Difference between revisions of "Capitoleum"

Latest revision as of 12:20, 31 May 2021

The Seal of Capitoleum.

Some of this includes notes in their purest form. Ignore things you can't understand. :)

Capitoleum is like its name suggests the capitol of much of the Realms. It is under the control of the Governors, the five most powerful noble Houses. The city is very well sheltered from weather and sea-faring invasions by the ridges. This natural barrier of rock hills protect a large part of the city's coastal-facing sides and additional fortifications have been built on top of it.

About

Capitoleum is not the official capitol, but was simply the centrum of an empire that broke into pieces about 2-400 years ago. Instead it is the de facto centre for trading and much production and the city has a population at least 10 times larger than the second largest city in the Midrealms. All other major factions of the area have some sort of interest in Capitoleum.

A majority of the caves are not in use and blocked off, usually by implemented doors. Parts of the caves have been excavated (with great effort) to recycle some of the human waste for fertilization. Most of the used (and some unused, blocked) parts of the caves also have support beams (though not actually needed) where the structural integrity seemed weak.

The cave system, and indeed most of the area under capitoleum, is bedrock with sedimentary layers in between (as well as a substantial amount of fresh water). This has helped enormously in defense structures and to give the population fresh water.

The Wildrun river is so called because it's quite wild indeed. When the New City was built, the river was re-directed partly into the cavern system and partly into the central moat. During development, the moat was re-built into a canal system and different generations of locks and defensive structures.

The internal canal system was originally intended to just alleviate the water pressure in the cavern system when the sewage delivery was improved, but was quickly taken in use by the citizens and was later instead reinforced as proper canals.

The lock by the harbour entrance is the most recent part of the canals. Predating it was a set of flash locks spread through the canals.

Because the ground is so high close to the coast, the lock is very deep. Filling it is a pretty quick ordeal, however, since the amount of water from the canal system is so significant. In fact, when the lock is not filling, it's redirected into a short tunnel that pours it into Capital Bay directly.

Seal of Capitoleum

The Seal of Capitoleum is a simple but recognisable sign that has been used since the founding of the inner city by Harald the Builder. Capitoleum is ruled by the Governors, but the city itself retains the sigil, especially since the houses have changed during the centuries.

Leadership

The governing body over Capitoleum is the Governor Houses who in essence holds the biggest economic/military power of all of the Realms. The Houses that support the governors are the Governor Supporters. There is a silent conflict of both arms and politics waged between these houses and the Opposition Houses with their supporters.

Inside Capitoleum, the city is operated through the Capitoleum Services (or "The Services") which is a small administrative council lead by the Secretary of Services including other officials with the "Secretary" title for different areas of operation within the city. The Services take general orders from the Governor council and ensures they are realised, including budgets, rent owed/paid, fees and taxes.

The Governors would on a practical level be able to squeeze Capitoleum dry from its rich economy but one of the "heritages" from the great Capitoleum Wars is an exceedingly clear idea of what happens when this cash cow isn't properly maintained. One way to "take over the world" is by economical force and Capitoleum coupled with the Coins is an excellent tool for that. In some ways it's all a house of cards.

Facts

A map of the trade influence excerted by Capitoleum upon the rest of the Realms. This spread and trade importance is made possible mainly because of the Coins.

Ruling house(s): Menthell, Haldean, Artipellin, Wyny & Edmyr (the Governors)
Population: 221763
Militia: The Stripes (2147)

Food comes from a zone donated by four of the Governors aroud the city called the Resplendent Fields, which are irrigated and also use spells to increase the yield, supporting about 80% of the city's need for food.

3885 clergymen and 292 priests.
322 advocates to assist with legal matters
The city has 1330 noble houses

History

Note!: Dates are under heavy revision! Don't trust them!

For the history of Capitoleum, which intertwines significantly with the history of the rest of the Realms, see History.

There has been people living on the spot of capitoleum for a long time. Before the great city was founded, the two latest settlements were Calond to the west and Penvald to the East. These two towns are largely intact in the remaining (and enhanced) fortifications with the same names.

