The Free States

The Free States is a collection of independent states, duchies, city states, clans and counties loosely aligned or fully independent from the larger kingdoms of Clamund. The Free States encompass all of the southern coasts of Clamund where trade is frequent and highly profitable given how many continents from abroad come to trade in Clamund. With a interlapping and complex string of alliances coupled with fertile farmland, nobody has yet to conquer the lands entirely. Many nobles are self-proclaimed and share the crown to the next candidate after death, but aside from trade and alliances, the Free States is also a hotbed of perpetual violence that many of the feuding and competing states often rally against. The Free States usually become a breeding ground for new mercenary companies and independent sellswords as conflict arises; forcing displaced peasants and freemen to sell their belongings and venture out from their lands to find payment. As trade dominates the southern Free States, the power mostly resides by those who have access and the free will to sign contracts and sell warehouses to merchants who in return bolster the states economy. There are few who hold as much power within the Free States as the Merchant Lords, who are lavish in lifestyle and express their wealth by proclaiming nobility despite having no ties. However, there are many merchant nobles who can record their formation as far back as 200. 
As there exists a large amount of states within the Southern Region, conflict is often commonplace and strife is usually taken advantage of by militarily powerful entities which could lead to fracturing within states and alliances. Outlaw kings and robber barons often take control of land that is not entirely staked by any states such as the Border Lands in both sides of the Southern Region as well as the clan territories as it is not uncommon for upstart lords and clan chieftains to unite the clans to invade neighboring states. 
== History ==
Many have come to believe that the Free States didn’t have an epic history as many other Kingdoms had. Instead, the Free States was started by a few merchant guilds and foreign traders that wanted their own towns and cities unaffected by Kingdom warfare and politics. So with a hefty bribe. Many nobles of their towns either resigned to watch over their many other estates or joined the guild with a high rank. Rises to power for the free states in the Eastern Regions mostly violent as many of the free states demanded to adopt feudalism instead of the brutal clan systems they were subjected to. This did not go well with many other clans and tribes in the region which sparked the tribal assimilation crisis. This led to many new Free States in the East Region constantly harassed by tribes close to them in an attempt to eliminate any sign of society evolving from tribalism. 
This went on for years up until the States were able to pay for mercenaries and their professional standing armies that we're able to repel the tribes. Those who couldn't pay for armies were eventually raided and sacked of all of their property and land. This led to many northern cities and towns that wanted to be free from the grasps of the clan system and tribalism to be destroyed and left in ruin for many years. 
As centuries passed. The Free States grew in size, so big in fact that freedom was granted to many towns and cities that were tied to the Holy Empire of Visimar. This enraged the Emperor of Visimar (Karl II (865-924)) at the time, to the point of declaring war upon all the Free States in the Mid Region. During this war, many towns were sacked, their guilds in ruin. This went on for more than a year with success and military victories only being given to the emperor as his superior fighting force going against meagre militias and small professional armies
Once the free states were cut down to only the southern regions, that’s when many of the states came together to pay the Empire to cease hostilities and end the war, And so he did. After the war was over. The Free States once again flourished. Only this time, they were less intact than they were only years prior.
The number of states usually fluctuates throughout the history of Clamund as bigger states frequently fracture into smaller states or are integrated into nearby kingdoms as a result of unannounced invasions. As of 1301, Clamund possesses over 20 states including several smaller mayorials and warlords that inhabit the borderlands between the major states as lawlessness dominates these lands. 
== Geography ==
Despite inhabiting most of the Southern Region, the free states are known to possess a vast swathe of diverse landscape. Both trade roads in the Free States which connect the inland states to the Iron Gullet and several trade cities go through marshlands as well as rolling plains. Having this diverse set of land within the Free States allow for most cities to have most needed resources at a relatively close and low cost. The mountains in the southeastern region is home to most of the clans that call the free states their home and is often a place of turmoil given the constant state of clan warfare and raids which often bleed out of the mountains and into the neighboring states.
