The World, it's structure, Lands, Areas, Cities

Difar
The southern half of Tana is comprised of the best farmland and rolling hills, no interruptions save for the mining area on the south-west edge. Mostly flat, the occasional flash floods in the central land make it difficult to build permanent cities, but architechts and designers are working on that problem. The dramatic Osini Bay is certainly the most well-known feature of Difar, its dark water and the high cliffs of the north border being a wonderful contrast to the city there. Two scrubland areas exist across Difar, one in a stripe clear across from Osini to the Imaa city of Ble'an, some thirteen thousand miles wide, but only two thousand in its north-south dimention. The other surrounds the Ximon Mine, a huge and well-used strip-mine area. Nothing else of value can be done in that area, it is estimated that badlands would eventually arise there. On the south-east side of the land is marsh and swampland, each of the cities and towns there dealing with the watery land in its own way. Major exports of Difar are Steeds and Steeds and Betting! Vimit and Kui are the northerly cities, situated just south of the moutnains in Imaa; Osini, Zogan and Quman are the scrubland-Steed farm cities; on the flatlands south of those are Geses, Lisar, Pukaet and Aet; the mining city of Ximon and the marsh cities of J'ren, Sleto, F'kun, Tule and lonely little Yah complete the Land.

Unincorporated Population: almost 2 million people live on the huge plains of Difar, since the life is actually quite idyllic there. Villages and vast multi-Owner plantations are common.

Osini: considered by many to be the most beautiful city in the world, particularly at night or seen from above. The black waters of Osini Bay provide a perfect backdrop for the bright lights and white streets, this city has a large sea port as well as the sky ports which bring in the most bettors and debtors. Though most of the surrounding land is grass and scrub, the city itself is raised above sea level by several foothills which roll slowly into the farmlands nearby.
Earthly equivalent: San Francisco
Founded in 1792 Population: 1.24 million SM: .1 VM: x4

J'ren: A marsh racing city, warm year round and very moist. The temporary homes and apartments in the central city are done as a huge four sided complex, with each side specializing in a Land's color, food and culture. Otherwise the city is busy and less than well-kept, it seems that there is always a dark side of this town, a cluttered area.
Earthly equivalent: pick a place in the Everglades and make it actually livable
Founded in 1900 Population: 1.05 million SM: .5 VM: x4
Pronounced "juh-ren", the j being like "just"

Geses: far from being a structured city, Geses is a mishmash of modern and traditional, bizarre and stock buildings. It is a major Racing area, with mostly speed courses, and it is here that the yearly Steed Championships are held (not that other places don't have yearly events, this is the absolute make-or-break Race!) most of the mega-bets are made, and where most Bonds are drawn into the whirl.
Earthly equivalent: a good racing city in Kentucky
Founded around 4047 Pronounced "gueses"
Population: 650000 SM: .7 VM: x3

Sleto: Everyone ignores the weather around this city, and has fun with the inner city. It is a fast moving populace, eager to get to their next destination via the shuttle tubes or the high soaring walkways. Terraced and slatted farmland around the city provides a beautiful backdrop, while much of the city is colorful and patchwork tall-short. Some buildings wrap around others, and all the walkways are much like arteries and veins, spreading thinner into single offices and huge into the malls.
Earthly equivalent: Friz Lang's Metropolis set into a marsh-land
Founded around 4580 Population: 540000 SM: .7 VM: x3

Pukaet: Low to the ground, with slight hills surrounding the farmsteads around it, Pukaet is a sprawl of Breeding and Racing houses, shopping complexes and an explosion of small to medium sized FreeLandHolder homesteads. Dotting the countryside, this Zone is the most populated rural place in the world. The best views for the aerial races can be found on a pair of the original homesteads on Tana, here.
Earthly equivalent: rural (but warmed) Wisconsin
Founded around 2000 by those original homesteaders, Zoned in 3000
Population: 480000 SM: 1 VM: 2 Pronounced "pook-ate"

Quman: A very good veterinary land, health bonuses for Steeds which are Bred here, the ground is just damn fertile and the air is cleaner than most. More compact than some other farmland towns, Quman is dominated by traditional homes and buildings, brick and cut stone, with some very few very modern areas. Streets are paved but on the outskirts of town become cobbled, then dirt.
Earthly equivalent: Ramona Pronounced "koo-mon"
Founded around 3615 Population: 405000 SM: 1 VM: 2

Yah: Southernmost town on Tana, with much in the way of transportation development. There are processing plants, construction firms and mining facilities nearby, but the city itself is largely devoted to harvesting and fishing. The south beaches cliff-ridden, but beautiful, with homesteads dominating the tops of them.
Earthly equivalent: Australian west-coast town
Founded around 6140 Population: 280000 SM: 1 VM: 2