A majority of the infrastructure and defensive designs were created by Helfram Housetames Uldin who conquered, by force or diplomacy, all the then current noble houses between the years 1382 and 1429, about 300-250 years ago. This originally only included the moat, beginnings of the sewage system, the original canals (with flash-locks) and a large number of independent fortifications.

Helfram managed to appease both the Church of Rahn as well as the Sickle in exchange for support. The lands enjoyed peace and prosperity for all of his reign and that of his son Harald.

Harald "The Builder" Uldin continued the work of his father and started building road structures for a truly enormous city. He also set up a governing council under more official capacities and a court for the noble houses both for politics and enjoyment.

His reign saw a big influx in a population not torn by many conflicts and also immigration from every corner of the world, mainly to Capitoleum.

The already existing and much respected Family Register, with a long history of gathering information about courtly busineesses was given further powers as it became the de facto organisation to solve hereditry and court attendance.

In a similar fashion, the near unknown budding Haldean family with the, to that date, largest library and academic interest were given the mandate to design and run the Capitoleum University.

Harald's reign lasted from 1429 to 1442, when he died of old age and his only son Lidgast was crowned King of the Midrealm Kingdom.

Lidgast "the Breaker" Uldin became the last member of the Uldin family. He spent no time keeping up his anscestors' work and spent more money than the total wealth of the Uldin family.

Though most of the business continued working, by 1453, the Uldin family was in debt by almost all banks and houses that lent money.

By 1455, a drought that even the Sickle could not affect created hunger in the city. Lidgast had by then sold even a lot of the food reserves to pay for his extravagant lifestyle and a peasant/citizen revolt stated.

The current Governor houses quickly acted and siezed Lidgast and his family, including cousins and a tribunal was held.

Pressured by the common people (and probably all to happy to do it anyway) the Governors decided to hang Lidgast and family.

Afterwards, the Governors took over all control of the economical/food crisis with their own money. This weakened them, however, and a slow, outdrawn political and military civil war started.

City lighting

Capitoleum is sometimes refered to as the "city of light" because of its numerous streetlights. The city has had a long history of using streetlights around its main routes as it is a city that almost never stops, but these were originally lit with oil and had an army of men doing the lighting and extinguishing as well as refilling and servicing them. Following the great wars there was a great fire and the Sickle donated several Sparklight Lamp Posts that use a very small amount of mystical energy to light the lamp instead.

Areas of Capitoleum

Areas of the city

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Diagram of the sewage tunnel systems. Internal tunnels either use the fall height to reach the main tunnels or use the central water cisterns in higher tunnels to push the waste out that is not recycled. The cisterns are pumped full by water mills.

Most cities have distinct boroughs, districts or general areas that are named as part of a greater whole. In Capitoleum, there are both generalised areas as well as districts within these. The main features of the city are the forts, gates, areas in between and the prawl villages that have started to grow on the outside of the massive outer wall. So, without going in to too much detail, these are the Capitoleum areas.

Water Gate

Newtown

Newtown (1. on the map) was as the name implies a newly designed city that was placed on the slight hill in between two old fortresses that were placed on what is now Capitoleum. The streets were drawn to be easy to navigate, leaving almost ridiculous amount of room. A massive fortres was planted and a wall was erected around the city. They had expected it to grow, but the rate took everyone by surprise and the decision was later made to make the massive ring wall now encompassing the city.

It was only in relatively modern times all the plots of land inside the main walls were sold.

Newtown's population is almost exclusively either high to medium nobility and the very rich. It is littered with mansions and greenery along the roads and a very pleasent part of town to visit. People of all social classes are welcome, but people in rags will be checked for weapons and some turned away.

The dominant feature of Newtown is the Great Keep and the Grand Square in front of it, inside a set of large moats that also surround the castle itself. This area can hold thousands of people and is used for celebrations, coronations, royal weddings and the like. As such, any market activities on the square that normally are present are cleared when more important events are afoot. It is quite expensive to rent areas for stands on the Grand Square anyway, so there are often only relatively expensive items on display, and only a small amount of stands. Some even sport private guards.

The castle is designed primarily as a defensive structure, but later additions have been made to make it more visually appealing. The massive tower building at its south entrance holds a balcony where proclamations as well as weddings take place. The inside of the castle is also the location of the Court of Houses and the Capitoleum Services council chambers.

