Nordmark

Nordmark has no king and no capital. It has clans, each holding a valley and a mine, and a council that meets when a war needs stopping and dissolves when it is stopped. Contracts rule where kings would. A clan hall keeps every broken agreement nailed to the wall by the door, with the name of the man who broke it, so that a visitor knows what the family remembers.

The iron is why anyone cares. Britannia wants it for the fleet. Almania wants it for reasons it does not share. Both send buyers, and both buyers offer protection in place of a fair price. Nordmark has refused protection for three centuries because every clan knows what protection costs in the Frysian north.

The refusal is expensive. Young Nordmarkers leave for the Britannian army or the Colaran mercenary guild because the mines pay in iron and iron does not pay rent. The elders are old. When the oldest of them dies, three clans will claim his valley and the council will not be able to stop the war that follows.

Britannia's buyers have already asked which clan they should be talking to next.