The Free Lands are the largest region of Ladesh and their held lands are the largest island of Ladesh. Consisting of largely desert in the North and East the whole of The Free Lands is hot and arid.
The four main cities of The Free Lands are
- Bah'lal (the de facto capital)
- Silk (the largest port on Ladesh as it deals with all trade from Midcry as well as trade from all around Ladesh)
- Scand (second biggest port on Ladesh)
- Eskal (the oasis city)
The Free Lands has no king or ruler, appointed or otherwise. Instead the citizens rule themselves, or rather the most powerful citizens rule the rest, and power in The Free Lands is determined the same way it is in many countries, by wealth.
Each of the main cities of The Free Lands is ruled over by a collection of the wealthiest of its citizens, no one person having any more power than anyone else. At least in practice. In reality even among the wealthy elite, some are wealthier than the others and so wield more control over the city as they are often in a position to affect the incomes of the others. This leads to a strenuous equality of power in most cities as the ruling council as if anyone steps out of line they know that the others could crush their family and wealth into dirt.
Many of the members of the varying ruling councils in The Free Lands also effectively own and manage their own village or town outside of the city in which they rule, some even reside in their respective town or village and make trips into the city to do their jobs on the ruling councils.
Other towns and villages are ruled over by other wealthy families who either are not quite wealthy enough to be on the ruling council of a city, or simply have no interest in being tied to any one city.
Despite the fact that this system seems like it will just lead to the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, overall there is a positive effect for the poorer people, as the wealthy elite understand that should they punish or push the poor too much then they may revolt against them, and be completely justified in doing so. Many of the ruling councils also run businesses that rely on the poorer citizens of The Free Lands as customers and workers alike and know that the more money they have, the more money they can spend.
This "money is power" concept means that anyone from anywhere can come over and attempt to become their own "lords and ladies" in their own right. Many people go into trading or mercenary work, and the bravest people even become adventurers and delve into the ancient and long abandoned ruins and caves that dot the landscape.