The Merchetti

Camber Moon Orbital Station circa 2700

    Merchetti was a Lesser Trade House situated in the South-central region of the galactic disk. It was founded by a Terran human named Antwon Merchetti, who turned of age in 2289 and volunteered for the Distan Colonies Galactic Expansion Corps. His colonial assignment was procurement and supply. The journey to his new station in the Rissid Agricultural regions took over three years, most of which was spent in a hyperbaric stasis chamber. After setting up the necessary trade domiciles, his procurement and supply section went into action but found that the tariff system imposed by the Rissid prevented any meaningful trade. Antwon was an aggressive and creative entrepreneur, and in 2291, he convinced his team captain to let him scout for better trade opportunities. He found them in the regions to the south of Rissid, trading via the ERCA trade network, with Serethia, Thermenes, and Falastur.

   The first Merchetti Trading Post was established in 2303 on Camber 2.1, an inhabited moon discovered by the TSS Omdurman, (Terran Navy Explorer #23.) With the assistance and expertise of ERCA Agricultural technicians, the Camber Moon trade center flourished. Capol, a nearby starsystem with a mostly human population, was non-aligned and friendly with ERCA and welcomed the Terrans as new trading partners.

   So successful was the relationship between Capol and the Camber Moon that the Terrans were able to establish a Terran compound on Capol-4. When Antwon Merchetti's enlistment term was up, he chose to stay at Capol-4. He later married three wives, sired sixteen children, and won election as the Proko (world leader.) Merchetti was a capricious ruler. He passed legislation that declared that the Capo starsystem was officially renamed the Merchetti Republic. He changed the name of the starsystem to Capruzzo, and changed the name of Corda, the capital city, to Portici, at the behest of his favorite wife.

   Merchetti was as ruthless as he was efficient during his 35-year tenure as the Proko. He vastly enlarged the reach of the Merchetti trade network and took economic control and ultimately, political power over thousands of starsystems.

   In 2349 Antwon Merchetti was mortally wounded during a trade conference with the Artatook. Assassins in the employ of Rissid were widely believed to be behind the attack. Upon his death, Antwon was succeeded by his first son Prospero who continued his father’s work. Prospero was able to procure additional worlds for expansion, and the enterprise grew into an empire.

Merchetti Homeworld Capruzzo-4

   A beautiful world with lush vegetation and luminescent blue water, thanks to the blue-white main sequence star.

Home System Capruzzo (aka Portici)

   The star Capruzzo named by Antwon’s first wife after her great-grandfather Leone Capruzzo who was a hobby astrologist. Capruzzo was an extensive system containing 9 orbital bodies; 6 of which were colonized or inhabited, one was a gas giant (Capruzzo-7), and another an inhabited asteroid belt (Capruzo-6).

Capital City Affluencia

   Affluencia was the trade mecca of this world and the largest city on Capruzzo-4. Both a seaport and spaceport, the Affluencia barrier island was a popular tourist destination.

Currency: Crone

   The Crone was established by the New Republic Council in 2561, honoring those lost to the Kv2 superbug.

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Artwork by Julian Schlottman, Max Bagdasarov

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