Nermanis Syndicate

In the early stages of the First Epoch, the Nermaneans, renowned masters of commerce and devoted followers of the Lord of Riches, were dispersed along the shores of the Nermanis Sea. They engaged in trade with the giants of Kerthjorg, the goliath of Gigunn, and numerous other entities.

In 712, the city-states of Maurkac and Rabaranda merged to form the Nermanis Syndicate. Its government, structured as a syndicate, represented the business interests of the nation's companies. With the establishment of Bathor in 910, the Syndicate had trade stations along the Nermanis Sea and far down the Foronir River. Their trade network formed a triangle, with the westernmost city-state of Rabaranda, the southernmost Bathor, and Maurkac in the east.

The Syndicate's prosperity began to unravel with the sudden draining of the Nermanis Sea. Long reliant on the sea for convenient transportation, the nation's trade revenue plummeted. Famine followed, along with civil unrest and a run on the banks. By 923, nearly all of the nation's isolated settlements had fallen to invasion. Many citizens fled deeper into the countryside, taking refuge in the Hangath Forest or migrating far south to Bathor, or west into the lands of the Ithengee and the Gilraen.