Es-raxiisz

Unlike Naata and Tesch, Es-raxiisz is not an official member of the Commonwealth. There is a never ending dispute between Aascheral and An-Xiisz over the city, but currently it is under the protection of the Commonwealth. The city is important due to its strategic location between the two nations, and whoever controls it has a unimpeded access to both nation’s Sunscape airspace.

Naata

Located in the Umbra, free city of Naata is little more than a mining hub. From here rail lines go out in all directions, connecting tens of small mining communities. Naata itself has extensive rail yards, as well as the so called Endless Lift. This lift connects the city with the surface world twelve miles above. More than half of the ore mined in the region reaches the surface thanks to this lift. The rest goes out on airships, normally those heading South, to the other side of the Great Below.

The Endless Lift is an engineering marvel. It consists of building sized cars that haul ore from below to the surface. These cars move up a series of mile long shafts before the load is moved to an adjacent shaft. This way if something goes wrong the car will not fall more than a mile, limiting the damage to a single stretch of the Lift. Along the side of the Lift are complex air ducts that keep the multiple steam engines operating. The Lift has four separate shafts that, with a dozen carts in each shaft. It takes cargo four days to reach the surface, with an individual lift arriving at the surface every day.

Tesch

This Umbral free city is known for two things: mushrooms and black market. Areas surrounding the city are rich in Crimson Sporeflower, a mushroom that is considered a delicacy in the North. Of course the Sporeflower does not grow in the North. In fact, Tesch is one of the few rare places where it grows.

The other thing the city is known for is the black market. Due to the city’s location, Skywall Fleet rarely has a need to patrol the area. For that reason pirate ships come here to sell their ill gotten goods. In fact there is an unspoken truce among the pirates and the city magistrate, as long as no piracy is committed on the approach to the city they are free to trade here.