Free City of Menion

Considered a bastion of freedom by many, Menion is home to sages, priests, adventurers, and opportunists of all sorts. Here one is equally likely to loose ones purse as find the answer to an ancient riddle. One can find shrines to dead gods next to public libraries and a temple of Tahg sandwiched between brothels.

Menion is a sometimes called the "city of all things," but is just as frequently called the "empty city."

Capital

Menion is its own capital, controlled by no other nation. The few times another nation has decided to annex the city they have found that it produces little if anything in the way of goods or taxes and requires much policing and attention. All of these occupations ended before they ever fully began.

Social Structure

The social structure in Menion is loose if it truly exists at all. The size and population of the city are ever changing, though it tends to be a bit higher in summer when the Vaelsh are likely to be returning overland from a trade expedition to the south or anxious to leave home after the winter snows have melted.

Although there is a city watch in Menion people are mostly responsible for taking care of themselves. The Watch takes interest in only the most blatant of crimes, and usually only if the criminal is apprehended by another. Because of the laxity of the Watch most criminals fear certain priestly elements in the city more than the watch, as vigilante's are far more likely to apprehend or punish than the officially appointed protectors of the city.

Small crime abounds in the city and prices are high to compensate for the fact. There is little one can do but pay the prices, as there are no cities around for many days travel in any direction.

Political Structure

Menion is overseen by a mayor, who is elected to office for twenty years by those citizens who care to assemble on the election day. It is typical practice for the mayor to assemble many friends and payed voters on the election day and count on a lack of other voters arriving to secure his reelection. The election is overseen by priests of Heshmaun from the Rock Troll clans to the north. The trolls allow anyone to vote in any way for any reason they like, seeing a bribe as a perfectly fair way to garner a vote. The only rule is that any one who comes must be allowed to speak if they choose. Once everyone is done speaking the vote takes place and the huge trolls leave for their northern home once again.

The mayor's responsibilities are many, but he usually does not carry out many of them. Light taxation is born by the citizen's of the city without much grumbling as long as few laws or other barriers are erected to them acting as they please.

Religion

Religion in Menion is a many splendored thing. Nearly anyone or anything can be worshipped here, though in a way different from Elloria. There is no underlying unity of theology or cause in this place, and tolerance is often not found. The different temples constantly scheme at ways to prove the inferiority of the others gods and practices. The true intrigue in Menion is religious, and most citizens of the city are wise enough not to get involved in such matters.

The religions exist here like opposing political parties, each try to win the support of the public and in turn gain influence in the city. To do this, each religion tries to promote the shortcomings of other gods and practices, and exaggerate the advantages of their own. Many religions influence their worshippers so deeply that they become cult-like.

Few things go on in Menion without the support of one of the major religions, so if someone wishes to gain a position of power, they must wisely choose a major religion and begin their ascension from there. It is obvious from a distance that the wealthier district of Menion is religious based since it is covered with temples and other places of worship.

Economics

How Menion survives is truly quite a mystery. For the most part food is brought in by the few surrounding farms and sold for rather high prices to those who can afford it and stolen by those who can't. In truth, most people spend a good fraction of their time fishing to put food on their table, even those who have other jobs.

Any building in Menion not made of wood was almost certainly built by another nation during a brief occupation or by one of the many religions that saw Menion as fertile ground upon which to gain converts. Many abandoned temples have been put to other uses, and many more are still occupied. This influx of foreign currency through the temples helps subsidize the rest of the city, which is quite poor.

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