Buches

Buches slumps towards the ocean in a series of ragged, tilting districts, the buildings slumping towards the coast. Traversed through crooked, meandering streets and rope ladders or crudely cut stone stairs, little of the coastward half is inhabited by the population. The bedrock and foundations of the city have come apart, and each year the city slides a little closer to the waters; already the westmost buildings are partially flooded.

Demographics

Species

Species	Number (%)	Male (%)	Female (%)
Human	605 (45%)	283 (47%)	322 (53%)
Halfling	99 (8%)	49 (49%)	50 (51%)
Elf	259 (19%)	138 (53%)	121 (47%)
Half-Elf	44 (3%)	29 (66%)	15 (34%)
Dragonborn	119 (9%)	83 (70%)	36 (30%)
Triton	126 (9%)	72 (57%)	54 (43%)
Warforged	37 (3%)	N/A	N/A
Goliath	58 (4%)	32 (55%)	26 (45%)

Jobs

Career	Number (%)
Labourer	258 (19%)
Blacksmith	27 (2%)
Innkeeper	11 (1%)
Baker	35 (3%)
Guard	483 (36%)
Scholar	84 (6%)
Fisherman	308 (23%)
Stonemason	134 (9%)
Apothecary	7 (1%)

Government

Buches is run by the remains of the original organisation. Known as the Counts Elected, they are now run by a combination of the original Counts descendants and other members elected raised into position when a bloodline dies. The Counts Elected therefore debate and discuss matters at hand until a shared agreement is met. The majority of the Counts are Human, though the elections have resulted in some of the other species gaining a presence; Elves and Dragonborn notably have gained influencial positions.

Defences

The city is ringed with a thick stone wall, cracked and broken along the rifts in the city. The inside of the wall has a walkway behind the crenelations, and many of the guards store their arms and armour in their garrison halls. The docks are separated from the city by the outer wall, with thick portcullis' and murder holes installed to secure against coastal assaults; though the portcullis' are long-rusted into place, the mechanisms rotted and seized.

Industry & Trade

Fish and other ocean products are stored and preserved, exported to settlements which have little extra to stockpile or to Farmloss in return for grains and flour. The products of the blacksmiths and bakers are primarily retained for those within the city; though those who can prove themselves have been given permission to purchase supplies from these shops.
Importation is often grains and flour for use in baking and creating hardtack for the sailors and fishermen. Furthermore, the Tritons who visit to trade and barter will bring items and materials from their aquatic lands in exchange for surface materials.

Infrastructure

What is left of Buches is now split into the Districts of the Divides. The roads within the city are twisted as the ground beneath collapsed, and various ways have been implemented to traverse the vertical pathways in the city. The sewers of the city are similarly severed, and many have since spilt water and waste into the gaps and streets below. Bridges have been erected at certain locations for wider gaps where possible, crafted from wood and rope strung between buildings.
The docks and shipyards in the Buchal Strait still exist and are used to house or repair the fishing vessels that allow for them to fish and travel the nearby ocean, using the Long Isle as a landmark to travel by.

Assets

Within Buches, a pair of inns are still running, both under the welcoming hands of the Halfling clan Running Hare. The Hind's Stag is an inn which provides dedicated housing to some of the cities population and rents out room and board to travellers for a modest fee. The second inn, called the Rentside Rooming, stands at the edge of a dividing chasm in the city. Chains bind it to more secure buildings, with a somewhat higher fee to live coming alongside a view clear into the chasm below.
An apothecary shop called Convenient Concoctions is run out of the house of the resident apothecary and their family. Potions and poultices are sold pre-made, or for those who bring the right ingredients and pay a small fee, other brews will be prepared at the shop for them. The shop itself is small, but in high demand for their treatments, particularly among the guards.
The guards operate from a number of halls, spread throughout the city. Led by the Royal Guards, each is in charge of a small contingent of soldiers. Spread across the Districts, they serve to enforce the law and protect against any threats from beneath or outside the city.
At the Red Iron Stall, a forge and smithy are worked to maintain and support the needs of the guards. They perform repairs and maintenance for others and sell goods to others; though the city has laws severely restricting the ownership of armour and weapons by non-guard individuals, minor items such as daggers and leather protection are widely available.
Run by a number of individuals in the city, the bakery Flour's Finery provides a wide range of products; not only bread and small pastries but when the ingredients are available they can readily prepare more unusual supplies and racial foods such as Feybread or Spice Cakes.
Within the city, magical study once took place at the Arcanist Academy. When the city fell apart, it was split into three parts. Two of these sections drifted away from each other, creating the Low Academy and High Academy, while the third was lost as it fell into the chasm below, taking with it much of the stored knowledge available. Scholars and mages still reside within the two halves, traversing back and forth across spindly bridges between the floors, or rarely via Tenser's Floating Discs when carrying items.
The creation of many of the stairs and vertical traversals of the city has been a point of fame for the Sheerstone family. Goliaths originating from the Thawcaps, the awakening of the volcano at the centre of the range drove them away from their original tribe land. Their travels brought them to Buches, where their skills with stone, strength and size quickly allowed them to prove their capabilities with the art. The guards, in particular, welcomed them into their ranks due to capabilities and their innate competitiveness driving the organisation as a whole.

