How far do the city states have influence?

[Averis]

I'm trying to find the best place to put my imaginary village for my character. I'm wondering how far does each main city extend its territory? IE, If I said that my character was from a small village somewhere between Coerthas and the Black Shroud, would she be a citizen of Ishgard, Gridania or neither? I'm wondering, I guess, how common or not is it for a village to be part of a city state?

[Zizirimu Yayarimu]

Good question. I'd say the city itself is the only place one can be a "citizen" but the cultural influence expands outward. If you are on the boarder of regions it may be a mix of both cultures! I had the same question when putting my character's people out in the Sagolii. Luckily it's a desert with no overwhelming cultural influences as far as I know (safe for the native ones) so I'm good.

[FreelanceWizard]

At a minimum, I'd say that anywhere that has guards or other representatives of the city-state would nominally be considered a territory of that state. Camp Drybone, for example, has Immortal Flames there, so I'm fairly confident Ul'dah would consider it part of their territory.

 

That said, the city-states have probably pulled back some their forces due to the Calamity, and they probably didn't have significant forces in their frontiers in the first place. So, while a government official might say you were Gridanian if you were born anywhere in the Black Shroud, your character might not consider themselves such. Additionally, that far away from the center of culture, you're probably likely to be more traditional for your culture and less cosmopolitan, at least initially.