Joel A final point, regarding the Republic of Kaeir, its history. You argued that it had no history in Qaiyore, which i must disagree with you about. According the game site, Kaeir was a loose Mayoralty responsible for pirating the NW Midsea until 1410, when it was conquered by Taltheran, who then started developing it into a naval and trading centre for Taltherani trade. The central idea behind what essentially is a coup is this: after the Taltherani conquest, Kaeir was incorporated into Taltheran as an autonomous principality ruled by the Taltherani crown prince (who would have had his own aspirations to kingdom, as royal sons always do). The new Prince of Kaeir, during his 15 year reign, successfully saw the Kaeir flourishing as a major trading centre in NW Midsea. At the same time, the Taltherani King stationed half the Taltherani fleet in Kaeir to cement Taltherani dominance of the NW corner of the Midsea, under the command of his son. The son meanwhile, using the massive increase in revenue the principality is receiving from the trade (even if most went to the mainland, the prince would receive a considerable amount), forms his troops into an elite unit of marines, the Kaeirean Guard, supplementing numbers extensively with foreign mercenaries. Such an action is perfectly legitimate in a feudal society, and the Prince of Kaeir would have been expected to contribute his Guard to any actions undertaken by his liegelord and father, the King of Taltheran. The development of major trading cities (essentially city-states) without significant hinterlands are numerous in history - Savoy, Venice, Carthage, Malacca and early modern Singapore. The commerce of these cities allowed them to purchase their necessities. Now as the political scientists Machiavelli, Sun Tzu and Bin Khaldun have all taught us, the fastest way to regicide is for a ruler to rely too much on their troops for strength, who then in turn become the "kingmakers". In Kaeir, the Kaeirean Guard's esprit de corp, or asabiyyah, or "group feeling/identity", became so strong that it overrode even their loyalty to the Kaeirean Prince, let alone the Taltherani King. cheers again, Ibrahim Underwood NOTICE: This communication is meant only for the addressee(s) named above and may contain information which is confidential and/or legally privileged. If you are not the named addressee(s), or the agent responsible for receiving and delivering this communication to the named addressee(s), this communication has been sent to you in error. If so, kindly contact us immediately for retrieval purposes. Unauthorised dissemination,distribution, copying or reliance on this communication is prohibited and may attract criminal penalties. Thank you. ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
