Mirefield
Demographics
Mirefield consists almost entirely of drow elves. Eladrin and the original elves are two of Vraxis greatest enemies. Knowing this, he begrudgingly allied himself with the drow,taking advantage of the history of hate between the two races. Mirefield operates on the traditional Matriarchy system that drow elves have always lived by. Vasbreena is the head of said matriarchy; however, much to the dismay of the drow, Vraxis still has one of his appointed harbingers who lives without the town to ensure Vraxis' will is carried out. Noble houses, along with Lady Vasbreena, rule over the city. They maintain the cold and brutal lifestyle they have. Never trusting another too much and always striving for more.
Government
Lady Vasbreena leads the matriarchy within the city, assisted by other noble female drows. Much to the dismay of Lady Vasbreena Vraxis, he has sent a Harbinger of his choosing to watch over the city. Ensuring Vraxis' will is being carried out. Harbinger Verden rarely interferes with the nuances of city rule. He only intervenes when Vraxis' word is not being abided by.
Defences
The gates of a city, as well as its important buildings, were usually protected by jade spider guardians.The faerzress radiation near most drow cities provided protection from magical spying via divination and also made it difficult, or even dangerous, to teleport within the area. Furthermore, the faerzress allowed the cheap and easy creation of magic and drowcraft items, as well as other ways to use the radiation for defensive purposes. The over-reliance on faerzress meant that drow settlements were often stationary and therefore relatively easy to locate and attack. Drow often used shriekers, a type of fungi that grew in faerzress-rich places, to warn them of incoming danger. The radiation had the unique capability to cause mutations in creatures. For example, a flying roper could be born in a faerzress-rich environment. If the product of such mutations was powerful, Drow tried to avoid fighting it and tried to contain it in a certain area so that would-be intruders had to face it instead. If the creature had a spider-like appearance, the drow's reaction was to praise it as the work of Lolth and sometimes feed it with their captives or with intruders whom they lured into the monster's lair.
Industry & Trade
Due to the drows high level of craftsmanship, they were often used within the bog to create some of the most valuable and well-made weapons and armor in the country. Mirefield often supplied the rest of the country with weapons and armor, and in return, they would receive whatever goods they needed.
Infrastructure
Waterworks were a product of drow craftsmanship that received universal acclaim. Systems of intricately curved pipes that bore through solid rock, fitted with shut-off valves and side-channels and pumps, collected and diverted water for various purposes, be it for dietary or industrial needs or for waste disposal. The valves were big, hollow stone spheres with two opposed holes, closely fitted into a basin that had both inlet and outlet channels. They were attached to a large, counter-weighted lever that, when turned, lined up the inlet and outlet channels with the holes of the valve to let water come through. The flow was regulated by opening a sliding panel, which turned the sphere in such a direction that only the volume of water that filled it could pass through and be diverted towards a side channel. The aforementioned pumps had two varieties: a corkscrew-type, which worked by water pressure, and a piston-type, which worked by slaves. These were not entirely wonders of the mundane, though, for constant application of magic was needed to make the water seals perfectly work.
Assets
Mirefield was built atop one of the few natural sources of adamantine. While it is not up to the quality and usefulness of Aredite, it is one of the only metals that comes close. Making its value incredibly high for the bog. Due to the drow's love of beautiful things, the demand for art and skilled craft (especially exquisitely forged weapons) was high. Good artisans, especially innovative artists (about 0.1–0.4% of the population), were highly sought after by the noble Houses and families that didn't produce artistic talent on their own acquired it from the outside (be it by adoption into the family, a rare occurrence, simple hiring, or forceful coercion). About a fifth of the entire drow race was capable of complex work, while only about one-tenth could create items fine enough to be enchanted or turned into drowcraft through the absorption of faerzress. Even though capable artisans weren't few among the drow, there was a great shortage of such talents compared to the demand, and both nobles and merchant clans tried to have at least six on their payroll. Overall, artisans were among the most intrigant and paranoid. They used tricky devices, like clothes with built-in items, body weapons like gas-powered needle-throwers, extensile mechanical hands, wire-saws, and more, to break out of cages and prisons, but also as weapons against people.
Guilds and Factions
Merchants Guild
The Assassin's guild
Cult of Effulgence - religious zealots who worship Vraxis
History
Mirefield was the original capital of the vile bog before Vraxis came to power and had his mages create Almore. Vraxis gave the city of Mirefield to the drow as a major peace offering. Using the city, he was able to have the drow join his forces, and many are incredibly loyal to Vraxis because of this. Vraxis has made numerous promises to assist the drow in exacting their revenge on their elven cousins who wronged them in the past. Due to Draco's sunlight sensitivity, Vraxis had his mages enclose the entire city within a massive stone sphere to block out the light. Because of the magic used to move the massive amount of rock and stone necessary to cover the city, all the surrounding stone and metal have become imbued with a magical energy that the drow refer to as faerzress.
Tourism
The Drow Matriarchy is very weary of letting any outsiders into the city. They tend to turn many away unless they are traders or government officials from other cities within the bog. Those who do gain entry into the city are closely watched, whether they are aware of it or not.
Architecture
Drow architecture, reminiscent of the elven one,put an emphasis on beauty and was considered a marvel to behold. The drow were the best architects when it came to shaping and hollowing out stalactites, stalagmites, and cave columns. They were also known for their designs for stone bridges, balconies, and buttresses, as well as their intricate spiral tunnels. Suspension bridges were the norm for those that could withstand earthquakes, and cave fishers were trained for the purpose of slinging their lines. As far as dwellings went, nobles usually lived in their mansions; commoners lived either in walled houses with cellars or in small caves. Drow cities tended to be a chaotic and messy sight because of the lack of a uniform architectural style, but some common traits were the presence of spider webs in passages and layouts of buildings, the frequent obsidian-cast spider motifs as decorations, and the continual faerie fire spell adorning particularly impressive structures or buildings belonging to the wealthy. Magic was a key element in drow architecture. Crucial structures were often supported by spells rather than being carefully built to stand on their own, and therefore collapsed when the magic wore off. The rubble was cleaned out by slaves, only for the drow to use magic like stone shapes and the barest minimum of handiwork for reconstruction, therefore causing the instability problem to persist.
Natural Resources
Adamantine
Founding Date
31 PR
Type
City
Population
~85,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Vilians
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Comments