1936 of the Third Age - Founding of the Traders Union

In the year 1936 of the Third Age of Middle Earth a year long celebration was taking place at Gondors Capital Mina Anor (now known as Minas Tirith) with the ascension of a new king, Ondoher and his daughter Firiel's marriage to Prince Arvedui of Arthedain.

With the festivities came countless subjects from every known land to witness the grandeur of nobility, the marvel of oddities, performances and trade that would find its way to such a notable event.

In the higher reaches of Minas Anor's fabled spires you would have found some of the most skilled traders in the lands, representatives of all the races. Exquisite goods so rare and expensive they required guards of their own and special accommodations. Limited access to the spires ensured that only the wealthiest and most prominent patrons would be able to peruse these priceless treasures.

As with all master craftsmen there are always those few visionaries with the inspiration to exploit the opportunity before them. Four traders, rich with coin and fat with food, forged a bond of friendship and mutual respect over those long celebratory months. Almost nightly they met, atop their private spire taking in breathtaking views of a city bustling with life and a landscape of plains and mountains that added to the marvel of Gondor. While sharing rare pipeweed that only men (and ladies) of their fortunes could afford, they passed the nights with epic tales and their own storied pasts.

Dargus a Rohirrim or Horse Lord was famous for crafting the finest saddlery in all of Rohan and quite possibly Middle Earth. Dargus tack is still the standard of many noble houses.

Myrtle Shyfoot, a Stoor Hobbit from the Vale of Andraith who is always quick to introduce her distant harfoot cousins Marcho and Mircho who founded the shire. Myrtles leafen woodworks and fish bone sculptures that still exist are now considered priceless artifacts due to their fragile yet exquisite features.

Georne, the half-elven descendant of Elrohir of House Beor and great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of Elrond, was considered the most skilled of all the rune-crafters, imbuing powerful artifacts with elven magics and elemental power.

Galan Pickarm of Khazad-dûm and Durins Kin, the personal armorer of Durin VI whose mithril armor was thought to repel even a ballista shot and by its own brilliance put evil to flight.

Together, these famed craftsmen set out to begin an alliance of traders with the goal of forever connecting the realms and providing the means for a free and more robust exchange of wares. As each put to parchment their own commitments, so too did they endeavor to engage and represent other gifted traders and form a collective trader union for the benefit of the peace loving kingdoms and of course to realize a tidy profit.

So it was that the Masters Traders Union would become a force of its own in Middle Earth. With the skillful administration and promotion of its founders Dargus, Myrtle, Georne and Galan the Union quickly became a rousing success, opening new trade routes, connecting countless cities and its peoples and representing hundreds of master craftsman of every origin and trade.

Every successful venture has its share of detractors and the Union was no different. Craftsman who were not afforded entry into the Union complained of unfair monopolies and exclusive bargaining which limited their own opportunity. Looking to make peace with local crafters and their communities, the Union founders voted to open their membership with the one dissenting voice of Galan Pickarm who complained of sub-par crafters making goats from unicorns.

With the new lower requirements the ranks of the Union quickly swelled into the thousands and its administrative coffers filled with a like number of member dues. It seemed that almost every adult male who worked a hammer or cooked fish claimed some type of crafting skill and eagerly applied to the Union for recognition. Facing the realities of a new more diverse membership the Masters Traders Union was re-branded simply the Traders Union.

1975 of the Third Age - Death of A Founder

After 40 years of prosperity the Traders Union lost on of its founders and chief councilor Dargus who met his end on the fields of Fornost as he camped with the Crown-Prince Earnur at Ammon Raith, the victim of a night raid by local goblins.

With the death of Dargus, Galan Pickarm chose to leave the Trader Union stronghold at Bree and return to Khazad-dûm and his beloved King. Not 5 years later Galan would meet his own end at the side of King Durin VI as they fall to the awakened Balrog deep beneath the mines of Khazad-dûm.

