey Fleet.
4. The Rise of Milim Tsunemori (449 AEL - Present)
Leader: Milim Tsunemori (449 AEL - Present) – The Fox of the Eastern Winds
Milim Tsunemori, a Vulpin merchant-lord, was Hiro Mashima’s personal protégé.
At just 20 years old, she inherited control of SWTU after Hiro’s passing at age 87.
Unlike her predecessors, Milim did not simply aim for quiet expansion—she aimed for dominance.
In 452 AEL, she successfully brokered a three-way non-compete agreement between BTC, RMC, and SWTU, securing the Trade Council Meetings, which dictate the Sultanate’s economic stability.
In 458 AEL, the Sultan officially granted her the title of Marquis, making her the first SWTU leader to hold noble authority over a city (Milas).
Under her leadership, SWTU cemented its footholds in both Kozuka and the Sultanate, ensuring no faction could completely cut them out of the economic equation.
Milim’s Doctrine:
"Control the flow, and you control the wealth. Let them fight over the gold—we own the seas that bring it to them."
Notable Achievements Under Milim’s Leadership:
Turned Milas into a trade capital, securing its future as SWTU’s headquarters.
Strengthened SWTU’s naval forces, ensuring The Grey Fleet remained competitive against BTC.
Enforced the Kozukan-Sultanate trade monopoly, ensuring SWTU controls the most valuable foreign goods markets.
Expanded SWTU’s influence in the Sultan’s court, securing political leverage unlike any leader before her.
Major Historical Trade Agreements & Political Moves
1. The Dominion of Kafka Trade Agreement (421 AEL)
Secured exclusive rights to Granheim’s rare medicinal herbs, furs, and minerals.
Ensured the Dominion of Kafka’s dependence on SWTU for exports.
2. Kozukan-Sultanate Trade Agreement (437 AEL)
Broke centuries of Kozukan isolation, opening direct trade with the Sultanate.
Ensured that Kozukan goods could not be purchased without going through SWTU.
3. The Merchant Power Balance Treaty (452 AEL)
Established the Trade Council Meetings, ensuring BTC, RMC, and SWTU cooperated rather than waged economic war.
Created strict but fair trade zones, preventing one faction from completely overpowering another.
4. The Elevation of Milim Tsunemori to Marquis (458 AEL)
SWTU was officially recognized as a governing power within the Sultanate.
Milim was granted control of Milas, ensuring SWTU had a permanent foothold in noble affairs.
Final Thoughts
The Saffron Winds Trade Union began as a merchant uprising against noble corruption, but it has become one of the most formidable trade organizations in the world.
Under Milim Tsunemori, SWTU is no longer just a trade guild—it is a governing force, balancing the ever-shifting sands of commerce, politics, and international intrigue.
While its rivals compete through brute force and aristocratic influence, SWTU moves like the wind—never still, never fully grasped, and always ahead of the game.
“The Winds Carry Opportunity to Those Who Dare.”
Founding Date
317
Alternative Names
The Free Winds of Commerce
Leader
Founders
Location
Notable Members
