The Federation of Free Cities

Merchant Republic

Population

340,000

Government

Council of Thirteen

Cities

12 City-States

Currency

The Sovereign

Overview

The Federation of Free Cities is a loose alliance of independent city-states on Terathia, bound not by conquest or blood but by trade agreements, mutual defence pacts, and the desperate need to survive in a world dominated by imperial powers. Carved from central coastal and river valleys, the Federation emerged three centuries ago when merchant families seized independence from the Alabastrian Empire during the chaos of the God Wars' aftermath.

The Council of Thirteen governs — representatives from twelve cities plus one elected commoner representative (largely ceremonial). Prosperity flows through river ports and caravan hubs, protected more fiercely than any kingdom's borders. Yet prosperity breeds ambition: bribes flow like wine, merchant wars are fought with contracts and assassination, and the Federation survives on a knife's edge between cooperation and catastrophic dissolution. A secret organisation called the Corsair Covenant conducts unofficial naval operations across three continents.

Power Factions

Northern Merchant Consortium — Port Sovereign and Twin Quay — controls the largest share of maritime trade and harbour infrastructure.

Eastern Scholars — Glimmerhold and allied academies — wields influence through knowledge, magical scholarship, and rare goods markets.

Shadow Council — Ravenmere and smaller river ports — loosely affiliated crime syndicates controlling the black market and intelligence trade.

Guilds United — Emerging labour faction centred on Spinner's Rest — represents growing worker power and demands for profit-sharing and representation.

Major Cities

Port Sovereign

Pop. 95,000

De facto capital and largest harbour. Home to the Grand Merchantile, the Copper Dock warehouses, and the floating Parliament Barges where the Council of Thirteen convenes monthly. The city smells of salt, spice, tar, and money.

Glimmerhold

Pop. 62,000

Scholarly jewel crowned by the Crystal Spire — a tower of transparent quartz that transmits knowledge through light-based magical languages. Home to the College of Mercantile Arts and the legendary Jeweled Market. Controlled by Houses Aurion and Silverthread.

Ravenmere

Pop. 38,000

River port with a sinister reputation. Home to the Midnight Exchange (black market for information and forbidden goods), the Thieves' Guildhall, and the Raven's Cloister where 'problem merchants' sometimes disappear.

Spinner's Rest

Pop. 24,000

Textile manufacturing centre controlled by the Weaver's Collective — a powerful workers' guild serving as rare counterbalance to merchant power. Social tensions run high; labour disputes have occasionally erupted into riots.

Twin Quay

Pop. 31,000

Twin harbour cities separated by the Silverspine River, connected by the legendary Starweaver's Bridge. Known for shipbuilding, fish trade, and the Order of the Harbor — a semi-religious merchant brotherhood that mediates disputes.

Adventure Hooks

Captain Rex Blacktide plots to convert the Federation Fleet into a true independent navy, breaking the merchant council's control. The party is hired by merchants seeking to eliminate Blacktide — or by his agents gathering evidence of merchant corruption to sway other captains.

Thalia Mistweaver's labour movement approaches critical mass, and someone is murdering key organisers. The Council secretly hires mercenaries to suppress the movement, while Republic of Bellerath agents simultaneously work to accelerate violent conflict.

Silas Nightfoot of Ravenmere has been systematically collecting fragments of an ancient artefact from the God Wars era. The party must race to discover what his collection completes — and whether stopping him requires infiltrating the underworld.

Master Orrin Glasswright, dying keeper of the Crystal Spire's archives, seeks adventurers to recover a specific God Wars artefact from a forgotten vault. If the Council discovers its location, it could reshape the entire power structure — or trigger civil war.

Two merchant houses enter armed conflict over a trade monopoly, threatening to drag the entire Federation into internecine warfare. The party engages in escalating sabotage, assassination, and information warfare — and must choose a side or broker impossible peace.

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