Hello, Octopod. I'm the "people" for all of Qashya Mal. Just PM me for whatever your needs are. I preconceived the idea of rich spice empires to the south and east, well beyond Region 1 of the larger continental mass. Both the Silk Road and Spice Route give purpose to the vast Steppe that dominates the north central regions. Section 10, and both blocks east and west of it comprise the Khanate of Qashya Mal.
Calishem may be the largest city in the world, at least the largest in Region 1, with a population over 96,000 people. It is the western terminus of both the Spice Route and the Silk Road.
One thing to consider is neither the Silk Road, nor the Spice Route is actually a single road, rather within a 50 to 100 mile north-south swathe crossing the entire steppe from origins beyond Region 1, this is the general path traveled for the their respective commodities trading.
Like the Hochimen Trail wasn't a single trail through the jungle, rather hundreds of roads and pathways that ran parallel down Cambodia bringing supplies from China/North Viet Nam to South Viet Nam during the Viet Nam War. This is the same as what the Spice Route really is.
However certain isolated towns are found along the Spice Route have become resupply stations, thus many of the paths converge at these locations.
I would think that few if any paths do not end at Calishem. Thus regions like yours, Octopod, trade with merchants in Calishem, not off the Spice Route directly.
Within the confines of the Steppe, both the Silk Road and the Spice Route are jealously controlled by the cavalry horde of the Topaz Khan, forcing all western bound trade traffic to his western capital at Calishem.
I've placed a Slavic race of humans in the mountains and vales in the northern portions of Qashya Mal, no doubt their cultural range extends into your block. Also, no big deal, the Slavs here have named the mountain range that border our two squares as the Vahlvoska Mountains. There are many instances where major geographic locations have been given different names by different nearby cultures. Eventually one culture dominates and its name sticks...
GP