While there are settlements and small towns scattered across the entire continent, most people are clustered into five large cities with strong defensive forces, a carryover from the military presence of the old kingdom.
More information about each of the cities will be available soon, but here is a basic overview:
Saypish (SAY-pish)
A port city, Saypish is well known as a stop-over destination for sea travel. It rests protected in the Copper Bay and is said to have two faces: one of luxury, riches and travel and the other of smugglers, thieves and assassins. It is led by the Merchant’s Council: a twenty-seat ruling body that is filled with some of the wealthiest merchants in the continent.
Exports: Fish, Artisan Crafts
Diamort (DIE-ah-mort)
Following the Skypath into the mountains, where its vast paved width cuts into loamy earth and solid bedrock with equal authority, leads to the city of Diamort, which rests nestled in the crook of the Stelfallow Mountain. It is a city known for what its many cavernous mines pull from the earth: jewel and ore alike, and the occasional newly-awoken and angry stone troll.
The city sits on the mountainside, looking down to the plains below. On clear mornings one can often see the shine of where Contriare sits along the Sennomita River almost 200 miles away. Diamort is ruled by the Aslin clan, and led by the Diadem: the person who wears the extravagantly-jeweled family crown.
Exports: Stonework, jewels, metals and precious metals
Contriare (con-tree-AIR/sounds almost like “country air”)
Traveling south down the Sennomita River, one would encounter a strange sight: as the river bends sharply toward the southwest, a smaller offshoot stream arcs away to the southeast, cutting the banks there into thirds. Above these churning waters are a series of expansive stone and wood bridges, home to a city which encompasses much of the surrounding land as well: Contriare, which thrives on the agricultural trade of the region.
Contriare’s three districts are each controlled by one of the three ruling families – Renfallow, Yltin, and Boarsben – which vie for majority control of the city’s five seat ruling council. The massive bridges which cover much of the water there also allow the city to serve as a harbor for the many river boats that travel up and down the continent, making it a perfect stopover for merchants carrying their goods.
Exports: Fish, Agriculture, Farming
Tespajet (TESS-pah-jet)
Across the continent and a little south, near the coast and surrounded by the Kindred Desert, Tespajet is a city secluded. There are only two viable ways to reach it. The easier way is by boat, harboring at the small port town Aurumbit (are-RUM-bit) and taking the short Gilded Path to the city proper. The more difficult way is the Dust Road, which is little more than a constellation of oases that lead to the city, which straddles its own lake like a crescent moon.
Despite these difficulties, Tespajet is a city much traveled to: it is most famous for its production of sea salt, though it is also known for its spices and gold mines.
Exports: Spices, Salt, Gold
Mairen (MY-ren)
While forests and woods are generally considered little more than hiding places for Unwritten, Mairen exists almost in defiance of those fears: built entirely within the reaches of a massive forest, the city somehow has been safe from Unwritten attacks for years. Many believe that old magics have kept the city and its surrounding areas protected, and any skilled magic-maker can indeed feel a strange hum to the Strands that intersect near the city.
It is known mostly as a city of magic-makers. It is also the nearest of the five city-states to the First Bell Temple, though it’s still a significant distance away, up into the mountains.
Exports: Wood, Lacquerware, Writpaper
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