Up until the war with the Rhallyns 290-311 AA, the majority of Aethans had been very religious. There had been a great trust in not only the King, or the Guardian as he also was known as, but also in the Chalaem and the Brotherhood of Chali who held Aethans faith tight and effectively governed the Paleyans in an unquestioned manner. During the war people who were unhappy about how the situation was handled had rose up and spoke against their leaders and most Priests who survived had ended up fleeing to Oldos. By the end of the war many Aethan towns and villages were in complete disarray and the few leaders that were left handled recovery efforts very poorly, focusing more on getting rid of 'heretics' than to rebuild. However, in most places people essentially had no leaders at all and all faith in Seleri II who was King at the time and the Brotherhood of Chali was lost.
The situation called for the people to bring forth a leader themselves and this is what caused the 'Gemila' phenomena. People went out yelling 'Gemila' in the streets which essentially meant 'give to me', trying to rally up peoples resources in order to get everything together so that rebuilding could happen more effectively. And soon enough, the 'Gemila-men', essentially became the local managers who dealt with all the problems that were going on in their area.
Initially the expression 'Gemila-man' was probably a form of taunt, from people who thought that these men were asking for too much and stubbornly refused to aid. However, as Seleri II later in 315 AA began to instate these men as mayors, the term remained and became more accepted. It was also Seleri II who in 318 AA decided that a 'Gemila' would be held every three years after receiving complaints from a lot of people who felt that the men he had appointed in 315 AA were getting too corrupt. What this meant was that whoever was able gather the most wealth, earned by own hand or given to them by others, would be set to rule the area.
The laws concerning Gemila remained pretty much the way Seleri II set them up for a long time and are still pretty similar today. The only real change to legislation was made by Seleri IV who decided that a Gemila would be held every year, as opposed to every three years.
Worth noting is also that the Gemila tradition, in many ways helped the large Trade Houses gain power. Merchants who co-operated quickly gained enough wealth comparable to the King of Aetha and soon enough it was they who decided who would be Gemila-man everywhere in Aetha.
The Gemila Tradition in Entilla
Though the Gemila tradition is old, it only came to Entilla in 626 AA, when Dalmer Medana came to the town. On 16th Thirali that year he announced that a Gemila would be held. No one in Entilla could cough up enough money to even nearly match the amount that Medana put in the pot with Yankris Paedlo as the Gemila-man. Yankris who had been in Entilla for about a year had earned enough trust among the people there to not have anyone question the spectacle.
In general, people were just happy that more wealth would come to the area.
In 627 AA the 16th Thirali, the second Gemila was held as required by the law, this caused some fuzz as Dalmer was dead and his son Nemev unreachable due to the storms, but the amount of wealth put forth by Dalmer was still a lot more than anyone else could come up with even though much of it had been spent in order to make improvements to the town. Magistrates eventually decided that everyone with Medana as their last name could be considered a close enough relative to Dalmer to be able to decide in his sons' absence. Luckily it was not hard for the Medana's to come to an agreement and chose to let Yankris continue as Gemila-man.
The next Gemila will also be held the 16th Thirali and most people believe that it will turn out the same way as the previous one's as no one has made any large effort to challenge Medana's people and they seem happy with how Yankris has handled himself.
Qualitative Description of the Legislation Concerning the Gemila-man
The man (or woman, even though this has yet to happen there is no law against it) who wins the Gemila, will own the right to the funds displayed by him or her for the coming year. What he or she chooses to do with it is entirely up to them. It would be perfectly legal to leave town with the funds and spend it all somewhere else for own leisure, but of course that is going to anger whoever provided the funds and something like that has never happened in Aetha's recent history, as everyone always makes sure that their chosen man is trustworthy.
But in the beginning it did happen a few times and part of the reason for that could be that after the year is passed, whatever is left of it goes back to the initial owner or their heir if necessary. Further any permanent investments that the funds were used to create also goes to the initial owner of the funds. This way new property or other investments made by the Gemila-man during the year will all be the legal property of whoever funded the Gemila-man to begin with. If the Gemila-man was funded by more than one party, all parties will gain shares according to how much they put in to begin with or if they wish to they could also negotiate with each other in terms of who gets what. In the end the Gemila-man is guaranteed nothing, but is generally granted a regular salary by whoever put up the funds to begin with and as such it is generally they who decide whatever duties the Gemila-man are supposed to fulfil.
Worth noting is also that the Gemila-man has no right to collect things such as taxes and has only the initial funds to rely on, unless additional funds are granted by someone.
The Magistrates in Yen Taell
On his trip to Entilla, Dalmer Medana had also brought with him three magistrates appointed by Aethiryn III, who conducted the Gemila he set up and who also remained after he left to make sure that law was properly enforced in the town. In Aetha, the magistrates are besides the King, the only people who are allowed to exercise law. These three magistrates are still in Entilla as they, like everyone else became trapped there by the storms. They do their best to exercise law in the region, but have found that they need to keep a blind eye in more situations than they would like to. Of course Medana pays them, so that they do their job in the manner they prefer. In Aetha, this is perfectly legal as is accepting payment from multiple parties. In fact if this wasn't the case, they would not have any salary at all. Also, like in the Paleyans these three magistrates of Entilla like to surround themselves with a number of investigators that can inform them about what is going on.
