The Spine of Argos
The Aurum Corridor runs north to south through central Argos, connecting Solaria in the northwest to the southern coast. The primary trade road. The reason most of the continent's wars stay cold.
Whoever controls the corridor controls the flow of Dracos between regions. The Aurum Accord has never formally taken a side in any conflict. It has quietly bankrolled both sides of three major wars to ensure neither won decisively enough to stop needing the trade route.
The Accord
The Aurum Accord is a trade council representing major merchant houses and noble families. Its neutrality is enforced with the efficiency of an army because neutrality is worth more than any alliance. Mixed-species mercenary security — deliberately drawn from every faction — ensures no single power can claim the corridor belongs to them.
Glint currency was originally created by Accord member houses as an internal accounting tool. Its spread into criminal networks was not intended and has never been fully reversed.Corridor towns are among the most genuinely integrated settlements in Argos. Species mixing here is economically incentivized, which produces integration without any of the ideology — and therefore integration that lasts.
The Fracture Problem
Several Fracture agents have embedded themselves in Accord towns. The neutral territory makes surveillance difficult and prosecution nearly impossible — the Accord's legal framework recognizes no authority that would give any single government jurisdiction over movement through the corridor.