Port Arenhold

Port Arenhold

Tier	Free City · Treaty Dyarchy · Elandris Protectorate
Region	Free Cities
Government	Joint human/elven rule under treaty
Ruling body	The Two Bloods Seat
Militia	The Twin Spears
Population	~50% human, ~40% elven, remainder other
On	Strait joining the Zahari Passage to the Inner Sea

Port Arenhold is the largest port in the Free Cities, built on the strait that joins the Zahari Passage to the Inner Sea. It is a Free City by charter, with a full Council seat, but it is unlike any other member: it is jointly ruled under treaty and functions as a protectorate of the elven realm of Elandris in all matters touching the Inner Sea.

The Two Bloods Seat

Rule rests with the Two Bloods Seat — a human civic seat and an elven treaty seat, sharing authority. Local magistrates appointed by the Seat handle the city's own affairs, while elven treaty authority governs anything bearing on Inner Sea access, elven treaty rights, and the sacred maritime boundaries to the north. The city is kept by its City Watch and harbour guard and by the Twin Spears, a militia of elves and humans together; Elandris treaty patrols answer for the Inner Sea.

This double nature is the great fact of Port Arenhold's politics. Its human merchant families would have it treated as any other Free City; the elven authorities hold that the Inner Sea treaties place firm limits on what the city may decide for itself. The two work together because they must, and the seam between them never quite closes.