• Thir-king claims he was elected to the position of lifelong dictator over 700 years ago
• Templars in Balic are elected for 10-year terms. Thir-king usually makes it clear which ones he favors, and on the rare occasion that the “wrong” one wins, they disappear
• Thir-king’s personal army consists of 10,000 mostly human foot soldiers carrying lances, large wooden shields, and bone daggers (hoplites)
• Every citizen of Balic is a member of the militia and spends every 10th month assisting the regular army patrol the fields to reduce crop and stock loss to Giants who regularly raid from across the Silt Sea
• Balic is situated in the Estuary of the Forked Tongue, a very defensible location as far as invasion from the other city-states is concerned, as it is surrounded by parts of the Silt Sea on the North, East, and South sides
• Balic has a strong economic district, which specializes in trade of olive oil, kank nectar, and pottery.
• The Agora, or market square is completely ringed in by the Elven market, making it impossible to do any legitimate business without dealing with the dubious offers of the Elven merchants
• The Silt Sea contains numerous islands inhabited by giants, and dotted with crumbling ruins.
• Shipfloaters are psionicists who telepathically levitate ships to traverse the Sea of Silt.

Rumor: The Dwarves of North and South Ledopolis are trying to build a bridge to connect the two villages, but the giants living on Ledo Island in the center keep wading out across the Silt Sea to destroy the bridge