Mercenary Confederation

For all the Confederacy's faults, racism is not high on the list.  Peoples and races from all over the Shattered Lands and beyond congregate here.  As long as one pulls their weight and can carry a sword, they are welcome.  The largest racial groups are humans, half-orcs, elves (various types), and orcs.

There is a very loose government which oversees the maintenance of the area. All of the mercenary groups elect a representative to serve on the general council.  The council's jobs are minimal, but important. they oversee the dues each mercenary group has to pay, they make sure the boarders are secure, they ensure that the alliances stay true, and they keep all inter-mercenary fighting contained and official.  The council also adjudicates all territory disputes as well as any diplomatic agencies.

There is a general military guard that patrols the borders, but should any army get past them, each territory contains legions of hardened veterans that are ready to fight at a moment's notice.  The Mercenary Confederation boast the strongest defense out of almost any nation in the Shattered Lands, and it would be a fools errand to try to conquer it outright.

The Confederacy does not thrive on industry, so there is little to no production in the area.  There is a robust industry in weapon and armor production and maintenance, but all other products and sundry items have to be purchased from overland traders or taken during raids.  Generally, they prefer the former since the neighboring countries have taken to protecting their border towns from such raids, thus making it prohibitively expensive to do so.  Traveling merchants and traders also enjoy special privileges in the Confederacy provided they paid the tithe and received a badge as proof.  Anyone who attacks a protected merchant will have the entire Confederation brought upon them.

Each group within the confederation is in charge of maintaining the infrastructure in its own territory.  Therefore, depending on the success of each group and whether or not the group is willing to pay for any infrastructure, the roads, cities, and trading opportunities are variable.  Some territories have little more than dirt paths and crumbling wells while others have something close to bustling metropolises.  The most successful groups are the Twilight's Hammer, the Restless Gale, and the Hellhounds.

There are numerous factions within the territory, and the most notable of which are the following:

1. The Twilight's Hammer
2. The Restless Gale
3. The Hellhounds
4. The Fangs
5. The Swords of Zariel
6. The Eyes of Grummsh
7. The Aegis

The Hidden Legion also maintains a presence, but they keep their activity light. In addition, their headquarters is mobile, so that they don't run afoul of any of the local lords and chiefs.

When Cydonia made its bid to reconquer the Shattered Lands and establish the dominion of the Asturian Empire, they hired many mercenaries and tribal factions to augment their forces.  These troops were used to great effect and only with their help did the Cydonians get as far as they did.  However, when one of their own betrayed them, and their control started to fall apart, the Cydonian's ability to pay their soldiers was thrown into question.  Some mercenary factions went rogue or joined their former employer's enemies; however, other groups were far more cunning.  Rather than rampage through the land and run the risk of being destroyed by the Cydonians or some other enterprising kingdom, and they circled their wagons, claimed a piece of territory for their own. Once their situation was relatively secure and the fighting had calmed down, they created a formal alliance amongst themselves and started to organize the hiring of their groups to foreign powers.  Soon, the Mercenary Confederation was alive and well, and they are the primary brokers of hired military muscle.

No one is taking a pleasure trip this place.  The only reason to travel here is to hire some mercenaries.

No real architecture of note.  Many of the groups created tribal settlements, and the few major towns and cities they do have use rather dour and functional architecture with little emphasis on flare and embellishment.  Artistic construction is just not a priority, but some have found their rustic and minimalist styles to have a certain appeal.

The land is largely untamed grasslands, a few rolling hills, and the northern forests that border the Orcish Enclave.  The area  has a river which formed a natural barrier to the North, and its border to the east is hilly to the point of funneling most overland travel through two main passes.  Only the western border is fairly open and is thus the most heavily fortified.

The state of their resources is largely unknown as the soldier in the Confederacy do not care to harvest them beyond the meager deposits of iron and tin that they use captured prisoners to mine.