Gvilderstaaten

The islands between the Azan Empire and the Hobbits, on what is called the Widening Sea, are home to the **Gvilderstaaten**, a loose confederation of free ports and cities, ruled by a council composed of guilds and nobles. The population is mainly of tiefling, hobbit and humans extraction with an old tiefling nobility hanging on to its titles in the face of ever more oppressive hobbit guilds and human merchant companies. The main ports in the region are Ny-Khatissima and Sal-Saluki. Many mercenary companies of ogres and amazons also operate from this region.

## History

The Inselsenn Archipelago was first settled by humans long before recorded history. There is some myths of them once being legendary raiders, but by the time of the early Dragon/Azan Empire, the archipelago was quiet and lawful.

It was used for a time as a launching point for invasions and fleet actions against the lands further north, but by the time of the New Azan Faith Reformations, peace had been firmly established, and former military ports were instead converted to merchant ports.

This led to the ports of the Inselsenn Archipelago being among the most diverse in the Azan Empire, with merchant fleets trading all along the northern and western coasts. This helped create a culture of tolerance at a time when the narrow mindedness of the Old Faith still had some sway in much of the Azan Empire. Demon tieflings came here to avoid the purges, and hobbits from the Lands Behind the Hedge came in here in large numbers, establishing valuable trade ties between regions that were historically rivals.

The unusually high concentration of new wealth and powerful merchant families led to the Inselsenn Province gaining a wide range of special rights compared to other province, and at some point around 300 years ago, the region became de facto independent, taking on the name Gvilderstaaten, “Guild State” in the local tongue, a reference to the powerful Merchant’s Guild which had recently won the right to elect the governor, vote on laws, and raise its own army, navy, and city watches.

## Government

Gvilderstaaten is still technically an Azan Empire province, but the Merchant’s Guild runs the military, sets foreign policy, and elects the governor, who is mostly a figurehead anyways. Despite the core Azan Empire territories considering Gvilderstaaten a lawless free for all, it is actually a fairly well run nation, with only mild corruption and relatively limited crime. Slavery and drug trafficking are generally not tolerated here, but drugs are easy to hide from inspectors.

The Merchant’s Guild is made up of about 50 or so of the richest families in the nation, along with a many trade guilds and merchant companies, though the number fluctuates as new seats are sometimes created for those who can afford the enormous initiation fee, while other seats disappear as members fall on hard financial times and can’t afford the high annual fees.

The Merchant’s Guild only handles high level issues though, cities and towns have their own lesser equivalents that deal with local issues.

## Economy

Gvilderstaaten’s economy obviously relies heavily on trade. In particular, it is the main conduit for trade between the Lands Behind the Hedge and the Azan Empire and lands further south. A wide range of luxury goods flow both ways, with pipeweed, diamonds, and unusual alcohols coming from the Lands Behind the Hedge in return for silks, spices, and fine wine. The wages of the sailors themselves also contribute to the economy, though Gvilderstaaten isn't as sleazy as Daligrad.

Banking is another booming element of the economy, with many foreigners preferring Gvilderstaaten's unique mix of lawfulness and risk taking.

Away from the main cities, Gvilderstaaten is quiet and prosperous, with farms, vineyards, and fishing villages covering much of the land aside for some protected forests and merchant villas.

## Foreign Relations

Gvilderstaaten trades with most nations that can be reached by the ocean, though mostly those on the western half of the continent for obvious reasons.

### Azan Empire

Gvilderstaaten is technically a province still, but almost no one considers it as such. The two nations remain close.

### Lands Behind the Hedge

Gvilderstaaten is the main conduit of trade between these nations and the humans to the south, a fact that has made Gvilderstaaten very wealthy.

### Terusia

A lot of trade to Gvilderstaaten passes through Terusia. Gvilderstaaten openly backs the alleged plan to create a canal through the isthmus.

### Moreelse

Disliked as it is a source of much of the drugs that smugglers try to sneak past inspectors.

## Geography

Gvilderstaaten has a number of cities and ports, with Ny-Khatissima and Sal-Saluki being the largest.

The rest of archipelago is fairly cultivated, and has a pleasant warm-dry climate.

## Demographics

### Humans

Humans make up most of the population. The natives have fair skin, eyes, and hair, similar to many other nations in the northwest, but the dark haired phenotypes common in the south and central parts of the Azan Empire are common here too. In the main port cities, all sorts of humans from around the world can be found, from places as far away as Lunatik Nine and Drunigzar.

### Hobbits

Hobbits are very common in the cities, and found in reasonable numbers in rural areas. Gvilderstaaten has found itself as the heart of a relatively new hobbit culture based on merchant endeavours, and thanks to their connections in the hobbit and gnome land further north they are increasingly wealthy compared to the human and tiefling merchants.

### Demon Tieflings

Gvilderstaaten’s reputation for unusual tolerance has caused it to attract many demon tieflings, who have historically faced discrimination elsewhere in the Azan Empire. Demon Tieflings still have a bit of a reputation for being inclined towards evil, but many have become trusted members of their communities.

### Dragon Tieflings

Gvilderstaaten has an unusually high percentage of them as well, a throw back to when the old Azan Empire nobles would send their lesser branches to oversee their merchant interests in Gvilderstaaten. Dragon tiefling families have a reputation of being stuck in the past, but they still make up a significant portion of the main noble and merchant clans, even more so than in the core Azan Empire.

### Ogres

Ogres are not uncommon as mercenaries, though usually only the smartest are tolerated in Gvilderstaaten.

### Amazons

Amazons are rare, but Gvilderstaaten is one of the few places one can encounter them outside of the Isle of Wizards. They are generally retirees starting a second career as mercenaries.

### Miscellaneous

All sorts of other folk can be found in the main port cities including dwarves, gnomes, wood elves, witch-elves, brownies, drow, she-ep, mastodons, and assorted half-breeds.

## Religion

The main religion is the New Azan Faith, but all sorts of temples can be found here, as long as the religion in question doesn’t involve evil acts.

## Military

Gvilderstaaten has a small army and navy, but the city watches and rural magistrates and their militias are much more commonly encountered. These fighters are nothing special, with sword, halberd, and crossbow still dominant, and a somewhat below average number of spellcasters.

Nobles, merchants, banks, and trade guilds tend to have mercenary protectors of varying quality, from poorly paid watchmen with clubs to exotic bodyguards like ogres and amazons.