Editing Journey of the Strange (section)

==The Traders League==

===Adencia and the Trader Cities.===

The Trader cities and their League occupy a broad belt of coastal land, Islands and Archipelagoes in and along the Middle Sea. While they are a diverse and independent collection of many different, often older cultures, they are united in their desire to see no great empire or monarchy rise to destroy their freedom (as has happened at some time to most of the cities in the past). The cities attempt to do this by dominating trade across the Middle Sea.

While there are other Empires, Kingdoms and Tribal lands around them [indeed, these are their major trade partners], the Trader Cities demand only that their colonies, trade missions and holdings remain free of local rule. Responses to this vary.
In the heart of the Trader cities, financially, geographically and politically, lie the great City States, the old cities and lands that the mercantile/military naval expeditions set out from. Here are collected the profits and trade goods of half the known world, as the Middle Sea straddles the great Trade routes North and South, East and West. The naval power of most city states can rival nearby nations, but much of it is for transport.

The old families and clans of the city states are generally very, very rich, and live lifes that most people cannot imagine. Consequently, over time, they have developed a sense of entitlement and privelige that sets them apart. The class system of the city states is based on wealth, but who becomes wealthy and for how long can be a matter of lineage, or marraige thereinto.

Many of the Greater city states, such as Adencia, have begun their own colonies or exploratory missions to the new worlds. Adencia's only claim to fame is establishing the first mainland colony.

===Ancient Ebuoru===
Tashal Robespare grew up in the ancient city of Ebuoru, the oldest and most powerful entity in the Trade League. With bountiful seas cradling it gently on all sides, it built an economy on fishing and trade. Far enough from the main land to be hard to keep tabs on, but close enough to travel to easily, it also become a center for conspiracy, piracy, and illegal acts of all kinds without the watchful eye of the Imperitor's servants getting in the way. The city has a legacy for ill deeds and eldritch plots both ancient and well deserved.

Not only a center of crime, Ebuoru is also a center of learning. The merchant lords who truly ran the city- they learned to assinate any effective administrator quickly- fund lavish universities, and collect some of the largest libraries in the Old World. The city's labs and engineers export as much technology as the rest export anything else. Ebuoru makes some of the finest ships, guns and metals in the known world. Of course, without much access to natural resources, they're far from capable of dominating even small areas beyond the island's natural boundries.

The city itself occupies a mid sized island about 70 miles off the coast of the Heral Imperiate. The island is about 4 miles wide by 3 and 1/2 long. The city of Ebuoru- a name which it shares with the island itself- dominates 95% of the land. What little open space there is remains in the hands of various churches, temples, and criminal organizations who use it for whatever they see fit.

Militarily, Ebuoru is little better armed then your average school yard. They maintain no formal military, relying instead on powerful merchants to finance armies of mercenaries that seem to manifest in the city whenever trouble is about. This, combined with favorable geography and a few well placed cannons, means that taking the city proved far harder during the war then the Heral Imperitor's military advisors guessed.

===The Trade League and the Heral Imperiate - A history.===
The Human Trade League is without question the most powerful presence along the southern coast, having used the resources there to finally break away from the tyranical rule of the Heral Imperiate only a few years ago. But it was long known that 'rule' was a farce. The Heral Emperors had been steadily losing power to merchant princes and trade barons for decades, and only managed to keep their rule through simply being a bit too pathetic to bother with. It wasn't until the Trade League wished to expand their efforts that they were forced to throw off the yoke of the Imperiate and declare themselves independent.