The Open Reaches

Beyond the last harbor and above the last tower, nobody's law reaches. Out there, nobody is Sovereigni and nobody is Sullied. There's only crew, cargo and the horizon. It's chaotic, it's dangerous, and it's full of bandits and thieves. It's also free, and the people who live there wouldn't trade that for any city on the continent.

A World Without Rulers. The Open Reaches aren't a nation. They're everywhere the nations can't follow: the open sea, the gulf between Adryae and Staerhiel, and the high air lanes where airships fly for weeks without touching ground. People live here on ships and airships, on rafts lashed together in sheltered bays, and on the rocky islands no Regnant Sovereigni has bothered to claim. Nobody tells them where to go or what to do, and that's how they like it.

No Class, No Crown. The divide between Sovereigni and Sullied that rules every city means nothing on a deck. A ship needs hands, nerve and skill, not a family name. Fallen Sovereigni, runaway Sullied, deserters, escaped souldriven, malumtene, ashen and anyone else the land has no place for can find a berth if they can pull a rope and keep their word. The people of the Reaches call themselves freeborn, whether they were born out here or not.

Chaos and Its Price. Freedom isn't safety. The Reaches are full of privateers who hunt the cargo airships crossing the gulf, bandit crews who'll take a ship and everyone on it, and smugglers moving fibrolite, grafts and people the nations would rather not see moved. Gilirak's escorts and Adryae's warships patrol the trade lanes and hang the pirates they catch. A freeborn crew survives on speed, guns and the rule that nobody else will save them.

There's no law in the Reaches, but there are customs. Crews that ignore them don't last long, because no harbor will take them in.

The Captain's Word. Aboard a ship, the captain's word is law, until the crew decides it isn't. Captains are chosen by their crews and can be unchosen the same way.

Parley. A crew flying a black-and-white parley pennant can't be attacked until the talk is done. Breaking parley is the one crime every crew in the Reaches will hunt you for.

Salvage Right. What's adrift belongs to whoever reaches it first: wrecks, cargo, even a crippled airship. Arguments over salvage are settled with dice, fists or cannons, in that order.

No Questions. Nobody asks where a crewmate came from, what they were before, or why they can't go back. Asking is how fights start.

Free Ports. A handful of harbors in the Tepor Islands, run by the Daughters of the Painted Mask, take any ship that pays the harbor's cut. They're the closest thing the Reaches have to a city, and they have no Sovereigni.

The Gulf

The water between Adryae and Staerhiel, and the sky above it. Since Ethon cut the rail during the War of Souls, every trade airship between the two nations crosses the gulf, and the privateers know their routes as well as their captains do. The gulf is the busiest, richest and most dangerous stretch of the Reaches.

The Tepor Islands

Technically part of Adryae, actually run by the Daughters of the Painted Mask. The islands' free ports sell privateer prizes at full value and ask no questions, and privateer towns have grown up along the coast nearby.

The High Lanes

The air above the clouds, where the largest airships never land and some crews have been born, lived and died without touching ground. The high lanes are cold, thin and quiet, and the crews up there are the most fiercely free people in Eldriloch.