The second largest campus in Newtown is the Capitoleum University to the west, which hosts buildings from the Haldean University, the Capitoleum Library and some other formal types of study. The universities cooperate in certain endeavours with the Sickle, and a small chapter is located within the Newtown city walls, in the Small Octagon between the university campus and the Grand Square.

Not to be outdone by learning or magic, the Grand Cathedral erected by the Church of Rahn is the tallest building in Capitoleum, located near the Old Fort. The fort itself was the original build that was finished at the end of the Warlock Wars and now houses the headquarters of the Stripes.

The Capitoleum Canals also go through Newtown (though Newtowns moat has sort of become a small canal system of its own). These were originally used during the construction of the town and walls and is still used for sending goods directly down to the Capital Bay from Greater Northbrook.

In addition to the beautiful architecture and structures, Newtown also includes the two most massive grain silos known to man, located on the southern end of the internal canals if part of its content needs shifting.

The Fountain is one of the sights of Newtown and continously burst water through it's peacock-shaped golden bird statues as well as not quite visibly from underneath the surface. The pressure is built from a water mill in the Capitoleum Catacombs and used to push water up from the subterranean rivers up into the canals. The canal water is thus basically drinkable (though not reccomended). The water from the inner canals is released into the Capital Bay through the shipyard lock as well as into the outer canals through locks. Getting up to the inner canals either from the Wildrun River directly or from shipyard that's connected to the outer canals requires going through locks. These locks are relatively recently added and the original design only saw the inner canals as amaintained circuit with two flash locks into the harbour, severly limiting its practical use. This design was primarily made for its beauty and luxury rather than functionality whereas the newer one incorporates both and goods can arrive to many Gentry households within Newtown, as well as the Grand Keep, directly from the Capital Bay.

Caldon

Caldon (2. on the map), the Western fort, has stood on its present location for hundreds of years, and several of those before Newtown was even considered. The name originates from an old noble family surname, who ruled the lands from this fortified town. During the Barbarian Wars, Caldon was restored and reinforced as was its twin Penvald and used as part of the centre of fortifications in this part of the Realms. It was later simply outgrown by Capitoleum and swallowed whole.

Though no original inhabitants' descendants still live in Caldon, the people who started living there during the Barbarian Wars do have descendants still living there, and they have a particular set of opinions about themselves, such as having been here a lot longer than everyone else. Which is true, in a sense.

Caldon now primarily serves as the western inner fortifications for the city in case of an attack as well as one of the headquarters for the Stripes It has underground dry storage for a large population to survive during a shorter siege but the main western cisterns are located nearby and war plans include bringing all or most of the contents of these into Caldon to feed the population for longer.

In addition, Caldon has both fresh water from the underground river as well as a smaller deep well in case of prolonged soiling of the river.

The Caldon Market is the westernmost market in Capitoleum and close to both West Gate and Fargate, making it an attractive place to do business, especially if the caravan is moving on after a single visit. Additional fees and tolls to trade in Caldon does discourage some, however.

Penvald

Penvald (3. on the map), the Eastern fort, shares much of its history with Caldon, even before the great wars. Penvald was another noble family which is now long gone, and it was at constant conflict with Caldon. The two neighbour towns frequently had minor skirmishes and schemes to undo the other but they fought side by side at the end to defend their very existence to the last man.

Penvald town is slightly larger than Caldon, and suffers a little bit from the same citizens, feeling they are a bit special for having lived here a couple of hundred years longer than most. Several noble families have elected to have their Capitoleum manors within either of the towns' walls.

The fortified town serves a similar role to that of Caldon and another large compound for the Stripes is located here.

The Penvald Market is the largest eastern market of Capitoleum. It connects almost directly to East Gate and has good connections further in to the city

Westfield

The name of Westfield (4. on the map) was originally just a nickname of the field west of the main encampment of what was to become Newtown. The original name of the fields that were located where now an endless cityscape is sprawling has been lost to history together with the Caldon family records. Though it is no longer a field, the citizens of Capitoleum uses phrases like "from the Field" to denote someone living here.

