When the Duskhyn Confederation formed, the wealthier and more organized states in the southwest had the greatest influence on its structure. Said states already had strong central governments under a single lord, so transitioning to being provinces under governors was mostly a matter of vocabulary.
The northern provinces, notably Frostmoor and Everdawn, were not so well prepared. The territory that made up these two did not have any government above those of individual villages and nomadic tribes. They had few natural resources available to them and in some cases had to trade for basic necessities. Now, all of a sudden, they were arbitrarily grouped together under a couple governors most of them had never had any dealings with.
With no preexisting structurers to build upon, the new lords of Frostmoor and Everdawn found themselves saddled with a number of responsibilities under the Duskhyn Charter, and zero funding or infrastructure with which to carry them out.
What sets the two provinces apart is how they have gone about remedying the situation. The House Frostmoor’s approach has been building from the ground up—with little in the way of currency circulating through the territory, they have worked out trade arrangements between villages to better allocate goods, and exchanged roads and infrastructure for resources. Progress has been slow but measurable, though Frostmoor is still considered to be the overall poorest province of Duskhyn.
House Everdawn took a more aggressive approach. They actively recruited merchants to relocate to their ports. Their pitch was based on the as yet underutilized trade markets of the inland cultures—who were all but fully dependent on them—but also a very low tax rate, especially compared to the more established provinces like Kingsport, Telos, and so on. Their efforts were successful, and over the next few decades, the twin ports of Mountport and Dawnsea became bustling trade hubs.
However, precisely because of the low tax rate, and the absolute power these great merchant companies now held, very little of the newfound wealth could be captured by the government of Everdawn. The provincial leadership found itself unable to administrate much of anything within Mountport and Dawnsea, much less in rural areas. The merchant companies took matters into their own hands, forming their own private police forces, roads, and infrastructure. The inland residents have been more or less forced to fend for themselves, angling for the scraps that the governor has left for them.
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