Shiftgate

Low End, terminus of the Low Road, once stood as a bustling trading hub between Gyre, Otway, and northern Oren. Standing for millennia in one form or another, Low End offered a waypoint for northern caravaneers and a hub for craftsmen growing around the forking roads. Arrival of the Elven Empire proved disastrous however; the main road between the major settlements of the Lower Wylds led through Low End. Skirmishes and sieges plagued the city until it was finally razed in ~150 EE. Those craftsmen that resolved to revive their city simply 'shifted the northern gate' two miles south. Newly dubbed Shiftgate, the town struggled to rebuild until imperial powers finally left Oren nearly half a century ago. The Gyre Trading Company bolstered the city and reestablished trade between Otway and Du'chan far to the north.

Shiftgate and the Crucible

Rise of House Ermine proved devastating for trade within the Lower Wylds. Primarch Arstot embargoed land trade with Gyre instead preferring naval ports along the Marbled Sea. Shiftgate suffered a mass exodus as tradesmen fled to Otway in hopes of selling their wears at the Ermine-controlled docks. The rise of chattel slavery also plummeted costs of labor forcing most manual labor craftsmen to abandon their trades altogether.
In the winter of 6 AH, a slave rebellion paralyzed Ermine control on Otway. Parties from House Dusk, Gyre, and the Council of Guilds held a conclave in Shiftgate to renegotiate trade. Upon conclusion of a deal, Shiftgate was attacked from the south by a diversionary force of dragonborn. Flying colors of the Jade Dragonate, these dragonborn intended on sullying this trade agreement while coaxing forces away from Otway, their primary target. A detachment of Shields in town for the conclave countered the siege until an overwhelming force of devilish fiends repelled the invasion. The infernals quickly left Shiftgate to destroy the naval force bombarding Otway.
Only partially razed, Shiftgate rebuilt on its current location with better battlements hopeful that trade between the Lower Wylds would continue.

Alternative Name(s)

Low End

Type

Large town

Population

8000

Related Reports (Primary)

• SoS: Siege of Shiftgate (Part 1)
• SoS: Ultimatum

Governance
Council of Guilds