====== Eastern Shores Coalition ======
The Eastern Shores Confederation (ESC) is a flat area characterized by its grassy plains and plateaus. It also contains a few of the islands along the broken side of the old seawall. Sitting at the base of Mount Fajro, the ESC was the first city-state to be formed in 2558. Forged by the legendary signing of The Ariada Pact, the new state set a precedent for Lojem, creating a new dawn for the continent.

===== Governance =====
The Eastern Shores State is ruled twofold. The Eastend Anessa serves as the executive ruler of not just the city of Eastend, but the whole state. Their duties involve the forging of political relations, mediation between the other leaders in the state, and in a time of emergency has direct control of military operations. The Anessa is chosen by The Triple Council in Eastend, and serves for 10 years. Meanwhile, a legislative council made up of the other primary leaders of the ESC, and determines the overarching laws across the country. This council is called the Ecclesia, with members being called the Ecclesiasti. These officials vary in how they are chosen, as it depends on how each city chooses their rulers. For instance, Lady’s Haven is ruled by monarchy, while Province Landing is ruled by its own merchant council, one representative being selected to become an Ecclesiasti every five years.
Laws
Despite most of the cities having vastly different systems of government, federal laws have been created by the Ecclesia

  * Open worship of demons, eldritch beings, or fey entities: Fined, maximum 50 gold.
  * Theft: Either a fine of equal value to the items stolen, or incarceration. Incarceration is up to a maximum of 20 years.
  * Assault: Incarceration, up to ten years.
  * Treason: Exile.
  * Murder and rape: Incarceration or execution, depending on the degree.
  * Ownership of another intelligent humanoid creature: Execution.

===== Culture =====
The population of the Eastern Shores State is 40% humans, 35% orcs, 15% dwarves, and 5% semi-aquatic lizards. The remaining 5% is a cosmopolitan mix of the other races. Paroli is the national language of the ESC, just like the rest of Lojem, though both Ferric and Orcish are commonly spoken along docks and in small ports.

In the ESC, whether or not shoes are worn inside the house is on a person-by-person basis. It usually depends on how clean the floors are at any given moment.

==== Built from Trade ====
The Eastern Shores State lives and dies by its economic prosperity. The Ariada Pact, upon conceptualization, was designed as a trade alliance that would bring prosperity to the Eastern end of Lojem. It wasn't until later that this trade alliance began to shift into a proper country. If something were to drastically disrupt the ESC economy, there is a chance the alliance between these city-states would begin to fall apart. Each city in the ESC has its own major export. For example, Orgrey's Platform mines limestone, Lady's Haven has many gardens that produce vast quantities of grapes for wine and olives for oil, Highsail imports grains that are then milled and sold as high quality flours and breads, and so on. The only exception is Eastend, who serves as the major distributor through which most trade occurs.

==== Loose Hegemony ====
Eastend has a very clear hegemonic rule over the other city-states. Eastend is the capital. Its leader is one of the two major ruling bodies of the country. Eastend alone determines which cities receive which supplies. Despite this, Eastend does not have rule over the governments of each city-state. They are allowed to rule themselves as they see fit, so long as they continue to follow the rules of trade established in the Ariada Pact.

==== A Modern Matriarchy ====
Contrary to most of Lojem, and even most of Jaern at large, the new ESC has become a very matriarchal society. The Triple Council is primarily run by women, many of the leaders both selected and elected are women, even the deities primarily worshiped in the ESC are all women, minus Neptune.

===== Cities in the Eastern Shores Coalition =====

**Eastend**: Eastend is the capital of the Eastern Shores State. Having been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the past few decades, Eastend is not the most friendly to adventurers. While it has opened its doors to them for the first time in almost a decade, there is a definite air of tension around allowing adventurers in after they destroyed Eastend several times decades ago.

The economic center of the ESC, Eastend is a sort of “palace-economy” where most of the wealth flows into a governing body and it is up to the Anessa to redistribute the wealth.

The Triple Council in Eastend is a collaborative council between Eastend's temples to Isis, Osiris, and Neptune. Each temple has their own duties. The Isis Sanctuary serves as a major source of healthcare for the city. Most Osirites in the area are Champions of Balance. The Anessa frequently works with the Neptunian Natatorium to deal with trade.

The current Anessa of Eastend is an orcish woman named Kleonike Arta. She was the one who proposed the Ariada Pact in the first place and nurtured it until it blossomed into the ESC. She would do anything for the new state, despite the fact that she will likely only be in office for a few years.
Population: 40,000

**Provence Landing**: Most of the dwarves in the ESC live in Provence Landing. Descending from refugees of Old Alimar, Provence Landing has kept a hold of its Dwarven traditions. With the creation of New Alimar, however, Provence Landing has become slightly more cosmopolitan as dwarves move out to return to their ancestral city, and new workers from other realms come in. Still, Provence Landing sticks to its roots. Some of the best smiths on Lojem are found here, having perfected the art of crafting weapons. Nearly any weapon can be found here! Smithing weapons is a way of life in Provence Landing. While all materials must be imported due to the poor mineral deposits of the ESC in general, Provence Landing is perhaps the largest arms dealer in Lojem. 