With Dargus and Galan gone the Union leadership is left to the now elderly hobbit Myrtle Shyfoot and the ever studious elven wizard Georne. Not a dozen years pass before both Myrtle and Geome return to their own homes leaving the Union leadership in the hands of a capable group of veteran crafters, many of whom have endured since the Unions founding some 70 years earlier. It is then that the Traders Union Council is formed and begins the task of ensuring the longevity of a prosperous and well regarded institution.

2005 of the Third Age - A New Council Emerges

For all their best efforts the Traders Council comprised of 12 Councilors and a Chief Councilor, all master craftsmen, found the task of managing more than 12000 traders, countless trade routes, caravans, guard details, charters, and administrative affairs throughout middle earth a bit daunting if not overwhelming. Whats more is that their new roles provided no time to pursue their beloved crafts. As the years dragged on each Councilor found himself relying more and more on a full time administer to perform their leadership roles, as they increasingly returned to their workshops. Eventually the Councilors Hall at the Union stronghold in Bree was in reality the workplace of 12 professional administrators performing their duties freely, without oversight. When the years became decades few even remembered the names of the original Councilors The Administrators were happy enough to let bygones be bygones and tend to the affairs of the Union while securing large salaries and expensive luxuries for themselves.

What started as a collective of Master Craftsman was now a vast organization ruled by administrators who had little sense of the crafts they represented. Profit and preservation were the only remaining directives playing second only to greed and a hunger for power.

2230 of the Third Age - From Conflict comes Kingdom

The final turning point for the Traders Union came in the year 2230 of the Third Age, with a stake delivered through the heart of the current Chief Administrator by an uknown assassin. With the Chief's early demise a host of mercenaries occupied the Councilors Hall in the name of Hedie Ark. An especially brutal administrator, Hedie took up the office of Chief Administrator. His first official action was to remove any threat to his power by appointing the heads of dissenters to serve as wall decorations. Hedies second official act was to rename the Traders Union the Traders Council, more closely aligning it to a de-facto ruling order.

Hedie must have realized that he was not alone in his malice and quest for control. More then a few other administrators were undeterred in their own motives, heads on walls be damned. There were numerous plots to poison his food, hire an assassin or bribe one of Hedie's personal guards. More than a dozen plots hatched yet none would find a life outside its shell of deceipt. Hedie lived a long and depressing 2 years as a paranoid recluse under constant guard and the disabling fear of a premature death. After finally realizing the errors of his ways, it was too late and his own death came of natural causes from poor sanitation, lack of sunlight and malnutrition.

With Hedie's passing the remaining administrators, now Councilors in their own right, re-assumed the mantle of leadership and together took to recognizing the important lessons learned from Hedies departure. Just witnessing the scarecrow that Hedie had become was enough for many to empty their stomachs before running outside to feel the sun and ordering a bounty of vegetables for that evenings dinner.

And so the centuries passed and the Traders Council continued to grow...

Over the centuries the Traders Council, as with any vast relational network, had to deal with forces opposed to its prosperity with various protocols of force and diplomacy.

Council Ambassadors were dispatched throughout the lands. These skilled politicians were renowned for their ability to secure lucrative trading monopolies and cheaper tariffs for Council caravans. Rumors always persisted that their tongues were the work of wizards.

The threat to Council caravans was always an important consideration. Orcs, brigands and all manner of threats existed throughout the kingdoms. The Traders Council with all pragmatism took efforts to ensure their caravans arrived safely and with all expedience. Profit and expensive livelihoods demanded no less. To this effort the The Traders recruited, trained and equipped a small army of heavy cavalry guards known as Order Guards, sometimes referred to as the Guards of Grey for their often rumored shady dealings of bribes and road tolls. Order Guards ensured the relatively free access and security of important trade roads. With outposts throughout the kingdoms and dotted along important freeways of trade and people, Order Guards were recognized as heroes to some and sanctioned villains to others. Tales of Order Guards defending roads from Orc hordes quickly became popular bardic songs at local taverns. Then of course there was always some mob waiting with picks and hoes to drive out those Order Guards who became more notoriously recognized as Guards of Grey or worse.

