Editing Acrozatarim/Nations and Peoples (section)

==The City-States==

Mostly the inheritors of old Drakkath Empire port-towns, the White Bay plays host to several city-states along its shores.  Internecine struggles are common; despite the Drakkath region's wild reputation and disorganised state, these cities provide a door into the goods and produce of the region, and serve as the beginning of the trade routes from overseas that head west across land.  At various times, the five cities here have fallen into various alliances or even conquered one another.  Each is essentially a power in and of itself.

It is said that a black dragon once marauded the coast of the White Bay, but was defeated in a naval battle where all five of the cities rallied against it with their strongest vessels and drove it ashore into a trap; the dragon's skull hangs over the throne in Corinte to this day.  It is also said that old ruins can be seen deep beneath the water of the Bay, the wreckage where tidal waves and landslides tore much of the old cities under during the Dawn War, and that if you know the right people, you can trade with the sahuagin scavengers to have sifted up much from those drowned streets.


'''Pharam Sung''':  Out on an island in the White Sea, Pharam Sung is a maritime city-state and a power that cannot be ignored when it comes to naval matters.  Originally founded by Aasorian cultists, it is a holy centre of worship for the Silver Warder and also a place of prison-ships and panopticons.  The Pharam Sungese are both slave-traders and punishingly harsh enforcers of order in the surrounding seas.

It is said that political prisoners from every nation can be found locked away in the prison-hulks of Pharam Sung.  It is also said that some Sungese have spoken with very strange envoys from under-sea polities unknown to the other nations of the Drakkath.


'''Corinte''':  Corinte is the foremost of the city-states on the White.  A powerful state and naval power in its own right, Corinte has recently fallen to internal strife as the traditional monarch (who held pretensions to being the inheritor of the Drakkath Empire) has been overthrown by a council of merchant houses that have assumed control.

It is said that it used to be a faux pas to wear red in Corinte, due to a historical association of the colour with a curse placed on the royal family that ruled the city.  However, the conspirators all wore red for their act of regicide, and now it is a very popular colour indeed.  It is also said that Corinte marines are amongst the finest sea-going soldiers in the world.


'''Halstath''':  Where the White feeds into an array of inland lakes, swamps and marshes, Halstath is a bastion of order on the edge of wilderness and a major crossing point of trade-routes and commerce.  It is not a full-fledged city-state, but fends off the acquisitive influence of other Drakkath powers through its positioning and tenacious spirit.  Halstath is currently ruled by a former Flame Guildsman; his split from the Guild was apparrently amicable, and Halstath has become a major staging point for Guild activities in the Drakkath.

It is said that strange shapes have been seen in the lake which Halstath sits on the shore of.  It is also said that the ruler of Halstath lives in what was once a temple, though it was erected to a Younger God who appears to have ceased to exist.