Besides including the Caldon town within itself, the other main feature of Westfield is the Octagon, the formidable fortification of the mage guild, the Sickle. It's not just the fort but the whole compound is the size of a decently sized town together with a ring wall, workshops and living quarters for civilians. Much of Westfield was built by Sickle money, at least infrastructure, as they wanted a firm grip on the new city.

Another feature of Westfield is the Westfield Park, the second largest park in Capitoleum, located on the border between the Wreath and Westfield on the West Road. The West Gate Park is located a couple of blocks from the West Gate itself and is located where part of the herbal garden of the Caldon is supposed to have been planted, outside its city walls. There is also the noteworthy Great Westfield Market right on the road down south from the Vengate. There has been trading going on in this location since well before the outer walls were completed.

In addition, Westfield includes the largest part of the Capitoleum harbour, both by distance and piers. To a great extent, however, the harbour is often seen as its own area and certainly the harbour districts have little in common with much else of the city in man ways. In either way, much of it has a great view of the Capital Bay.

The area northwest of Westfield is also called Deep Westfield (or "Deepfield") and is full of less affluent inhabitants.

Wreath

The Wreath (5. on the map) is considered by some to no be a real part of Capitoleum, that it is really part of Westfield and Bridge. It started as scruffy camps on the outside on the walls of Newtown, but as the population grew, so did the demand for property close to the main city and much of the shanty town houses were demolished in favour of larger living houses or houses for crafters and shops. The odd noble house also positioned themselves there as it was easier to navigate and trade outside the main walls. Today it is the second most expensive area to live in, after having somewhere to live inside the walls of Newtown.

Part of the charm of the Wreath is the way the moat has been adapted over time into an extended part of the canals. Properties near the moat has access to travel with ease around the walls of Newtown, though there are no locks on the moat, so the current isn't the easiest to navigate when going northwards. On the outer side of the Wreath is the Circle Road (which is actually not a circle or even a closed ring) and connected to some of the largest markets in Capitoleum, the Westfield Park and a stretch of harbour. The harbour district of the Wreath contains mainly finer deliveries.

The main point of interest is the Castle Harbour, however, which is connected both to the moat as well as the internal canals. Some ship building can take place here, though shipyards in Edmyr and Artipellin territories are more commonly used. Royal vessels are docked here and the harbour is also used constantly through the day for deliveries going north of Capitoleum or from the Northrealms.

The Wreath Market is located in West Wreath on the border with Westfield and is almost as large as the Great Westfield Market, dealing more in slightly more luxurious goods and some items directly from the harbour.

Bridge

On the east site of Newtown is the Bridge (6. on the map). It's not called that because of any particular bridge but that it originally just was the bridging part between the construction of Newtown and the ongoing repairs of Penvald. Many areas between the two hubs have fairly ordered road systems as it took a long time to populate all of the land and that left plenty of time to administer it, properly. As part of this plan, the Capitoleum Park was planned near the middle. Originally a copse of old trees, it was organised further and has not changed much in the past few hundred years.

The canal entrance and exit from Riverrun in to the city is generally considered to be part of the Bridge, since North Gate is located right by it and relates strongly to Northbrook.

Redfold

Called Redfold (7. on the map) because it is a part of the city located on Redhill, the eastern hill protecting Capitoleum which consists of a noticeably reddish stone. In many ways it mirrors Whitefold and though the two areas are quite a distance apart by land, they associate quite strongly with each other (but with a healthy level of competition between their fishermen).

Redfold is almost entirely a harbour area with few districts and the predominant source of trade and production involves fish and products relating to the sea. It also has a reputation for smuggling wares as well, since it is placed in a manner where it can easily send items out through East Gate. However, due to the decent checks for contraband, this is not as common as it once was, and there are plenty of natural harbours along the Edmyr coast. The Edmyrs, in turn, are sometimes happy to turn a blind eye if the right type of monetary lubrication is applied. Nevertheless, Stripes in this area are also known to be happy to grease their hands with the right type of motivaton around the Redfold Trading Post (sometimes known as the Redfold Market).

People have built houses as far up the hill as is feasible (with one or two collapses in the past) and towards the wall that delimits the harbour patrol. That area is known as the Red Forts and mirrors the White Forts on the west side of the mouth. Particular care has been made to seal up the distance between the rock island at the harbour mouth, leaving one entrance and one exit. These are both hundreds of meter wide, but some sailors still complain. The gap that is left is further protected by an enormous iron chain, preventing landing parties in the case of a conflict.

