Balic
From The unofficial Dark Sun wiki
Balic is a city-state, located southeast of Tyr on the secluded shores of the Forked Tongue Estuary, and has a population of approximately 28,000.
Contents |
[edit] Andopinis
Balic was ruled by the Dictator Andropinis, a powerful sorcerer-king who was elected to his post over seven-hundred years ago. Though the term "dictator" originally referred to the power of dictating (as in stating) a city policy sanctioned by a democratic assembly of property owners, Andropinis had converted the title into one of total authority. Anyone who spoke against him was executed by dictatorial decree.
On the rare occasions that someone was brave enough to voice a complaint about the harshness of Andropinis' rule, the old man took great delight in reminding all within earshot that their ancestors elected him to his post for life. Unfortunately for the citizens of Balic, nobody realized just how long Andropinis might live.
Andropinis lived in a majestic palace of white marble, rectangular in shape and adorned on all sides by magnificent columns. This palace is located atop a stony, fortified bluff in the center of the city. Andropinis' personal army consists of ten thousand highly disciplined foot soldiers who carry twelve-foot lances, large wooden shields, and thrusting daggers made from the sharpened thigh bones of erdlus.
Balic's templars were unique in that the free citizens of the city elected them to their posts for ten-year terms. Andropinis was generally tolerant of these elections, though he sometimes let the citizens know which candidates he would like to have elected. I have heard that if the wrong candidate won the election, Andropinis had him executed and called another vote.
One day in the Year of Friend’s Agitation, he boarded his silt armada and struck out for the far side of the Sea of Silt. It was a trip from which he never returned.
[edit] Current Situation
Today the city-state has no sorcerer-king to lead it or protect it from the ravages of Athas. Balic has always had a tradition of the illusion of democracy. Andropinis claimed to have been freely elected to his position, the templars were elected to ten year terms by the free citizens, and even the nobles were allowed to participate in the governmental process by selecting members to attend the Chamber of Patricians on a regular basis. Though this democracy wasn’t real, it still taught the people about one possible way a free society could work. When the news spread that Andropinis was gone, various factions called for a new election.
The main contenders for the position of dictator of Balic were Oriol of Magestalos, First Speaker of the Patricians; General Zanthiros of the Balican army; and First Templar Asthira. Before the final votes could be counted, Tabaros, the patriarch of House Wavir, made his move. The merchant house seized the White Palace, the silt harbor, and all of the territory in between and declared Tabaros to be the Trade Lord of Balic. This didn’t sit well with House Wavir’s rivals. Neither House Tomblador nor House Rees wanted to be cut out of this opportunity, so each of these merchant dynasties took over the remaining portions of the city.
Balic is a clean, comfortable metropolis on the shores of a silt bay. For the most part life under the trade lords is considerably better than it was under the cruel and oppressive Andropinis. Even the territory controlled by House Tomblador, whose lord attempts to pattern himself as Balic’s new dictator, is pleasant compared to the atrocities of the previous ruler.
On the surface, the city appears to be one sprawling metropolis, not a divided city. No walls separate one territory from another, no guards wait to collect tolls as citizens move from block to block. To the locals, however, there is a clear delineation between one lord’s domain and the next. Wavir is free and bright, Tomblador oppressive and dark, and Rees is like an extended work camp where everyone labors for the benefit of the trade lord.
Though they appear to cooperate for the good of the city, the trade lords wage a secret war against each other that everyone knows about but few people understand. None of the trade lords are willing to let this conflict escalate into a full-scale civil war, but they have come very close to it in recent months. Caravans have been raided or sabotaged, warehouses plundered or burnt to the ground, and important agents have been killed on all sides. How far each is willing to push before a better solution must be found remains to be seen.
