Bara Goldtown

Bara Goldtown is the most powerful independent city in the world. Deep underground, its location is unknown to all but the priests that rule the city. Rich in both minerals and bloodthirsty mercenaries, Bara trades its raw materials and bizarre alchemies with every nation they can find.

Founding and Colonization
Bara was founded over a few hundred years, as merchants created mining camps deep underground. Eventually the people of these camps decided to band together to form a city of their own so they could have some of the amenities of above, below. Though deep underground, the population was mostly human, so the epithet of Goldtown is due to the bright glow that suffuses the town. A rich place, Bara was too rich a prize to leave uncontrolled, so even though the vast population was born and raised in Goldtown, the merchants that ruled it had loyalties and markets outside. A series of foreign kings ruled Bara for most of its history, and most of them were from different kingdoms. It is in this early bloodshed that the mercenary culture of Bara was founded. A king would hire mercenaries to put bureaucrats in power, than a different king would hire the same mercenaries to kill those same administrators. Loyalty was to the city and to gold, not to foreign rulers that did not understand the culture and people of Bara.

Independence Wars
The common people of Bara grew resentful of distant courts deciding matters of local policy, and the foreign magistrates that ruled Bara had no interest in learning the ways of their subjects. Rebellion started as general discontentment, but grew into armed conflict. Independence was a slow process for Bara, as they were still reliant on the surface for a good deal of the resources that Bara consumed. But eventually, the last of foreign influence was thrown out and the people of Bara decided that no man not born under the Jade Sun and the Emerald Moon would rule over the underfolk. But the people of Bara knew that though those alive had strength and will, they would always be vulnerable if the ways to Bara remained open, but they also knew that Bara could not survive cut off from the surface. A plan was established, and using the vast wealth of Bara, they hired the best wizards and engineers from across the lands.

The Maze
The people of Bara knew that men could be bought, spells could be unwoven, stone shattered, and puzzles solved. But no man could do all of these things. The people of Bara created the greatest work of man alone, the Maze of Bara covers hundreds of miles of tunnels and is filled with traps and disaster for any but those trained and knowledgeable in the passage through them. Only the Fraternity of the Maze is taught the exact path through, and they swear oaths to a hundred gods that they would die before granting entrance to an enemy.

Banditry
Once the Maze was completed and Bara rendered invlunernable to conventional or unconventional assault, those of Bara saw an opportunity to better their own at the cost of others. Striking from hundreds of sally ports, the mercenaries and militia of Bara would raid the countryside, taking slaves and valuables and retreating beneath ground before serious reprisals could emerge. Eventually, Bara established permanent colonies above ground and began a serious campaign of conquest. Though unconcerned with the raiding of a few barbarians, the people of power in Civilization took notice of these happenings and decided to head off a potential threat before it could get fully dug in.

The Twelve Year Siege
Destroying the places of power on the surface was of little trouble to the Legions, but finding each individual entrance and guarding them fully was the work of a decade. Once trapped, the Barasi realized that though they would not fully starve, as Bara produced enough food to feed some of its people, the population had grown greatly with the increased profits of rule. Fighting over the scant food supplies would leave them open to complete rule by the Empire so Bara agreed to a truce. The Empire would provide food and magecraft to Bara, and in exchange Bara would give them gold and minerals at a cut-rate. The Empire would also guarantee Bara's freedom and give them open access to all their markets.

Current Politics
Though there is a small but growing faction wants to try their hand at imperialism, the oligarchs are content with the arrangement as it is. Barasi mercenaries train and leave to ply their trade in the world around, serving as not only an outlet for the violently inclined, but also as scouts and visual signs of the military power of Bara. Barasi gold and gems are prized for their color and variety, with the Spice League in particular valuing the violet gold spun cloth.