After the Great Cataclysm, Kvatokh and its satellite allods were all that remained of the Valirian dynasty. Among roughly two dozen such territories, Floz, Drangeᶅ, and Vismark were the largest, positioned across what was then the Kvatorr Sector, now known as the Free Trade Sector.
In the early age of Astral Sailing, Kanian control over distant regions weakened. The Kolba Cluster, where Drangeᶅ and Vismark were located, was terrorised relentlessly by corsairs, and yet Kvatokh lacked the funds required to assemble and sustain a fleet capable of securing the routes. In 861 AGC, the councils of Drangeᶅ, Vismark, and Floz entered into an economical partnership to address the situation themselves, forming the Kolba Federation.
Under the Federation, the three allods combined revenues to construct a navy and hire mercenaries. By 866 AGC, the Federation had cleared the Kolba Sector for the pirate plague.
However, the naval alliance did not dissolve after the campaign. Its success demonstrated the practical value of shared finance and coordinated command, and the three allods chose to preserve their cooperation beyond the immediate military necessity.
They petitioned Emperor Valir VII for recognition as free allods. Under this status, an allod governed itself through a civic council and answered directly to the Emperor without a feudal intermediary. The council exercised administrative authority in its own name, maintained an official seal, and represented the allod in imperial assemblies.
Valir VII accepted the petition. With external threats pressing the dynasty and the Kolba fleet already operating in imperial interest, confrontation would have weakened the crown further. Thus, the Artel of Kanian Merchants was formally recognised as a corporate body within the Empire, with certain significant privileges to follow:
Reduced or zero customs duties.
Merchants have immunity in any wars; in the event of looting on the territory of any allod that is a member of the Artel, the rulers are obliged to pay compensation to the merchant.
The Law of Salvage – flotsam of the Artel vessels washed ashore goes to the owners of the business/vessel; however, finders are offered a reward. Within a year after the shipwreck, the goods must not have been seized by anyone else.
The Artel expanded along the Ephyra Traverse, a stable astral current linking multiple clusters across the region and extending into the Medusa Sector. The Traverse had long served as the principal corridor of commerce in the Free Trade and Medusa Sectors due to its navigational stability. The Artel secured and extended its influence there by introducing a unified commercial law and maintaining a fleet capable of enforcing it. More and more towns and allods along the route sought membership and, where applicable, petitioned for recognition as free allods or free cities. It's important to understand that a membership in the Artel did not at all require submission to Valirian Kania, but it did require adherence to the Artel Law of Naval and Commerce.
Over time, the Artel formed a common system of commercial law that applied in all member territories. Naturally, each allod retained its own courts, but disputes involving trade, shipping, contracts, and merchant privilege could be heard under the Artel Law.
To support this system, the Artel established kontors in key trade centres along major routes. A kontor supervised local merchant activity, oversaw warehouses and cargo handling, kept official records of contracts and debts, and ensured that Artel regulations were observed. It also acted as a representative authority abroad, communicating with local rulers and reporting its findings to the central assembly.
When external powers infringed upon Artel privileges, the confederation responded collectively. The most common measures would have been: embargo, financial pressure, loan suspension, refusal of credit renewal, or demanding of repayment under existing contracts. At times, the Guild extended credit strategically in order to secure influence over rulers, binding them through debt and restricting their freedom of action.
Coordinated trade policy was used to shape markets. The Artel could redirect suppliers, purchase and withhold goods to limit availability, alter prices through joint agreement, or supply critical materials to rivals of a hostile power.
And only in exceptional circumstances, when embargo, sanctions and economic disruption failed to secure compliance, did the Guild authorize naval blockade. In such cases, Artel fleets physically restricted access to a port or controlled astral routes leading to it. The blockade was treated as an act of open economic warfare and required formal approval by the Assembly.
Cities that violated Artel Law could be expelled from the confederation, and the readmission required a formal petition and acceptance of terms set by the Assembly. A restored allod or city was treated as a new member and did not recover its previous rank or accumulated privileges.
As the federation matured, Floz “the Queen of Artel” emerged as its most economically influential member due to fleet capacity and trade volume. Although no formal hierarchy granted it supremacy, its voice carried considerable weight in Assembly deliberations.
In 990 AGC, the Valirian dynasty collapsed. With imperial authority extinguished, the Artel Assembly resolved to continue their union under their own authority, and the organisation was reconstituted as the Free Merchants’ Guild.
From that point forward, the Guild functioned as the largest and most successful independent commercial confederation in Sarnout, expanding its influence across the astral even beyond the Ephyra Traverse.