The Campi Region
From Eran
The Campi Region
Capital: None. Independent city-states lie scattered throughout the region.
Government: Varies. The different communities have different models.
Population: Humans (70%), Elves (20%), blackfolk,
Languages: Brenni, Erro,
Trade: Metalware, crafts
Overview: The Campi Region refers to the lands west of the Cloud Horns and south of the Daurilon Freeholds. It is dominated by the Five Cities, the major centres of trade in the Calmír Region. The Campi is in many ways paradoxical. On one hand, it is a frontier region - the gateway between the civilised west and the wild east, and the region and its people is in many ways characterised by its wild location. On the other hand, the Five Cities stand as perhaps the major centres of trade, crafts, arts, learning and magic in all of the west. The Campi is a place of change, growth and development unlike anywhere else in Éran.
Mindset & Society: The people of the Campi very much live with a frontier mentality. A mindset predominantly rugged and pragmatic but also one of possibility, aspiration, open-mindedness and tolerance rarely found in more established lands.
Politics & Economics: The Campi Region derives a lot of its fortune from the Five Cities' exclusive trade treatises with the dwarven holds of the Cloud Horns. With the Steel Lands as uncertain territory as it is, the Dwarven holds is the most reliable source of refined metalware in the west and the Campi Region has profitted richly from this trade alliance. In particular Brennèl, due to its distance from the Steel Lands, is major trade partner for the Five Cities. The Campi Region is likewise the major gateway to the east, and virtually all trade and travel from and to the east pass through the Campi Region, due to its position as both the only viable overland route to the east as well overseas thanks to the Sahuagin Circle making passage eastwards south of the Campi highly dangerous.
The Five Cities are regarded as one of the major centres in the west when it comes to skilled craftmanship in a wide variety of fields as well as a centres of arts and learning. It is this basis of skilled labour that along with the exclusive trade treatises with the dwarves and the east has ensured the wealth of the Five Cities through trade, despite the region's lack of natural resources and largely undeveloped lands outside the immediate vicinity of the Five Cities.
Locations of Interest:
Amlin - The Jewel of the West: Second in the west only to the imperial capital Devi in size, Amlin is by most considered the greatest, richest most splendid city in all of western Éran, earning it the nickname "Jewel of the West".
As the gateway from the Campi to the west, it has become the centre of trade in the Calmír Bay and possible the most active trade city in all of Éran.
It is also the home of the Tower of Arcane Arts, one of the four towers build prior to the segregation of the guilds to act as the regional centre in the eastern part of the empire. When the Magedeath raged across western Éran, Amlin was relatively spared of the illwill towards mages and the Tower of Arcane Arts became a refuge and sanctum for mages all across western Éran, making Amlin one of the main centres of magical studies in the west, a position it continues to hold to this day, rivalled only by Irros.
The University of Academic Studies has since the Crown Wars grown to be the centre of academic knowledge and studies in all the west, overtaking even the Academy of Higher Learning in Devi in size and prestige and currently offers the widest range of studies and programs in all of Éran, making Amlin not only a great repository of knowledge but also keeps it at the forefront of discovery and progress.
Asnar/Ansgar - The Guild City:
Badir [blacksand]: Badir is situated in dangerous territory rife with blackfolk and monsters. Its cunning ruler has countered this threat by hiring them into his guard and armies. The despotic Lord Benal rules Badir with an iron fist and his ruthless dedication to profit permeates every layer of the city to the point that Badir is the only place in the Calmir permitting slavery. Nonetheless, Badir is a wealthy city and its profits on the iron trade has made it one of the undisputed powers of the region.
Jamdar: Jamdar, though a welathy city, is likewise a city torn by internal strife. Ravaged by conflict between the four ruling noble families for neigh on three decades
Yamin: A
Regional History: The Campi Region has historically been under the Empire of Brennèl even after Errion claimed all the lands north of it, but it remained a peripherical domain until 1012 when Brennél managed to sign exclusive trade treaties with the dwarven holds of the Cloud Horns, which transformed the Campi Region into a major trade centre overnight. Within 25 years, the Five Cities had grown from small to medium-sized towns to major cities in their own right.
By 1037, the ruling families of the Five Cities were growing increasingly dissatisfied with seeing too little of the wealth that flowed through the cities on its way westward as well as increasingly concerned with the threat of Errion, whom they feared an invasion from, in an attempt to break the profitable monopoly Brennèl enjoyed on the rich trade. They solved both problems when they collectively declared their independence from Brennèl that year and managed to renegotiate the exclusive trade treatise on new terms as independent cities as well as strike up military alliances with Errion and Alderan to protect them from any potential repercussions from Brennèl. In turn, the Five Cities opened up for trade on equal terms with Errion and Brennèl, satisfying the trade needs of Errion without them having to recourse to invasion. Though Brennèl was hardly thrilled with losing one of their most profitable domains, the threat of another war with Errion was too great and at any rate, war in the Campi would stop the trade lines that were still in high demand in Brennèl. The Five Cities had, despite their covetable position, succesfully ascertained their independence, an autonomy they hold to this day.
The Second Crown Wars in Brennèl saw a major influx of skilled artisans, scholars, rich traders and noble families who sought to escape the civil wars in the western empire and fled east to the industrious, growing and most of all openminded and tolerant Campi Region. This influx of skilled labour and wealth saw a new growth spur, unrivalled since the Five Cities first shot up following the trade treatises with the dwarves and gave the Five Cities a stable base for continual growth that it thrives on today.
