Stormfire Confederacy

An alliance of island tribes in the south of Aegeron, a realm of voyagers and naturally skilled sailors.

History
The islanders in the Stormfire Archipelago have spent millennia in their own little world, unconcerned by outsiders and rarely trading with merchants. This all changed when the Imperial Navy arrived in the year 83 and forced them to open up their ports to merchants.

But even three centuries of imperial occupation could not erode the heritage of islanders and once the Imperium was no more they returned to their old ways with two exceptions. First, they formed the confederacy so that they could resist outsiders as a united force. Second, they left their ports open, which are vital part of the southern trade network of Aegeron. Although the ports are open to all, but foreign merchants are heavily taxed. This tax is used to maintain the Stormfire Navy, one of the largest (although not the most advanced) naval force of the continent.

Life
While nominally united, in reality there are great differences between the individual islands, inhabited by a dozen tribes with distinct cultures. In the Confederacy the largest, most populous and wealthiest islands hold all the power, leaving the smaller fringe tribes distrustful of their leadership.