The independent port cities of the Circle Sea — several along the north coast below the Red Wastes. Halwa is the campaign’s example.
Not to be confused with Stoccarda, which is called a “free city” in a different sense: it is a Cardacci city that has never sworn to the Doge, not an independent Circle Sea port. (GM)
What We Know
- Their modern importance is a product of the Schism: with direct Hazad–Western trade legally prohibited after the Fourth Crusade, the Free Cities became the practical intermediary ports through which much of that commerce continues. (S4, GM)
- Geographically dispersed, with little concrete common political structure — in important respects they are competitors for the same shipping and intermediary trade. They are not a league, and the GM cautions against assuming the others copy Halwa’s (non-)government. (GM)
- Halwa’s edge over its rivals: its surviving Imperial dock facilities are in somewhat better repair than theirs. (GM)
- Reopening direct Circle Sea trade — which would cut the Free Cities out of the middle — is the Mercantilists’ core goal.
Source: the GM’s Halwa notebook (2026-08-15): Sources/Halwa_and_the_Free_Cities_GM_Design_Notebook_v1.md.