> Depending on a local warlord to protect your independent privately owned city-state (in exchange for a healthy cut out of your profits, of course) doesn't sou

> Depending on a local warlord to protect your independent privately owned city-state (in exchange for a healthy cut out of your profits, of course) doesn't sound like something that is likely to work long term. Well, you're going to need _something_ like that (I suppose there's also the Be Your Own Warlord option, but that's presumably even more expensive). Provided the warlord is getting paid, they seem less likely to ask questions of dodgy fake cities than an actual government is (for instance see Honduras, where the current government is trying to get rid of the weird libertarian fake-city authorised by the previous government).