Vallos: Difference between revisions

===Piratocracies===

The rise of [[Occidental]] oceanic trade presented a number of opportunities for the petty kings of Vallos, especially in the wake of [[Aster's expedition]] which introduced trade to [[Crona]] from [[Sarpedon]]. Centuries of war had created significant hardship and lack of opportunity for additional plunder in the form of tribute, but the increasing volume of trade centered near Vallos by the decade caught the eye of both local authorities as well as enterprising individuals. Beginning in around [[1450]], petty kings began to sponsor public {{wp|privateering}} of trade ships in [[St. Brendan's Strait]]. Besides the negative impact on overall trade, the sudden influx of wealth back into Vallos the piracy produced had a profound impact on its politics. In many different cases, privateers had become significantly wealthier than their local ruler, and they used these funds to take over the port they lived in and eventually neighboring settlements. By [[1500]], most of the northern third of Vallos had become "piratocracies" - realms created by force by wealthy privateers. These states would transform into efficient machines of piracy, as the state apparatus and military continued to grow in support of piracy. These states functioned on a client-patron model, with the King or leader serving both as the most profitable pirate in the realm as well as patron, sharing spoils with subordinate pirate houses and operators. Spoils would also be used to improve public living conditions and infrastructure, ensuring continued popular acceptance of the piratocracy. Accordingly, these states were largely personalist and based on individual relationships rather than strong central institutions. This meant that succession in these realms were often fraught with danger, as the  most charismatic and wealthy raider could and would challenge the hereditary succession of the King. The success and number of these states grew exponentially as [[Culture_of_Varshan#Slavery|Varshan]] opened its doors to Vallosi slave traders in [[1579]], making it so that not only the cargo, but the crew, of captured ships were of high value. As they raided the high seas, the piratocracies also consolidated northern Vallos from more than two dozen petty kingdoms into just three large Kingdoms who actively competed for the right to raid and plunder.