The Free City of Northpoint
Northpoint is home to just over 8,000 people and is the largest city north of Syreedik. It stands on the foundations of an ancient elven fortress, captured at the end of the Third Age, and boasts a history rich in heroism, trade, war and disease. Seated at the mouth of the Runmal River, the city occupies a mercantile strategic point as the center of trade to much of northern Aldrinar. It is also one of the three ice-free harbors in the north, with extensive drydock and repair facilities.

The map at left is about 1" = 1000 yards and the city is 8000 yards (4.5 miles) across. The bands making up the Celtic knot are about 200 yards across, and flow over and under one another (as seen on the map). When streets cross they have at least 50 yards clearance, so there can be some rather sharp changes in the rise and fall of a street as you walk along (the places where a street goes over another, then immediately under another one). The grey shading is used to highlight the design, not to indicate anything special.

The elvish buildings between the streets rise five stories above the streets, though the streets are rarely this wide as construction has narrowed them to 50 yards and less, especially in the Wetlands.

The city is also not flat - the center spikes up. The slope is nearly flat from the walls to about halfway to the center, rising with a slowly increasing slope to perhaps 1200 yards high in the center. The city walls average 60' tall and 40' thick, constructed of immense blocks of granite and basalt - it varies between the origional elvish construction and more recient repairs. The five gates are origional, however - they have never been taken by force.

In general, the height of the origional buildings, the size of the city and the amount of time that construction has gone on combine to create a hideously complex rats nest of a city that has few major avenues, no straight lines and no road signs. People make a living as guides.

History
Northpoint was origionally constructed as an elven city, and the Drow rebuilt it into a fortress. Thousands of years ago at the beginning of the Fourth Age it was captured after a long seige by a combined ork-skaven army and renamed Northpoint. Over the ages it has changed hands multiple times - by treaty and by treachery - but rarely by force of arms. The defenses have risen and fallen over the years as various races have inhabited the city, with the greatest defenses added when the dwarves held the city. Humans have been on the rise in northern Aldrinar since their arrival, and have held the city for nearly 600 years in a passive takeover from the skaven.

Northpoint claims lands west of the city to the headwaters of the Billarmo River, and north to the foothills of the Whitecap Mountains. This is primarily farmed by large estates, with the northern regions reserved for hunting lodges. This is perhaps less deliberate and more because the land is untamed. Farms to the south are regularly threatened by raiders from Mopoti-Jeno and are either heavily fortified or desperate.

Population
The farms within 15 miles (about a half day's ride) contribute about 5,000 peasant families (farmer, wife, 3 dependents) or about 27,000 people. Including the city gives a total population of about 35,000. This may be broken down as follows:

The city is largely (60%) human, with significant ork and skaven populations and a smattering of draconics and other races. There are no social interaction bonuses or penalties for any race, and no (current) significant racial conflicts. While the most recient war in the area was between the orks and the skaven and there is still bad blood between a few ork tribes and skaven clans, most people live in peace.

The region is under nearly constant threat of raids by ork warbands from Ulmar and human bandits from Mopoti-Jeno, and the raids between Amesbury and Whiteland sometimes spill into the Northpoint farmlands.

Parts of the City
Wetlands:: The northern third of the city is known as the Wetlands because of the proximity to the river, not from any flooding problem. It houses the lower class population, migratory workers and transients. Crime is a problem, the streets are unsafe to the foolish and the law is highly regional (gangs or citizen's watch - this is not to say the city guard fears to venture here, but it has less reason to do so).

Marketside: The door towards the sea is dominated by merchant homes, nobles and the city government buildings. The less-wealthy and government functionary houses are closer to the stockyards, the richer ones more northerly near the river.

While there are marketplaces scattered throughout the city (mostly near the gates), when people talk of "The" market they mean The Bricktop. This is an immense clearing house in which one can buy or sell nearly anything, as long as one has gold and a registration. Registrations are prized commodities in and of themselves, as they indicate the ability to join the high-level commerce of the city.

Southside: The administrative buildings shield the middle-class section of the city from the smell of the stockyards, but not by much. This section of town is host to inns, taverns, small businesses and other shops of the working-man's life. It is where diplomats, adventurers and seasonal merchants stay, with the cost of summer rooms inversely proportional to the smell. Mercenaries are found here, and (with brief, violent exceptions) crime is low. Southside stretches from South Gate to West Gate, though it doesn't stray very far from the city wall.

This is also where the central military barracks are located. While there are guardhouses and barracks throughout the city, this is where the army sets up for the winter. Most of the soldiers live outside of the city during the rest of the year, defending the land against raiders and working on civil projects (roads, bridges, frontier forts, etc).

Tintown: Just inside the Dockside Gate is where the craftsmen live. Smiths, alchemists, jewelers, printers and more make their homes and businesses here, though the leatherworkers are more to the north. There are multiple guild enclaves here - fortified sections that are populated and policed by a single guild. The blacksmiths guild is second only to the woodcarvers guild, as both are vital to the shipbuilding industry.

