The League leadership

The League cities are ruled by the Empire but they are run by the Carta - sprawling organisations that are a cross between a merchant family and a trading concern. The largest are headed by a Merchant Prince or Princess - an honorific title for the most powerful individuals that harks back to pre-Imperial times. The most powerful merchants choose the League Senators but beyond this they will leave the governorship of the cities to Imperial rule, allowing them to concentrate on increasing the wealth of their Carta.

The Carta of the League cities are not merely a matter of blood, but of oaths and loyalties. Anyone may pledge their loyalty to a Carta, though some require you to marry an existing family member to be truly regarded as one of them. Equally, it isn’t required to be part of Carta to get ahead in the League, but it is essential not to cross them. Those who do find every door closed to them. If you cross a Bravo they’ll break your fingers; cross a Merchant Princess and she’ll ruin you. Loyalty and rules are the basis of League society. The written rules are the Imperial Laws and breaking them is considered an act of utter desperation. To reduce an enemy to the point where they are caught breaking the law to try to keep their head above water is considered by many to be the ultimate defeat that you can inflict, the final mark of shame. Assassination, theft and murder only happen if a citizen of the League has no other card left to play.

For hundreds of years the Carta have engaged in ruthless competition with each other. It is a mistake to assume that the League is obsessed with money, wealth is simply the easiest way of keeping score. Favours are a prized commodity, more valuable than gold and every Carta keeps a count of those who have worked against their interests in the past. It’s a bewildering system that can leave foreigners lost in the subtle play of politics and trade, the Carta call it simply “Dead Reckoning”.