One of the more significant places on Maldene is the famed Harbor Of The World, so named because nearly every culture on the planet can meet one another at the Harbor, even if they’ve never heard of one another anywhere else before. A tropical port that I liken to being about the size of the Gulf of Mexico with the opening to the port being about equal to the distance between the tip of Florida and Cuba. The whole Harbor is basically shore to shore stone city, with a mix of architectural styles from dozens of different cultures.

So, what ever inspired me to create such a place? Well, I figured some sort of central exchange port as needed, a place with the ultimate in inner city life for this world. A place where I can have dozens of cultures clash, a Harbor safe from the wars outside its waters for the simple reason that since so many different cultures trade around there, and because there are so MANY different ships there, that anyone trying to invade would simply be slitting their own throats. It also makes for a great jumping-off point for a number of characters throughout the series. With characters from different areas of the world that meet in the Harbor, it always gives me at least one character in a given group that has never been to whatever home region of another character that they may later go to and hence an excuse for someone to explain to that character about the local culture so the reader can be filled in as well without having to treat everyone in the story like idiots.

Of course the Harbor also makes for a great place for plot complications, but that’s another subject entirely.