Political Structure

The political structure of the Borrowed Land has shifted over time, from the Imperial period (5 PL - 400PL) to the Warring States Period (400PL - 550 PL) to a series of short lived Republics known as the Republican Period (555 PL - 800PL) to the current Confederacy of Independent States (CIS) (810 PL - 1000 PL [present day]).

The CIS is managed by a rotating council of representatives who are chosen (variously elected, inherited, chosen through trials, chosen through bloodline etc) by their various polities. These representatives meet every year in the previous Palace of Ember to define the necessary overarching structures of inter-polity trade, law enforcement, greivance and paradox removal that arise in the Borrowed Land. This system is very fragile, and consistently at risk of falling apart due to the ever growing numbers of species that are considered "intelligent" but have completely different motivations and necessities than the humans in the Borrowed Land.

For example, Golems, created by magicians for a specific purpose, often do not decompose upon completing their tasks, instead often finding themselves without a specific purpose and alone. These unattached golems founded the city of Crepido in 857 PL, and Crepido was brought into the CIS in 912 PL. A major export of the city of Crepido has historically been diamond, used by various creatures as well as humans for precision instrumentation as well as spell creation. However, golems more recently have determined that they are entirely self sufficient and don't need any of the products that were previously traded with them in return for diamonds, and the supply has deteriorated. As a policy proposal, Representative Molitus suggested that diamonds could be traded with the CIS in return for a moratorium on new golem production, but many human states were quick to nix this proposal. The status of golems that are attached to a specific project or outcome (described as bonded golems) is recognised by many CIS states as that of machinery, but is regarded by golems as a form of slavery. Debates about the nature of consciousness inherent in a bonded golem have become bogged down in the definition of the nature of consciousness within human beings, and communications between Crepido and the CIS council have become very diminished, with token appearances by Representative Molitus.

The main human cities, located mostly in Eye, have formed a network of polities that rely on each other for divisions of labour, including:

Sclera, Eye: A town of about 15,000 inhabitants that specialises in precision manufacturing and knowledge industries. The town has a collection of libraries dating back to Ember's destruction of the inhabitants in the first century, and has a series of knowledge guilds that record information.

Fovea, Eye: A small port town of about 5,000 that facilitates trade between the other cities of Eye and the other continents, including Ash, Rare and Incoho.

Macula, Eye: A sprawling slum outside of Retina, with a population estimated to be between 40,000 - 100,000. Many of the inhabitants of Macula are not human, and have come to Macula in order to eventually be admitted into Retina. Macula is a site of crude experimentation, innovation and magical development, with many magical creatures living side by side. Many dangerous and unstable spells are created here. The governance of Macula is managed by a shifting alliance of gangs, which some say have links back to Retina itself.

Retina, Eye: The largest city in Eye, and one of the largest human cities in the Borrowed Land. The city is composed of a series of enormous walls which delineate the boundaries of the various districts in the city. Retina houses a population of close to 400,000, of which about 100,000 are magical beings and 200,000 are slaves. The city is known for its development of production: human, magical and mechanical. Retina has always been the key industrial slave state in the Borrowed Land, and through various forms of slavery, industrial production and magical development the elites of the city have managed to supply various goods and services across the continent.

Hyaloid, Eye: Hyaloid is commonly known as the Pleasure City, a urban centre of about 10,000 devoted to catering to the whims of wealthy and important patrons. The city is known for its canals, courtesan district and its tumultuous history, which includes repeated pillaging from various emperors, an incident where every inhabitant was turned to stone by a rogue warlock (there are still hundreds of statues throughout the city), and of course, Hyaloid being the site of The Vagor, when Empress Ustrina caused every being in the world that was able to weep to do so endlessly. This, of course, was ended by Trochanter, a sentient Mantis who had no tear ducts and was able to escape the deluge.

Cornea, Eye: Cornea is a relatively new town by population, but potentially older in terms of construction. The remains of a previous civilisation was discovered by archaeologists in PL 960, which are presumed to be those of a former human civilisation that was uncatalogued by historical records. The town itself has a population of about 3,000, and is mostly devoted to agricultural production.

Uvea, Eye: Uvea is a crossroads town, consisting of a series of markets, warehouses and transport connections. Uvea sits on the coast, and has a variety of rivers, roads and canals that connect it to other cities and regions. The population of the town is fairly small, at only around 2,000 permanent inhabitants, almost all of whom are in some way involved in trade.

Tefnut, Ash: Tefnut is the only city with a million people in the Borrowed Land, though the population sometimes swells with up to 10,000,000, and at some points in the year recedes to a few hundred thousand. The city is located in a major flood plain, and during religious festivals the other inhabitants of the flood plain come to Tefnut to take part in ritual celebrations or prayer. The city itself is a single megastructure, a pyramidal building with dozens of levels, with more than enough space to house not only its own inhabitants but potentially the entire human population of the planet. At certain times of year, however, life in the city becomes unbearably hot and humid: there is little ventilation within the structure, and most of the inhabitants leave for the villages during the summer months.

Shu, Ash: Shu is another city on the continent of Ash, and though not as big as Tefnut has a more stable population at around 500,000 individuals. Shu is the great manufacturing centre of the continent, similar to Retina, and contains factories that produce everything from cloth to machinery to magical items.

Cities for magical creatures are prevalent throughout all four continents and other areas. While many of these are represented within CIS, some are not.