The Goals of Medana
Medana is first and foremost a shipping company and their goal is to establish connections with Aryiure's populace and make as many deals as they can, concerning the shipment of goods and people. But Medana is large and want to be involved in a lot of other activities, as well. Back in the Paleyans they essentially own Dastilla and would not mind having the situation in Entilla turn out the same way. They would also like to expand their influence in Aryiure in a manner where they can open up trading with all of the cultures that live there.
Notable Actions Taken by the Governing Faction of Entilla since 626 AA and Future Plans
Right after Yankris became Gemila-man a couple of attempts to negotiate with the Sakoians were made, but to a large degree these negotiations failed or was reconsidered, as it was known that the Surric of the time, was not well-liked and had done taken many questionable actions. Very recently, he was proclaimed false by the Sakoians and there is now new Surric who has just been instated, but there has not yet been time to meet with him, though plans for it have been made.
Several new buildings made out of limestone have been built. These are a number of private residencies for those who knew Dalmer personally and four public buildings of special importance. This is a Town hall combined with the Treasury, where the Gemila-man has his offices and the funds are stored, a general storage bank, where people are allowed to rent a place to store their goods if they so wish, a large inn where people can rent a room in case they don't have anywhere else to stay in Entilla and Medana's working quarters where they generally get together to plan what is to be done next. A number of smaller ships have also been made, a few of which have been given away to fishermen in exchange for a promise to work it off. Similar loans have been made to a number of other people who wants to start up some kind of business. Basically anyone with an idea for some kind of enterprise, that wanted a loan were able to get it as long as they could get a few respectable people to verify that they were trustworthy.
Not much action has been taken concerning crimes and specifically neither Medana nor the Magistrates have taken any responsibility for crimes committed by Aethans against the other cultures of Aryiure. Internal crimes have been dealt with to a degree, but typically any crimes against Medana have been dealt with very harshly and swiftly, which has resulted in their being very few of those.
In the future Medana wants to continue to sponsor any entrepreneurs Entilla might have and eventually expect to get everything back and more from doing this. They will also continue to put efforts into building up Entilla and will also look to expand building efforts into other areas of Aryiure, though exactly where is still undecided. Unless something rash happens the attitude against crime will stay the same. Maybe the only thing that will change that is that they plan to get more into the negotiation with other cultures and certain deals could require a bit more than just the exchange of goods.
Important People and Positions appointed by the Gemila-man, magistrates or relating to the House of Medana
To achieve a leading position within Medana, it usually helps to belong to the family and to be aware in which manner you're related to Nemev Medana who is the current leader of the house after his father's death. In Yen Taell there are a number of key-duties that people within Medana have either taken upon them or been assigned by someone else. It's also possible that a regular citizen of Entilla has been able to earn enough trust to be assigned to one of these duties. The Gemila-man and Magistrates generally also appoints a few duties. Further one person could do several of these duties at once.
Other Leading Figures
Trade Directors- These investigate the commercial activity both in Entilla and in foreign towns and act upon it. Lenard Medana, who is possibly the most influential figure present in Yen Taell, is currently investigating the commercial activities in Riskalyer. Kaina Desai is investigating Laffrane and Kuil Ranes Danyln Cove. The trade directors are usually the one's to decide the overall direction of things and generally make the trade deals and as well as settle them. There is a number of people like this assigned to Entilla as well.
Guard Captain- This Guard Captain works for Medana's interests solely and is responsible for arranging all defences of goods and people that need to be defended, both in Entilla and abroad and also recruits the guard force. Generally this will be a former kasatts that prefers recruiting people with the same background.
Harbourmaster- This figure is usually appointed by the Gemila-man and makes sure the harbour is safe and sound and helps people to dock properly. Also keeps records of what goes in and out of port to the extent it is possible. Usually charges some kind of fees, for use of the dock and a larger fee for keeping something out of the records. Foreign ships at the rare occasions they do show are generally heavily fined. May or may not have an agreement, which forces part of earned funds to be paid to the Gemila-man. A number of people might also be working for the harbourmaster.
Shipwright Overseer- Decides what ships are going to be built and when. There may be shipwrights he has no control over, but most are bound to owe Medana somehow.
Architectural Overseers- These include, Raldus Fey and Salena Menan and their duties are to decide what improvements can be made to Entilla. But if new areas are built in it's possible that other people are assigned to those.
Ferry-men and trade-vessel Captains- Competent sailors assigned either by the Shipwright overseer or market investigators to sails Medana's ships.
Investigators- These work for the Magistrates and represent the little law-enforcement that exists. Generally they snoop around in any manner they can but are often very limited, but are in special cases allowed a certain control of Medana's guard force.
Inn keeper- The Inn-keeper for the large Inn that was built generally has a lot of guests to look after.
Treasurer- Usually the Gemila-man has someone to aid with looking after all the funds that is being dealt with. Medana also keeps a treasurer that deals with any commonly shared funds not entrusted to the Gemila-man. Further, the bank has a treasurer.
Advisors- Particularly the Trade directors keep at least one advisor, but it's not unusual for other people to do it either.
Shop-runners- Some of the shop-runners, may be working directly under Medana, as their shop is owned by the Trade company. These people are obviously responsible for making sure the shop makes profit.
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