By the pen of Bursar Markan Paige, Scholar of Economics:

It may be hard to imagine the world without Port Scion, it being so central to trade between the Mathosian Empire and the lands beyond the seas. Where would we be if we could not trade the lumber of the Granitewood for the limestone of Ember Isle? Or the ores of the Scarlet Gorge for the spices of the Shi-Ming? But there was a time when our great trade city was once just a small harbor in which humble fisherfolk convened to speak of the ups and downs of the changing sea currents and weather patterns.

But as the great Empire of Mathosia spread from one tip of the continent to the next, a Prince of the Mathosian Empire, Breldan the Fastidious as he would later be known, took a look at his brother’s kingdom and realized that their rule was now too great for how simplistic and old fashioned their sensibilities lay. His brother, King Jornir II, had always been more of a warrior than a thinker, and was content to let his younger and more studious brother oversee the plan to ‘modernize’ the empire.

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Breldan traveled far and wide taking stock of the land, disguised on foot as a simple wandering trader, and when he had finished his study, he decided that what was needed more than anything was a heart for the empire’s trade and culture. Caer Mathos served as a great military center, but it was not equipped for much else. Thus he envisioned a great port city, one that would connect the lines of Mathosian trade and scholarship within and without. At first, his brother could not swallow the projected cost, but when Breldan convinced him of how quickly that cost would be made up, he agreed to give his brother all the gold he needed.

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It took decades to complete its construction, pulling in craftsmen from all over the world. When it was concluded, all could agree that the Port of Scion, later condensed to the name we know today, had been worth the effort. It rose as a testament to the strength and wealth of the new empire and served as a means by which the disparate peoples of the empire came together to feel a sense of unity. They are fond to say that though the Mathosian Empire was formed by the sword, it was united by coin.

Since then, it has been traditional for the younger sons of the Mathosian Kings to take the title of Consul of Scion and sit at the top of the jewel of the west.