The Earth Conduit city is located in the foothills of and on (Name) Mountain near the center of the continent. The city extends down from the Conduit Plant nestled in the mountainside to the terminus of the huge (Name) Bay, which cuts deep into the land. The city is located in the northwestern corner of its territory which extends east all the way to the sea. This large peninsular appendage contains five notable settlements and many smaller agricultural communities. Rivers and packed earth roads provide most of the transportation in these parts, as the rail lines of the Air City have not reached there yet. This area is the breadbasket of the continent and the two sea ports and rivers are busy with water-borne commerce year round. There is a naval outpost at the southeastern tip of the jungle with a significant tri-city contingent of Census Office soldiers to defend the high speed rail pylon and patrol the entrance to the bay.
The Earth City controls by far the most land area of the three Conduit Cities and produces the majority of the agricultural products, trading them by the shipload to the other two Conduit Cities and certain Freeholds. They have a significant number of boats for coastal and riverine transportation, but have the smallest deep water navy. This navy rarely leaves (Name) Bay, usually to escort high ranking Census Office or city officials who travel by sea.
The Earth City suffers the most Incursions from the Outsiders and has the largest Stalker and Sweep Team contingents. Many of the settlements on the peninsula and all of them near the borders have home guard and local militias to supplement the Stalkers who, while extremely capable, are required to cover large areas with relatively few soldiers and are not always on hand to combat Outsider raiding parties.
There are five other towns within the Earth City's remit and many small farming villages.
Government
The Earth City is run by a mixed council of elected and non-elected officials. The elected officials include one delegate from each of the major settlements outside the city (5 total) and two elected delegates from the city itself. Collectively, they are known as Seneschals. The unelected officials include the High General of the Census Office and an appointed Chief Scienseer who respectively advise on martial and element science matters and cast no official votes on matters. The final seat is also non-voting, but a crucial one: the Chief of Operations. This person is the head of the coterie of permanent government clerks and is responsible for the efficient day to day running of the city.
The Earth City is unique in that two Senechals are required by law to take opposite sides on important issues by the drawing of lots. Their duty is to present their cases before the council, who will then vote on a final decision. All Seneschals must vote, there is no abstaining, including the Seneschals presenting, but they are not required to vote for the side they are representing. Presenters are given a certain amount of time to prepare and a only one hour in which to present. They may call on any recognized authority as an expert witness to bolster their cases. All Senechals employ their own, sometimes numerous, staffs for these efforts.