Belglen

Belglen is an independent city-state, located just south of the Aedinian Sea. Belglen is the epicenter of overland trade for rest of Altea, and one of the oldest uninterrupted city-states on the continent. Together, this creates a unique blend of innovative forces and traditionalist oppositionists. Belglen boasts the largest gnomish and halfling populations in Altea. Belglen serves as the unofficial cultural leader for human-centric societies on Aedin, as well as the center for learning and progress having the largest collection of knowledge and most well-known centers of education.

Government
Belglen is currently overseen by the Council of Guildmasters, representatives of each of the seven major guilds; Smiths, Masons, Arcane, Alchemists, Mercenary, Traders, and Bankers. There are a handful of other smaller guilds within the city, however they lack the power and influence to participate in the Council. Beneath the Council are numerous bureaucrats and officials at all levels of government. Most perceive the government of Belglen as too preoccupied with its own rules to properly function. However some find that coin placed into the right hands can speed up most proceedings and even achieve the desired outcome should the amount prove sufficient.

People
Belglen is comprised of Gnomes, Halflings, Humans and Dwarves primarily. Members of other races can be found within the city, but are far scarcer. The people of Belglen are unique, crossing Dwarven engineering with Gnomish ingenuity and human creativity, the results have been inventive if nothing else. While Belglen pushes the boundaries of technological and magical innovations, many of the more traditional guilds take offense at the blasphemous creations, decrying them as an insult to the crafter's trades. Beneath the surface, Belglen is home to a handful of criminal syndicates who operate out of sight of the common people. Belglen's military is comprised solely of private armies enlisted by the nation's various factions and guilds. As a conglomerate of different entities each with different goals, peace is usually maintained under the threat of mutually assured destruction or retaliation from the Council of Guildmasters. If nothing else, citizens can rest soundly with the belief that the cost of war is rarely worth the investment it would require to subdue the other factions within the city.