Mandera is situated beside the calm Ikindan Sea, and enjoys year-long moderate temperatures.
Prior to Bioran contact and the Common Calendar, Mandera was an association of city-states ruled by Dukes. With the extension of Dabionian Rule around 300, the Alliance of Dukes pledged to follow Dabion's laws.
From 300 to 742, Mandera and Dabion shared authority. Dabion sent representatives to the Ducal courts to manage legal affairs, while the Dukes retained control over trade. Dukes granted Baronages to members of the merchant class to reward success in trade. While Ducal titles were hereditary, the title of Baron was not.
Occassionally women were granted the title of Baroness in their own right. Since Baronages were not hereditary and any merchant who succeeded could potentially earn one, primogeniture was less significant in Mandera and the status of women was therefore higher.
Mandera's location made it ideal for fishing and trade, and a thriving industry was built throughout the first five centuries of the Common Calendar. Because of an early thriving economy and a cosmopolitan nature, Manderans were quick to establish Bioran schools. They never abandoned their principles of trade, though, and when the climate turned against Biora, they were easily able to shake the influence of the scholars. Mandera also established the first Nanian house outside of Cassile, although again they did not give up their economic principles. Such trends were entertained but not fully incorporated into the culture. Changing alliances did not bother Manderan leaders, who were concerned about popularity and profitability.
During the years of the Bioran Harrowing and the conversion to Nanianism, Mandera became prosperous through trade with Ikinda, a powerful country to the south. The Ikinda Alliance was formed in 549. Manderans were hired for expeditions to Marlind, a sparsely populated but richly resourceful island in the North Water.
Contact with Siva was reestablished in 623 through the unpopular Labor Project, whereby Sivans were contracted, bought with horses, weapons, or food, or outright stolen and employed as slaves. The original plan was to use the Sivans solely for labor in Marlind, but in an effort to appease Dabionian officials, who disapproved of the Labor Project because it was not legislated by Dabion, Mandera farmed out many of the slaves for use in Karrimian farms and Manderan and Cassilian factories.
Economic Prosperity, 6th-8th Centuries
The economic prosperity initiated by Mandera led to relative peace on the continent. After a span of about two hundred years, this prosperity declined into complacency. Conflicts arose between the Manderan economic leaders and the Dabionian officials, as Dabion sought to gain more control. In Karrim, Mandera controlled the marketplace by setting prices and directing distribution. Dabion controlled production before the goods reached the market by keeping records of production and levying taxes. Estate Managers were employed by Dabion to keep records, collect taxes, and oversee local law enforcement. In addition, Dabion sought control through the rejection of the working class that led the commoners to be ousted from Dabion.
Mandera also extended their economic reach into Cassile, establishing factories, recruiting workers, and culling natural resources. This led to the rise of the minstrels, secular Cassilians who traveled throughout the other countries bringing poetry and music. Their greatest patronage was in Mandera, beginning in 703 with the arrival of Taramel Dunnauh. Minstreline literature is largely on the carpe diem subject, and it gave rise to a subculture of young cavaliers who sought to live out their romantic fantasies.
In 742, Marlind was exhausted of its resources and the Ikinda alliance was severed. Economy on the continent collapsed. This collapse was a death blow to the Manderan people, who had lived in luxury for years beyond record. This death blow was in some cases literal; more than a few business leaders killed themselves or died of stress-related illnesses.
Most of the surviving Dukes and Barons signed over their businesses to Dabion and their titles were dissolved. Those Titled Merchants who did not submit to Dabion were not recognized and their titles no longer carried weight. Since there was no one to grant Baronages, the title died entirely.
After this violent change in their social order, younger Manderans were left to rebuild it. Many of them willingly adopted Dabionian measures: sobriety, rationality, and industry. They exploited every remaining resource and kept tight control of the market. Other Manderans rebelled against both the Dabionians and their countrymen who allied with Dabion; this led to acts of crime and terrorism.
Tradesmen from Mandera, under Dabionian direction, proposed a new expedition to Biora in 748, hoping for new resources. Although no usable resources were found, traders did rediscover the texts of the age of Bioran learning, and reintroduced them to the Five Countries.