The Escorrasi are masters of trade and while they have markets and ports across the known world, their main source of power lies in the four trade hubs they control: Azoama, Karasan, Kinawara and Marazegu.
The disparity of their lands lies in history and the effects of the Starfall on the world. While it is believed that they originate from the lands in Escorra, their empires once spanned across Daedoras and Dannen, controlling much of the western continents of Crecia. However a combination of the effects of the Starfall, arrival of the humans, wars with the Bjorsine, Ura, Khalikar and Aolctic, and struggling decentralization caused a collapse, and the 4 regions are all that remained of their empires. Taking control of what they once had, the 4 regions now focus more on trade, mercantilism and seafaring than with warfare.
When it comes to speed, Escorrasi ships are next to none. Ships and traders are constantly speeding around the world, and will likely be found in any port in Crecia. Escorran fleets are a less common sight, but will rush to the defense of any merchant in trouble.
Coupled with trade is diplomacy, and the Escorrasi aim to constantly be amicable with others to ensure the access to goods, ports and safer seas. Larger port cities can enter pacts with Escorrasi for stronger aid from their navies in case of trouble, a way of outsourcing their strength to those in need, for a price of course.
The Escorrasi are financial and charismatic.
In this ever changing world the Escorrasi have been forced to find a niche in which to survive, and they thrived in the area of trade. The strongest and fastest navy in Crecia, and powerful cities across the globe allowed the Escorrasi to become masters of commerce, establishing trading posts and embassies in many major cities.
Escorran merchants (especially those working under the Four Orders) are known globally for their silver tongues, relentless in making a deal. They can find the right price for just about anything, and work it out so that they always get their way.
Due to the unique history and culture of the Escorrasi, the geography of the land they control is as much a part of them as anything else.
What makes the Escorrasi so powerful at the art of seafaring and mercantilism is their settlements. The current controlled territories are remnants of old Escorran rule before the previous Starfall, stretching across the known world. They were one of the powerhouses of Crecia, sharing frontiers with the Ura and Bjorsine. A combination of the Starfall and the arrival of the Humans from the northwest led to their total collapse across continents.
In the face of Human and Ura domination, The Four Orders was created, uniting the remnants of the old Escorrasi rule under one banner, composed of the territories: Azoama & Kinoshi (most often referred to simply as Azoama), Karasan, Kinawara, and Marazegu.
Each Order is somewhat independent but answer to a high council that governs them.
In addition to the Four Orders, the Escorrasi have a number of bases and presence in cities around Crecia.
Azoama is located in a warm tropic region in the northeast. This Order is home to Hakkiro, the capital of the Orders, and closest to the ruins of Escorra the old holy city of the species. There is a large population of Caralai throughout the region. The Escorrasi population of the Order are known as the Aqtamiri.
Well protected and naturally strategic city founded by Caralai refugees during the Red Invasion of the Azwrakki, Aqtamiri refugees in the nearby and newly founded city, Raio, allied themselves with Hakkiro creating the beginnings of a powerful trade empire that would later bloom into the Four Orders. During its height the Aqtamiri purchased the city and moved their city centers to Hakkiro, greatly expanding and urbanizing the city, making it a cultural and economic center of the world.
Primary resources: Wine, metals, spices, textiles, coffee, sugar, silk
Much of Karasan is mountainous and desert
Primary resources: Ichor, glass, textiles, spices, paper, ivory
Kinawara is an island chain purchased by the Four Orders, previously controlled by disparate independent Escorra kingdoms. It is centered around the twin cities of Susma and Sisam. It is a humid, tropical region where many valuable plants grow and are farmed to be traded. But the top export of the Order is the fish, of which the region is plentiful and renowned for its high quality and quantity. The Escorrasi residents of Kinawara are known as the Sumari.
Primary resources: Fish, spices, indigo & dye, coffee, sugar, salt
By far the most remote of the Four Orders, Marazegu is far to the south of Dannen, among Human, Bjorsine and Itaeia territories. Much of the territory is unoccupied apart from hunters and small villages. Former city states now allied with the Four Orders are found along rivers and coasts. The region is controlled by Azei Zora, a once great royal city controlled by a ruthless aristocracy and rigid caste system. Escorrasi residents of Marazegu are known as the Mara.
