Sandryne

Population: 2,750,000   King Gotama Indaru is in his late fifties and is a stern, militant, and religious leader. Sandryne is resource rich thanks to its mountains and its proximity to the Boiling Sea. Sandryne is so resource-rich that it is unquestionably the wealthiest country on the continent. The King is easily the wealthiest man in the world. It's second and third most valuable commodities are gold and silver. Its first comes in the form of Writs of Value.   Writs are essentially paper currency whose value is backed by the kingdom and its largest banks. Most nations have something similar but Sandryne is so wealthy and its economy so secure that they are the preferred Writ on the continent, and even with Lower Lete and the elves in Rost'elena. Though that may be changing as the Demenian Empire's sheer size makes it a lucrative trading partner and it prefers its own mercantile system with the platinum backed Kalin.   Sandryne is a mountainous and hilly country occupying the southwestern corner of the continent it shares with Traia and the Merchant Houses of Craw. Traia, and the untamed expanse of the Pashtu Desert are in Sandryne's north. Its western border is almost entirely occupied by the Boiling Sea. Its southern border is a relatively small coastline where Sandryne's largest cities, including Annpia, are located.   The Merchant Houses of Craw's border lies east along the Ganymia River whose mouth opens into a large, natural harbor. That harbor has a moderately sized town, Boros, which could be a large city except neither country will allow the other to have it. Boros has suffered greatly as a result of decades of besieging, sacking, and in many cases, razing. The situation is much the same for another prosperous mining city, Sevan, far in the north. War is so regular here that weeks before it's besieged by either country the town is usually deserted. This has led to a transient, and often unsavory, population and economy in Boros. There is a small shipbuilding economy here but most of the money moving through Boros comes in the form of illicit goods from various outlawed substances, creatures, and even slavery, which is outlawed in Sandryne, but perfectly legal in The Merchant Houses of Craw.