The Free City of Caldera

The Free City of Caldera is a large, unincorporated city state just south of Brelyria. I'm not sure why it's on this wiki, as it doesn't match any of the other concepts, but it was an idea I had a long time ago, and never really capitalized on it, so... there you go.

The Free City of Caldera (FCoC) has its own governing body, laws, and economy. Situation at the bottom of a (somewhat) collapsed caldera, the primary trade and export goods are gems and minerals, although some sections of the caldera produce fine farm land, which is transported to terraces on the south east section of the city's surrounding mountains. This produces just enough to support Calderas populace, which is strictly monitored and regulated. All citizens of Caldera carry paperwork to demonstrate their citizenship.

Calderan's generally enjoy simple but comfortable lives. Any race may become a Calderan, although doing so is particularly difficult. The largest portion of the populace is human, followed by Dwarves, halflings, and elves. Dwarves, it should be noted, experience expedited citizenship if they can demonstrate that they are direct descendants of Bareng Greycloak, who helped build Caldera. However, most Dwarves are reluctant to give their citizenship in the Dwarven homeland, and so most have dual citizenship. Wealthy Dwarves often purchase vacation homes in Calderan territory after achieving citizenship. Elves, on the other hand, are few and far between. Their light hearted demeanor clashes too much with the extreme population control and monitoring. Those few that decide to become citizens of Caldera are attracted to the many natural hot springs and it's beautiful central lake.

Finally, the people of Caldera have spent 100s of years building a wall along the peaks of it's surrounding mountains, hoping to use the natural ring of mountains as a defense from invading armies. There are two tunnels that pierce the mountains, being in the northwest and due south sections. Keeps at these locations keep the entrances well protected.

The irony that I want to go for here is that Calderans are so concerned about keeping out people that are a threat to them, when they should be concerned about what's under their feet. Calder is on top of an active volcano chamber, which may one day errupt and destroy the entire territory.