Dineus
Free City, minor trade port
Location: eastern coast of Altis, on the north-east ‘corner’
population: rank 5 (of 10)
Name Derived From: Dionysus, Greek god of wine, and numerous places named after him.
Model: nothing specific? This may end up being my starting point (Or, in a gaming frame: if not the starting town for the party, then the first ‘big’ city and base camp for the campaign after a couple of sessions) so I left myself a lot of wiggle.
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Led by their fiercely independent Count and a like minded council, the free traders of Dineus are holding their own, refusing to join any power group in the region and just as contemptuous of the Capel Merchant League as they are of the Prince in Pontis.

Dineus is a logical acquisition for the Capel, but serious diplomatic missteps have closed that door, perhaps forever. The Count here felt personally insulted by the behavior of the first Capel House Master, in an act that was witnessed by all the council and most of the other city elite, as the house master not only treated the Count like a butler at dinner (without realizing who it was he insulted) but finishing up his short evening by grabbing the Count’s daughter and ‘whispering’ some very foul suggestions to her on his way out. The man missed being killed by the count by a very slim margin, but rumor says that the Capel finished up the job later when the true extent of his bungling was found out. An unofficial state of war exists, with the count covertly supporting several privateers in Nectene as his own devious revenge, preying only on the ships owned by Admiral Varin and other members of the Capel executive council.

Scala
Pontesian Holding
Location: a peninsula in the Tigal Sea, near the southeastern tip of Altis
Population: rank 3 (of 10)
Name Derived From: Scylla, monster of the Odyssey. There’s also the one opera house, in Milan..
Model: Caribbean free ports c. 1700 CE
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Scala is held by Pontis in one of the most restrictive trade agreements ever drafted. While Demos is also held by a similar ‘treaty’, the Merchants of the Dem have found loopholes to exploit. Scala, on the other hand, is becoming a dead city. The port is closed, many citizens have left, most leaving for Pontis itself. (Many individuals there have worked their way up into areas of minor but vital importance — on the waterfront, clerks in merchant houses and in the government, soldiers and even officers in both the guard and navy…)

Those left behind are ‘just’ fishermen and the so-called dregs. There are a few keeping the old traditions, but most of the “fishing fleet” are just pirates now, casting nets for bounty other than fish

With the main port closed, nearly all ships land on the islands east and west of the city. Some of these ‘pirate coves’ are looking more and more like actual ports, with their own warehouses and banks, space permitting of course. Some are little more than strips of beach you can anchor a (smaller) ship on. But at least three can claim to be more than just an anchorage; Scala is a ‘ghost town’ but manages because she’s surrounded & enlivened by pirates.

Eventually some power in the region will have to rein in this activity but their base is small (for now) and the losses acceptable (for now). Also, piracy is largely accepted in the region – within limits; there is a tradition of licensed “privateers” in both times of war and the occasional undeclared but vigorous “trade dispute”. (Privateers typically both pay for a license and share the spoils. Some even get commissions in whichever city’s navy. But this, desperate, piracy is new.)

Demos
Pontesian Holding
Location: close to the Southeastern tip of the island of Altis, on a strait between the Sea of Circhos and the Sea of Tigal
Population: rank 4 (of 10)
Name Derived From: Greek, for ‘population’
Model: Trucking company
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Two seaports of Altis on the Sea of Tigal, Demos and Scala, have been pulled into the Pontesian sphere of influence, though not necessarily of their own choice. Both Demos and Scala are east of Pontis, closer to the north coast cities on the Somaris mainland, and potentially competitors to the vast east-to-west sea trade flowing to the Old Capital.