Not visible from the city itself, but sailors can, if they are new to the waters, end up in the waste water exhaust that runs under the city and through submerged cavenr exits on the outside of the hill. The city uses natural caverns to distribute fresh water and to flush out waste water. Not the most favourable position to end up in when sailing.

Whitefold

Whitefold (8. on the map) is in many ways similar to Redfold but the area is a little bit bigger and there is more trade going on in the Fishmarket. The market is located on the original fishing centre of the area, but only a portion of trade there is now directly related to fish. A lot of imports that are due West inland stops here, exchanges hand and continues by oxen, donkeys or horses and wheels. As such, there are more expensive establishments here, but on the whole very similar to Redfold, and the two "little siblings" of the grand city does feel a strong connection between them, against other areas.

The White Forts are situated similarly to the Red Forts, but the main difference between the defensive efforts on the west side is that the actual Whitehill is a lot steeper, meaning that where the highest-up buildings end, there is still windy paths the guards must take to man the watchtowers at the top of the hills. A precarious sight for a new recruit.

Capitoleum Gates

The gates of Capitoleum (9-14. on the map) were built prior to the bulk of the Capitol Wall. A rudimentary fortification was in place before the wall and the gates created effective starts and stops for this fortification. The gates are not identical but since West Gate was built first it became the model for the other gates and improvements were made as the building progressed. Each gate also includes a small fortification with a permanent garrison that partly serves as housing for Stripes patrolling Capitoleum. West Gate, North Gate and Merchant's Gate also hold garrisons that work as the starting point for the long-haul patrols along the Coins.

West Gate

West Gate (9. on the map) was, like the other gates built before most of the rest of the Capitol Wall and became a model for all the gates, but many improvements were done on later gates that the designers realised were mistakes with West Gate. Some of the less successful design choices for the gate was later reinforced and it is currently the strongest gate of the six, though it still has a reputation to spontaneously fall apart actually is not justified.

West Gate also holds the garrison for Stripes patrolling the Coins towards the South and West and a large portion of the building is dedicated to this.

The West Gate is also one of the busiest gates of the city as much of the land trade comes through this gate. This is alleviated to some extent by alternative entrances of Fargate and Vengate in to town and that the Fishmarket near the gate is quite specialised. The Caldon Market is a popular destination, but merchants can also enter through Fargate to avoid congestion.

Fargate

West Gate (10. on the map) is most similar to West Gate of all the gates and also reinforced in modern times. In some regards it is considered a more attractive target for a breach in a siege as it has less defending wall surface. It is, however one of the more fortified gates.

Like West Gate, Fargate holds a small garrison of Capitoleum Militia that patrol the city.

Vengate

Vengate (11. on the map) was so named as a celebration to Ven, the Dreamer for keeping the spirits of the fighters up while dealing with the multitude of struggles that predated the building of Capitoleum. Since Ven is also the god of magic, its name is a point of contention for the Church of Rahn, but now it has been there for so long any initiative to rename the gate is seen as bad luck and resisted even against the worst of the superstitious. Renaming may also be pointless as it is the most ornate gate, on the outside is a large sculpture of the Sleeping God on top of the gate opening. Not that the Church isn't interested in chiseling this away as well...

The gate leads towards the small Menthell town of The Pride and holds the garrison for the Stripes patrolling the Western Resplendent Fields (usually just called the Western Fields). As one of the central market places is located right inside the gate, some merchants take the detour on the outside of the city to avoid unnecessary hustle and bustle on the streets of Capitoleum. A smaller amount of merchants also use the crossing at Greater Northbrook to enter through Vengate if they have business in the western part of Capitoleum.

North Gate

Vengate (12. on the map) is one of the main transit gates, primarily with people entering from the north or leaving towards it. It is extra busy as many trade convoys that have been transported on the Imperial Channel disembark and unload in Greater Northbrook and then use wagons for the reminder of the trip rather than navigating The Straight next to Northbrook and risking a loss of their products. The same is of course also true in the other direction, though the reputation of The Straight is a little exaggerated.

