Sometimes, when you drive along a major route into a city or a different county, you see a municipal sign with a welcoming slogan. In America this differentiation is taken a stage further, with each State issuing vehicle license plates with a snappy phrase (“New York – the Empire State”).

When young, my parents would often drive into or through Norwich, capital of Norfolk in East Anglia. We always thought the signs were friendly if a little bland: “Welcome to Norwich, a Fine City.” At the county border, visitors are greeted “Norfolk, Nelson’s County”, adopting a traditional method of association with a famous alumnus. It made me think.

Carceron makes no claims to friendliness and it has no famous alumni. It’s a lawless city which lives only for the present moment. But it still recognises the need to brand itself and attract visitors, so “Welcome to Carceron, City of Chaos” is a cheerful way of playing up to its image. Many people are attracted to danger, or more accurately, to being able to boast in retrospect that they have faced down danger. Hence the clothes for sale in the city with the slogan “I visited Carceron – and I survived”.

The art of bringing in tourists is well understood in Carceron (see the restaurant and bar guide on pages 73-74 for a good example). And if a handful of visitors go missing in the course of their visit… well, there’s nobody in the city who’s going to investigate. It’s good for the city’s image!