Freiberg

No city in Eisen captures its beating, complicated, wounded heart as much as Freiburg, the Free City. Born as a social experiment by the newest Eisenfürst, Niklas Träge, Freiburg is a city with few rules and a mostly disinterested government to keep it functioning. Träge saw the horrors of the War and dreamt of a city where a person could live without a yoke around her neck, without the burden of authority, and used what power he had to establish Freiburg before sitting back to watch what happened. And what came about was perhaps the most brilliant, impossible city in all of Théah.   Freiburg existed before the War of the Cross as Güldentor, one of the Imperator’s palaces. During the war, it fell into disrepair and disfavor due to the ruling Baron’s poor choices. During the war, the Imperator stripped the Adel of his title and he died soon after, leaving the city with no one to rule. Towards the end of the War, Träge’s new title included the city, but he mostly ignored it. Flooded with veterans and refugees of the conflict, the city nearly fell in upon itself without a leader.   Years later, Träge finally returned to the city, which had fallen into near ruin. With Wilma Probst’s help, he laid the foundation for merchants, architects, thinkers, scholars, organizers and powerful individuals to carve the city out amongst themselves, without any religious influence. He named his experiment Freiburg. Many imagined Freiburg would implode within a year as organizations vied for power in the vacuum. Instead, the city has remained afloat for four years, with conflicts resolved by a cobbled-together series of understood rules that are half arbitration, half street justice. Most believe the rules, known as the Freiburg code or just “the Free code,” survived as long as they have because a citizen of Freiburg understands his city is all that stands between him and destruction. Outside Freiburg’s walls lurks a country full of monsters, and the city may be a chance at growing something great in a time of such darkness.   To a traveler and local alike, Freiburg has everything. The city is separated into six districts all radiating outward from the Wachtturm, an ancient edifice held up by the power of Syrneth crystals, which once served as headquarters for the Imperator and now houses Niklas Träge in the top floor apartments. Each district is separated by main roads, almost like the spokes of a wheel, heading out from the center to bridges over the rivers that surround the city on all sides, and out through the main gates to the countryside beyond.   THE POLITICS OF FREIBERG
The beauty of Freiburg lies in the heights it can reach, as well as the lows it can muster. Powerful figures in Freiburg can influence everything from trade in the region to religious and intellectual thought from the university, to criminal enterprises across Théah from the Goldviertel. But more important than anything else, Freiburg sits at the crossroads for all thought about Eisen’s political future. Everyone from diplomats to criminal cartels to the Eisenfürsten want to help choose who will lead Eisen into the future, and every secret society in Théah has its fingers on the pulse of this brewing tempest. The most powerful are the Rilasciare, who have pledged not to allow Freiburg and therefore Eisen to fall beneath the hands of another monarch. An offshoot of their organization, called the Kinder von Morgen, have promised to do whatever they must to see Eisen become a Commonwealth like Sarmatia, and the ferocious battles over the country’s future have already led to blood in the streets.   Meanwhile, many others believe Eisen’s future lies in understanding its past. Many believe that, as one of the country’s oldest cities, Freiburg holds the key to power long since lost in Eisen. The Explorer’s Society has the largest presence and a huge chapter house in the Institutional District near the Conservatory, dedicated to exploring one of the city’s worst kept secrets: Freiburg is built on a wealth of Syrneth ruins.