Few know the true history of Celik, those who have heard of it at all usually consider it a ruin of a forgotten age. If it were not for House Maraneth the once vibrant city may have been completely enveloped by the Silt Sea. After the destruction of Kalidnay over a thousand years ago the wealthy merchant house had no base of operations. In order to remedy this problem it set out with what resources it scavenged from the ravaged city-state and attempted to put roots down in other cities like Tyr, Altaruk, or Balic. However; the entrenched merchant lords of those cities did not allow the refugee house to take hold. Fighting the battles in the cities hurt the struggling house even more and they had few caravans and even fewer prospects.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://www.athas.org/articles/celik-and-the-southern-estuary