Pontis got there first, however, and—after several naval actions and two short wars that concreted the commercial consensus—forced these seaports to close, to enhance the trade coming to her own port. Currently, Pontis pays both Demos and Scala to keep their harbors closed and warehouses empty. (Though the amount paid is barely sufficient to keep these ports ‘closed’) (and of course, things that are ‘illegal’ are not necessarily impossible; trade in the Sea of Tigal is getting, as they say, interesting)

The payments aren’t quite enough to cover the loss of trade—but given a choice between military or economic warfare—the Dem have chosen the path that doesn’t involve fleets and invading soldiers. The enterprising merchants of Demos, restricted by treaty from trading by ship, instead run teams of wagons to ply the roads. This novel approach is actually working and the Teamsters of the Dem may soon corner the market on the agricultural trade on the island. …And on nearby islands, oddly enough: exploiting a loophole in the treaty originally intended to only cover private coaches of the nobility, wagons are loaded whole onto barges and not unloaded dockside, but only inland.

The Dem are in negotiations to bring in the barges elsewhere—technically in compliance with Pontis but enabling a resumption, at least in part, of their past trade. An agreement between the teamsters and the port city of Siritha may not be too far away. For now, fear of a Pontesian reaction has kept anything official from being set down, though un-officially: there is a whole lot of barge traffic headed east

Avensis
Pontesian Ally
Location: On the southern coast of the island of Rauvos close to its southeastern tip, on the north shores of the Amphithael
Population: rank 4 (of 10)
Name Derived From: Aventicum, (modern Avenches) roman post in what is now Switzerland.
Model: Any ‘second city’ content to be such. Quiet. Peaceful. Certainly free of any old god cults lurking unseen in the background requiring regular sacrifices of curious but clueless outsiders.
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Avensis is ruled by a prince, like its close ally Pontis, and in fact the two princes claim some kinship, though three generations removed the family tie isn’t so much to hold them. The prince and his advisors are content with the alliance however, and happily follow the lead of his “cousin” in foreign and military matters. The alliance does provide Avensis with much of its trade, however. While off the direct sea route from Pontis to the Old Capital, Avensis is a friendly (& tax free, for ships from Pontis) port of call for smaller vessels who need to hug the coasts. And even for more sturdy craft that could take the direct path, a friendly port mid-week on the voyage is usually worth taking an extra day or two.

It is likely that without these ties Avensis would fall back, somewhat happily, into a quiet mostly ignored existence. It has been said that the main products of Avensis are noble old families [old families] and comfortable estates.

Pontis
Principality, with a loose hegemony over 3 client cities.
Location: On the island of Altis, commanding an excellent bay on the Sea of Tigal, just east of a strait leading into the larger Amphithael
Population: rank 8 (of 10)
Name Derived From: Greek word for ‘sea’, Latin word for ‘bridge’
Model: Kinda Venice, kinda Athens.
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Pontis is the closest thing to a major power the region can boast of, not because of its area of influence (the Capel Merchants League would get the nod here) or because of its military power or population, or even the magic Academy that operates here. Pontis is, quite simply, the largest port and most important trade city between the north coast cities on the Somaris mainland and the Old Capital. Everything, from commodities to finished goods to contraband makes its way through the warehouses and wharves (or back alleys and black markets) of Pontis.

Pontis has only one major ally: Avensis, ruled by the cousin of the Prince of Pontis, though Avensis is hardly a help militarily (it isn’t even on the same island). Two other seaports along the strategic trade route, Demos and Scala, have been pulled into the Pontesian sphere of influence, though these are not allies, being subject to involuntary ‘trade agreements’. Pontis essentially pays these cities to keep their harbors closed and warehouses empty, outside of small fishing fleets. The enterprising merchants of Demos, restricted from trading by ship, are a common sight on the roads of Altis, with several guilds running long trains of wagons (and hiring mercenaries, both for protection and ‘Protection’). The Teamsters of the Dem may soon corner the market on the agricultural trade of the island, which might give them the leverage they need to renegotiate their relationship with Pontis. Scala is mounting a different resistance, pushing the limits of what a “small” fishing boat is and resorting to (or perhaps, gleefully embracing) piracy.

Pontis, as a large trade and cultural center, is home to one of the major schools of magic, naturally.