The three contenders for rulership of Balic before the trade lords made their moves are still active in the city-state. Oriol the Patrician has dedicated his noble house to Lord Tabaros, though he is ready to step back to the forefront should the old man grow too sick to rule. General Zanthiros has fled the city with a small but significant portion of the city militia. His band operates as a raiding tribe along the peninsula, waiting for an opportunity to return to Balic to seize power. The templar Asthira, meanwhile, has gone into hiding within the city. From her place in the shadows, she continues to keep in contact with many of the templars who still have roles in the government, as well as with those who have taken to hiding. She hopes to eventually overthrow the trade lords, who she feels illegally took power.
[edit] Government
Today, Balic is divided into three parts, each controlled by a different trade lord. These parts cooperate on one level but battle for supremacy on all others. The largest block of control falls to Lord Tabaros of House Wavir, while Lord Kaladon of House Tomblador and Lady Essen of House Rees control equally sized smaller blocks. The same amount of cooperation that allows the three rivals to jointly maintain the major trading village of Altaruk allows them to keep Balic running as a major city-state.
As far as outsiders are concerned, the three leaders formed a triune council to rule the city after Andropinis fell. While such a council does exist, and the three rivals meet regularly to keep the city-state strong enough to stand against invaders, they each work behind the scenes to build their own power bases up and knock their rivals down.
Each trade lord has a different view of the world and the way Balic should be governed. Wavir, for example, wants to free all slaves, outlaw defilers, welcome preservers into society, and set up a true democratic state. The way to accomplish this, Lord Tabaros believes, is by quick action and harsh measures. Unfortunately, Tabaros is more than 100 years old and may not be able to stay in power much longer. Publicly, the trade lord appears as sharp and healthy as ever, but privately he suffers the weaknesses of age and illness. He had hoped to pass leadership to his son long ago, but his son died when raiders attacked his caravan four years ago. The next likely candidate, Tabaro’s granddaughter Tarinne, isn’t ready for the responsibilities yet (or so Tabaros believes). Lord Kaladon wants to resume the dictatorship—with himself as king of Balic. Lady Essen, meanwhile, believes that the city-state should be nothing more than a glorified merchant village, serving to fill the coffers of House Rees and making it the most powerful merchant house in the entire Tyr Region. Needless to say, none of the sides want to see any other gain a significant advantage.
Those templars who agreed to swear allegiance to one of the trade lords have been retained for their bureaucratic skills. However, the merchant houses have their own administrators to fall back on, so any templars who can’t be trusted are eliminated. (A small number of templars still loyal to Andropinis have gone into hiding and continue to work in secret, though they have little power and few hopes of gaining any under the current system.)
The patricians are allowed varying degrees of participation in the government, depending upon which merchant house holds sway over the territory their land occupies. Under Wavir’s control, the patricians are allowed full participation rights. Under House Tomblador, the nobles are treated barely better than slaves, while House Rees gives them the freedom to handle their own affairs-provided they meet the production quotas Lady Essen has established for each noble family.
[edit] Nobles and Defense
The nobles of Balic are called patricians. Like most other nobles, they hold their lands from generation to generation. Most of them make their living from the olive orchards and grain farms surrounding the city, but a few own large parcels of the scrub plains, upon which they carefully graze kanks and other creatures, twenty miles west of the city.
Balic's secluded location is quite defensible as far as the armies of other city-states are concerned, for it is impossible to approach the city from any direction except the west. Unfortunately, its close proximity to the Forked Tongue Estuary causes the city more than enough trouble from giants who wade ashore to raid. Every citizen in the city, male or female, slave or freeman, is a member of the militia. On a rotating basis, they spend every tenth month helping the normal army patrol the fields and scrub lands in an effort to reduce the amount of crops and stock lost to raiding giants.
[edit] Trade
Balic’s major products continue to be salt, silver, livestock, and leather. Each of the controlling merchant houses operates emporiums throughout the Tablelands in city-states and villages, as well as with the city of Celik to the south.
House Wavir maintains good trade relations with Tyr and cordial relations with Gulg and Nibenay. House Tomblador has strong ties to Urik, but conducts almost no business in Tyr. Of the three houses, only Rees regularly sends caravans to Raam in hopes of exerting influence in that troubled city.
City-states of the Tyr region
