The League of Trent

The League of Trent is a powerful cartel of nobles, gentry, landowners, merchants and bankers that acts as a de facto government for the central Mill Lands from Hale to Mont Inaer. It exists in order to enforce a series of full or partial monopolies on agriculture and commerce that have made the League's members very wealthy. Many look upon the League as a corrupt and greedy organisation, able to rule through arbitrary and often tyrannical means.

The City of Drake has attempted several times to join the league but the Lords Elect of the Council in Pelonastra are adamant that the city's arsenals should remain under the control of Pelonastra. As a compromise Drake has been allowed to remain the family fiefdom of the Revers, though the city's loyalty to Prince Bard is somewhat questionable. The coal interests of Mont Inaer are represented in the league by the Jorhander family, who currently dominate it. Other major groups in the league are:


 * the Stokers of Hale, a large network of merchant ship owners who control most of the river traffic up the Shay Valley.
 * The Yaradels of Caddick Cross: The Yaradels are an old Mill Landish Family in the north who own the grazing rights in the hills south of Mont Inaer.
 * The Glassmakers of Trent: Glass makers, iron workers, printers, tanners, dyers and other craftsmen are part of the largest group in the League, the Glassmakers of Trent. Skilled tradesmen from across the Mill Lands often struggle to join the Glassmakers to take advantage of their dominance across the Shay Valley.

Relations with Pelonastra
The League has no interest in any disputes with the Lords Elect of the Council. They have very little military power to bring to bear in the event of a crisis. However, knowing their own weakness, the Lords Elect do not interfere in the affairs of the League either, they collect what taxes they can from the central and north Mill Lands but accept that such yields are likely always to be lower. Radicals and extremists like the Kingly Machenites (those Machenites who believe that Aruh's return would be speeded by a white king (one with Machenite views) returning to unite the nation) blame the greed of the League for the disunity of the Mill Lands,