Iore

Population: ~22,000 permanent residents, swells to 30,000 during high trade season
Region: Northeastern Elucidien Coast, Eastern Trade Amalgamation Member
Governance: Merchant-Prince Cartel, unofficial but uncontested
Known For: Fine textiles, deepwater ports, bonded debt markets, and the Ink-Law Archives
  Built upon a natural ridge that slopes down into the bay, the city glimmers with whitewashed walls and tiled spires that overlook its deepwater harbor, the only one on the coast capable of holding the leviathan-class dreadbarges that haul ore and grain from across the eastern seas.   Iore’s ruling body is not official in any charter, but it needs no ceremony. The Merchant-Prince Cartel consists of seven old houses whose banners flutter atop the tall counting towers overlooking the exchange floor. They rarely appear in public together, but their decisions shape rates, trade routes, and debt law throughout the region.   The city is famed for its textile workshops, particularly those spun from imported Etsian silk, and caligraphic law schools, where scribes are trained to craft contracts with ink brewed from storm squid and sea-cured driftbark. These documents are legally binding not only by civic law, but often magically, their words warded against falsification.   Iore is the most aggressive member of the Eastern Trade Amalgamation. It pushes for expanded tariffs on inland rail freight, and has funded three private expeditions to establish footholds on Di’ock and Calum Isle. This ambition often strains its alliances, particularly with Sleetsted, whose fisher-unions distrust Iore’s lenders.   Foreign merchants describe Iore as “efficient.” Locals describe it as “precise.” Everyone else, when speaking plainly, calls it “ruthless.”