Zemylander Winter Explorers

**Zemylander Winter Explorers** is the name of the organizations, often sponsored by the zemylander nations, dedicated to the charting and surveying the lands of the continent. Their original role can be tracked to the days of the first settlements of Greater Elanxa. As one of the major sources of manpower for their war against the local powers was promising lands to settle in, the Council of Greater Elanxa organized many efforts to map the newly conquered lands. They classified it depending on their value and location and bringing the information back to them, where they would divided and shared according to rank and performance on the battlefield. These exploration efforts were led by “winter explorers”, groups of either soldiers or mercenaries sent before the armies to map out the land and write an overview of the lands the zemylanders were going to fight for. The winter explorers, in returned, were promised lands near the coast, more valuable than those in the northern areas, as well as a considerable pay. The custom of winter explorers continued all throughout the history of the zemylander nations, even after the fall of Greater Elanxa, the Zemylander and the Arkadiya empires.

By the end of the Great Hyperborean War, most lands within the zemylander nations had been explored, especially in the south. Thus, the winter explorers began reinventing themselves as traders. Their skills of moving across the often dangerous lands of Zemyland served the winter explorers well as traders, moving across the cities with wares and other products. This allowed some of the winter explorer groups to grow into legitimately big enterprises, owning important portions of land and the right to exploit certain areas of the inland for natural resources. However, it would only be after the drunig trading companies started arriving to the zemylander nations that these zemylander enterprises began thinking of expanding overseas. In particular, the Princedom of Platinum’s winter explorers were better posed to take the jump into proper trading companies, as their position at both sides of the Platinum Strait and a stronger naval tradition than the other zemylander nations gave them a leg up. However, the lack of ships designed for long travels such as the drunig galleons means that the zemylander companies mostly focus on Zemyland and the nearby lands of Littlestep, having to deal with foreign trading companies if they ever want to do business beyond that area.

## Red Furs Enterprises

The **Red Furs Enterprises** is a trading company originated from the Princedom of Platinum, and currently the biggest fully private company of this sort in Zemyland. It has roots all the way back during the days of the initial colonization by Greater Elanxa. One of the resources most appreciated in the growing zemylander cities and in the mainland were the exotic furs of the zemylander fauna. This led many to search and hunt many of said animals, causing many of those species to move northwards as the pressure from hunters escalated. While the Council of Elanxa began putting limits to the hunts, as they feared to exhaust this lucrative resource too quickly, the zemylander furs and the artisanal work with said material became popular between the population. In particular, the hunting and artisan guilds and winter explorers slowly joined together to create lucrative enterprises in the cities to the south. Red Furs Enterprises was founded during those days, and has been the only one who has managed to not only last until present day, but thrive despite the many crisis that have affected the continent. Red Furs Enterprises has grown quite powerful and influential, partnering with entities such as hyperborean mammoth herders to the north, despite the existing friction between the zemylanders and the hyperboreans. They have also accumulated a great deal of lands in seemingly worthless areas, turning them into private hunting grounds, only usable by the company. The game on these lands can only be used in case of scarcity outside, turning them into natural havens, and sometimes the local nobility will pay considerable amounts to be allowed to hunt. After the initial arrival of the drunig trading companies, the Red Furs Enterprises was poised to imitate the drunig model, as they were a well established institution in many zemylander nations by that point.

The current head of Red Furs Enterprises is **Jedanof Vidaw**, an old merchant known well in the Platinum’s trading circles as a man with great ambitions. Jedanof is investing greatly in the company’s fleet, as well as expanding in many other markets that could give them more influence in the local cities, such as fishing fleets. He is also trying to establish the company in a more active way within areas such as the Woodcutter Cities and the Orange Marquisates, though the heavy competition in the area is making that goal very difficult to attain.