Haven, the City of Guilds

Born a free trading port upon the banks of the Pirate Bay, but losing its independence after several brutal wars and then enduring centuries of vassalage, Haven has long savored the taste of freedom. When it eventually did regain autonomy a little over two centuries ago, it did so from the cash-strapped Duke of Bree by right of coin, not blood. By this time its rigid system of guildpacts and tributes was already developing at pace, and with the final dissolution of its obligations to the Dukedom, the Guildwright system took over full administrative authority of the city and syndicalism became the one and only law of the City of Guilds.

After gaining freedom two hundred years ago, Haven proceeded to outgrow its neighbors on the bay and become a powerful, but remote, economic player on the world stage through a series of economic, technological, and magical innovations. First, it embraced money-lending and established its own currency. It hired mercenaries to guard its holdings and financed the ambitions of several successful peaceful merchant convoys, violent but profitable pirate raiders, and favorable noble rebellions throughout the region. Second, it spared no expense building great defensive walls topped with dwarven ballistae and financed the artificers within the Guild of War to develop whatever weapons and tools of violence it deemed appropriate and profitable, ultimately including several prototype flying balloons. Lastly, the Binder's Guild was formed to study and harness the essences of pact magic in order to broker binding agreements between parties. The surprising success of such efforts allowed Haven unrivaled reassurances for keeping even their notoriously unreliable pirate and mercenary allies in line.

And they would need them. The City of Guilds, always having been more apt to buy its way out of a problem than fight its way out, came to rely entirely on mercenaries and paid defenders all the way up to the arrival of the Dark Lord on its doorstep. Now, in the new era of opportunity, the City of Guilds has become the central rallying point for displaced refugees to retake their lands and the setting-off point for exploration into the deep unknowns below the surface. An expanded and re-chartered Explorer's Guild manages the latter and has quickly become one of the most popular and prosperous guilds in the city. With the guildwright system straining under the weight and variance of such a newcomer, the Explorer's Guild quickly declared its intention to subdivide its parts and arrange open working relationships with existing guilds in order to maintain the balance of power.