West Wind Commission

The West Wind Commission or West Wind Board was an administrative entity set up in 1656 to manage matters arising from the implementation of the West Wind Treaty, which divided the Seranias into areas to be 'governed' directly by the imperial government in Great Pestul and areas devolved to the control of the Polcovode of Mirokrai. Its name ultimately derives from Joriscian shorthand for the Seranian and later Ascesian trades, 'west wind commerce', referring to the westerlies that drove ships making their way towards the colonies and beyond. After the Great Imperial Restoration (1701) it continued to operate from the old capital and was thus inherited - albeit largely accidentally - by the nascent Azophine state, where its function was initially to manage commercial diplomacy under the Serebrian Demediatisation regime.

From the late 18th century onwards, the Commission gradually developed into the centre of Azophin's colonial administration, although the laissez-faire nature of Seranian governance during this period meant that it had to wait until the Treaty of Tharamann (1845) and the First Vosdavansk Proclamation four years later to truly come into its own. Under the Serebrian Mediatisation introduced by that Treaty, however, its powers became ever more extensive, and its staff ballooned. By 1875, following the Far Empire Campaign (1862-1868) and the Second Vosdavansk Proclamation (1870), it had as many employees as the Imperial Censure. The Commission reached the apogee of its powers under the Awe from Afar regime established under Ratibor IV (1903-1915), but was subsequently dissolved in 1921 during the Decade of Dissent that rocked the colonies after Ratibor's death. It was replaced by the Imperial Serebrian Office.

During its early existence, the Commission was the staff of the West Wind Commissioner. From 1861-1906, it was run as a Board of Secrets, with multiple Commissioners. After 1906, much of its executive power was vested in the Plenipotentiary in Serania, although the Board continued to exist.