A nickname by mainly members of the Menthell family is the Mentell Gate. One that isn't really liked by others but sometimes used to explain which gate is being mentioned.

One distinguishing feature of the gate are two large hawks on either side of the top of the gate, and numerous smaller ones on the front, around the crest of the wall.

Merchant's Gate

Merchant's Gate (13. on the map) was so named because of the logistical aid that many of the merchants aided both during the wars as well as during the construction of the city. On either side of the entrance are stood a man with a purse and an open hand and a man with a book. Whether this particular gate was so named because the area was popular by merchants (less likely, as there wasn't much people living on the spot at the time) or that it has become more popular because of its name (a more popular theory) isn't certain, but in the immediate vicinity of the gate are several of the nicer merchant estates, outside of Newtown. The small area rival that of the Wreath in terms of luxury.

The gate also leads to a notable market in the centre of the Bridge called The Fair where particular luxury items are sold. Another point of attraction is that the gate is close to Capitoleum Park.

East Gate

East Gate (14. on the map) is located very close to the entrance of Penvald's eastern gate, which makes access there very easy, but at the same time it makes access to the rest of Capitoleum slightly more awkward. It is still a busy gate with a lot of traffic from Edmyr and seafaring trade that doesn't stop in Capitoleum. Between the gate and the Penvald gate is the East Market, which is known to be a tight spot were a lot of traffic tries to get through while also popular to peddle wares so close to the gate.

Another issue with its location is that traffic to the centre of town has to either go through Penvald and its tolls or around it. As such it is not uncommon for people to simply travel from the gate area, through Tristad and in through the Merchant's Gate instead. It is a longer route, but can be faster, especially in the mornings and evenings when a lot of wagons occupy the roads.

Sprawl Villages

The villages outside the Capitol Walls but technically belonging to Capitoleum (15-23. on the map) are relatively new and still growing. Buildings outside the gates started growing slowly after the walls were completed when the low cost slots inside the city were starting to run out. Many of the workers of the Resplendent Fields also live in the villages rather than in town, meaning a lot of animals are held in the villages. Some buildings are even more expensive than those in the cheaper parts of Capitoleum.

There are advantages and disadvantages of living outside the gates. Advantages include easy travel arrangements and cheaper food and living, but in the case of some hostile raid, they would be entirely unprotected. Still, in the case of open warfare including Capitoleum (unheard of), the villagers could easily enter into the city walls.

Trade in the outer villages include a lot of necessary things like food as well as lodging for travelers leaving or entering the city. Some deals are also made outside the city as it saves on tolls, though large scale trading outside the walls is illegal.

One source of population to the sprawl is that there are many migrants coming from the south (some from the north, but fewer) and the Stripes within the city walls tries to expel individuals who they consider drifters. Many are thrown out into one of the towns and besides for in Northpride or Westgate Village, they are generally accepted and absorbed into the village, becoming productive members of the society.

East Gate Village

The village named the same as the gate (15. on the map) is, like many other towns outside the main walls are relatively new. East Gate Village is a little bit special in the case that it has fewer farmers than the other villages and a lot fewer than some. Takes a lot of traders and craftsmen from Edmyr.

Tristad

Tristad (16. on the map) is a special case among the villages outside Capitoleum in that it's really three villages in one. It has three centres and though it shares a name (South, West and East Tristad), it does so begrudgingly. The people in the villages each feel their centre should be the main one and so far, no dominant one has come forth. Each corner of the road triangle has advantages of loading and unloading, depending on where the goods are going and the Stripes located here, largely provided by Edmyr, are fairly easy to bribe in terms of overlooking regulations of trading outside of city charters.

Northeast of the Tristad is another little town sometimes included in the Capitoleum villages known as The Corner where the road forks Northbound towards Corewick on the Coins and eastwards towards the Edmyr capital of Sandy Point.

Mercoise

Situated outside the Merchant's Gate, Mercoise (17. on the map) is one of three outer villages of Capitoleum that has one name for both the settlements outside the gate. The name itself is believed to be a bastardisation of the name of the gate itself, or related to merchants, at any rate. Like Tristad, many merchants stop by here because of lower prices and some even have storage facilities here, sending merchandise or goods in to the city when the price is right. This does mean a delay, so it's a tactic primarily employed by those experienced in its use.

