✧Howling Morass - Iron Redoubt

To the West of Indrakai, the Howling Morasses lie at the border of West and East Halantrea. This damp, foggy, dark and generally unpleasant swamp territory was named after the constant winds beating down from the ✧Everglades that makes the trees howl, and is the jurisdiction of the feared Iron Redoubt.
Traversal is generally quite slow, as even roads are muddy. Despite the conditions and the limited farmability of the area, it is fairly well populated. Hardy crops still grow, and some herbs and wild plants can only be found here. Farmers are supported by the Redoubt, in return for a non-negotiable quota of food.

The Iron Redoubt is a militaristic City-State that is ruled solely by the Eternal Empress, an enigmatic figurehead that is rarely seen outside the innermost walls of the City.
Its centered around a large rock pillar that was hollowed over time into a massive tower.
The city itself is split into two halves seperated by a sheer cliffside into a lower and upper part, surrounded by an oval, eye-shaped stone wall.
Nowadays, it is a strong military force as well as a haven for scholars and researchers, especially ones that dabble beyond normal ethics and safety. The Redoubt gives grants for those who apply, as long as the results are shared with the Empress. Those who fail to produce results however have to work off their debts.
Originally built as a large defensive Outpost against attackers from Western Halantrea, it housed a very large military force, partially from nearly all of East Halantreas armies. After the threat was over, the Empress managed to rally many of these soldiers under a new independent banner - one that the other, now weakened territories were powerless to stop. The following shattering of the weakened territories also paved the way for the rise of the ✧Golden Empire.
The Redoubt can barely sustain itself independently; but the sheer amount of pressure and military force it can exert, as well as very deep reserves of gold, allow it to extort, take, or buy more than enough resources from other territories.