The Treaty

After years of clashes between the kingdom of Yangdi and the orcish homeland of Ul Votar-Kuu, especially the Century of 72 Wars, the neighbouring nations finally stepped in. The war was centered around a strip of land a hundred miles wide and a thousand miles across, which both sides believed rightfully belonged to them. Neighbouring nations forced the two sides to the bargaining table, but neither was willing to tolerate the other side settling their land. The final agreement was for neither side to be permitted to settle the land.

Now, the no-man's land between the two nations is known as the Treaty. It is largely uninhabited, save for a smattering of isolated homes and two cities. The tricky part about having a city in the Treaty is that it's absolutely forbidden to build on the land (or station a military there), but the locals have found a workaround: technically one can dwell there in non-permanent dwellings indefinitely.
Thus, two small trade towns, made entirely of tents, gazebos, pavilions and covered fields, grew in the Treaty. There are no real laws or government in the Treaty, and most outsiders expected those towns to sputter out. Instead, they've grown into massive sprawls where outsiders come to indulge in illegal and immoral vices, or hide from outside law. The inhabitants are under constant threat of one nation or another stomping them out, but as long as they remain unobtrusive, neither nation is willing to step in and risk anger from the other.