Post by Gaea on Apr 4, 2014 21:52:38 GMT -8
The Kingdom of Ibium is one of the longest-standing sovereign states of Elibe, an absolute monarchy that has secured its continued existence through a combination of its placement directly over most of the lucrative Nabata-Arcadia trade route and a viciously canny royal family that has survived countless assassinations, a few revolutions, and more than one failed military coups. Gold holds power, and the King holds all the gold - after disbanding nearly the entire Ibian army after the last attempted military coup during his youth, he moved to a constantly-shifting force of mercenaries, men whose loyalty is bought by gold more than empty ideals. Ibian mercenaries are known across much of southern Elibe as being excellent quality, fierce competition for fantastic pay and plenty of experience suppressing bandits combining to ensure excellence in those that survive.
And there are plenty of bandits to practice on; the mountainous southern half of Ibium is sparsely populated, dotted by bandit strongholds from which passing caravans are constantly attacked. Out of work mercenaries, people disenfranchised by royal crackdowns, plants by foreign powers - there is no shortage of people unhappy with Ibium and desperate for a shot at the colossal value that each caravan represents. The north is more peaceful, dominated more by agriculture and a number of major cities along the trade route, but people are kept sated by gold rather than love; Ibian society is heavily stratified by wealth, with the rich immune to consequences for anything they do so long as they do not act against the royal family or Ibium's continuing profits, and the opinions of the masses being seen as worth little.
Despite its shortcomings, Ibium is one of the most lucrative places in Elibe to make a fresh start in, and foreigners are perhaps even more common than natives among its glittering cities. As a function of the sheer value attached to gold, corruption is universal, but also governed by unstated rules that do not vary in the least as a result of their tacit approval by the royal family and most of those involved. While merchants and farmers alike can expect to pay certain percentages of their profits solely to pad the profits of others, enough money changes hands that it is still more lucrative to do business in Ibium than across most of the continent, and competition is fierce.
Somewhat unusually for Elibe, Ibium has a strong division between city and country; quiet rural areas stand in strong contrast to the massive, ornate cities that dot the country, each of them a priceless gem in its own right. The capital city of Iblis is the most decorated, one of the few cities in Elibe that can compete with Arcadia's sheer excess of blatant wealth.
And there are plenty of bandits to practice on; the mountainous southern half of Ibium is sparsely populated, dotted by bandit strongholds from which passing caravans are constantly attacked. Out of work mercenaries, people disenfranchised by royal crackdowns, plants by foreign powers - there is no shortage of people unhappy with Ibium and desperate for a shot at the colossal value that each caravan represents. The north is more peaceful, dominated more by agriculture and a number of major cities along the trade route, but people are kept sated by gold rather than love; Ibian society is heavily stratified by wealth, with the rich immune to consequences for anything they do so long as they do not act against the royal family or Ibium's continuing profits, and the opinions of the masses being seen as worth little.
Despite its shortcomings, Ibium is one of the most lucrative places in Elibe to make a fresh start in, and foreigners are perhaps even more common than natives among its glittering cities. As a function of the sheer value attached to gold, corruption is universal, but also governed by unstated rules that do not vary in the least as a result of their tacit approval by the royal family and most of those involved. While merchants and farmers alike can expect to pay certain percentages of their profits solely to pad the profits of others, enough money changes hands that it is still more lucrative to do business in Ibium than across most of the continent, and competition is fierce.
Somewhat unusually for Elibe, Ibium has a strong division between city and country; quiet rural areas stand in strong contrast to the massive, ornate cities that dot the country, each of them a priceless gem in its own right. The capital city of Iblis is the most decorated, one of the few cities in Elibe that can compete with Arcadia's sheer excess of blatant wealth.
