Green History I (in-depth)

[Kario]

For those of you looking for something a little meatier to sink your teeth into, give us the story of the rise of a modern-day trade baron. Where did he/she come from, what motivated him/her, and how did he/she come to prominence? Anything not already established as canon is fair game for this assignment--the more complete your submission, the more likely that minor details will also make it into the world concept as well.

[Redstorm Breckenridge]

PLEASE STOP using the "Green, Red, Blue Labels"

As for a story, the Trade Baron has all lot of secret power and with it has the power to control the world around him like a puppet master. That is until his world is turned upside down with the world breaking around him. His remaining followers work to reunite the world that was once the Baron's. Their mission is that of Peace, or is it...

[Marcus Cunningham]

As with all stories, this one has its start before the cataclysm. A consortium of five of the most powerful industrial lords and ladies determined that it would be far more profitable in the long run for each of them to monopolize one aspect of trade, so as to limit true competition, and essentially enter into business with each other. Combined with price control practices that were, at best, less then fair, this new group found that with a little mystery, a flair for the dramatic, and good old-fashioned foul play they could make far more money together then they ever could individually. To protect themselves from the public light, and distance their personal assets from those of this new group, they would even fashion an identity for themselves, as a whole, to further grasp a hold of the marketshare. They would call themselves the Shadow Hand.

In fact, with the prospect of war on the horizon, this shadowy group was poised to take control of key resources on every side of the playing field. Steel, fuel, foodstuffs, there wasn't a single market they weren't ready to claim a near monopoly on. The rich would get richer, and the poor would dream of being rich. Supply and demand, as a weapon.

This plan failed when the Cataclysm occurred. With both sides reeling from the after effects, the Shadow Hand would need years to re-establish themselves, but the sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, and the entire legacy of those five mercenary entrepreneurs would inherit the world. When the haze cleared, the memory of the Shadow Hand still was still fresh in the minds of those who lived under its cloak, and in the wash of the cataclysm many do not recall the humble beginnings the Shadow Hand came from. They only remember the mystery and the cloak and dagger aspects that the original founders put into place. The fear, the shadow, and the wealth.

The Shadow Hand's inner circle draws their power from the businesses that they control and operate, from the promise of wealth for compliance, and the threat of bankruptcy for resistance. From a powerbase established before the fall of the world, the Shadow Hand uses wealth where others would use violence. Problems are bought rather then dealt with. People are assets and liabilities, rather then people. The lives of thousands are bought and paid for daily, with trade shipments and resources flowing or stopping at a whim.