Lothian League

The Lothian League is innerstellar nation in fictional Battletech Universe.

A breif History
The Lothian League is a collection of seven ice-and-snow planets located beyond the outer reaches of the Lyran Commonwealth. Lead by Angelina Logan (leader of a group of patriots from the Taurian Concordat who fled into deep space to avoid capture by the Star League). Settled in 2691 at Lothario the soon to be capital of the Lothian League, was discovered to be rich in metals. In the last century, such raw materiels have been used to foster expansion deeper into the Periphery to form a confederation, with the Logan family leading the way.

The only serious threat to the League's existence came in 2933, when renegade mercenaries from units shattered in the latest round of Succession War fighting stumbled upon the League quite by accident. For four years, both sides conducted a series of raids and counter-raids until, at long last, the mercenaries left to seek easier prey elsewhere. These actions cost the League its few JumpShips and damaged what little industry on Lothario had managed to emerge over the last three centuries. This destruction forced the ruling Logan family to renew trade ties with other planets of the Periphery in a desperate effort to avoid economic ruin. In the last century, the League has become a principal supplier of copper and iron ores to the Magistracy and the Taurian Concordat, receiving in turn agricultural and mining equipment to sustain its fragile existence.

Though on good terms with her Illyrian and Circinian counterparts, the leaders of the League wish to have little to do with the Houses of the Inner Sphere. By limiting contact with the Inner Sphere through contract with small mercenary bands to defend League worlds against raids from the Marion Hegemony. At present, the Lothian League has two mercenary battalions within its territories, though the identity and quality of these units are unknown.

Populace
The typical Lothian citizen is a rugged individualist who wants little to do with the universe at large. As long as his/her family can make a living, is content to let the rest of the universe pound itself to dismay. Literacy and technolagical levels are low, but the average standard of living is surprisingly adequate. The Lothian League remains an archetypal example of the old adage "let sleeping dogs lie".

Lothario exports large quantities of furs, iron, and copper ores to worlds within the Magistracy and Taurian Concordat. Indeed, its trapping industry has created impressive revenues as demand for the rich pelts has grown in the last century. Most of the planet's inhabitants exist in subterranean conclaves, though a few hardy souls continue to scrape out sustenance on the planet's surface, fiercely defending their small agricultural plots. The average Lotharian is highly territorial and suspicious of any offworlder.