The Reconquest of Galleon is a lengthy story, and one that has been told with much greater vigour than I could muster here. Both Jehan to Jehan and Horses to Hounds go into great, and excellent, detail about the conflict. It is important to remember that, despite being led by R’hahes, it was Galleon blood which spilled in order to make this campaign possible. The Reconquest of Galleon is crucial to the Galleon peoples, and a story which they deserve to tell through their own voices. That being said, there are some moments which are important to our story. R’hahes would have his greatest successes during this war but also his bleakest failures. So, we must discuss these moments to truly understand who R’hahes was.
However, before discussing R’hahes I think it would be unjust to neglect how Wahtanonda was functioning with its Duke gone – again. R’hahes and his wife Lorna agreed that she should remain and govern Wahtanonda while he went away on campaign. This was significant because women are not allowed to inherit social ranks and we, therefore, have few examples of women having political control in Gedrovach prior to this. No doubt wives had helped their husbands or mothers had helped their sons, but this was one of the few examples where a woman became the sole public figurehead; with Lorna being the leader of an entire Duchy during R’hahes absence.
With Calvade out of the picture, Suden felt more comfortable parlaying with Wahtanonda and Lorna was invited to the royal court several times. She apparently made quite the impression too. As a former Imperial, she still maintained their style of dress and mannerisms. She was graceful, beautiful and, apparently, very witty. It was this charm that began to change Sudenese opinions on R’hahes. She told stories of R’hahes’ exploits during the Siege of Elganford, his piety during his time at the Imperial Court, and, perhaps most importantly, his loyalty to those he considered friends. The Sudenites began realizing that it would be more beneficial to have R’hahes as an ally. The importance of establishing this friendship became even more significant when ‘klashaw [O] spoke publicly about R’hahes. ‘klashaw [O]’s health had been improving and, while finally attending court once more, he was moved by Lorna’s stories. For the first time ever, ‘klashaw [O] verbally recognized R’hahes as his heir. As R’hahes’ victories in Galleon grew, so too did his father’s praise.
The Sudenites were quickly coming to the realization that replacing R’hahes was an increasingly risky manoeuvre. So, instead, they began working on building a stronger relationship with R’hahes. They ensured that R’hahes’ war would continue to be funded. Knowing the bond and trust that Sklorane had built with R’hahes, they promoted him to the position of Cardinal – specifically, Cardinal of Galleon, a position newly created to show their support of R’hahes’ actions. As well, Wahtanonda had been given a new Cardinal (a position that had been empty for many years due to Wahtanonda’s decline). H’noria [o] Ferrosmith, one of the rare female cardinals of the era, was chosen. It is believed Ferrosmith was chosen as a show of solidarity with Lorna; a female Cardinal would help reaffirm Lorna’s authority, whereas a male Cardinal would likely be seen as an attempt to overstep her control.
Wahtanonda saw incredible growth under Lorna’s oversight as well. Through her connections in the Imperial Court to the south, Lorna was able to secure expert engineers and entrepreneurs who restarted the mining operations in Wahtanonda. On top of this, she was able to utilize a loophole within Gedrovach’s trade laws in order to make Wahtanonda quite wealthy. Suden took huge cuts off of Gedrovachi trade. Shortsightedly, Suden had continued to raise tariffs in order to maximize their own profit. Tariffs changed depending on the type of goods, but historical documentation shows that, on average, tariffs had risen to 45% (of which, Suden took the dragon’s share – upwards of 90%). However, trade moving between Gedrovach and Suden only required to pay 15%. The goal was to force all trade to funnel through Suden, making it the epicentre of Gedrovach trade.
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However, major trade consortiums were becoming increasingly angry at the rising tariff costs and, since most were established outside of Gedrovach, they began threatening to take their business elsewhere. Not wanting to destroy their main source of income, Suden coerced Gedrovach to pass the Temple Attribution Fund, often referred to as the Taf. Consortiums registered outside of Gedrovach could become exempt from these high tariffs by donating a lump sum to the temple every year. This lump sum was a pittance compared to the wealth these consortiums would amass through their trade, but needing to pay it all in one lump sum ensured that only the already wealthy groups could avoid the trade taxes. While the Taf donation was based off of the traders’ profits from the previous year, there was a minimum if the previous year’s earnings were not high enough (or if the trade company had just been established). While making the consortiums happy, this meant that Suden would lose out on massive amounts of yearly income. The catch, of course, was that Suden was a shared investor in many of these wealthy consortiums – allowing them to, more or less, cycle their own money.
It was not necessary for the leaders or owners to be of foreign descent, or even for them to be living outside of Gedrovach. What was important to the Taf was if the company’s base of operations was registered outside of Gedrovach – as one can imagine, this became highly abused by some key figures. Since Suden is not located in Gedrovach, it encouraged traders to set their base of operations in one of Suden’s cities. Suden did not hold the same risks which came from investing in property and land of a foreign power – if they were allowed to set up operations there in the first place. Unfortunately, this meant that the Sudenites and the traders were getting wealthier, while the Gedrovach throne – and many lesser nobles – became poor and destitute.
Lorna became aware of this loophole and decided that she could use it for Wahtanonda’s benefit. Suden had sent a vast amount of money for R’hahes to begin his campaign, and provided no oversight on how the money was to be spent. As such, Lorna used some of these funds in clever ways. Lorna began correspondence with Molygara and developed a plan. She purchased a small port within Rastiphon, with Suden’s money, and started her own trading company: the White Swan Society.
What has become a significant player in modern Gedrovachi trade, the White Swan Society had humble beginnings: starting off as a single ship, the Madame Lorna. A simple start but a legitimate business nonetheless. Lorna was, from this position, allowed to register for the Taf and provide the White Swan Society free trade in and out of Gedrovach. She, of course, fulfilled her initial payment of the Taf with coin from Suden. With the White Swan Society now registered, all trade from Wahtanonda began bearing its seal, and was able to pass uninhibited by Suden’s tariffs. If Suden ever did figure out where the initial payment came from, it was too late. The White Swan Society quickly made vast amounts of money and was easily able to pay for the Taf from its own profits the following year.
Wahtanonda was revived during this time and, later, Gedrovach would thrive under R’hahes’ reign. It is unfortunate that much of the work done by Lorna is credited solely to R’hahes. It is clear that Lorna was an excellent leader and there is no doubt that R’hahes recognized this himself. Due to Lorna’s immaculate reputation, R’hahes was able to campaign away from home, unhindered by fears of returning to a collapsed homeland. Instead, he was able to focus his efforts completely into the Reconquest of Galleon, a focus which yielded incredible results.
