Galmers, also known as the Stone City, is probably the most beautiful among the cities of the known World, and one of the Ten Marvels. Its walls are made of white marble, on top of which craftsmen incessantly set colourful transparent stones (as they have been doing for centuries), its roads are covered by stone slabs (a different mineral for each quarter, so that the metal-workers one is of mica-laden granite, for example, and the inns one is serpentine); the Royal Palace, in the centre of the town, is covered by a blue dome, with crystals set in it to represent the stars in the night of the Summer Ellipsis (rumoured to be a lucky day). Galmers' wealth comes from the marble hills south of it, the gemstones ones on the north and east, and from the inactivity of the geologically superior Lothenia. Cartloads of the finest marble are sent to Aulenors at all times of the day. Galmers is a quiet, beautiful place, in which nothing that isn't made of stone, glass or metal is openly displayed; it is also the only town outside the Empire in which Dwarves are seen, and in no little number, working as weaponsmiths, stone-cutters and sculptors. A local superstition holds it is unlucky to leave without at least a tiny piece of hardstone as a reminder. Government: king Peire VII rules Galmers, collecting moderate taxes and filling its treasury nonetheless; most of his orders concern keeping the roads perfectly clean and safe for everybody. Laws are based on the concept that any crime "staining the stones" (which is, perpetrated on the roads) deserves lapidation; abducting people to bring them out of the roads is, of course, included; what happens among private walls is handled much more reasonably. The system is often judged hypocritical, but seems to work perfectly, and most people passing through the town wouldn't even know it has a king, were it not for his magnificent palace.
Fleudons is another Marvel of the Arvarii. It is built at the confluence of two minor rivers, the Doire and Flecha, with the Amplaiga and several other brooks coming from the mountains and hills converge to the area. As a consequence Fleudons is not only surrounded by water, but it is actually built on it: it has no moat, but it is surrounded by true rivers, whose deep and foamy waters no army could safely pass, and a hundred channels flow between its white, plastered houses and its pastel-coloured palaces. By wisely channelling the waters before they reach the Amplaiga, a deep and large artificial lake has been built; here are sometimes held naumachies, and the yearly water-games, and more often tested the light vessels the city builds for commerce along the river to Arnagues.
Fleudons lives of commerce, rice fields and ships production. Moving through the city may be a bit frustrating as one has always to find a bridge to cross the right channel, and chances of getting lost are quite high; local youth, especially during the summer plainly swim through them, but the chilling, fast-moving waters are not for an amateur to try. Nobles and wealthy merchants think never leaving the water is a sign of distinction, live along major canals, keep enclosed water gardens with all manners aquatic plants and beasts, and move on relatively small but luxurious boats, covered by purple or crimson draping.
All this water also makes the continental climate of the area much milder, and the few years in which the canals freeze are considered omens of misfortune.
In recent times Fleudons has become a centre of fun and employment for the mercenaries, mostly Clenians, that earn their pay in the Haram plateau, slowly turning its aesthetics a bit to the Northern tastes, and making it much less quiet than it used to be.
Government: King Tibaut II rules over the realm of Fleudons, levying moderate taxes and applying moderately violent laws. He is almost 90, though, and leaves most of the tasks of government to his advisors.
Arnagues is the capital of the least populated of the Four Realms. It is built so that on side is on a sandy bay on sea, and another faces the maze of the Amplaiga delta; the rest of the town is protected by extremely steep hills, letting a single road lead to the city, along the river. Arnagues is fairly wealthy, but it is known nonetheless as "the gloomy city". Being in a depression, it is invisible from a distance, and the approaching traveller sees only the several tall watchtowers on the ridge of the surrounding hills. The town itself is no contradiction to its nickname, dotted as it is by thin towers, built as it is almost entirely in a leaden-grey stone which is the most readily available building material of the area, and with the mound-shaped peat fields of the Charb Marshes visible across the debris-laden waters of the delta. The only brighter part is the smaller one where the royal palace is, on the bay, where the nobles live and buildings facades stir the depressing slate of the other quarters with a peculiar lightly salmon hued sandstone and white Galmers marble in the so-called "Arnagues interrupted style", which appreciated as far as in Zender.
