Shenendehowa Bay

Shenendehowa Bay is an international charter city in northern Crona. It is a charter city of Quicksilver Industries, though it remains under the formal military protection of Urcea. Established by charter agreement, it was previously part of Mandatory Venua'tino before gaining independence as a formally recognized entity. It is the headquarters of multiple Crona-based corporations, and is also the home of the League of Nations' Commission for Mandatory Venua'tino. As of 2030, it was ranked the "richest city in north-northwestern Crona" by the Bureau of International Statistics.

Shenendehowa Bay is a member of the Nysdra Sea Treaty Association.

Etymology
"Shenendehowa" is a term of ancient Cronite origin meaning "great plains", most likely referring to the flat plains extending east from the Bay which have since been used to refer to the Bay itself. The city has formally used the name since the Medieval period.

Geography
As the name of the city might suggest, Shenendehowa Bay sits at the eastern end of a large bay off the Nysdra Sea approximately thirty five in width (north to south) and thirty seven miles deep (from west to east). This bay is among the largest natural harbors in the world, forming a natural near half-circle shape with significantly calmer waters than the Nysdra. The Bay's depth within five miles of the city is no more than 100 feet deep. This Bay has long been admired as one of the most favorable trading ports in the world for maritime travel and has been used for mercantile and fishing purposes since antiquity. The city state itself extends approximately thirty miles inland, encompassing largely flat plains which, since the dawn of the 20th century, have been dotted with proto-suburban settlements.

History
Historical evidence suggests human activity began in Shenendehowa Bay immediately following the end of the last ice age; fishing implements and various refuse have been found in archaeological expeditions within city limits. While the precise date is unknown, the site was settled and abandoned by seasonal fishing and hunting groups until approximately 950 BC, when it was permanently settled by ancestors of modern Venua'tinoi and has remained settled since. It is most likely the first example of organized civilization in Mandatory Venua'tino and is certainly the oldest continuously inhabited city within the region. The Bay's large natural harbor and access to the Unnuaq Strait made it not only the best trading and resting port in far northern Crona, it additionally gave the city's residents the edge in whalefishing. The city's immense wealth relative to nearly all of Crona in the period of antiquity has lead to the development of a minority position among historians that, like Adonerum, Shenendehowa Bay was responsible for placing city-colonies throughout much of Inner Crona. This position, first formulated in the 1980s, proposes that the city was the "wellspring of most or all" civilization in northern Crona, including the ancestors of all of the tribes of the Northern Confederation. The Shenendehowa Genesis Hypothesis is heavily debated and has not received support from a consensus of scholars, though acceptance in the theory has grown with new scholarship resulting from The Deluge.

Government
Shenendehowa Bay is governed by a special joint structure between Quicksilver Industries and the Caphirian Ministry of Commerce and Trade, formally known as the Executive Board of Special Governance of Shenendehowa Bay and more commonly as the Executive Board. This joint structure allows Quicksilver to have access to the political machinations of the Caphirian government while still retaining direct control and influence. The Executive Board consists of 50 "managing directors" who have the power to administer in various functions and roles. In addition to the managing directors, there are several dozen non-managing members who serve as minor magistrates.

The Executive Board is nominally led by QSI's Chief Executive Alexandus Venio II but the Chairman of the Executive Board, Caran Cacello, is the de facto operational leader of the Executive Board. Cacello is also the League of Nations Chair of the Commission for Shenendehowa Bay and therefore wields significant influence over Shenendehowa Bay in an administrative and political role.