Minas Abyad

"They had walked throughout the city bazaar, filled to the brim with fruits and vegetables, coffee beans and teas of all colours, fish and all kinds of meats, silverware, cloths and dyes from all over the world: and that was just the goods being sold. Between all the stands roamed people from every corner of the planet; native Qartabans, Eidorans from the north-east like Druthenians and Krichoians and Kozakians, dark-skinned Ikhayans from the south, Xhisi from beyond the great eastern sea, Kheherati from the south-west, westerners from the far-off Jin He, the occasional nomad of his own kind, and so many others that he was unable to name. They all converged in the great city-state of Minas Abyad, with its radiant white splendor and busy atmosphere."

The city of Minas Abyad (Qartaban: from الميناء الأبيض/almina' al'abyad, white harbour), formerly the Grand City Republic of Minas Abyad, is an important city in the Kingdom of Qartaba. Formerly an independent city-state, Minas Abyad would find itself incorporated into the nascent kingdom in a bloodless takeover, having long since left its golden age with the advent of the Age of Turmoil. Despite this downturn, it would remain the most important city in the region.

Having been an important node in the global trade network for centuries, Minas Abyad has long been a successful, rich, and diverse city. Hosting people from all corners of the planet, it would become known as the "world city", and the "city of many faces" - a legacy that would prove to remain after the Age of Turmoil.

Age of Turmoil
Unsurprisingly, a country reliant on global trade to prosper cannot afford the trade to cease. For Minas Abyad, the global economic crash in the wake of the Jinheguo civil war, and the following Age of Turmoil, would spell disaster for the city, and be the end of the republic as an independent political entity.