This page explains the inner workings of the outer ring
The 4.4 million residents of the Ring are divided by where they work and how they handle the imports/exports. In this world, there is a place for living and a place for labor.
The Industrial Apex: Every state has exactly one City. Except for Midgia, these are built on the coast where the Great Road meets the sea.
The Processor: The City is the "Stomach" of the state. It receives raw grain and produce from the Central Isle and mills it into food. It also houses the heavy blast furnaces and smelters needed to turn raw ore into metal.
The Hub: This is where the 24/7 labor happens. Workers commute here from the Towns to staff the refineries, mills, and smithies.
The Residential Safe Zone: There are three permanent Towns per state, built directly on the enchanted stone of the Great Road.
The Home: This is where people actually live. Families, schools, and local commerce are centralized here.
The Consumer: Towns produce nothing on their own. They are the destination for processed food, metal tools, and fuel sent down the Road from the City.
The Work Zone: These are temporary extraction outposts located deep in the wilderness, far off the Great Road.
The Source: Villages exist for six-month "Rig Cycles" to harvest what the Central Isle cannot provide: Meat, Fish, Furs, Leather, Salt, and Metal Ore.
The Cycle: Once the harvest is complete, the Village is packed up and the raw materials are hauled back to the state's City for processing.
Since the Central Isle is purely agricultural, the Ring relies on the wilderness of the states for its iron and stone.
Bibar (North): The primary source of Hard Metals. Their 4 Villages are vertical mining camps carved into shale cliffs. They provide the iron, copper, and heavy stone used for the Great Roadβs maintenance.
Tiver (West): The source of Rare Earths and "Bog Iron." Their 3 Villages dredge the wetlands for minerals and flux used in the smelting process.
Midgia (Southwest): Historically the "Great Forge." They have little ore of their own but possessed the best smithing technology. By moving their City inland to protect these forges, they have now accidentally cut themselves off from the heavy ore shipments they need to function.
The Center Isle
Exports: Grains, fruits, vegetables, and medicinal herbs.
Imports: Salt (for preservation), Metal (for farm tools)
The Deal: They provide the bulk calories that allow the Ring states to focus on industrial labor rather than farming.
Bibar (North)
Exports: Salt and Heavy Ore (Iron/Copper).
Imports: Meat (from Aberia) and Grain/Produce (from the Center Isle).
The Deal: They are the "Foundation." Without their salt, everyone's food rots; without their metal, no one has tools.
Nuled (East)
Exports: Whale Oil and Deep-Sea Fish.
Imports: Metal (from Bibar) and Grain/Produce (from the Isle).
The Deal: They are the "Power Grid." They provide the fuel that keeps the lamps lit and the heaters running in the residential Towns.
Aberia (South)
Exports: Meat, Furs, and Leather.
Imports: Salt (from Bibar) and Metal (from Tiver/Bibar) and Grain/Produce (from the Isle).
The Deal: They are the "Wardrobe and Larder." They provide the protein and the heavy clothing needed to survive the wilderness.
Tiver (West)
Exports: Rare Minerals, Lead, and Medicinal Shellfish.
Imports: Furs (from Aberia) and Grain/Produce (from the Center Isle).
The Deal: They are the "Apothecary." They provide the materials needed for high-end refining and the medicines that stop the "Slow Death" in the damp wetlands.
Midgia (Southwest)
Exports: High-End Tools, Precision Machinery, and Luxury Textiles.
Imports: Raw Ore (from Bibar), Salt (from Bibar), and Grain/Produce (from the Center Isle).
The Deal: They were the "Engineers." They took everyone elseβs raw materials and turned them into the best equipment in the world.