" Maphante is a bustling trader's hub which has long been a thorn in the side of the feudal lords in Araz. For the longest time the presence of nobility was virtually non-existent in this backwater solarsystem. Four generations ago, the Emperor nominated the Maphante family to 'clean up the place' in the name of the Empire. Over a hundred years later the situation has gotten worse if anything. The current Lord of Garisas, Baron Bartezo Maphante, is not only rumored to be a criminal and a cut-throat, but also has little control over the powerful merchant guilds which reside in Maphante city. Some of these guilds have even stronger ties to the infamous Blood Raider pirate organization than the Empire, as evident by the heavy Blood Raider presense in their part of the port called the crypt."