The Free Cities

The Free Cites is a group of six free cities currently under the Ayyubid Emirate. Each is the seat of its own city state with partial autonomy, situated along the Pagan Sea and stretching inwards through a lush steppe and mountains rich in gemstones, to the Bloody Desert in the east. The cities are: Buraq, Dyabakar, Karduun, Absinthia, Ragos, and Taran, each with its own unique culture.
==History==
The Free Cities emerged one after the other as trade outposts in the ancient world, and slowly grew in power until they turned into warring city states around the mid 11th century, constantly fighting each other or attempting to withstand the pressure from the Urubuhl World.
===The Topaz Triumvirate===
After defeating Taran at the Battle of Blood in 1103, driving the city from the borderlands, Karduun, Absinthia, and Ragos formed a union to protect their monopoly on gemstones mined from the Anagogh Mountains, most importantly the Topaz stone, which held immense economic and religious significance in the Urubuhl world. In response, Prince Krakas of Taran invaded the Astentine Shallows under the pretence of clearing out pirate dens and safeguarding naval trade routes. Instead, he began to impose high tolls on trade routes of the Pagan Sea.
In 1106, the Warlord Rarhlys of Dyabakar allied with the Triumvirate and fought with them for dominion over the Shallows until 1115, when Rarhlys abandoned the cause. By 1130, the Triumvirate had begun to tear itself apart over minor disputes. Buraq and Dyabakar allied with Taran, at the cost of Taran having to give up their hold in the Shallows, and together they brought an end to the Triumvirate and their iron grip on the gemstone market.
===The Dyabakari War===
In the 1170s, Dyabakar was at war with Karduun and Absinthia over the practice of slavery, when Emir Rifahn Mutasim of Rahusha attempted to negotiate a marriage-alliance between the Warlord of Dyabakar and one of his sisters to help deal with the pirate activity in the Astentine Shallows. Karduun and Absinthia saw this as a direct affront and sent crucial aid to the revolutionary movement of elites in Hedjaz which helped establish the Caelyan Kingdom.
===The Liberation Wars===
Between 1194 to 1282, Buraq fought six wars against Dyabakar over the practice of slavery in the lands located between the two cities. Buraq won the first four, but in the last war in 1281, the tides turned and in the peace accords, Buraq was forced by Dyabakar to terminate the slave trade within their city and drastically reduce their military forces. This was partially revered when the Free Cities fell to the Ayyubid Emirate.
==Politics==
The Free Cities have held shifting rivalries and alliances for centuries. Karduun, Absinthia, and Ragos frequently fight smaller wars over the ownership of the Anaghog Mountains, located between them. Taran is the poorest and smallest of the cities, with little military power and prefers to trade with Buraq and Dyabakar. The last two are both formidable powers, the former's strength lie on land, whilst the latter's greatest strength is at sea.
In the Free Cities, money equals power. Several of the cities are ruled by conclaves of the wealthiest among the elite families, but Dyabakar is ruled by a Warlord, the eldest male or female heir of their ancient family line, while in Buraq, the High Sphinx of the Urubuhl faith elects a new Hierarch every nine years.
Category:Countries
Category:Skahazadans