Editing Journey of the Strange (section)

===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.