=== Felljaw Mountains ===
The Felljaw mountains is a rocky and winding place which is home to a majority of the clans who live in the free states. The mountains are hard to traverse and are often fatal to travel unless properly covered by the scorching sun. However, outside of summer seasons, clan warbands regularly traverse the wastelands in search of potential raiding targets, usually in numbers between 20-80. No official city state have claimed the territory as their own given the amount of clans that operate within the mountains, often using the borderland bridge between the state of Limesbury and Vinford to return to the Union of Maol-Moirel.
=== Southeastern Region ===
The Southeastern region of the free states or the Eastern States is land held by the Eastern States. Unlike the lands of the west which is fertile and usually plain like, the eastern region is murky and swampy, making it a terrible place for farming unless its along the coast. This region encompasses the states clan population who live in the Felljaw Mountains.
== Government ==
=== Merchant Lords ===
Merchant Lords refer to the specific type of dominant nobility within the free states who have harnessed both the commerce and military aspect of their reign, as a result, becoming a very powerful and independent entity within the free states. Merchant Lords usually retain a limited and shallow-based claim to their titles as many titles are passed among ruling families and powerful individuals as power struggles are not entirely uncommon among noble titles in the free states. Although powerful, merchant lords are not as common as common landed nobles as some titles have an overpowering merchant class which makes up a majority of fighting forces which the ruling noble must have power and favor over. Merchant Lords however have a monopoly over their merchants as opposed to being directed and ruled by them, utilizing levies and retinues through fealty.
Merchant nobles can range from ranks from barons to petty kings as we see with the Petty Kingdom of Dortmund, a sizable territory in the Free States that is dominated by a single long-lasting dynasty of merchant kings. In total, around a dozen merchant lords are known to be in power within the free states.
=== Independent Nobles ===
Independent Nobles operate much similar to the feudal kingdoms to the north of the Free States as it is a trusted and well used system in Clamund. Although not as powerful as Merchant Lords due to their reliance on commerce and merchant guilds expressly due to the fact that they lack the lands and fiefs to properly extract a sustainable tax to function. Many free nobles face this problem which leads to many to adapt a widespread amount of merchants to extract production and trade networks between the free states. In return for the land to construct warehouses, factories and personal estates in, merchants offer their services as administrators to the noble's estate as well as offering soldiers in the form of serfs tied to the senior merchant classes and their lands.
Compared to the Merchant Lords, many independent nobles have meagre and tiny parcels of land within the Free States. Most territories rarely exceed the size of a large city and the number of serfs and citizens tied to the land is reflected through their small and desolate numbers. In most cases, these small numbers of peasants are nomadic as many freeman drift from county to duchy in search of professional jobs and livable conditions, but those who are tied to the fiefs as serfs through the feudal system are often heavily exploited in unpaid factories while in their off-hours they tend to their crops for taxes.
=== Lord Mayorials ===
Mayorials and small nobles are usually territories that are usually as big as a valley. Many of the fiefs are simply territories which encompass a single town or city largely dominated by a single lord mayor or a merchant's guild. In most cases, the title of mayor is usually often shared among multiple notable figures of a town rather than a single dynasty, making them much more autonomous and self sufficient without the burdens of heavy taxes and an enserfed population. The regional power held by mayorials is remarkably smaller compared to other landed titles in the free states; however, they are one of the most numerous examples of governance in the free states, most notably along the coast where merchant guilds use their easy access to the sea for their independent self-sufficiency.
Militarily, mayorials regularly rely on diplomatic alliances which secure their lands defensively and offensively if a local state becomes too powerful, too quickly. In most cases, mayorials can only raise the freemen that reside in their cities or towns which usually bring less than 200 men average. The small numbers make warfare in the free states often and small in scale as mayorials regularly compete with one another for territory. Some territories also regularly sell their land to knightly orders if their lord commanders see it fit for castles and in return serve in their army when they are not under contract for a certain period of the year.
=== Clans ===
Several independently aligned clans exist only in the eastern region who function and rule outside of large clan rule like in the Union of Maol-Moirel. Although some clans effectively live nomadic lifestyles within kingdoms outside of the free states, given the low centralism of the free states, many opportunistic clan chiefs and war bands usually opt to settle in raided territory, effectively either inheriting the titles and serfs of the land and ruling over it as a petty warlords, or migrating their clan into the territory and taking it as their own. Many clans that rule this way have become military pillars within the free states as clansmen; rather than raiding their neighbors, sell their swords to fight in local conflicts among the city states. Because of this, clans have earned their place within the free states and many nobles and mayors acknowledge and tolerate the existence of clans in the free states.