The road that passes from Capitoleum through Mercoise forks a bit further in to the Resplendent Fields and joins up with the coins towards Corewick to the East and Northwatch to the West. It's not as well traveled as the Coins, but still a popular alternate route for a variety of reasons.

Northbrook

Hardly a brook by any standards (18. on the map), the Riverrun needs to be crossed by a chained ferry to not be dragged down towards The Mouth, the combined canal entrance and fresh water intake of the city's reservoir system.

Northbrook is also different from Tristad in that it is a lot more like three distinct villages, where Northbrook is the village that originally was located outside the city to alleviate channel and canal building (and later canal/channel traffic) has citizens feeling slightly more important. There is also Greater Northbrook, the larger cluster of buildings making a larger village where Menthell Coins joins the Circle Road together with canal loading and unloading services. To the West is Western Northbrook, which simply is the receiving end of ferry traffic, and enjoys a small selection of individuals who wish to cross the river one way or the other. Each of the two Northbrooks East of the river gets a in to a little huff when they are confused or when someone use the name "Northbrook" to describe the other. At the same time, you can see a smugness on the face of a Greater Northbrook villager when a person from Northbrook use the word "greater".

The area near (Minor) Northbrook is an exciting one for traders as it joins the canals of the city with the Imperial Channel. The currents of Riverrun are unpredictable as it splits the strong current into the moat and the Capitoleum water system. Travel through Capitoleum canals and channel is a lot faster than by road, but there is a (small) chance of capsizing the barge in the change over between the two systems.

Venhouse

Named by the nearby gate, Venhouse (19. on the map) isn't a pious village nor one enthusiastic about magic. Though there are better brothels in Capitoleum, Venhouse does have the reputation of having some of the odder ones available. The Stripes makes sure nothing illegal is going on but other even they are prone to bribes. Every now and then a religious protest wipes the streets clean in Venhouse but the shadier elements are back before the dust has settled.

That is not to say that Venhouse is a shithole, you have to get past the first or second row of houses before you get to where you may (or may not) want to be. The majority of Venhouse villagers are actually farmers, and have little interest in the shadier businesses. Well, except once or twice a year. The farmers here may not be as shady as the reputation of Venhouse but they have gotten used to living next door to it.

Northpride

An interesting name does not necessarily mean an interesting town. Northpride (20. on the map) is one of the smallest villages that feels it needs and independent identity and it is one of the least noteworthy. The other villages outside Capitoleum grew naturally, but Northpride is simply a small settlement of descendants of about two generations from the small town called The Pride in the Menthell Kingdom. They are here to farm the lands as it seemed like a prudent political decision at the time, and now they are simply here. They are not really fascinated with city life and tries to ignore the thousands of people passing through their village on a weekly basis. Its inns and pubs do good trade but Northpride isn't well known for its hospitality. However, they brew a quite fantastic beer and are excellent cooks so there is still a steady stream of merchants who choose it over other villages. Some even find the general grumpieness of Northpriders to be enjoyable. an acquired taste, feels most others.

The villagers have a slightly more positive feel for Farmgate, though still feel it is basically a bunch of city sellouts.

Farmgate

Farmgate (10. on the map) was so named because of a typo on what whould have been "Fargate Inn". Prior to the inn being built it was simply called "the houses outside Fargate" and after Farmgate Inn opened its doors, there was no real name for it. After the inn opened, the owner didn't think it would matter and didn't consider it worth the money to make a new sign so it stayed. Within a couple of years, the town was called Farmgate.

Ironically, this in turn brought migrant farmers here to some degree and the majority of villagers are, indeed, farmers today. Some trading also takes place, but the village is the most farm-orientated, bar Northpride.

The Scruffle

The Scruffle (21. on the map) was originally not named that, but continued local use of the name made it into the official registers. The Scruffle is so named because there is an extened shantytown included and though all the villages outside the Capitol Walls have shantytowns, The Scruffle has it worst. The Stripes in the West Gate garrison patrols the Scruffle several times a day, banishin beggars and keeping the southern Coins clean.

