The Mark Lands

==== Mark Lands ====
The Mark Lands are a bunch of minor city-states that co-exist with common laws. The city states are ruled by Princes, but the only other noble titles to exist are the titles of Baron, Castellan and Mayor. 
Nobility and Chivalry doesn't mean much in the Mark Lands - Knighthood is prestigious to a degree, but not particularly so. Most people revere scholarship and military appointments much more so than honors of Knighthood. 
Knights, as such, enjoy only special privileges in military context - nobility is also dramatically down played in the Mark Lands, where citizens are generally thought of as free individuals - there is as such no Gentry class, everyone is equal - nobility is hereditary, but the nobles do not wield the same power as they do in, for instance, Orlais. 
Baronies, Mayorships and Castellanships are hereditary in the Marklands and are among the only reasons why Knighthoods still exist, as the Marklands largely share the Orlesian Aristocratic traditions. 
Earldoms are NOT hereditary in the Mark Lands, there being only one kind of Earldom, namely the Prince title. The Princes are elected from among the eligible noblemen in the city state - and some City States even allow non-noble born to assume princedom while some others allow for a Prince to pair up with a regent who makes the formal decisions where as the Prince is merely there to lend to tradition. 
The Mark Lands do not have standing armies - rather a series of Mercenary Companies reside in the Mark Lands and have contractual obligations to keep the peace and protect the Mark Lands - no Prince has more control over these mercenary groups than the other, and as such, there has been peace in the Mark Lands for a long time. 
Unfortunately, the Mark Lands are bordered on all sides by significant obstacles, and do not, due to the nature of their country, have any capacity to expand. 
In the Mark Lands, one should think of the Empire from Warhammer Fantasy - Big swords, such as Bastard Swords and Long Swords are the norm, pistols and muskets and pistols are normal enough, so are crossbows, arbalests, siege weaponry, cannons, artillery and pikes. 
Influences: Late Medieval Holy Roman Empire, renaissance "Germany".