So long as one can afford it, and cannot be caught, any and all things can be had in Saxedeno; this unwritten rule remained ever-present above all other laws of the land.  Officially, the dense, primeval forests of the Devilseed Reaches were a protectorate of another, larger empire, but internal strife had drawn their attentions inward, and the abandonment of paid tribute went largely unnoticed.  Left to their own devices, the settlers who had been stubborn, desperate, or insane enough to eke out a living in the woodlands established a city partially carved into the looming Mountains of Virtue; the violations of the mountain were symbolically appropriate, given the sheerness, steepness, and overall impassible nature of the towering landscape, and the overall abandonment of righteous living that seemed to go hand in hand with life in those unforgiving lands.<br/><br/>Foremost among Saxedeno's contributions to continued existence is the hiring of mercenaries to ensure trade can be completed through the Devilseed Reaches themselves - the woods teem with all manners of beasts and monsters with a taste for human flesh...and occasionally the flesh of non-humans as well.  While there is easier work to be found for mercenaries elsewhere, those who pride their abilities work the region in order to prove their superiority, and in most cases to earn higher pay than they might receive in other lands...or because they are already wanted criminals in the surrounding areas, and Saxedeno is the only place where they will be able to avoid standing orders of execution.  This leads to the second factor that ensures that Saxedeno is not destroyed; to many, any who escape to the Devliseed Reaches fully deserve the expected fate they will presumedly meet, and the city provides an unexpected haven to the most desperate of fugitives, who learn quickly from rumor or witness firsthand that being expelled from the city guarantees the worst sort of demise possible.<br/><br/>While it is commonly assumed that newcomers are arrival mercenaries that happened to foolishly agree to one-way contracts, there's always the chance that someone met up with a caravan in transit, and either stowed away or earned their keep in exchange for safe escort.  However, with the rising notoriety of the Imprisoned City, as it has come to be called in the neighboring nations, other means of access have begun to appear. A rare few are not discovered for some time, having been personally invited by one of the merchant lords who unofficially rule the city with the somewhat begrudging consent of their peers.<br/><br/>The low point of a thickly wooded valley, backed against and partially embedded in an impassible mountain, unassailable by most of the sapient races, yet threatened by the very thing that protects it, Saxedeno survives by its wits, its wealth, and against all odds...which, perhaps, is why the forces who governs it live within, yet dwell apart from the rest of the citizenry.