One of the reasons for the scruff is that there are more migrants from the south than north and the Stripes have learned to recognise a "drifter" on sight. They are sent out of the gates and the West Gate Village Neighbourhood Watch keeps them away even from their town. Needless to say, you can find anything from organised fight clubs to cockfighting and prostitution in The Scruffle.

West Gate Village

The West Gate Village (22. on the map) was the first village to be built and actually started with the building of the West Gate itself. Many of the builders liked the location with a sea view as well as shelter from the harshest winds from the seas. As such, some of the architecture near the part of the Coins that passes through it actually has very thought-out structure. Another large portion of builders moved in to Caldon and though there now is a massive difference in social class between living outside the walls and inside, West Gate Villagers tend to see themselves as just as fine people as those on the inside of the walls. Caldoners in turn have a bit of a soft spot for West Gate Villagers, though definitely not like they are equals.

West Gate Villagers have a special gusto as they are part of lineages that choose to live outside the walls being built when there was opportunities to live inside. They don't back down from a fight and they like peace and order in their town. Their West Gate Village Neighbourhood Watch is known to deal with disorderly individuals in a firm manner and the Stripes generally keep out of those matters, unless it leads to serious bloodshed.

Sandwish

The oldest of the villages related to Capitoleum is Sandwish (23. on the map), which is a fishing village that has been located on that spot for longer than records of it exist, but likely at least for the past 500 years. However, its inhabitants haven't really done anything but fishing for the entire duration so only oral traditions exist. Villagers of Sandwish are not very keen on outsiders and are considered a bit inbred by neighbouring villages. Sandwish people are not very keen on the megacomplex of a city that gre up on their doorstep, but mostly manage to ignore it and get on with their lives. When the city makes itself known, it can provoke quite violent responses, however, especially since its inhabitants doesn't recognise the city's authority and only takes orders from the Wyny house (despite the fact that Wyny relinquished it's claims on land close to the city).

Outside of Sandwish is a barricade of wooden stakes rammed deep into the sand bank. This effectively prevents any ships from entering the beach area but allowing small fishing boats easy access. While this feature is popular NOW with the village's inhabitants, it was seen as a massive infringement on their rights when it was erected.

When Capitoleum started sending out waste water through the natural caverns underneath it, Sandwish villagers also protested wildly. However, the longer term effect was actually increased catches, since the waste includes a lot of nutrition. Though complaints suddenly stopped, no apology was ever issued from the disgruntled fishermen.

Capital Bay

At the mouth of Capital Bay, a chain gate has been set up to keep agressors out or in. Three towers contain the mechanism, with the middle one being a support feature which can close just one of the entrances.

The bay was originally full of shallows due to large rocks filling it up and some of that has been taken out and used as building materials for the city itself. There are still numerous shallows that are dangerous for large vessels, but smaller boats can travel the bay freely.

It is illegal to dump any type of waste in the bay, but it is done quite frequently anyway. Despite this, there are still a decent population of fish and crabs in the bay and some fishermen have a special license to use the bay for catching. There are much greater catches to be had outside the mouth of the bay, however, and most fishermen located in the harbour leaves the bay in order to gain greater riches.

Traffic in the bay is coordinated by the Harbour Master's Office and a small army of clerks and pilots ensure that captains either have a licensed Capitoleum pilot themselves or they rent one for their travels in the bay. For residents, this generally isn't an issue, but for the many that only visit Capitoleum every now and again it can be seen as a hassle.

Resplendent Fields

The Resplendent Fields (or 'The Fields') are a relatively new addition to the grandeur of Capitoleum and provide the majority of the base food of city. The fields are enchanted by the Sickle and the general opinion of this fact varies but is generally negative as peopel are afraid of the enchantments. As a rule, nobility don't eat produce from the Fields.

Characters

Houses

Traders

Name of Penvald
- Nihrahn of Penvald - Son of trader family. Deceased.
Tremell - From central Bridge
- Haylee Tremell - daughter of family
Shadows
- Mother Mimsina - Brothel owner

World nav (e)
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Other: Tall

Notes

Note that several details have already been retconned, including the dates, but this is a close approximation of Capitoleum's history.

The biggest city in the travelled world. There are myths about all-golden cities in the far south on the Dragon Continent and even about floating cities across the Endless Seas, but people tend to dismiss that sort of dreamery.