Like clans that live within the kingdoms north of the free states, clans are often locked in ritualistic combat between figureheads within the clan which often leads to infighting and raids that affect other states around them. Due to the ferocious nature of clan combat, most males within a clan are modestly better trained than an average feudal levy, and their equipment and tactics fit a hit-and-run nature, making them a fearful enemy outside of pitched battles.
Outside of the battlefield, clans only make up a small percentage of states within the free states, making them a very rare sight outside of the eastern region that borders with Maol-Moirel.
=== Bishoprics ===
Bishoprics comprise of the religious enclaves established by the Order of Paragon during the age of iron. Bishoprics are essentially in vassalage to the Arch-Confessor who rule their church and properties as a lord of sorts. When there is a lack of nobility to administer the lands, bishoprics either take control peacefully or by force and essentially turn into a lord. Bishoprics are often dominated by a bishop and a council of mayors who administer the land in ways the bishop cannot. Districts under control of a Bishopric are usually always centers of religion for Paragonism who often draws followers in by means of training and sending confessors out on missions in order to uphold Paragonism in the largely non-religious Free States. Many nobles are afraid of invading or raiding Bishoprics as Bishops can call for aid from the Holy Empire in hopes that a bored noble or Lord Confessor might send forces as relief down the Iron Gullet. These threats alone are the main reason why Bishoprics still exist.
== Culture & Population ==
The people of the Free States are often poor and malnourished. The constant state of warfare within the Free States as well as the lack of supplies across some provinces meant that villages and towns often experience famines unless properly equipped with facilities to maintain food storage. The free states is largely dominated by the middle class who are often lower-class nobles or merchants who administer over larger operations run by merchant guilds or lord merchants. Religion is dominated by the belief of nothing but many peasants and merchants follow Paragonism just as much.
Culturally, Free Staters relish in the fact that they contain a plethora of cultures due to many of the population coming from different parts of Clamund and abroad. The mixture of cultures seen in many coastal cities show that not only Clamundian influence is recognized, but other continents abroad as well; most notably Xhishun who brought workers from the Zhongshi Empire in the Free City of Sogo under the authority of the Jade Merchant Company.
Metals are extremely rare among the Free States meaning that many objects owned by people within the Free States usually come from pottery and stone tools. Although most carpenters and woodcutters have easy access to metal tools given to them by their lord, those without special jobs are stuck with wooden and clay tools to build their homes which are often built with a mixture of earth and wood.
== Military ==
Many Free States are too small to muster a proper army like the kingdoms in the north. A large kingdom in the Free States can only muster around 200 professional men-at-arms drawn from the nobility and merchant population who are armed extremely well, but lack the training to utilize their equipment properly, while the rest would consist of poor levies, brought to battle by the men-at-arms that they serve. The size of armies within the Free States could only realistically reach around 1000 men ready to fight. Most Free States utilize a portion of their standing armies for mercenaries when their treasury permits it. Mercenaries are usually the bolstering that a Free State force needs in battle as generally most established companies arm their men with superior equipment as most who come into battle march in with at least 2 weapons and a piece of armour to a man.
More often than not, mercenaries are used to fight wars for the Free States given how many cities can afford the expenses and not fear of supply routes and widespread desertion. Mercenary companies often fight one another if the free states fighting are rich enough and usually affairs are bloody and often fatal for all of those involved. The small armies of the free states gives little in hopes of long-lasting campaigns so wars are often fought with mercenaries and are usually decided within a battle of short-term siege as to avoid astronomical casualties among the civilian population. In the rare times levies are called they are usually heavily assisted by armoured mercenaries who take up frontlines duties. The Greyface Wars between the City of Daggerford and the Merchant City of Elderport sums up Free State warfare in a nutshell but spans over several wars as their relations towards one another bordered on outright war.
Category:Kingdoms
Category:Minor Kingdoms