Sapphire Syndicate

The Sapphire Syndicate is lead by a chairman / chairwoman, who lives in Daggernest and is elected every 5 years by a the mayors of the towns of Nala, the mayors of Daggernest, Javervein, and Cinnaport hold more power then the mayors of the smaller towns, but can be outvoted with enough unity. The syndicate acts in unity and holds conferences regularly to discuss matters of national importance. The mayors live in the towns they govern but must regularly travel to Daggernest to hold these conferences or surrender their vote. The chairman acts primarily as a mediator over the mayors and only gets a vote in instances of a tie, other then that they are responsible for staying informed on each of the towns status and ensuring the mayors stay to what was voted. To accomplish this the chairman has full control of the syndicate police.

The syndicate has developed a modest and peaceful culture, it has not yet seen proper war, and it does not have many trading partners. Its people rely heavily on fish as a food supply and so have come to view Suraz and the oceans in high regard as can be seen by what art they do produce. While the worship of Suraz is not state mandated it is heavily practiced. The peoples modesty is rooted in an acceptance of their ignorance of the world outside their shores, they have spent the majority of their existence as a unified people, concerned only with matters at home.

The syndicate exists for two primary purposes, first to maintain a sense of national unity amongst the smaller towns, and second to protect its people from potential outside threats, they have a moderate navy to protect themselves with.

While explorers found the shores of Nala quickly after the fracturing, its native people were docile and welcoming to the new faces. Together hamlets were built, that grew to villages, then towns, and even a few cities. Each settlement operated independently for more then a century, however, as Westerstrum grew in power and size, and then began developing its navy, the people of Nala grew uneasy. The leader of Daggernest in the year 126 CT came to each of the other settlements with a simple solution, to form a united nation, maintaining as much equal power as was reasonable, to defend themselves should the empires attention ever fall on them. Since then a sense of nationalism has developed, with the people of Nala finding themselves simply pleased with their simple lives. The syndicate focused internally for a while, ensuring food, jobs, and wealth was distributed amongst the people, and in recent years have begun to look to trade with the outside world.

The populace is mostly found in the capital of Daggernest, with Javervein and Cinnaport having grown into very widespread cities, their populations together still dont outmatch Daggernest. The syndicate is however home to a wide range of racial diversity, many different peoples have arrived at its shores and decided to adopt the lifestyle, finding the neutrality stance appealing.

The Sapphire Syndicate, does not have an army, they rely on local police for enforcing the law. They do have a modest navy that is continually being built up, should they be attacked at any point in the future. Since the navy does not see any real combat however, it is most commonly found assisting with harvesting fish.

Worship of Suraz is a frequent practice in the syndicate, it is not mandated and the people have full religious freedom, but over time Suraz has become clearly the most popular of the deities, statues of him have even been commissioned by several chairmen.

The empire of Westerstrum has been the syndicates primary external contact, almost exclusively. In recent years representatives from the Harken Trading Federation have shown interest in becoming a trade partner, and the chairman has been invited to Saffronbreak to bring relations with the Oakenbust Clans closer on several occasions. The Frostfall Order has acknowledged the syndicate as a legitimate body and invited the chairman to Snowstor, but the syndicate has not yet gone.

The land of Nala is not the most favorable to agriculture, the soil is rich with nutrients and where they can farm they do, but the rocky landscape, close shore proximity, and centralized mountain range limit the amount of land that can be dedicated to farms. Due to careful deforestation and replanting, they have managed to keep a sustainable lumber industry, which is split between expansion of the towns and cities and construction of navy vessels. The syndicate is home to many fishermen and is not short on food, and while the mountains prove a challenge to agriculture, they have allowed for the development of a thriving mining industry.

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The mass public of the syndicate is relatively undereducated, while there are reputable schools in Daggernest, the majority of the people either cant afford it, cant make it to the city, or simply have no urge to attend. This leaves the few educated with a clear advantage over the mass public in terms of well being and opportunity, but it has stunted the speed of development at a technological level, and has laid the seeds of a forming aristocracy.

Most buildings throughout the syndicate are made of wood, with Daggernest being the only place in Nala to have noticeable masonry. The roads are not paved, but travel from town to town is not frequent. In Daggernest, the public infastructure is considerably superior to the rest of the nation, even Javervein and Cinnaport are still mostly village style structures.