Channel Cities
by Aaron Smalley
Welcome to the Channel Cities. Home to the brightest lights and the darkest shadows within the World of Ærnth fantasy RPG setting. The cities are the economic, political, and social center of this vast fantasy world. It is comprised of five separate cities, each with its own system of government, its own economy, varied social beliefs and morays, and the behind-the-scenes intrigue and espionage that accompanies such a vast and varied metropolis. There are also extensive Guilds and Organizations that exist within the cities. It should also be noted that this is probably the only place in the world where you can hear just about every Language present within the World of Ærnth spoken.
Much of the Gorled to the north and west is comprised of rolling hills with small patches of woodlands and numerous rivers providing water to these rich and fertile farmlands. The northern and western edges of the kingdom are bounded by the Grey Mountains as they wrap around to the east, with the hills becoming higher and more rugged as they approach the mountains. While the city of Gorled is one of the largest in area, economic strength, military power, political power and population.
The lands of the Petty Kingdoms, south of the Loudewater River and dominated by the small city of Dorgard, that separates them from the Gorled Kingdom are similar except for the fact that they tend to be more wooded due less of the land being converted over to agriculture within the Petty Kingdoms.
The center of the channel is dominated by the island that is also the city-state of Argentum, with the center of the island being comprised of a flat-topped hill that contains the estates of most of the cities wealthiest merchants. Several other islands are also present in the channel, including one just off the northern coast and one just off the southern coast of Argentum proper, which ae owned by the wealthiest of Argentums wealthy merchants. Further south in the channel ae a collection of islands know as the Isles of Stars, which is home to a very exclusive and reclusive school that is rumored to contain the world’s largest collection of historical records.
Please note that only a portion of the business in each district are designated and detailed, usually between 15% (high population density) and 50% (low population density) of the businesses that should exist within such a portion of a medieval age city with the designated populations. This was done both with an eye to realism for the sake of creating an imersive and believable setting so that the characters can encounter the types of people that would be likely in such an environment, as well as provide a lot of opportunities for "community" encounters and jobs (adventures). This of course means that you will find ratios of these businesses that are reasonable (based on historical data) and will also find people and businesses that most other settings skip over (despite these often times offering additional depth and adventure options).
Of course the commonality of magic will make a major difference in such settings, while this setting strives for a low to mid "power level" and "magic level", where magic is not common among the "common folk", but where characters can easily have access to such abilities, but at the same time, everybody in the world (including peasants) are not walking around with a pocket full of gold and magic items (in fact barter is used nearly as often as coins when it comes to making purchases). Which results in the likes of the rare Alchemist being someone who usually only creates custom items at very high prices by custom order for their clientele, instead of a "magic shop" on every other corner of the city.
by Aaron Smalley
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