Isger's Government

Faction overview

Isger's Government is a vassal state of Cheliax, bound to abide by its laws and decrees, and is ruled not by a king but by a steward appointed from Cheliax to oversee the nation and its trade. The current steward, Hedvend VI, is only the latest in a long line, and he governs at the sufferance of Her Infernal Majestrix Abrogail Thrune II. Because the diabolic empire cares little for what happens in Isger so long as the wealth keeps flowing down the Conerica River, the steward is left on a fairly loose leash — and Hedvend has chosen to rest his rule on two collaborating institutions: the Isgeri Army and the Trade Office. The Trade Office runs the true engine of the capital, managing the docks and warehouses, collecting taxes, tariffs, and fees, and keeping the labor supply reliable. The Army, meanwhile, patrols the river and the borders with Druma and Andoran, guarding the trade routes against bandits and monsters. Yet Cheliax demands this standing army while providing almost no coin, materiel, or training for it, so the force is largely made up of volunteer recruits under General Harwin Balefellow — and since the Battle of Hellknight Hill, most of those soldiers have been pulled back to defend Elidir.
In practice, Isger's government is less a unifying authority than an absentee landlord collecting on Cheliax's behalf. Its elites cluster in the capital, consumed by the riches of the Conerica, and pay little mind to anything beyond it; outside Elidir, most towns and villages are effectively left to govern themselves. Local sheriffs, mayors, and town guards take up the civic duties their distant rulers ignore, and some communities run on legal codes of their own — Saringallow, for instance, still administers itself by an ancient Abadaran manual. Hedvend himself is widely known to put Cheliax's wants above Isger's needs at every turn, and his legacy is not a proud one: his decision to abandon the countryside during the Goblinblood Wars in order to protect the capital still echoes in the form of crippled veterans, countless orphans, and whole towns wiped from the map. For Isgerians in the long-neglected hinterlands, the government is less a protector than a reminder of every time their leaders chose coin and Cheliax over their own people.