Post by Gaea on Feb 1, 2017 16:18:50 GMT -8
History
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 to be of 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 West, and competition is fierce.
Military
Rather than a standing army, Ibium makes extensive use of mercenaries to deal with its endless stream of problems; this leaves it unable to extend its force much outside of the kingdom's borders, but the country's vast wealth and inherent interest in protecting the lucrative caravans ensures that there is always gold in the coffers to pay off fighting men. Given that there always seems to be a dozen simultaneous threats, from rampaging monsters, angry youkai, bandits, or neighboring countries looking for a slice of the pie, it is seen as almost a Promised Land to men and women who are willing to fight and die for coin - work is never in shortage. Neither is corruption and competition. Merchant guilds and powerful lords often engage in short but brutal trade wars, using the notorious unreliability and bloodthirstiness of mercenaries as an easy out in case their involvement is ever suggested.
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 to be of 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 West, and competition is fierce.
Military
Rather than a standing army, Ibium makes extensive use of mercenaries to deal with its endless stream of problems; this leaves it unable to extend its force much outside of the kingdom's borders, but the country's vast wealth and inherent interest in protecting the lucrative caravans ensures that there is always gold in the coffers to pay off fighting men. Given that there always seems to be a dozen simultaneous threats, from rampaging monsters, angry youkai, bandits, or neighboring countries looking for a slice of the pie, it is seen as almost a Promised Land to men and women who are willing to fight and die for coin - work is never in shortage. Neither is corruption and competition. Merchant guilds and powerful lords often engage in short but brutal trade wars, using the notorious unreliability and bloodthirstiness of mercenaries as an easy out in case their involvement is ever suggested.
