Lord's Alliance

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The Lord's Alliance is a political alliance between nobles and rulers of Northwest Faerun. It's primary goals are the mutual security and prosperity of its members by protecting trade, eliminating threats to regional stability, and promoting development within its sphere of influence.

History
The Lord's Alliance was founded after the death of Valator the Great during the siege of Silvermoon in the late 15th century. The instructions to founding the Lord's Alliance were left in Valator's will, and were carried out by his heir. The initial intention was to create a feudal system of colonial control to exploit the rich lands of Northwest Faerun for the benefit of Baldur's Gate, a powerful city state in West Faerun.

This failed however, as Valator's heir was by no means as capable as the great conquerer. The installed lords and ladies of the alliance banded together and collectively decided to declare independence from Baldur's Gate, who was in no condition to reconquer the lands due to domestic instability.

While each member was independent, the lords and ladies of the alliance paid tribute to a collective fund that was used to train professional soldiers for collective security; to hire and train wizards and sorcerers for their diverse magical capabilities; and to invest in public infrastructure such as roads and education in the region.

Government type: Lordship
Larger towns and cities often have a Lordship government type. These lords and ladies are the primary members of their respective noble houses, whose formation date back to the conquests of Valator or before. In these conquests, large swaths of land were granted to community leaders who could summon colonists to exploit the land. This makes the land property of these nobles.

Lordships often control the division of lands within their territory, leasing their land to lower nobility or peasants in exchange for fees. Lordships are also tasked with the maintenance of a cities militia.

A Lordship is often combined with a city council. This council administrates the day-to-day activities of a town or city, while the lord or lady manages the defense of the region and settles legal disputes.

Operations
While the Lord's Alliance has its own trained soldiers and wizards, it outsources a lot of minor tasks to local adventurers or agents of the Alliance's armed forces in exchange for money or trophies.

Even for larger threats, such as defeating a young dragon such as Venomfang, the Alliance prefers to pay handsome money to adventurers or zealots as to not put its own troops at risk. In case nobody takes the mission, or the threat becomes a strain on tax income, the Alliance will take down these threats themselves.

Alliance wizards are an essential component of the organisation's succes, as trained wizards can reliably send messages over vast distances, allowing for effective administration of the realm with quick response times.

Tactics
The Lord's Alliance prefers safe victories when their own forces are involved. Agents conduct extensive reconnaissance before a commander engages with overwhelming force as to asure victory with as few casualties as possible on the side of the Lords Alliance.

Structure
The Lord's Alliance was structured into two seperate divisions, a ruling structure made up of the nobility of Northwest Faerun and a executive division executing the Alliance's goals.

Ruling division
The Greatlord was the head of the Lord's Alliance. The Greatlord is an elected figurehead of the alliance. Its duties lie with maintaining diplomatic relations with neighbouring realms and directing the executive division. The Greatlord is an elected position, and he is maintained by the goodwill of the council of lords and ladies.

The Lords and Ladies are the primary members of the Lord's Alliance. A Lord or Lady is the head of their respective noble family and hold the ownership of large swaths of land. This places them on the level of Dukes or Duchesses on a continental scale. The Lords and Ladies elect a greatlord from among themselves by popular vote. They also pay the most tribute to the collective fund. To exploit the land and collect income, the Lords and Ladies distribute their lands to lower nobility or elevated peasants. The title of Lord and Lady is hereditary. While each house has its own customs for inheritance, it usually follows a system of primogeniture in which the firstborn child inherits all.

A Count or Countess was a uncommon rank within the Lord's Alliance. They rank below a Lord/Lady but above a Baron/Baroness. A Count typically holds a town's worth of land. They pay tribute directly to their Lord. Since the land of a Count is usually leased to them by their Lord, the associated noble title is also leased and not inherited by blood.

A Baron or Baroness was a common rank of lower nobility within the Alliance. They rank below a count but above a Knight. A Baron typically holds a village worth of land. They pay tribute directly to their Lord. Since the land of a Baron is usually leased to them by their Lord, the associated noble title is also leased and not inherited by blood.

A Knight was the lowest rank of nobility within the Alliance. They rank below a Baron but above the citizenry. A Knight typically holds a few farms worth of land. They pay tribute to their count or baron, depending on the local structure. Since the land of a Knight is usually leased to them by their Count or Baron, the associated noble title is also leased and not inherited by blood.

While the lower nobility titles are leased and not inherited by blood in law, in practice it often was inherited by blood. This occured as long as the lower noble families paid their tribute to the Lords. If they failed to do so, they would often be replaced by a different family with more stewardship skill.