Port O'Connor

Though it is the capital of the island nation of Ostrovenia, Port O'Connor is not the largest city on the island. That honor goes to the volcanic city of Vurothil, known for its mining and smithing. Vurothil was the first settled place on the island, and the miners quickly realized they needed a dedicated port to handle incoming and outgoing goods. They set up a small facility on the northwest side of the island, closest to mainland Ayndrinor, and over time that port grew to a bustling city.
Now, Port O'Connor is one of the busiest port cities in the world, handling a truly astounding volume of goods and people, especially considering the relatively small size of its island. The propserity of Port O'Connor and of Ostrovenia as a whole have allowed the city to make improvements to the port facilities, making them among the best in the world.

Demographics

This coastal city is largely human and halfling, though the promise of steady work has brought people from all over the world to this bustling port. It is not uncommon to see tieflings, genasi, or even bugbears and goblins. Most workers are basic laborers helping load and unload ships, move goods to and from warehouses, and then transport goods overland or by sea to the other settlements on the island. Compared to many other laborers across the world, those in Port O'Connor are paid quite well, due to the prosperity the island's towns and cities have come into. This prosperity flows down to the common citizen by way of high taxes on large businesses and wealthy business owners.

The few aristocratic families in Port O'Connor live quite comfortable lives and tend to be owners of large shipping or merchant businesses, as well as a few who own several warehouses and cart businesses. The monarch and their family make up the most well known of the nobles, and each monarch tends to elevate a few friendly families to nobility as well.
Perhaps the most interesting phenomenon in Port O'Connor is the effect that having a well paid labor force has had on other industries. Because many men are out of the house and are well paid, the women and lesser-earning spouses tend to be free to practice hobbies or work less stressful jobs and hours, with many opening various shops and studios.

Government

Port O'Connor is the home of the monarch of Ostrovenia, though this monarch has almost nothing to do with the city's administration. For that, the citizens directly elect a mayor and four council members every five years. These council members each represent a geographic portion of the city and come from all walks of life. The mayor and council members can serve up to three consecutive terms before they must sit out of government for ten years. The mayor and council appoint all of the city's judges, though there is one High Court that hears appeals and cases that are specifically related to the nation.

Defences

The inland perimeter of Port O'Connor is protected by a sturdy stone wall whose main purpose is to keep out all manner of jungle beasts and creatures - since there are no enemy cities or kingdoms that would attack from inland. The port, however, features more than a half dozen watch towers, each outfitted with three ranged weapons: one ballista, one gunpowder cannon, and one arcane cannon. These port guard towers are capable of hitting ships almost one mile out to sea, and their most frequent use is against pirates or to fire warning shots when ships are behaving aggressively or not cooperating with other ships.

Industry & Trade

The main industries in Port O'Connor are shipping and mercantile, with a healthy amount of warehousing and hospitality. Ships from all over the world deliver goods to this busy port, where they are moved to one of three places: to a warehouse for storage and future use; to other, smaller ships that take the goods to other coastal towns; or directly on to carts to be taken inland to any number of jungle villages or the large central city of Vurothil.
The hospitatlity industry in the city caters to foreign travelers and sailors who have a few nights in port before heading back out to sea. There are a variety of different taverns and theatres at different price points and with different target clientele. Most are run and/or staffed by the spouses of the city's merchant workers, though a few are serious endeavors run by dedicated and intergenerational restauranteurs and hoteliers.

Infrastructure

Port O'Connor is a very well kept city and a model for many large cities to emulate. All streets are paved or cobbled, and the city pays a corps of workers to maintain and repave as necessary. There are many public parks around the city, and the area surrounding the monarch's estate and the other noble manors is especially beautiful. The city gets fresh water from a series of wells dug into subterranean streams and aquifers, but it also has one of the world's few desalination plants to make clean drinking water from the ocean.

History

In the first centuries of Ostroven's settlement and development, the dwarves of the inland city of Vurothil set up a small port facility on the northwest coast to help move goods in and out of the island. They chose that location as it was the closest point on the  island to mainland Ayndrinor, and Port O'Connor still inhabits that area today. Over time, as the volume of goods coming and going increased, so did the population of the port, though it remained an unnamed town and was thought of as an extension of Vurothil.
That all changed when a wealthy halfling merchant named Merrick O'Connor decided to settle down in the town and turn it into a proper city with a proper port. Over the next few decades, Merrick sent letters and envoys trying to convince other halflings to come join him on the island. His call was heeded by a few of his people at first but also picked up by exiles, outcasts, and other people who were down on their luck and looking to start a new life. These people found open doors and open arms in Port O'Connor and got to work setting up their homes and businesses in this new city. In 1999 1A, some fifty years after he first settled, Merrick O'Connor was able to petition the leaders of Vurothil to make the port city its own separate entity, whereupon Merrick was elected the first mayor - though it proved to be ceremonial as he died of old age before he could complete many official duties.
Around fifty years after that, the booming prosperity of the port and the other towns led to them banding together to create a unified nation. They were already cooperating pretty heavily, after all, and an official merger changed few things except on paper. The four cities decided that Port O'Connor would be the seat of the government, as it was the second largest city on the island but did not have the constant threat of decimation by volcanic eruption that Vurothil experienced. The monarch's palace was built, and all heads of state have lived there since - except a few years every three or four centuries when the palace undergoes renovations and modernization.

Architecture

The buildings of Port O'Connor are varied and disparate, reflecting the variety of people that call the city home. There are tall, multi-story stone abodes of dragonborn and goliaths, located right next to slightly smaller and more quaint cottages of halflings and gnomes. The city truly is an ecclectic mix of styles, colors, and materials, but that adds to its charm if you ask most citizens.
The large temples and main government buildings tend to be more Gothic or Neoclassical, depending on their use and purpose. The houses of the aristocrats are wonderful estates in a Baroque or Roccoco style, with ornaments and filigree everywhere. The royal palace is likewise impressive and ornate, though much larger than any noble estate.

Founding Date

1999 1A

Type

Capital

Population

29,641

Inhabitant Demonym

O'Connorers

Location under

Ostroven Island

Owning Organization

Ostrovenia