Stormgarde

The City of Stormglow

The beacon of humanity on the continent of Talenel, Stormgarde wears its human lineage like a badge of honor. As the oldest human cultures and largest city on the continent, Stormgarde considers itself the harbinger of civilization in a constantly shifting world. Thanks to both Stormgardian pride and the rule of King Dalinar, Stormgarde has become a safe place to live. However, Stormgarde does not rule unabated on Talenel or even its immediate vicinity. War is constant with the FernGul Empire of the south and a constant threat to the Stormgarde and it’s people.
Immediately noticeable are the tall lightning rods affixed at strategic locations throughout the city called Storm spires, when struck with lightning form a Highstorm, these rods channel the strikes immense magical energy and transform it into Stormglow. The Stormglow is stored within gemstones of different varieties that, when held by spell casters, can be used to power their spells. Gemstones infused with Stormglow are called spheres and are a social kind of currency in Stormgarde.

Demographics

• Human 82%
• Dwarfs 11%
• Halfling 4%
• Other 3%

Government

The government of Stormgarde is comprised of differing branches, each with unique influence. The monarchs of Stormgarde must share power with strict government entities that have been around since the founding of the Monarchy.

Monarchy

At the top of political power sits the Bright Lord Liom Dalinar , son of the late Bright Lady Isabel Dalinar. Bright Lord Dalinar enjoys expanded monarchical powers thanks to political maneuvering by his powerful and beloved mother. Declarations made by Bright Lord Dalinar from the Bright Throne becomes law, although Wardens retain the ability to counter anything brash that violates the Stormgardian Charter. One noble from each of the Seven Great Houses sits on an advisory council named the Court of the Bright Throne. The King cannot dismiss the Court of the Bright Throne but also does not need to respect their input. However, politics dictate he at least listen to arguments presented as the Seven Great Houses have substantial power in Stormgarde. Because the king cannot regulate every aspect of the city, nor does he want to, a set of magistrates divide responsibilities.
Living in the keep with the Bright Lord and his family is a powerful figurehead and commander of the Storm Claw known as The Voice. The Voice is considered the second most powerful individual in the city and is the only one who can begin the process of removing a corrupt monarchy. Calling the Storm Claw to evict a monarchy places the Court of the Bright Throne in much higher standing according to the Stormgardian City Charter. This act has never been executed in the over 500 years of its existence.

Magistrates

When a new monarch takes the Bright Throne, they appoint several magistrates to delegate responsibilities. No one exactly knows what all the magistrates or their staff does, but most suspect they enjoy wasting time and money. The most well known magistrate is the Magistrate of Commerce.

Magistrate of Commerce

The most hated magistrate and person in Stormgarde that is the tax collector. The Magistrate of Commerce oversees the collection of taxes, regulation of city fees and works with the Storm Herolds.

Wardens

More powerful than judges, the Wardens have legislative oversight. Any declarations made by the king must first face review from the Wardens, who vote on its legality in regards to the Stormgardian Charter. To amend the city charter, five Wardens must examine the decree, and three of them must accept it to become law. If the Wardens review and reject, one of the Wardens who voted against the decree must advise the Bright Lord on what must be down to make it more acceptable.
The main task of Wardens is to try criminal cases and settle civil disputes. For most crimes and all civil disputes a single Warden will oversee the proceedings; however, on major cases, it is not uncommon to see more Wardens present.
A Warden's judgement carries the authority of the cities leader, although a convicted criminal is allowed to appeal certain punishments directly with the king. Most citizens do not know this right and it is rarely invoked

Defenses

Stormgarde benefits from the protection of three military organizations. Each military group focuses effort in different areas, interacts with the city government in unique ways and is important in providing balance to the political powers in Stormgarde.

Bright Claw

The Bright Claw is an elite force of 50 Griffon Riders dedicated to the defense of the skies and waters of Stormgarde. The commander of the Bright Claw reports directly to the Voice and does not answer to any other leadership position in Stormgarde. However, when a new monarchy takes the Bright Throne, the Bright Claw make a display of riding to the Castle and pledging loyalty as their ancestors did before them. To qualify to be named the Voice, a Bright Claw officer must exemplify the core values of the Bright Lord.

