TEW - Capitals - Halliwell Freestate

To be fair, no-one really had expected Halliwell to survive. It is something of a shock to much of the other survivors that such a town as Halliwell managed to endure and, indeed, prosper. The river through the city made it perfect for trade and with the trade came smuggling. The smuggling attracted more of the less savory business ventures and soon enough after the founding Halliwell, for all its trade and capitalist ventures, became a drain on the economy, thanks to unsuccessful efforts to curb the rising crime. The solution was drastic: the city was almost entirely cut off, left to fend for itself except for token support.

When the Great Bloom arrived it would most likely have become as all the other settlements with limited infrastructure if not for the amazing forward planning of the local crime lords. They had, oddly enough, invested large sums into the understanding and assembling of the mana-siphons, allegedly for the construction of engines and weapons with a magic touch. Anything if not resourceful, the assorted scum of Halliwell erected the mana-siphons and quickly and purposefully secured the borders. The crime lords claimed ownership of the city and claimed it to be a “Freestate”, a city of freedom where the common man, woman, elf and dwarf could make his or her own fortune, without strong governmental control.

Attracting more of its kind, the Halliwell Freestate has become both a refuge for criminality and a forerunner in manatech. All the unsavory experiments that the more regulated - and sane - Capitals would outlaw are fair game. Yet, it remains a place where the strong and clever can cut out a significant part of the cake for themselves.

• Existence: 100 years
• Government: Republic
• Economy: Black market

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