Primary resources: lumber, fur, textiles, gemstones, fish, salt, Itaeia silk
The Escorrasi are ambidextrous, but use their left hands predominantly with space, others, and the world/environment, and use their right hands for time, self, and personal affairs.
Found primarily in Kinawara
Specialties:
Found primarily in Karasan
Specialties:
Found primarily in Azoama
Specialties:
Found primarily in Marazegu
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Escorrasi have leech cultures, taking on traits of those whose territories they are near, and those of their strongest trade partners.
Azoama has cultural ties to Kossoro and Azar, Karasan has ties to Hayatia and the Ura, Kinawara has components of Tlacaxa and Yingmian, and Marazegu is culturally similar to Sangchen and the Bjorsine. While all of the Escorrasi nations have similar foundations to the cultural capital, Escorra, they each feel distinct from one another, to the point where many Escorrasi can tell which of the four nations another hails from.
Those who are not raised in one of the four nations are most likely raised at sea, where culture differs from each other based on their fleet or ship.
The guilds are an oligarchy composed of different independent guilds which essentially rule over Royal Escorrasi territory, namely the Four Orders. While there are many guilds which have say over the politics and decisions of Escorra, the 12 highest ranking companies are the ones with power to vote over issues. The rankings can change, however especially in the higher ranks, the status quo remains relatively static. The Great Twelve Escorra Guilds are:
Each of the twelve have representatives for the guilds, and elect speakers for the oligarchy as a whole. Should a tie occur and can not be broken with subsequent votes and input from lower guilds, the decision will go to the ruling aristocracy in Raio, remnants of the old Escorra Empire.
"Not without sin, but without regret"
Piracy is a formidable force throughout Crecia, and the Escorrasi are the largest contributors to it. After the fall of major Escorrasi empires at the turn of the Age, many turned to piracy, and large pirate kingdoms arose. While their power and influence has fluctuated, they have remained ever present. And whereas Human, Khalikar and Bjorsine pirates tend to remain relatively local, much like the Four Orders, Escorrasi pirates work globally, anywhere they can make a profit.
Besides the historical element that gave Escorrasi pirates such strength, another element that has led to such a high number of pirates is due to the Guild political system that Escorra has adopted. All merchants who work with the Escorra Confederacy must be a part of the guild system, which registers them in an attempt to regulate and monitor merchants, as well as protects them with the Escorrasi military. While the system has its benefits and supporters, there are those who would prefer to work outside the system with their own rules. This has worked in the past, with official and unofficial Escorrasi merchants working together, however in recent years the Guilds have taken a more aggressive approach and marked all unofficial merchants as pirates, barring them from working in Escorrasi waters, however they have little control in foreign territory. Despite this, many merchants still work with pirates under the table.
Escorrasi have a long history of slavery. It is known that throughout the 10th Age slavery was rampant throughout the world, and was divisive among Escorra empires with some supporting and profiting from it, while others were actively against it. The Escorra slave trade was a global enterprise, shipping other species from colonies wherever they were needed for whatever purpose was needed of them, and selling Escorrasi slaves to whatever foreign powers would buy them. The slave trade was most likely one of the factors that led to such a strong downfall of the empires at the turn of the Starfall, and what caused the importance of free trade and mercantilism throughout the 11th Age. The surviving royal family of Escorra prides themselves on being against the slave trades for generations, being a smaller family in the 10th Age, but allowing them to survive with some power to the present day.
Officially, The Four Orders has outlawed slavery of any mortal being (some smaller powers are known to enslave demons, although this is not regulated and is largely ignored). However, outlaw Escorrasi are known to be among the most prominent slave traders of Crecia. That being said even among pirates slave trade is controversial, especially since many pirates are former slaves or have descended from slaves.
The icon represents the joining of the deities, Esca and Orra. They were twin gods whose offspring produced the Escorrasi. The icon of the brothers symbolizes the powers of the universe that hold it together. The link on the left is one's ties to reality, and what keeps you bound to the earth. The link on the right is one's place in the universe, where you are born and where you will go. Many use the icon in charms and holy iconography as they believe it grants them luck and reminds them who they are, and wards away bad magic.