Storm Heralds

The 800 soldiers that make up the Storm Heralds serve the city first and the Church of Kord the Storm father second. Working closely with the King, the Storm Heralds act most often as a police force but will turn into a military operation when the city is threatened. Possessing a long and proud history augmented by the Church of Kord, the Heralds count among its highest officers clerics, paladins, and priests.
It is the duty of the Storm Herald's commanding officer to appoint a new Voice of the Bright Claw when the previous Voice passes or retires.

Iron Vanguard

Some 10 miles away from the city walls stands the Iron Citadel. When the FernGul empire invaded the Sundering Tip mountains centuries ago, the Ironbelly Dwarven Clan were forced from their mountain homes and fled North into Stormgarde lands. King Dalinar accepted the nomadic clan providing them with purpose and a place to call home. The Iron Vanguard was formed pledging unwavering loyalty to the Dalinar bloodline for as long as they hold the Golden Throne.
Strong martial traditions, strength, force, and intimidation are the primary virtues of the Iron Vanguard along with a deep hatred for the FernGul people. The cities government has little interaction now with the Iron Vanguard, except for occasionally employing them on a case by case military basis, much like mercenary work. Although they do welcome their contributions in policing the Sunder lands and pushing back the FernGul Empire’s advances

A highstorm is a particularly fierce weather system.They happen every 6 months and moves from north to south,starting at the Origin and continuing across the entire continent of Talenel , though they weaken gradually as they cross,and are mostly broken by the mountains south of Stormgrade. A highstorm has three general stages, the leading edge is called the stormwall and is the most dangerous part of the storm, being a wall of wind with extremely high wind rates along side enormous arcs of lightning that strikes the ground burns the soil and kicks up debris. The main section of the storm has less debris although the powerful gusts of winds can still pick up large rocks on occasion, as the storm passes by it gradually calms until the trailing edge, called the riddens and is simply light rain mixed with occasional relatively mild gusts of wind. At some point during the main part of the storm spheres are left in storm spires, usually in baskets secured to the undersides of storm spires, then are the infused with Stormglow.

Stormglow

Stormglow is radiant energy given off by highstorms (a storm of huge dimensions and power) that can be stored in gemstones and then later used by spell casters. It is a source of light and power and is used to power technology. Gemstones are much better at holding Stormglow than other objects because the light can remain within them for weeks. Usually, those gemstones are placed into glass spheres that can be infused with Stormglow by leaving them outside during a highstorm or infused with Stormglow by other more perfect stones. Infused spheres can also be obtained from a Magistrate of Commerce . Stormglow leaks quickly when held or absorbed by a spell caster or infused into an object that isn’t a gemstone, though persons can slow the leakage by holding their breath (which they can do for an extended time while holding the light). Stormglow appears as luminescent silvery white vapor. When free, it behaves similarly to smoke, dissipating in puffs and leaving trails when its source moves. Absorbed Stormglow, if unused, will eventually begin leaking out. The speed at which it leaks varies depending on its current vessel. A gemstone will hold it for several days, the ones used as currency glow for about 2 weeks, while bigger gems last a while longer. Perfect gemstones, like The Bright star, can hold it for centuries, if not forever. When leaking from gems, Stormglow assumes their gems color.

Currency

The spheres can be used as a currency across Stormgarde and is generally considered more valuable when infused. While nominally they're worth about the same whether dun or glowing, merchants will often find dun spheres suspicious, and will call an expert to verify if a dun sphere is counterfeit. Moneychangers capitalize on this, exchanging dun spheres for infused ones or taking spheres to be infused with their Bright lord approved perfect gemstone-- for a fee.
Spheres Value in SP

Gem	Chip	Mark	Broam
Diamond	1	2	20(2gp)
Garnet, Hliodor, Topaz	5	25(2gp 5sp)	100(10gp)
Amethyt, Sapphire	25(2gp 5sp)	125(12gp 5 sp)	500(50gp)
Emerald	50(5gp	250(25gp)	1000(100gp)

Type

Large city