Mystic Heights: Both the highest point and the geographic center of the city, this is where the magicians of the city gather. While independent midwives, hedge-wizards and truthsayers may be found living and working throughout the city, the recognized guild halls are located here. The Wizard's Guild especially makes a point of enforcing the law against non-guild mages casting spells within the city limits. This area is also known as "Spook Central".

While it may seem odd that the rich and powerful choose to not live in the center of the city, keep in mind that the distance from the city wall to the center is over two miles, uphill all the way through twisting streets. While the nobility most certainly maintain mansions on the Heights, it is a place of sloth and decadence - somewhere to put the old men, young idiots, uppity women and other people you just want out of the way of everyday business.

Dockside: The shipyards are west of the city, close to Tintown, along with a host of lumber, woodworking and woodcarving businesses. In addition there is a host of shrines, temples and holy places scattered along the river, dedicated to the deities of the waters. Some merchants make a point of having a worshipper from each temple among their crew, others make rules against deviation from a single deity.

West Farms: West and southwest of the city are large, concentrated farms that supply the city with nearly a fifth of its food. The remainder comes from across the river to the north, brought in by barge through Merchant's Gate in the early hours of the morning. The West Farms technically allow slavery, but with the temptation of the city so close it is a desperate or confident landholder that has slaves work the fields.

The Undercity
What Northpoint is build on is mostly older Northpoint, which in turn is build on the remains of the elvish fortress, built over a graceful, sprawling elvish city. There are layers upon layers of basements, storerooms, hidden fortifications, secret rooms, lost passageways and miles upon miles of rooms and hallways that are no longer used due to the lack of reliable artificial lighting. While the upper levels have been well explored over the millennia, they have also been discovered, used, walled off and forgotten over and over again. Dungeon-diving is a popular activity for the young and adventerous, the drunk and foolhardy, the desperate and the lovers (though these folks never go very far).

The undercity is also a place of danger - those who prey on the explorers, secret societies and bands of thieves make their homes here. Also, there are rumors that the elves left traps for the unwary and overly greedy. This is substantiated by a rare discovery of ancient gold and strange magic, though more often by the line "Only one guy returned, half mad and babbling about demons..."

Basements: The first few floors under street level are usually basements, storage rooms and sewage tunnels. There are plentiful access points, light wells, stairs, ladders and (usually) directions on how to get out.

Vaults: Below the basements are a series of huge tunnels criss-crossing the city, often more than 60 feet in diameter and never less than 40. They are as convoluted as the streets and while a few major routes have been established (e.g. from the Dockside Gate to the Merchant's Door), the vast majority are unmapped and unexplored within living memory. Monsters sometimes emerge from the vaults, such as trolls, indicating at least three significant ecologies hidden within the depths. A few light wells carry daylight and fresh air down to these regions.

Catacombs: Lower still, the passageways once again become small. This is where people tend to disappear, vanishing into the inky darkness without a trace. It is known that walls and doors change mysteriously, with no rhyme or reason.

Languages
Given the merchant traffic, most languages of the world can be found with enough searching. The primary language of the city and all official documents are English, with Queekish and Olog-hai being very prominent. Tradespeak is an unofficial second language, and though it does not have a standard written system of its own the Arabic numeral system is pervasive throughout the city. Other languages with a sizable population are Arabic, Cantonese, Easterling, French, Harghazhakh, Japanese, Khazalid, Morbeth, Orrakh, Ssissyl'k and Swahili.

Religions
As with languages, there is a vast diversity across the city. The human population is mostly derived from Christianity, divided into Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians with both worshipping Adi. Gentamo & Kratch are popular skaven deities, Kislova & Ravnost are prominent among the orks, Moradin & Mumman Duathal for the dwarves, and Asrelia is preeminent among the draconics. In addition, almost every deity relating to trade, merchants and the ocean has a strong following: Abar is priminent, as are Bithkari and Athak'baril. Others include Krik’thil, Seimari, Argan, Palquenta, Frimaril and Wenesrok, even one to Poseidon (there is a small Greek sect in Northpoint).

Government
Northpoint is a syndocracy - rule by the leading merchant houses. There are four major, almost a dozen minor and scores of lesser merchant families with a permanent base in the city, along with hundreds more renting dock space and warehouses year-by-year. The City Council has 15 seats with a rotating Chair, though the method of rotation is obscure and often involves bribery, threats and assassination.

220 years ago a military coup took over from the previous monarchy, slaughtering the corrupt Dilgin nobility. Rumors of a secret heir persisted for decades, finally ending when the military publicly executed a series of young men and their families. Over the next hundred years the ruling generals passed the titles to their sons and the responsibility for running the city to the merchants. After one partifularly impulsive and inept general got himself slaughtered along with a large percentage of the more militant commanders, the merchants stepped in to 'temporarily' stabilize the civil unrest. It's been almost 100 years since then.

