Uthan originally started out as a minor outpost for the Alammar Empire in the Efil Pass (that gap in between the mountains). However, it began to quickly grow due to it's position being in the only pass that connected the North and South. It quickly became it's own province due to the pure amount of trade that happened there. Just 50 years after it's founding, Uthan quickly became an important fortification and the undisputed trade capital of the Alammar Empire. It was debated whether or not to move the capital to Uthan, but it was eventually decided to leave the capital where it was, in the now destroyed city of Ipuon.
During the Splintering, Uthan remained neutral, selling weapons and loaning mercenaries to both sides. Eventually, when the Alammar Empire finally collapsed, Uthan found itself fighting for it's independence. Almost all the surrounding nations were intent on annexing this valuable city-state and taking it's profits for themselves. Since Uthan was still weak, with it's only form of military being some very disloyal mercenaries who would likely flee upon any sign of defeat, they surrendered, and paid multiple forms of tribute to the asking nations. They then began the hard work of sitting back and watching as the city grows, and the profit flows in. Uthan once again became the trade capital of the world. Eventually little things called guilds started to form, little corporations that took control of one aspect of trade or another. Some would explicitly work together to form monopolies that controlled all aspects of that form of trade. With the guilds, came the Blood Mages. They were a cult of sorts that believed Yzerthgim the supreme lord of all things that walked under the sun, and more than that still. They would slowly assume control of most forms of government in Uthan, though their part to play wouldn't come until later.
During this little renaissance era of Uthan, there was a small little teensy little problem called the Age of Frost. They came from the now frozen north, tearing through armies and conquering nations. Naturally, this affected trade, and as such, Uthan petitioned the Order to form the Conclave of Nations. When CoN was formed, Uthan supplied the members with money, food, and supplies to fight. The Armies of Dread came right down to Uthan's border before the Champion of Flame was anointed, and the hordes turned back. After the defeat of the Armies of Dread at Death's Door, Uthan resumed business as usual, raking in profits and doing literally nothing. The city grew so large that it spawned it's own subcity, Teckitan.
Here's where the Blood Mages come into play. The Blood Mages were ruled by a 'temporary' council that serves as a steward for the Hand of Yzerthgim, and the General Enforcer. For each Blood Mage, there were two Enforcers that protected them. The Blood Mages grew exponentially, raiding the slums for people to sacrifice in the name of Yzerthgim, and recruiting the desperate to their ranks. At this point, they had basically taken over both the guild and the government of Uthan, and they wanted more, much more. They had devised a plot, a plot to install a deadly poison into the water supplies of the entire world, so that the armies of the world would be weakened exponentially, if not destroyed completely, so that Uthan could invade and take over the main continent. They got into a tiny shadow war with the Cult of Zelial over this, but managed to lay the groundworks to plant poison in the entire world's water supply (except Moneeri bc of the Cult of Zelial business) when the time came. Around this time, there was a pair of extremely gay friends. To make a long, LONG story short, (cough book material cough) they ended up becoming the Champion of the Order and the General Enforcer respectively.
The plot to poison the world was eventually found out and foiled by the Champion of the Order, and in outrage, the Conclave of Nations was formed once again to declare war on Uthan, starting the Blood War. Uthan, however tiny it may be, was powerful, and extremely (citation needed) rich, and the Blood Mages provided most of the might. Nearly 20,000 mercenaries were hired to fight the war for Uthan, and the total cost for this was just a drop in the gigantic reservoir that was the Uthani wealth. The first front was the Ravenna front, where Uthan managed to conquer the Ravenna capital, multiple cities, and some of the country side before the CoN forces arrived and pushed them back. The Blood War consisted of many long and bloody battles, wittling down the Uthani forces.
Eventually, the CoN forces pushed through the Uthani defences from the south, and razed Uthan to the ground. The forces holding out in Ravenna lost their will to fight and surrendered. Eventually, when the last Uthani holdouts were destroyed, the question of what to do with this extremely valuable land came to question. It was a heated question, one that caused much debate, until the Order eventually gave it to the Sub-city of Teckitan. However, the previously thought destroyed Blood Mages moved into Teckitan and went back to business as usual. Basically, nothing changed, except that Uthan was sent back 50 years or so. The guild came back in force, combining a trade federation known simply as the Guild (it's different because it's capitalized). To become a credible trader, you had to petition the Guild for a license, and if you did get that license, you had to donate 5% of your earnings to the guild. The leader of the guild was the Merchant, the richest man in the world. If you didn't get a Guild license, than bandits would almost always manage to get you, and if that failed, you would "mysteriously" disappear. The council and the General Enforcer still await the Hand of Yzerthgim, to bring about the age of blood and flesh, and to conquer the world.