Defiance

A small city, or large town depending who you ask, in the northeast of Norstir just south of the Deep. It's near very many precious resources, and supplies the City of Five Towers with its bounty of metals, woods, and agricultural products.

Demographics

Racial Demographics: Humans 5,552/ Half-Elves 1,153/ Half-Orcs 647/ Halflings 252/ 210 Elves/ 170 Dwarves/ Other 28
Class Demographics: Peasant-Class 5,343/ Guild-Class 2012 / Gutter-Class 657

Government

Defiance is ruled by a council of merchants guilds (colloquially called the Council of Coins), the most powerful of which is the Defiant Guard due to the many threats Defiance faces and the guild's long history. New members are added to the council when the guild they are a part of is able to pay their entry fee to the Defiant Guard, and the Guard is frequently adding members (free of charge) to maintain their plurality.
Legal proposals are brought to the council by council members, and votes are held by the members in attendance. Matters of town defense must have 66% of the vote to pass, while all other matters are settled by majority. The Captain of the Defiant Guard acts as a tiebreaker, and acts as an arbiter for disputes between councilmembers.
Taxes tend to be low, but many guilds still make a habit of donating to the Defiant Guard and the Church of St. Cuthbert that supports them.

Defences

Defiance is bordered on all four sides by a 15-foot tall stone wall, erected shortly after the hobgoblin incursion that once nearly destroyed the city. There is a watchtower at each corner of the walls, as well as two small towers at the western gate and a large tower on each end of the southern bridge. The southern towers each sport an iron portcullis and a murderhole, and frequently keep stocks of alchemists fire in these towers for use during sieges.
At the center of town is a massive stone tower that acts as an armory for the Defiant Guard and a last line of defence if the walls are breached. It sports a bell from which alarms can be raised and a magical horn that can project a single person's voice all throughout the city. It is ringed with arrow slits and has a teleportation circle attuned to the other guard towers for easy transportation.

Industry & Trade

While there are several businesses that sell worked goods, most of these are made for local consumption and are not exported. Defiance does produce a large amount of raw production goods, primarily food like grains and fruits, but also common metals, stone, timber, and wool.
Defiance imports a wide array of worked goods, but mostly clothing, alcohol, magic items and paper.

Infrastructure

On the southern side of the town is a long stone bridge over the small Sable River, leading towards the main gate into the town. Along that same river is a watermill where many of the grains harvested in the southern fields are turned to flour.
In the northern quarter there are three forges, two metalworks, and a cattle-powered log mill.
The south quarter sports a log mill west of the watermill, a grain silo, and a large town square used for markets and festivals. It is dominated by a statue of the Defenders of Defiance, Diane Freyja, Wizard, and Wayne, folk hero to the downtrodden. The southern edge of this quarter sports a small dock with barges and longships which sometimes bring heavy goods down the coast.
The central quarter has a rookery, a 5-man gallows in the center of town, two more grain silos, the Guild Council administrative building, and the large central well from which much of the city draws its water.
The eastern quarter holds the Church of St. Cuthbert and the graveyard of the city, the south side bearing an outlet for the sewer system below the city.
The western quarter has a metals smelter and a second city gate. Roads lead south from the main gate and west from the secondary gate.

Assets

General Stores:

• Veimar's General Goods; Owned by Nayden Veimar. It's the oldest store in Defiance, and expanded from humble beginnings. The Veimar Family has been able to hold a monopoly on miscellany by guild charter for generations, and has had many family members join the Defiant Guard

Forges:

• The Defiant Forge; Owned by Captain Julian Heel. Well known to be beholden to the Guild of the Defiant Guard despite guild charters maintaining independence.

• Moradin's Bed; Owned by Rulir Fallhammer.

• Kaylee's Metalshaping; Owned by Kaylee Ironhand.

Metalworks:

• Jastlin's Jewelry; Owned by Jastlin Dreer.

• The Gilded Grain; Owned by Halrid Peace.

Magic Items Stores:

• Halmil's Arcane Handyworks; Owned by Halmil Longtrotter.

Alchemists:

• The Church of St. Cuthbert's Healing Salves; Owned by Bishop Simon.

• The Goblinshead Alchemist; Owned by Randel Fairmarket.