Arnagues thrives on traffics with Zender, Aulenors and Nebria; it is almost a city-state as its external domains are small, and do not even grant enough wheat to feed its population.
To all newcomers, Arnagues conveys an impression of danger, discomfort, decadence and darkness. While the last is justified by the shadow cast by the hills on the town most of the day, there is no real justification for the other feelings, aside from the sullen outlook of the place. Also, in Arnagues, for unclear reasons, goods not found anywhere else are often spotted, herbs from the Charb marshes, Nebrian art, exotic weapons, antimony just to name a few things.
The city is said to be a secret marketplace for several Arcane Circles, and to be at times haunted by underlings, and even more sinister creatures. There are a number of mysterious, unresolved crimes, but aside from that, it is quite safe for the simple passer-by.
Government: Young king Giraut II sits on the throne of Arnagues. He is very active in trying to promote commerce and to take the grim reputation off his realm, but hasn't so far succeeded in anything but earning the love of the people and merchants, and the hatred of his greediest nobles.
Gueresquelot: isolated in the far west, crushed between the sea and the last slopes of the Grey Boulders, Gueresquelot was, during the First Empire, nothing more than a fishermen's village, and the very last outpost of the Empire. When Aulenors broke free, the town naturally passed under its domain; during the troubled times that followed the disappearance of Rayvin I, however, Gueresquelot started growing isolated. Driops descended from the forests, interrupting communication with the capital, and even the language involved into an odd dialect in which most V's are replaced by B's and most L's by R's.
Capdelh des Frais (literally "haven of the shipwrecked") is hardly anything more tha a village, built in a place where the currents of the sea seem to drag all the remains of the ships sunk between Aulenors and Gueresquelot. Like to the latter, Capdelh lacks the grand buildings made of cut stone, and is built out of pebbles and of the logs the many rivers of the area deposit in the sea.
Gueresquelot is now quite a large town; it is almost all built in wood, including the massive walls, since reaching the caves is too dangerous because of ambushing Driops. Because of the same, it also has a weird set of laws, which punishes most crimes by sending the culprit fully armed in the forest for a set number of days or hours. Gueresquelot is also devoid of practically any resource apart from fish, which abounds to almost supernatural levels in the shallow waters it faces, so that life there is very hard, but starvation not really a risk. Outlaws, or people driven away by war or famine often try reaching Gueresquelot, albeit most die during the long, dangerous trip; it is notorious that even the vilest piece of merchandise, but especially metal tools or weapons, are worth months of lodging and provisions here.
Another unpleasant peculiarity of the place are the periodic appearances of flying lizard, which seem to come from some place southwest, in the middle of the sea; they also appear on the symbol of the town (a spear lizard transfixing itself).
Government: Albeit king Nimrot of Aulenors, without much conviction, still claims ownership over Gueresquelot, the town is actually ruled by two officers, called "consules", chosen among the local aristocracy, and a council of nine "priores", which represent various groups of citizens.
Recently, Capdelh has formed a sort of league with Gueresquelot, a mutual agreement of defence against both the Aulenorian army and the driops. There are concerns, however, that the bigger western town is trying to rule over this place, and the governors of Capdelh are customary double-dealers, switching their alliance to Aulenors when they see it fit.
Capdelh is surrounded by wheat fields, but has little other resources; quite a part of the population spends most of the day on the shore looking for shored treasury or, missing that, crabs and cockles.
Superstitious people say that the spirits of the drowned wail certain nights, and it is not safe to go out; most people around here are superstitious.
Government: a town council, elected every three years by all the male adults namely rules Capdelh des Frais; however, recently a holy man named Mir Aesmar, who claims the Giver of Rest has given him power over the wailing spirits, is obtaining more and more popular attention, effectively splitting the citizens in two parties.