History of Tempstradium

A History of the Tempstradium By Prixton Smerrs Ironcrux Historical Society, Ferrocrown 267 AT

Opening Notes

Folks often ask me why a Ferrocrown historian would spend twenty years studying the Tempstradium. Truth is, you can't understand the world above the mists without understanding how the Tempstradium merchant houses turned wind-reading into an empire. Sure, they dress it up fancy in their own histories, but I aim to lay it out straight.

The Early Days

Back before airships, the Tempstradium were just clever folks who got good at reading wind patterns. They had to - their peaks sat right where three major wind currents meet up. They figured out how to use gliders to move goods between their peaks while the rest of us were still using rope bridges. Smart thinking, but nothing special yet. The real story starts with how they turned that knowledge into power.

See, they didn't just learn to read the winds - they learned to predict them. Every trade house worth its metal had wind-readers who could tell you when a storm was coming three days out. Mighty useful skill, that.

Now, here's something you won't find in their fancy histories. The House of Usury didn't start out as bankers. They were middle-rank traders who figured out something important: information about weather was worth more than the weather itself. They started lending money based on wind predictions.

Good winds coming? Here's a loan to buy cargo. Bad winds ahead? Sorry, no credit today. Wasn't long before they had their hooks in every other house.

These days, they like to act all proper and banking-like, but old timers still remember how they built their fortune on wind-reading and well-timed loans.

Growing Too Big For Their Peaks

The Tempstradium ran into a problem pretty quick - they were running out of space. Their original six peaks were packed full, and their population kept growing. Most nations would have just dealt with it, but not them.

Soon as airship travel became possible, they started looking at nearby peaks. Here's the clever bit - they didn't just send in soldiers. First came the weather stations, just simple little outposts for wind-reading. Then came small trading posts. By the time they actually claimed a peak, they'd already been running it in all but name for years.

The House System

Let me break down how their house system really works, cutting through all their fancy talk: Major Houses (the ones that matter):

House of Usury: The bankers.

They've got their fingers in everything.

House Windweaver: The weather readers.

Old family, lot of respect.

House Blacksail: The traders.

Biggest fleet in the sky.

House Stormforge: The fighters.

They handle the dirty work.

Then you've got about forty other houses all scrambling to move up the ladder. Real snake pit of alliances and backstabbing, if you ask me.

Military Matters

Don't let their merchant talk fool you - the Tempstradium have the second biggest army in the known world. Each house has its own private forces, but the national military is something else entirely. They train special units just for taking and holding peaks. Smart fighters too - they know the winds better than anyone, gives them an edge in air combat.

How They Really Work

Here's the truth about the Tempstradium that most folks miss: everything's about loans and favors. You want to start a business? You need a loan from the House of Usury. Want to move cargo? You need weather reports from House Windweaver. Want protection? That's House Stormforge's game.

They've built themselves a system where you can't do anything without owing something to one of the major houses. And they've exported this system to every peak they've taken over.

The Levium Game

Now, here's where it gets real interesting. The Tempstradium need more levium than anyone except maybe us Ferrocrown folks. They've got the biggest merchant fleet in the sky and all those military ships too. But instead of just trading straight with Pyrocrux, they've set up this complicated web of loans and banking agreements. The House of Usury's got half of Pyrocrux's merchant families in debt to them.

Mighty convenient when you need to ensure your levium supplies don't get interrupted.

Colonial Expansion

Twenty years back, I spent time on one of their colonial peaks. Here's how they run things: - Weather station goes up first - Trading post follows - Money starts flowing through House of Usury - Local merchants get loans they can't pay back

Pretty soon, the peak's flying Tempstradium colors They're up to fifteen extra peaks now, and they're always looking for more.

Way I see it, the Tempstradium's got three big problems coming:

1. They're stretching themselves thin with all this expanding

2. Their houses are fighting each other more and more

3. They can't keep growing forever - sooner or later they'll run out of peaks to take

But don't count them out. They've got more money than anyone, second biggest military, and they know how to play the long game. Plus, they've got their hands in everyone's pockets through the House of Usury.

Closing Thoughts

The Tempstradium like to write histories about their "mercantile empire" and "commercial expertise." But strip away all the fancy talk, and you've got a nation that turned weather prediction into banking, banking into trade, and trade into an empire. Most folks think we Ferrocrown people are simple because we talk plain. The Tempstradium think they're smarter because they use fancy words.

Truth is, they learned their best tricks from watching the wind, same as any mountain farmer. They just figured out how to make everyone pay for that knowledge.

About the Author: Prixton Smerrs has served as Head of Contemporary Studies at the Ironcrux Historical Society for fifteen years. His previous works include "A Straight Look at Pyrocrux Politics" and "Why Ferrocrown Doesn't Need Fancy Talk: A Study of Mountain Nations' Speech."