Cambie Territories

[House Gresham Symbol ???]
At the time of the Plague, Clark Gresham was part of a survey team for the Canadian company Exeter returning from the Sagitarrius Arm. Clark Gresham met Christy Omaki, among the group of survivors assembling on Juneau and it was love at first sight. They quickly married and became involved in the efforts to build the ICRCT. When the organization of governance on Juneau started to lean in a distinctly (European) Union direction, he and Christy made up their mind to resettle another planet along with Christy's brother Amel Omaki once the opportunity arose. After a lot of discussion about the various different planets they had seen while working with the ICRCT, the three were drawn to the vast redwood forests of Merritt.

Due to Clark's determination, Christy's brilliance and Amel's charisma, Merritt quickly became one of the largest planetary settlements during Resettlement. The three fashioned Merritt as a refuge for all regardless of their beliefs and backgrounds, and maintained close relations with Juneau throughout Resettlement despite the competition between the two for influence on the edge of Cygnus. In close proximity to each other, Merritt and Juneau found themselves courting many of the same planets prior to The Warring Lords Period. But, Lord Amel proved up to the task, bringing close to a dozen planets into the unified Cambie Territories under the leadership of the Greshams.

House Gresham fell under obedience to the Empire of the Rhine during the First War of Luther, when Luther Konig destroyed the fleet of merchant ships Cambie had assembled to support its alliance with the Republic of Juneau. House Gresham continues to officially owe homage to the empire and its empress Dalilah Tai but it maintains significant autonomy. As a condition of the Conciliation of Lester, House Gresham is allowed to govern the Cambie Territories without imperial interference but it is prohibited from raising an army and must provide its tax contribution to the Rhine every decade.

Over the Serene Systems, the growth of a libertarian society built upon trade in agricultural goods has led to prosperity for a great many of the subjects of House Gresham and a more egalitarian society among the Cambie Territories than most of the nations of Cygnus. Cambrie continues to benefit by its trade privileges with the principalities of the Empire but tensions due to social and religious differences have created a slow drift away from the Empire over the centuries.

All the manufacturing houses throughout Cygnus rely upon trade with the Cambie Territories and the three leaders of the nation from House Gresham are keen to exploit the nation's role as suppliers of raw commodities to expand their influence. Sensing that the time had finally come for independence from the Empire, they agreed to finance Ulrich von Nomen's exploration of a new route to Sagitarrius, providing him with a great deal of the men and material necessary for the expedition. The success of the voyage has provided House Gresham with a preliminary map to vast unexploited resources of Sagittarius and an early competitive edge to access them, but it has also triggered a race by all of Cygnus to build a new class of starships and finance their own explorations.