"Thanks to proximity and the trade agreements between our countries, we eat the same things and live almost in the same way. Once you get past Aphasi, however, no one bothers remembering the names of the single countries."
"There are too many out there, and their names and the position of their borders change way too often. A war lost here, a revolution there, and the map you bought yesterday is useless today."
"Do the people of Verendi really fight this much?" Nyka was flabbergasted.
"Sadly, yeah." The merchant leader nodded. "Until about two years ago, the political situation was more stable. Don't get me wrong, neighboring countries still fought every other day, but there was a balance of forces.
"Then, everything fell apart, and while the people of Verendi were still picking up the pieces, Tyris came in a storm. The sky went black, and all those too slow or stupid to move out of her way died.
