Alright, I think I'm dropping Boston. [@The Wyrm] has already expressed interest in taking over it, so Boston is his now. I've made a new app for an organization. I can do a little more with it but first I'd need [@flowersrgr8] to okay some of what I've written here.


[hider][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/kfkJQSN.png[/img][/center]

[center][i]Manifest Destiny[/i][/center]

[b][color=ed1c24]Name:[/color][/b] 
Order of Columbia | Columbian League

[b]Leader:[/b]
Augustus Lockhart
[sub]Brooklynite patroon, merchant, banker, and knight.[/sub]

[color=2e3192][b]History:[/b][/color]
The Order of Columbia has its origins in Brooklyn's turbulent past, when the borough's feuding families made the streets run red with blood. Founded and jointly financed by patrician families operating out of Brooklyn's ports, the order was originally concerned with the protection of patroons, land routes for trade, and the defense of patrician property and land from all manner of harm. In those days, it functioned additionally as a deterrent against the ambitions of Brooklynite lords seeking the vassalization, confiscation, or disbandment of patroons, their assets, or their organizations, and acted as a bulwark against autocratic rulers, in the defense of democratic institutions within patrician territories. It promoted democracy and the mandate to Manifest Destiny, which it viewed as the indomitable desire to prosper and excel by the individual; the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as decreed by the Fathers.

Over time, the Order of Columbia grew to become a vast enterprise with a robust financial network, becoming something of a bank near the zenith of the Brooklynite wars, when the borough's feuding families sought the Order to finance their increasingly bloody struggle for control of Brooklyn. Within the Order's own ranks a struggle for control brewed between the co-owning patroons, whose ambitions left them salivating with the thought of sole ownership of an ever-expanding and powerful enterprise; a financial giant and an iron fist with which to dominate the rest. This internal conflict, filled with intrigue, cloaks, and daggers culminated with the assumption of absolute power by one Thaddeus Lockhart, propelling the once medium-level patroon to a position of unprecedented financial and military might in the region.

Thaddeus Lockhart consolidated his power and contemplated the Order's role in the struggle for Brooklyn, briefly considering offers by the lords of Westbrooke to aid in their war for the borough. Instead, Thaddeus Lockhart bided his time and remained neutral as the Brooklynite armies whittled themselves down. Whatever personal ambitions Thaddeus Lockhart may have had were dashed by the New Empire's entrance into the War For Brooklyn. The sight of Imperial banners at Jamaica Bay spelled the end to what had been generations of bloodshed. Thaddeus Lockhart - seeking favor with the lords that would eventually come to rule all of Brooklyn - sided with the Sutherbrookes and their imperial allies, for the first time ever committing Columbian troops to the conflict.

Since the annexation of Brooklyn by the Empire State, the Order of Columbia - in time becoming known as the Columbian League - has expanded its operations throughout the imperial dominion, transforming itself into a vast multinational entity under which many guilds operate, with a renown bank, and an extensive network of trade posts and fortifications, as well as a military arm to protect the trade routes and trade towns within the League. It forms a robust commercial structure with its headquarters on Liberty Island, which itself has grown to become the center of a city administered directly by the Order. The current head of the organization is Augustus Lockhart, an ambitious businessman and knight.[/hider]