Aet: Set in the middle of the plains, Aet is less rural than any other central Difar town. It is closest in nature to a military town, buildings are efficient and close set, factories are busy in the daytime as well as the night... The nuke plant isn't really all that bad, it just has had its share of disasters befall it: the earthquake and the flood, and then that nasty run in with the local wildlife...
Earthly equivalent: picture exactly that Pronounced "ate"
Founded in 2915 Population: 105000 SM: 1 VM: 1

Vimit: Northmost city in Difar, a true Race Town. Many of the buildings are circular, flat, like pie shapes, and with gardens and balconies on their tops and sides. The Racecourses here are varied and mostly mid-level, but are good places for beginning riders and Steeds, or for the older units still wanting a bit of a challenge.
Earthly equivalent: visibly like Honalulu (the hotels particularly)
Founded in 4450 Population: 96000 SM: 1 VM: 1

Lisar: A small town which just never grew up, Lisar has a lot of history and culture, very little of the modernization of other towns has hit this place. It is a historical site, Lisar is one of the First Four cities, and they keep up a tourism with that in mind. The homesteads on the grasslands are getting sneaky: some are built underground, or half-buried, so it's often impossible to tell if you're walking over grazing land or someone's home!
Earthly equivalent: there aren't any
Founded around year 2... yes, year 2
Population: 75000 SM: 1 VM: 1

Xemon: A mining town, and little else. The supplies are not put to much use here, most of the homes and buildings are made traditionally with stone and brick, there are some factories and exporting buildings, but little else. It's a blustery town, most people stay indoors because the outside isn't much to look at.
Earthly Equivalent: Area 51 with a shopping center
Population: 44000 SML 1.3 VM: 1
Founded in 2290 Pronounced "zee-mon"

Kui: Warm lands and rolling hills make Kui an ideal retirement spot, and most of their buildings are old style because of this. There are several Breeding facilities here for Steeds, few for humans.
Earthly Equivalent: soft-focus retirement home community
Population: 35000 SM: 1.3 VM: 1 Founded in 9659
Pronounced "kwee"

F'kun: Dug into the marshes, F'kun's claim to fame is that it is still there. Parts of it keep sliding under, there are massive sink holes and the geologists are trying to figure out how to exploit this, without getting killed.
Earthly Equivalent: you know when you're a kid and you play in your back yard with the hose and your army men? And they drown?
Population: 17500 SM: 1.5 VM: 1 Founded in 4120
Pronounced "fuh-koon"

Zogan: Smack in the middle of the scrublands, this town has ambitions to become a Racing area. Its planners are taking pains to assure that all the new buildings and homesteads are modern in nature, and are importing the best architects in the world to help.
Earthly equivalent: pick a planned community
Founded in 7800 Population: 14000 SM: 1.5 VM: 1

Tule: Steeds Bred here are very cold-resistant, the humidity is confined to purely the ground water and rains, rather than ambient fog or wet air.
Earthly equivalent: a coastal Ireland village
Founded in 9200 Population: 9000 SM: 1.5 VM: 1

Ablan: Quiet and gentle, the town of Ablan rests on both sides of a small river. The area is hilly and covered with cherry trees and low soft grass, groves of not-cherry-trees (popular to call them that since cherries are their main export), and a small but very profitable cherry-grape winery. The town is laid out in a east-west strip, with small buildings and storefronts sharing the street with homes. It looks for all the world like a small western boom town which never boomed. It's been slowly growing since Vanya the Outsider got there, he became the town's only Breeder/Healer when the last one died and left him the practice. The town is hugely dominated by Free Land Holders, running their tiny businesses like farms and growing cherries. The entire south side of the river is cherry grove land, but there are bits with citrus and apples, figs and other more conventional (and useful?) fruits. Every year the town experiences "Cherry Festival" where the pies and jams and the most famous Cherry Wine are brought out to the tourists, when the single hotel in the town gets its business for the year. Other homes and even the clinic must open their doors to visitors because there just isn't enough room in the hotel for everyone who comes to the celebration. It does bother some higher Status people who show up for this event that they are being attended by a township who doesn't care that their Outsider Breeder isn't allowed to Hold anything unless they will it, but trouble doesn't follow most times. The people of Ablan are quiet, sensible, and most days you can find any of them just lounging around waiting for the cherries to drop. The place had, as of around year 14000, NO STEEDS at all. Amazing, considering that it's prime land for them, people just don't want to bother with them. They figure, if there's Steeds, there'll be racing, and if there's racing, there's people.
Founded in 10200 Population 1406 in year 14k SM: 2 VM: 1