Free City and Republic of Genf

Back in the golden days of the Arvanthan Empire, all of the western coast bowed to the king. All except for Genf that is.

Starting out as a small city state of merchants and artisans, Genf has always been fiercely independent and its position on the top of a cliff has made it nigh impregnable for foreign armies. The Arvanthans tried to take over the Free City times over, never quite succeeding. Many of these attempts have since entered Genfian popular culture with yearly celebrations on the various dates the Emperors failed to subjugate them. The reformation of the Sea-Godess cult hit the city in full swing during the Second Age and they have been fanatic adherents of a strict, egalitarian and ascetic branch of the reformed cult since. This combination of republican traditions and religious fanaticism proved to be the winning combination as Genf took the innovations of the Marble Renaissance and later the Industrial Revolution in its stride thanks in part to their many trade contacts across the northern seas. Genf has taken full advantage of the slow deterioration of Arvantha to expand its actual territory to meet its industrial appetite and now the Republic is many times larger than it was just a century ago. They find themselves in a precarious position however with enemies on all sides. They are very mistrustful of Adizheans, considering them to be godless heathens, but a live-and-let live situation has developed as both entities battle the Southern leviathan. On its north the Republic has recently gained a new neighbour it could really do without. The secretive Darwinians are not only anathema to Genfian fundamentalism but seem to be eyeing their territory as well, although this front remains cold for now.

The Northern Marquisate an Arvanthan vassal created by the palace specifically to bring the northern statelets back into the fold remains the main enemy of Genf. Locked in perpetual low-level warfare centred on forts on the border mountains the hatred between the 2 belligerents has long been at its height. Many predict only full on escalation can come out of the dangerous cat and mouse game that's currently being played.