Neobinion

The founding waterborne community of the Empire. Neobinian is a stationary aquatic community with both air and water breathing residents. The community originally was a safe harbor for all types of vessels moving between the three original Imperial islands,  Being located rather centrally to all three, the surface part of the community is a series of stoutly built barges bolted together. There is constant maintenance going on to keep barges functional and strong. The surface area is approximately 2 miles by 1 ½ miles. On top of the barges stout buildings that are colorfully decorated cover most of the topside. In several places, newer buildings have been added as a sort of second story to the original buildings. These buildings are shops, small inns, taverns, and of course homes. Most of which are in the back of the business's that the people have there. There are all manner of medium and small sized races found in the community. About 20% own a business and the rest work for one or more of these owners. Of course the entire outside of the barges is rigged for ships and boats of all sizes to moor along side. It is these sailors that provide a good portion of Neobinian’s income. There is a far amount of personal trading that occurs on the topside of Neobinian. Given its small size, there is not room for storing large amounts of trade goods.

As impressive as the topside is, those who have visited it say the underwater portion of the community is the real jewel. Built and maintained by sea elves the underside of the barges is a mass of living roots, corals and other plant life that provide similar services for water breathers that come to the community. Somewhat rare for elves, they are very business savvy and help provide their share of the funds needed to keep the community in place and still earn them a nice profit. In addition to the growth of the underside of the community, the elves also maintain living ropes of deep water plants that are what anchors the community in place. The braids of seaweed are nearly 6’ in diameter.

Among the few trade goods that Neobinion does have are the rare minerals used to color the trade currency. It is one of the primary reasons that Neobinion was one of the original members of the Empire. The coloring minerals are not for sale on the open market and harvesting them is done only by native sea elves of the community. The sea elves also do trade with certain types of hard corals used for art pieces and as studs on leather armor.

The entire community is operated as a giant business with several subsidiaries who make up the various individual businesses both above and below the sea. The CEO is a half-elf woman named Nerdalye Ithrenel. She is an aquatic elf-high elf mix. She can breath both air and water. As such she frequently checks on the various businesses. Status and power are strictly regulated by the value a subsidiary has to the community.