Ravenswood

The elven City of Ravenswood is build on the hillside among the trees.

Demographics

Elf (28,163) Half-Elves (3,248) Human (1,804) Dwarf (1,182) Gnome (821) Lilty (460) Other (420)

Government

All decisions and judgments are settled by a five Member Council.
One member of the temple of Fervaus, this is almost always the Archdruid of the Cultist. One member from the Lumber Guild, this is an elected individual from the community. One member from the Textile Guild, this is an elected individual from the community. One member is of the BS&P School, this is almost always the Dean of the College. And the last member is the current Master of Caravan, who only votes in the case of a tie.

Defences

The lower portions of the city are bordered by palisades that also help direct the waterways, but the rest of the city is defensible by the layout of its terraces. As stairways and bridges are the only means of crossing from one terrace to another there are plenty of easily defended bottlenecks.

Industry & Trade

In the Dark Forest the elves of Ravenswood have made industry from what is available to them.
Lumber is the primary export. Elves are constantly monitoring the current forest conditions (including tree species composition, age, density, health conditions and other factors) to determine individually which trees are ready to fell. Trees are never dropped before their time, unless they endanger other trees. A building would be built around the tree rather than the land cleared for construction. Lumber is picked for choice characteristics: Strength, Weight, Color, and Resistance to Weathering. Cords of wood from Ravenswood are very valuable and would only be made available to wealthy individuals in other cities.
The dark forest is home to many exotic plants, with brightly colored flowers and fruit. This gives rise to Ravenwoods other exports Cloth, Dresses, Scarves, Vests, Robes, Bags, and Cords of bright colors. Across all of ardania cloth from Ravenswood can be recognized by its multitude of bright colors.

Infrastructure

The city is integrated fully into the hillside. The hills of ravenswood were developed into terraces, with stone steps enabling traversal from one level to another. The city has two main distracts, the white district and the green district, with a multitude of terrace levels in each.
The "Lower" or Green district is covered with natural beauty much of the buildings are moss covered, the roads are merely paths in the dirt, and the buildings are quite open with many exposed porches, dining areas, and studios. Some terraces are crossed via wooden bridges. Others are descended by earthen embankments creating ramps just wide enough for two carts to pass simultaneously.
The white district is named for the whitestone paths that are a feature of some of the rocky hills. This stone polished smooth. The white palace is the centerpiece of the district with the crystal sitting on a dais out front. The palace is really just two ornate meeting halls, one a general assembly hall where celebrations and announcements are made to the public by members of the council. Another predominate building is the Bardic Singing and Performing (BS&P) School along with its performance hall.

Guilds and Factions

Strongly relying on the forests to supply the cities needs the presence of the temple to Fervaus is strong here. Many buildings have the shadowed leaf displayed predominantly in its architecture. The temples to Krypta and Lunord are presant and active but not seen as part of day to day life the way fervaus is.
The Lumber guild also has a significant sway in the city, often overlaping with the interest of the Cultist. Aside from its reasorce gathering name sake the guild also manages most building projects in the city. They keep a map showing significant forest resources including stand boundaries and acreage amounts, special sites, water bodies, roads and trails, buildings, palisade boundaries and the like. They also employ the rangers that are guardians of the city borders (but they are not enforcers of law except dealing with the guilds resources).
The Textile guild is the main source income in the city, and one of two centers of culture.
The second center of culture is the he Bardic Singing and Performing (BS&P) School.

Type

Metropolis

Population

34,068 Adults