I'm not sure if you're seeing the same starmap I'm seeing, because Lords of the East still control Sechura, and they've gone down the 75% tax road plenty of times before. I'd love to see Chirruplet's face if you end up picking Lords of the East though.

I don't believe going down the road of only caring about profit and who can bring it to us is the right choice for our clan. I mean I could be wrong on what our "goal" is as a clan, but to me it just doesn't really seem like the type of environment I'd like to be in if I'm just surrounded by people who are only in it for themselves.

That being said, on the subject of how established of an alliance we should consider joining, I'm personally mostly impartial to the decision. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages (basically how much we would matter in the long run vs how much effort it will require and how likely we'll accomplish much of anything), but if I had to pick one I guess I would rather join a pre-existing and established alliance, although it doesn't necessarily have to be THE BEST one.