Baalys

Baalys was an electoral diarchy in Arrakis. The major religion of the nation was Phoenician. The nation's economy was heavily focussed on mining with major exports being marble, quartz, sandstone, gems, and gold. Other exports included glass, fish, and fruit. Their currency was the silver talent equalling 60 silver mina, 1 silver mina equalling 60 shekels, and 1 shekel equalling 10 obols. The poverty level was an income of about 2 obols per day.

History

Baalys was considered a rival of the Elyrian League. The two nations often had disputes, especially regarding the ownership of islands in the Spice Islands.

Politics

While Baalys is formally ruled by the two suffets, the real power always has been the Senate. The sixty seats are filled by the Baalysian elite, the richest and most influential men of the city. Due to their different social and exonomic background, several groups with mutually exclusive interests have formed and fight for power in all political matters.

The Golden Bushels

One of the oldest groups, the bushels' wealth stems from the agricultural produce of their vast holdings on the peninsula. They see production as the base of any economy and thus look down on the wealthy merchants, who only grew rich by exploiting what others produced. The bushels' main concern is a strong army to protect their estates. In their opinion, the navy's only use is to occasionally raid distant lands and bring back slaves to work their fields and serve them at the table and in the bed...

The Black Riders

When the desert people's siege of Baalys was broken by a daring sortie of Baalysian cavalry some hundred years ago, the five surviving cavalry commanders have been awarded the highest honors, large estates for their horse breeding and great wealth. Even today, the military faction in the Senate is largely drawing on the reputation earned back then. Economically inferior to all the other factions, the Black Riders represent the majority of the Baalysian military power. Naturally, their main concern is to strengthen the army, the city's defences and the arms industry.

The Sons of the Sun

With the upswing of trade in the region during the past decades, many merchants have grown rich beyond imagination. Representing a large share of the city's wealth, they are one of the smallest faction in the Senate, mostly because the older factions fight them any way they can. As merchants they spend most of their lives abroad, on board of ships sailing across the large oceans under the bright sun. The sons of the sun heavily depend on secure trade routes and thus see the navy as Baalys' most important asset. Their trade contacts to the various neighbouring people make them the faction with the highest interest in foreign relations and espionage.

The Myrrh and Incense Party

Although Baalys is very open-minded regarding the religious matters of its inhabitants, the priests of the various gods still have a very high standing in the lower classes. As one sixth of each and every sacrificial offering belongs to the priests, they would also wealthy enough to be heard in the Senate, even if they did not wield command over the streets and houses of the city. When the Bushels tried to raise taxes on the city's inhabitants twenty years ago, the priests feared to lose a share of the sacrifices and thus opposed the Bushels publically. Their preachings to the masses almost led to a civil unrest, parts of the city went up in flames and several Senators were killed. Since that time, no decision has ever been taken in the Senate without securing the support of the Myrrh and Incense Party.

The Lucksmiths

Being the smallest and least influental party in the Senate, the lucksmiths represent the various crafts of the city. Among the most prominent are the purple colourers, the glass blowers, the goldsmiths and of course the armourers and smiths. Since the merchants brought more and more raw materials into the city and sold more and more of its products, the industrial party is growing slowly in both wealth and influence and has sided with the merchants. Their main interest is free trade and low taxes, protected by both a strong fleet and solid city defences. As they spend their entire lives inside the city, they place a much greater interest in improving the overall quality of life in Baalys, which leads to good relations to the crowds. This also made them a menace to the priests.