The Calinti Shogunate
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[edit] Location and History
The Calinti Shogunate is a quiet, conservative province sitting on the coast of the Inner Sea, north of Lookshy. Its territory stretches north from Goodharbor - directly across the Yanaze River from Lookshy - to Marin Bay and east to the River of Tears and Nexus. The countryside is rather idyllic in appearance, dominated by rolling hills and small streams, pastures and carefully maintained forests which often serve as the nobles' hunting grounds.
Calin joined the Confederation of Rivers roughtly 300 years ago, the last region of the Scavenger Lands to do so. Prior to that, Calin had been a satrapy and nominal ally of the Realm. Officially its leaders severed all ties to the Empress and her protection when it became clear that the Deliberative was a sham. Most people claim that Calin only joined the Confederacy for the economic benefits (and because Lookshy was a world power much closer to home than the Realm) rather than for any high-minded idealism. Most likely, the truth is a mixture of these things.
[edit] Politics
Its goverment and culture are logged in tradition, with a weak shogun and several wealthy and powerful daimyo. The middle class and the poor have almost no say in the day-to-day operation of the government whatsoever. Politically this nation is an elected monarchy; the shogun serves for life and the citizens of Calin elect a new one at his or her death. "Citizens," of course, are the members of the 14 noble houses, high-ranking military and bureaucratic officials, and those with enough money to buy a vote. Legally anybody can be elected, but so far no one outside the nobility has ever been chosen.
The civil and military bureacracies are also based around the house system. The shogunate is divided into fiefdoms, granted by the shogun to whomever he or she wishes, save the shogun's family. The royal family retains the lands they owned upon their relative's ascension to the throne, but are not allowed to obtain additional lands unless there is an extenuating circumstance, and this is rare. These patronages grant the family almost complete control over that fiefdom unless it is revoked for some reason. Along with this responsibility patronages also confer great power and usually great wealth as well.
Most importantly patronages allow the family to perpetuate the system of favors and debts that can eventually allow them to take the throne for themselves.
Patronage prompts almost constant jockeying for position and influence in the shogun's court. Nobles, influential merchants and tradesmen looking for lucrative contracts and tax breaks, Guildmasters, sorcerers, Dragon-blooded outcastes, and others all vie for the shogun's attention or other members of the court (and sometimes just people in general). Known to most Calinti as the Great Game, this web of intrigue has existed for centuries. Woe to any unfortunate who stumbles into the Game unawares. Blackmail, espionage, the dueling code, manipulation of the legal system and assassination are all tools in the Game - but they must be used subtly. To have one's schemes discovered can lead to the shaming of one's house or the loss of a patronage, or death and exile of that person's entire house if the shogun so wishes.
[edit] Economy
Despite the above, most of the 750,000 people who live in Calin are never affected by the Great Game. The shogunate thrives on trade, much of it in locally grown grain - Port Calin has a much friendlier reputation than Lookshy and so is a favorite stop for merchants and traders heading south or north who'd rather bypass Nexus. The Guild maintains a large Guildhouse in Port Calin along with large numbers of warehouses and slave dens. Independent merchants stop here as well. Much of Port Calin exists to support the merchants and sailors; the port has docks, slips and wainwrights, sailmakers, harness-makers, metalworkers to create fittings and fasteners, barrelwrights, bankers, horse-and-yeddim traders and cartographers - along with the usual innkeepers, restaurant owners, teahouses and brothels.
Port Calin, along with Goodharbor and Riversend (two other coastal towns) are also well-known for their fishing industry. Large hauls of lobster, sea bass, crab, swordfish and other saltwater catches come into port every night to be served locally, salted and sold to merchants, or iced down and brought by fast galley to nearby cities.