Woodworkers:

• Walden's Woodworks; Owned by John Walden.

Scrollwrites:

• Tigerseye Scrolls and Spells; Owned by Syfrid Yellen.

Scribes:

• The Church of St. Cuthbert's Holy Scrivening; Owned by Bishop Simon.

Grocers:

• Grafton Farms Fruits; Owned by Amber Grafton.

• Bellenny Family Grains and Bakery; Owned by Gabriel Bellenny.

• House Neymoal Roots and Fruits; Owned by Hubert Neymoal.

• Harvest Home Gourds and More; Owned by Cynthia Vuul.

• Farsun Family Butchery; Owned by Tristan Farsun.

Gemcutters:

• Glittergold's Glittering Gallery; Owned by Willik Veilbreaker.

Leatherworkers:

• Farsun Family Furs; Owned by Tristan Farsun.

• "That's A Stretch" Fine Leatherworks; Owned by Wilhand Vallbrook.

Taverns:

• Myrrmaddon's Meadery; Owned by Casathis Myrrmaddon. It's devilishly good.

• The Defender's Drink; Owned by Galen Greybreak. The only tavern patronized by the Defiant Guard.

• Burnbelly Tavern; Owned by Skeev.

Inns:

• Shieldrest Inn and Tavern; Owned by Helaina Gunterson. Well protected and high end.

• Hob's Head Inn; Owned by Naymoor Raymund. For travelers on a budget.

History

Defiance was originally founded as Kaylen's Crossing in 692 DA as a strategically located farming village with excellent access to timber. During the Age of Dragons it toiled and grew, exporting vast amounts of food and timber for the hoards of their draconic overlords.
In 1280 DA the central tower was built and the town renamed itself Defiance, the people refusing to toil under the oppression of the Dragon Kings any longer and refusing to pay their tithes. If not for the intervention of an unknown band of mercenaries that would have been the end of Defiance, but the town was kept safe and those mercenaries eventually settled there, founding the Defiant Guard as a simple branch of the Guild of Arms to guard and protect the populace.
In 1298 HE the village was set upon by a horde of rampaging flesh golems set loose by a Grey Robe hiding in the Deep, eliminating most of the Defiant Guard and the fighting population of the city. Acting Guard Captain Ambrose appointed two traveling hunters, a wizard by the name of Diane and a bowman named Wayne, to defend the city from dangers whilst he rode to neighboring towns looking for recruits. While he was away a hobgoblin envoy came to the town, informing the population that they had three days to surrender the city and become slaves or be cruelly executed as examples. The hunters took it upon themselves to repair the city walls from the recent assault, arm the living populace with bows and arrows, and prepare for a siege.
On the 6th Day of St. Cuthbert, when the hobgoblin armies came the population, lead by the Defenders of Defiance, successfully repelled the assault, capturing the hobgoblin General Villneesh Arrowhead and scattering his army. A well timed arrival from Acting Guard Captain Ambrose with a company of mercenary cavalry sealed their doom, and the town was saved. The day was proclaimed The Day of Defiance, and is celebrated as a festival holiday every year in the city. The mercenary company recruited by Captain Ambrose became the new Defiant Guard, and the 49 families that survived the hobgoblin assault became the Old Families of Defiance, a prestigious group recognized to this day. Shortly after the Defiant Guard founded the Council of Coins as a governing body for the town, and solidified its local power.
The period that followed was one of great expansion for the city, one of growth and prosperity. Defiance was on the front lines for the War of Thorns, and each time an assault came its defenses grew stronger, the Defiant Guard more powerful locally.

Architecture

The architecture is half idyllic farmhouse and half stony utilitarian fortress, with many of the old wooden buildings centered near the middle of town, contrasted with the simple stone structures on the outer limits.

Natural Resources

The Deep provides a massive amount of timber that is processed and shipped from defiance, and the fields to the south provide all sorts of grains, vegetables, meat and rawhide leather. The river to the south provides a good amount of freshwater fish, and those willing to travel into the Deep along the western road will find the rock quarry and iron mines that the town draws upon.

Type

Large town

Population

8,012

Location under

Norstir

Owning Organization

The Guild of Arms