Llaza is a great port city, formerly in the Empire. Now, primarily because the headquarters of the Merchant's League are situated there, it is an independent city-state on the east bank of the Anhui River basin. Originally based on an island it has expanded to include the nearby mainland and several other smaller islands. The island palazzi of trader-kings are only a stone's throw from Thievestown, a sprawling mass of intermingled boats and piers, lashed together to form a floating island where the gangs rule. Long ago the City of Ten Thousand Ships was the preeminent port but the League was based in Llaza as the city was was more centrally placed for the League's original function, which was to regulate all the different weights, measures and currencies in use in the expanding Empire.

The city is in a temperate zone, in a large sheltered bay on the coast of the Central Continent. The Anhui River and its tributaries are an important trade artery connecting many of the continental nations so it became a natural focus for both intra-continental and inter-island commerce. The hinterland surrounding the city itself is primarily used to produce fresh fruit and vegetables and as a place for the rich to have vacation houses.