Guilds and Factions

The Counts Elected is the ruling faction within Buches, overseeing the city and its development in growth and attempting to bring a halt to the steady sinking of the city. Though slow to act at times, they are able to function with a wide array of influence due to their many council members and variable range of influence.
The Royal Guard are a highly trained group of soldiers, and originally served as bodyguards for the royal family. After the Calamity, they have since changed duties: while some serve as guards of the Counts Elected, others lead and train the city guards with their weapons, or rest and recover while not on active duty. All Royal Guards wear their armour at any waking moment, and never remove their helmets. Their identity is known to none but their self, and the Captain of the Guards who hand-picks recruits from the city guard.

History

Buches was founded as the first Human settlement on the continent. Not only was it viewed as easily defended, but it provided access to farmable land and the ocean without issue. With a powerful supply of food, the only real limitation was access to stone and, in time, metal ores. The establishment of far-reaching towns and villages, particularly mining settlements, soon provided a source of trading materials.
Growing and developing, it began to sprawl out across the immediate area, particularly once trade routes began to pass through its docks and markets. At its most developed peak, Buches was a wide-spread city that followed the coast, dense with people of all races who came to visit, trade, or travel.
The Cataclysm struck, and as with all other cities dealt a horrific blow. The bedrock of the city, beneath the soil and stone it lay upon, fractured and moved. Sections of the city, cut free and unsupported, sank into the ground as they plummeted into open space in the depths of the world. Other areas sank but remained within sight, or even rose higher; the waters of the Buchal Strait finally overcoming the defences and flooding into the city. Many were washed into the crevasses, while others fell as rents split beneath them without warning. When it finished, Buches was a city torn into fragmented Districts, many of its lower regions flooded and slowly draining as each year the city sinks a little further down.

Tourism

Traders and travellers come to Buches for goods such as medicines and materials; with its population, it's easily on the way to starting recovery and redevelopment. Others come to witness the condition of the city, its precarious bridges and stairways to cross the chasms. Some come to see what's left of the Arcane Academy, hoping to find remnants of knowledge or to gain a position of education with the scholars there; many leave disappointed, however.

Architecture

The buildings are grandly built, made from durable stone and in certain cases ornamented with bands of metal or contrasting stone. As the ground shifts and tilts, so do the buildings upon them, giving the city a drunken appearance at a distance, as buildings sag or lean against one another.

Geography

Built directly against the coast, the city is established upon a grassy flatland that becomes somewhat marshlike in high tides. The use of stone slabs during its time of growth provides a strong foundation for the docks and buildings, though with the cracks in the ground the softer soil is slowly being washed away, letting the stone on top tilt and come a little closer each day to slide into darkness.

Natural Resources

Fish and oceanic resources are easily available. While stone can be gathered from the southern coast, primarily towards Long Isle and Islepoint Guide, the material is razor-sharp and unable to be adequately mined before the tides force exploring teams to return. Buches had a number of farms when smaller, but they were overcome by the rapid population growth when Farmloss began to produce vast grain yields and the farms in Buches area were built over with housing instead.

Alternative Name(s)

The Sinking City

Type

City

Population

1347

Inhabitant Demonym

Bukhisan

Location under

Bukhisal