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Aside from the Four Orders, Azoama, Karasan, Kinawara and Marazegu, the Escorrasi have major influence in other port towns that cement their dominance as a mercantile power. In addition, there have been rumors of Escorrasi merchants planning deals and bribes with Bjorsine, Khalikar and even Azwrakki leaders to sell them land in the southeast regions of Crecia in hopes of creating a fifth Escorrasi region.
While the Escorrasi merchants themselves do not have access to Kapura waters in the north, they do frequently work with the Vyara Company in Mosolith to secure some sort of presence in Hua Tutura.
Besides the Azwrakki themselves, the Escorrasi are the next most populous species on the continent of Gorgor. Over the centuries they have managed to ally themselves with many Azwrakki states, offering goods and services they would otherwise not have, while promising to respect their way of life and not venturing into the plains. Sticking to the coasts, they avoid the most superstitious of Azwrakki, and at worst case are often treated by others as strange and unusual outsiders. In fact, it is because of their good name as traders that the easiest way to get to Gorgor is hitching a ride with an Esccorasi merchant ship, most likely from the trading capital of Escorra itself.
Escorrasi merchants have also agreed to keep away from the evil witches of The Fist of Fire, however this has not stopped them from making the occasional visit under the table. This has allowed them to be the other form of trade off The Island of Ash, giving them access to unique goods, most often sold in black markets around Crecia.
Due to the unique history and culture of the Escorrasi, the geography of the land they control is as much a part of them as anything else.
What makes the Escorrasi so powerful at the art of seafaring and mercantilism is their settlements. Four major regions around the world are dominated by Escorrasi, allowing their trade to exceed the competition. However it was not always like this, the current countries are remnants of old Escorran rule before the previous Starfall, stretching across the northern coast of Daedoras, down the northern side of Dannen reaching present day Marazegu. They were one of the powerhouses of Crecia, sharing frontiers with the Ura and Bjorsine. A combination of the Starfall and the arrival of the Humans from the northwest led to their total collapse across continents.
What exists of Escorrasi land is known as the Escorra Confederacy, formed in the first millennium of the 11th Age to create a symbiotic relationship between surviving Escorrasi powerhouses in the face of Human and Ura domination. The Confederacy is composed of the Four Orders: Azoama & Kinoshi (most often referred to simply as Azoama), Karasan, Kinawara, and Marazegu. Each Order is what remains of old imperial land, each having independently stabilized and survived before the Confederacy was formed.
In addition to the Four Orders, the Escorrasi have a number of military bases and trade cities around the world, in addition to their large presence in many international cities. Trade cities can be anywhere from a few buildings and trade post to small cities with hundreds if not thousands of people populating them, independent from local governments, but usually established in cooperation with them to cement Escorrasi trade presence and eyes for Escorra. Military Bases are far fewer, but can be immensely powerful; they are small cities or forts in foreign areas with a strong military power to enforce their laws and standards but more importantly to protect their trade cities and royal merchants around the world. While uncommon, they are strategically placed in regions furthest away from one of the Four Orders, but easily defendable without drawing attention to themselves.
Escorrasi presence is especially strong in the southern tip of Mirasia, in Khalikar territory. Khalikar rule is notably weaker on the outskirts of the Tempest Wasteland, except for some port cities, and the Escorra Confederacy is attempting to take advantage of this weakness by establishing a fifth Order there, cementing a permanent footing in southeastern Crecia allowing easier defense of nearby merchants and outposts, as well as offering additional safer routes from Escorra to Marazegu.
Azoama is located in a mostly temperate climate
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Wine, bronze (copper+tin), spices, textiles, tea, coffee, sugar, silk
Much of Karasan is mountainous and desert
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Glass, spices, textiles, tea, cotton, ivory, paper, gemstones, ichor
Kinawara consists of many island chains
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Cocoa, spices, coffee, sugar, fish, aromatics, indigo plants
Marazegu is far to the south, in colder, sometimes tundra environments
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Lumber, fur, wool, textiles, gemstones, amber, wax, winter wine, salt, fish, ichor