Money
Northpoint mints its own money, and it is against the law for shops to accept foreign coins. The moneychangers accept all kinds of foreign currency, at a 2% fee.

Prices equate to what they do today with the following guidelines:

Food is cheap: divide modern-day prices by three or so for the basics (beans, grains, rice), meat is a more expensive (moreso in the spring), and sweets are very expensive (there is no refined sugar - honey is the primary sweetner, though the elves introduced beekeeping).

Labor is dirt cheap: divide prices by four (skilled labor would be two silver per 10-hour day, ditchdiggers would be 2 brass per day (a silver for a 6-day week)). The employer is expected to provide food, plus lodging on any remote worksite (more than 5-6 miles from home).

Beyond basic clothes, tools & equipment are normal price (a shovel would cost a few silver). Skilled workers are expected to come with their own tools (though for large jobs you should have a smith on hand to repair them), but general laborers come with nothing but their own hands (plus a knife and a hand axe).

Crafted items (telescopes, embroidery, rope, weapons & armor, glass, etc) cost at least double, up to times ten - when you can find them. Precision machine work and engineering is available from the clockmakers guild, but it's costly.

Annual taxes are moderate for most freemen - a few gold a year and most of that is in harvest, livestock or labor. Nobles & knights give military service as part of their taxes, and send food, materials, laborers and a little cash for the rest. Most of the city's income derives from taxes on trade goods, with docking fees, shipbuilding & repair work a close second.

Much of the city's locals use barter for low-level exchanges, as there is relatively little hard currency in circulation among the non-royalty and non-merchant classes. Travelers and tourists bring in much of the coin to the lower classes, which is one of the reason Northpoint has a reputation for being tourist-friendly. Most treasure will be in the form of valuable items - rugs, spices, carvede furniture, glassware, etc.

Sanitation
While the elves constructed huge storm drains and sewage pipes, the millennia of use, neglect and unsupervised construction have reduced them to the random hole that never seems to fill up. As with other medievel-level cities the streets are full of chamber-pot leavings, horse droppings and other refuse. The heavy fall and spring rains regularly clean the city, but in between the place reeks - perfume and pepper are expensive because they mask the smell.

There are, of course, exceptions - Tintown in particular has regular sewage collections (selling the acids to the leatherworkers and the solids to the farms), and the Mystic Heights are unnaturally clean. The Wetlands, however, is a cesspool.

Disease is a major form of population control, and child mortality is around 25% before the age of ten. Minor plagues flare up yearly, killing from a few dozen to a few hundred before fading out. Major outbreaks that kill more than a thousand are rare, for multiple reasons. One is the elven teaching of germ theory - though it is now thought of a "tiny demons excised by the purity of hot water". Others are magic healing and the sheer size of the city. The immense overcrowding so prevalent in medieval cities isn't possible in Northpoint - the food supply cannot support a population large enough to fill the city. It is known and possible to isolate the sick, hindering the spread of disease.

GM Notes
I'm going to summarize the following information. Let me know if you have specific questions about anything.

  • The general technological level is typical fantasy pre-industrial early steel age. The elves introduced a number of more modern concepts, such as crop rotation and the jib sail, but the vast majority of the population (95%) working in food production (i.e. farmers, herders or fishermen).
  • Magic exists, but is neither earth-shakingly powerful nor common. Most mages are primarily concerned with disease control, midwifery, farming aids and legal issues (truthsaying). Because of their importance, magic-users are socially well-off and respected.
  • The primary foods in the kingdom are wheat, barley, potatoes and oats, with rice being imported from the Middle Kingdoms and corn from Amesbury. Fishing is extensive in the spring (salmon) and summer (tuna, mackerel, sardine), but sailing becomes dangerous as the winter storms set in and awaken the sea monsters. By October few people sail out of sight of land. Hunting supplements the upper-class diet, and human cattle, pigs and chickens are common.
  • Iron is available from mines in both the Whitecap Mountains and the Kamanjeio hills, but in a pre-water pump mining era, it is expensive and most of it goes to military applications.
  • Heavy cavalry on horses makes up the core of most field armies, traditionally drawn from the ruling class. Humans on bolshi make up medium cavalry and scouts.
  • The most common infantry weapon is the spear in formation, with a hand axe for close combat. Steel greatswords are a mark of the elite heavy infantry. Plate armor and layered-steel weapons exist, but must be custom-made by one of only a few master craftsmen. Boiled and studded leather are common, with chain available to the wealthy. City guardsmen normally wear reinforced leather (DEF 3), with brigandine and scale available if they're expecting trouble. Anyone wearing more than light leather (DEF 2) is detained at the gates.
  • Gunpowder does not exist. The closest equivalent is flash poweder used by magicians and ninja.