Willowbrook was not founded; it simply congealed. In the chaotic century following the collapse of the oppressive House of Silk, the ruins and marshlands of Chichingia became a refuge for those who had nowhere else to go: escaped slaves, political dissidents, disgraced artisans, and practitioners of forbidden arts. They were drawn together by a shared, burning hatred for any form of centralized authority, the very concept that had fueled the House of Silk's tyranny for centuries.

The settlement grew without a plan, a sprawling, organic mess of a town that swelled into a city on foundations of mutual necessity and stubborn independence. It was named Willowbrook, a gentle, almost mocking name for a place built on such harsh principles.

During the long Civil War and the subsequent chaos following the destruction of the Bukhara Spire Gateways, Willowbrook's population exploded. Its lack of laws and rulers made it a perfect haven for smugglers, refugees, and entrepreneurs who thrived in the absence of regulation and taxes.

Power did not crystallize in a council or a king but rather flowed through a complex, ever-shifting web of guilds, syndicates, neighborhood committees, and influential individuals. Their authority was based solely on reputation and the respect they could command within their spheres.

This fierce anarchic spirit is the city's lifeblood. However, as the population has swelled to an almost unsustainable size, it has also become its greatest vulnerability. Willowbrook stands as a powder keg of competing interests and ideologies, awaiting a spark, perpetually thriving on the precipice of chaos.