Provence Landing is run by an elected mayor. Elections are run every 5 years. The current mayor of Provence Landing is a gnomish woman named Aristomache Provinca. Under her rule, the city has begun to successfully ward pirates away from the Lojemite trade routes. She has rallied both T’orites and a new sect of Mishrites under the same banner to help keep thievery down and trade routes safe across the continent.
Population: 12,000

**Orgrey's Platform**: Founded by Lady Orgrey herself, Orgrey's Platform is a mining town, through and through. The city is mainly Semi-Aquatic lizards, with a good number of dwarves. Orgrey's Platform serves as one of the largest exporter of limestone and marble not just in Lojem but on Jaern as a whole. Marble may be found deep in the mines, but most of the marble is created artificially by exposing limestone to the extreme heat of Dwarven furnaces.

The island is also partially artificial. Constantly slowly sinking, the island used a series of pumps to stay afloat and keep water out of the mines.

The Platform is single handedly run by Lady Orgrey herself. Ruling like a monarch, she has chosen scholar and noted air mage Lady Crolis as her successor. Several ex-adventurers and semi-famous people live on Orgrey's Platform, good friends with the Lady. The list is quite extensive.
Population: 5,000

**Winddale**: Winddale sits along the border between the ESC and the Rougtero League. About halfway between Rougtero and Eastend, Winddale is a reasonably quiet area. It is the part of the ESC with the highest number of Tarusians, with a major archive resting in the town. Winddale’s only other claim to fame is the large wall to the west, serving as the new border to the ESC. This heavily guarded gate is intended to keep any potential threats from Rougtero away, especially adventurers from Rougtero.

Winddale doesn’t have much in the way of rulers. The Tarusian archive usually selects one of their members to serve on the Ecclesia. Currently the Tarusian sent is a dwarvish man named Solon Aethro.
Population: 7,000

**Highsail**: Highsail is a small town in between Winddale territory and the territory of Lady’s Haven. As one of the more flat and planar areas of Lojem, they specialize in growing grains such as wheat and barley. It is said that the first windmill was developed in Highsail. Despite being a place of significant development and being the breadbasket of the ESC, of not all of Lojem, Highsail remains a smaller, poorer area. They have economically gained quite a bit due to the ESC.

Being such a small area, Highsail doesn’t have too much in the way of a system of government. The richest family in Highsail is the Sitari family. The head of the house is Glaucon Sitari. He is an orcish man who serves as Highsail’s representative at the Ecclesia.
Population: 2,000

**Lady’s Haven**: Lady’s haven was founded by Princess Lucille of House Rivera. Previously exiled from her home, the princess has restarted her house and her rule in Lady’s Haven. Now Queen Lucille of House Rivera, she rules over a small string of islands and a bit of the mainland.

Lady’s Haven has a lot of sheep, which means two things. Firstly is that Lady’s Haven has a surprisingly high amount of butchers and serves as a major source of meat for the rest of the ESC. They also create a lot of textiles from wool.
Population: 10,000

**Sovaga**: An ancient town of primarily orcs. While it used to have a very poor reputation in the past, a lot of it was unearned and was merely prejudice. With those prejudices slowly disappearing as time has gone on, Sovaga is now seen for what it truly is. A very small town filled with mostly ranchers, fishers, and butchers. The city provides a decent supply of seafood to the rest of the ESC. 

The city is run completely communally. They were the last to join the ESC in part because Aristomache couldn’t find someone to serve on the Ecclesiasti. The city trades out its member almost every time they hold a meeting.
Population: 6,000


**[[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SJohBfARzWjMIFd-9vi20D7Xv7KJsmAhBwtF1puL34E/edit?usp=sharing|Midnight's Rest]]** - A new settlement founded on a small island just off the coast of Lojem.
[[settings:jaern:lojem:midnights_rest|Midnight's Rest]]

[[settings:jaern:lojem:port_haven|Port Haven]] - A large city with a poor reputation as a mafia town

[[settings:jaern:lojem:tatiana|Tatiana]] - A scholarly town dedicated to advancing knowledge and technology. It is all built on the backs of this strange new "steam-power."

[[settings:jaern:lojem:tolenice|Tolenice]] - A bougie city with a superiority complex and a love for all things art

[[settings:jaern:lojem:atentu|Atentu]] - An island 3 days from Lojem (southeast) (From Craig Brown)

[[settings:jaern:lojem:jarumna|Jarumna]] - A farming village just south of Mt Fajro's southern slope

[[settings:jaern:lojem:leifsholm|Leifsholm]] - A small hamlet founded by an ancient hero of Osiris on one of the more forested islands of Lojem

[[settings:jaern:lojem:lumordre|Lumordre]] - An ancient village with a massive tower serving as a beacon of light for Lojem

[[settings:jaern:lojem:malplena|Malplena]] - An island 3 days from Lojem (due east) (From Craig Brown)