Roark

One of the breakaway states in the Sea of Grass after the Winter War and the Holy Kaelthian Republic's withdrawal from the area. Located between the Lowbridge Republic and the Uulan Confederacy. With the main Mountain Road (connecting Kaelthia and Fuar Uulan) inaccessible due to the HKR's new isolationism, Roark's (much inferior and more winding) Old North Road (which is deceptively named, as it's newer than the Mountain Road) is a choke-point for trade and travel. And Roark's leadership takes full advantage of that fact.

Government

Ruled by His Luminosity, Sun's Grace Erwin Roark the First, Roark is ostensibly a theocracy devoted to the sun god Tor Elan. Erwin rules not as king, but as Servant of the Sun, and the local and town leadership are all ordained clergy of the Orthodox Church of the Sun Ascendant (Erwin's break-off church). In reality, Erwin and his cronies (most of whom were never clergy before the Winter War, although Erwin was a ranking Sun's Fist) rule it as despots, enacting their own petty whims. Backed by the largest contingent of former Holy Hands adventurers (those that decided not to follow the Prophet of Law Unveiled) as secret police, Erwin's government extracts tribute both in coin and in service and has reduced many of the people to near-serfdom.

Trade Policy

The Servant of the Sun does realize that without his monopoly of the trade routes and without active trade, his banditry will come to a short, sharp end. So he's actually not so bad on trade. Those interfering with trade (other than his own bully-boys) die, horribly and publicly. He does charge a 10 gp/person, 5gp/wagon or pack animal toll as "payment for road maintenance and bandit suppression"...and the roads still are in bad condition.

Corruption is rampant, and many traders find they have to pay substantially more than the listed fees or find themselves delayed significantly or their goods go missing. There's always someone caught and blamed...but that offender is rarely the one actually responsible.

Major Settlements

The only major settlement is Sun's Shelter, a town of about 2000 individuals, located on the Old North Road near the border with the Lowbridge Republic.