Chay (CH-HAY) is a loose collection of Baronies. There are many different types, but typically they have a pyramidal social system, with the Baron as apex.

The main exceptions are the Sea Baronies. These consist of one port and the fleet based in that port. The fleets are mainly armed merchant ships whose role is to trade in the dangerous Shallow Sea. Each Sea Barony also has a smaller fleet of warships, for defense. Other nations say it is Chay that makes the Shallow Sea dangerous, and that they are pirates.

The capital of Chay is Mandricar. This was a collection of huts until Lord Shirvan the Golden became First Baron in 730. He bought his way to power, and remained First Baron for an unusually long time, since he continued to be generous with his wealth. Where he got the wealth from is unknown, since he was the third son of a very minor Sea Baron. Lord Shirvan had the old Mandricar torn down, and built it anew, of cut stone, properly laid out in wide streets. It took twenty years, but Lord Shirvan lived to see the work completed.

The rejects of the rest of the world live in Chay. Outlaws from other nations find sanctuary, and often earn enough wealth to go home as respected citizens.

These people have brought with them their own customs, and rarely agree on laws or customs. The Barons are only interested in collecting their taxes, but have found that civil disturbance reduces the taxable population, so each keeps his city policed with mercenaries. Outlaws and exiles usually join one of these mercenary forces when they first arrive. Unless they have a marketable skill, it is that or starve. Less fortunate immigrants become pressed men in the fleet, where, although not officially slaves (they cannot be sold) their lives are harder than those of most slaves.

Anybody can become a citizen of Chay by registering with a Baron as such. They become liable to taxation. They are protected by the laws of their Barony, and can expect their Baron to protest if they are particularly unjustly treated in another Barony (for instance being captured and sold as a galley slave), provided they can get word back to their Baron about their plight.

Non-citizens have no rights at all, and are referred to (revealingly) as galley-fodder.

It is occasionally necessary to elect a new Baron: on the death of an existing Baron, when an incumbent Baron cannot pay the tithe, or when a suitably qualified newcomer attempts to take control of an existing Barony. The process works as follows:

• The applicant must convince all the other Barons (except one that he is trying to replace) that he would make a suitable Baron; this process usually takes several months. (An elaborate system exists for the guaranty of gifts made by the applicant where all gifts become void if the applicant should be unsuccessful.)
• The applicant presents himself at the Great Tower, and states that he is ready to become a Baron.
• The applicant takes his seat in the ceremony chamber and is presented with gifts, one from each Baron. Each gift is a small jar with a lid. The applicant opens each jar. If all the gifts are good (usually gold), then the applicant passes. If however, any jar contains excrement, then a trapdoor opens and the applicant is dropped into the castle cesspool. This is not normally fatal, unless the applicant has made too many enemies. The Barons talk about "being shat on" rather than "being blackballed".

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