Editing Journey of the Strange (section)

===Governance from afar===

It is the '''Baroness Luthe''' who governs the colony. After an incident in which it is rumoured that she attempted to kill her husband with a hairpin, a complex agreement was reached within which she was to govern the new lands to the east in the name of [the city state], while her husband would govern the family's extensive estates back in the Old World. She set sail with her brood of five children eleven years ago but has never quite finished the the last leg of the voyage, remaining one month's sailing to the west, on an island in the middle of the ocean, called '''Redfort'''.

Her rule has been characterized by long periods of silence punctuated by sweeping decrees and concessions which have little relation to reality. Some five or six adventurers and soldiers form the core of her favoured group, each of these dignitaries spending some four to six months of the year courting favour with the Baroness at Redfort then returning with impressive documents according them new privileges. These men generally seem to avoiding meeting eachother head-on, apparently operating on the basis of agreement between gentlemen. Conflicts have occasionally arisen, usually due to contradictory documents, each bearing the seal of the Baroness, and more than a score of times, duels of sorts have been fought, boats scuppered or rice fields flooded.

Through all of this, the Baroness is said to maintain enviable serenity.