# Merlani Free Cities ... ## History Esta Merlani had always been a proponent of self reliance and freedom, and thus when many of the Clan Ships for the people who became the Miryag followed her, she was very upset. The ships of more than 20 clans followed her around for months before she finally decided to make a home for herself in a group of small but unconnected islands, and when she finally made landfall she told the rest of the clans to "Live free or die trying." Forced to settle on different islands, the other clans founded a variety of new settlements - planting the seeds of the Merlani Free Cities. The seven largest of the cities were Dahlon, Eactere, Lurein, Miryor, Nalta, Sinde, and Tunde. Over time the seven cities and their diverse island cultures began to trade and war with one another, competing for resources and commerce as best they could. Dahlon, the city founded by Esta Merlani and the Merlani Clan, was ever the most powerful of the Free Cities. Thus it was that when the Tyrennhians first discovered the Free Cities, their natural first target was Dahlon when plans were made for the invasion of the region. Swiftly and brutally the ships of the Imperial Navy slashed into the area where the Free Cities lay, and quickly decimated the smaller ships of the defending navies. Landing the Iron Cobra Imperial Legion at Dahlon, the Tyrennhians encountered stiff resistance, however the ferocity of the Merlani was no match for the cold discipline of the Imperial forces, and soon the decarad star banner and the Iron Cobra standard were fluttering in the wind over the Secretariat of Dahlon's Communal Hall. With Dahlon subjugated, the Imperial forces turned their attention to subduing the rest of the cities. Their independent natures and fierce dispositions prevented the leaders of the cities from forming any type of truly coherent alliance; allowing the Tyrennhians to fight individual cities instead of a united whole. The process of conquest took only four years, and in the end the Free Cities were all ruled by Tyrennhian Praetors. Over time, the Tyrennhians became truly invested in their new territories, and settlers from Corsu came to the Merlani District to build new lives. Decades passed, and the occupation became an accepted, if resented fact of life. Time saw the Tyrennhians go from conquerors, to administrators, to partners, but eventually all things come to an end. The end of the Tyrennhian occupation arrived with the descendants of the five Miryag founders and their quest to free their cousins the Merlani. After fifteen years of rebellious insurgency, the Tyrennhians determined that continued occupation was simply too costly. The Free Cities were free once more. Their recent rebellion and the cost of forcing the Tyrennhian Imperium off of their sovereign soil has left the Merlani Free Cities bruised and battered. Unfortunately, eighty-three years of occupation did not teach the Merlani any new lessons, and thus the Free Cities went back to their old way of doing things: each to their own designs. One provision was made, and that was to gather in common defense in the event of another invasion. Content with their mutual defense pact, the Merlani remain as fractious as ever, and with the Tyrennhian Imperium as a neighbor the threat of another occupation looms large on the horizon. ## Government As a matter of principle, the Free Cities have no central government, they are simply a collection of free city-states, each independent of the other. Some have called for various forms of a central government, but such calls for unity never go anywhere. Economic disparities, petty rivalries, philosophical differences and just a general disinclination for obedience keeps even the most tenuous alliances from lasting within the cities. Each of the individual city-states governs themselves, and those governments run the gamut from stern dictatorial regimes to free form collectives. Religious cults flare up, gather followers and fade from memory. Merchant family rise to prominence then fall into ruin. The Free Cities never seem to change, but nothing is the same from one generation to the next. ## Inhabitants ... ## Society and Culture ... ## Faith and Religion ...