The simple truth was that not every community could afford to police its own roads or defend its homesteads against the evils that persisted even during times of peace. The Traders Council and their standing Order Guard was often the easiest and most readily available solution. And of course the Traders Council was always more then willing to provide its forces free of charge in exchange for a simple and arguably mutually beneficial monopoly of trade. What many townships and even cities came to realize was that the real long term cost was its own stifled prosperity and choking restrictions on free trade, not to mention the encroachment of often less than honorable Order guards on its people.

The Traders Council began as a humble and loosely organized merchant group throughout the major kingdoms. Over eight centuries it had became a vast conglomerate of political, commercial and military might, and for all practical purposes a merchant kingdom with fortified outposts in almost every major region, entire legions of veteran Order Guards, choke-holds of control on all things commercial and undaunted influence at nearly ever court.

In 2836 of the Third Age - 800 years opens a new chapter.

The 100 years or so leading to 2836 had included some of the most turbulent times in the history of man with the rising threat of Orcs, the Dunlending Wars, and of course Sauron and his own dark minions. Increasingly towns throughout Middle Earth called on the Traders Council to provide security and continued trade access, almost whimsically handing over their future in exchange for a meager life today.

In 2836 Brytta, King of Rohan, known as Leofa or Beloved is returning home from one of his many successful Orc raids. His latest expedition has kept him from his honored city of Edoras for nearly 3 years. During that short time, Order Guards have been commissioned by the Marshals of Eastfold and Westfold to help secure important southern and northern trade routes which have increasingly come under orc and goblin attacks.

A tired and battered King of Rohan is less then 50 leagues from Edoras, having discharged the bulk of his horse-cavalry to their homes, leaving only a small honor guard to escort him the final distance home. A company of Order Guards not recognizing the King and his men in their well worn state have fashioned themselves toll collectors and ride out from the woods to stop the kings company. No longer Order Guards, these Guards of Grey demand a small ransom for the safe escort to Edoras ahead. Battle worn, but battle ready the King signals his men and within minutes has dispatched nearly every Order guard leaving only a few broken bodies to interrogate.

No stranger to politics and the power of the Traders Council, the King quickly proceeds to the Traders merchant fortification outside Edoras. Under the guise of diplomacy he enters the stronghold with his honor guard in tow, arresting all of the local administrators and quarantining its remaining crafters.

The beloved hero and King of Rohan has commissioned himself to finally end the stranglehold of the Traders Council. With all haste a messenger is sent to every ruler and community seat with a directive to overtake Trader strongholds, an offering of uncoditional support and a plan to set a new course for trade throughout the free regions of Middle Earth.

Within a month nearly every merchant center, trade fortification and Trader Council property is confiscated by the local authorities, its administrators jailed and its Order Guards dispersed, jailed, commissioned into local militias or on the run. Only the ancient stronghold outside of Bree provides any defensive posturing and the militias of Archet, Staddle and Bree itself quickly lay siege and leave the stronghold in ruins, all of its Councilors now dead or imprisoned.

In accordance with the King of Rohans original missive each town, community, region and kingdom sends a duly appointed representative to Edoras, the capital of Rohan.

2836 of the Third Age - The Council is Born!

The end of 2836 of the Third Age, 21 trade ambassadors representing nearly every free region in Middle Earth sit in council with the King of Rohan, Brytta the son of Fréaláf Hildeson and the Steward of Gondor, Belecthor II, to charter a new trade organization that would forever respect and uphold the rules of the lands.

And so in 2837 of the Third Age, The Council was born. No longer tied to its origins as a Trader Union, The Council was instead chartered to recognize and overcome the shared hardships of productive trade, open communications and security in a world growing ever darker with evils march darkening the land.