Crossing

Crossing is the largest and wealthiest of Abanasinia's four northern port towns and is home to the region's busiest port. Founded by a conglomerate of powerful Caergothian merchants, Crossing is a monument to commerce and a symbol of humanity's rise in the postwar Age of Mortals. Located directly across the mouth of the New Sea from the city of Port O’Call, the town of Crossing started out as nothing more than a landing site near a rise that overlooked the Abanasinian Plains. The small landing and watering port quickly grew into a major port as merchants from Caergoth had a deepwater port dredged and funded the building of docks, piers, shipyards, and sprawling waterfront warehouses to store goods. A town sprang up to service the docks, as sailors, merchants, laborers, shopkeepers, ship chandlers, and a variety of unsavory types flocked to the new port.
Today, nearly all shipping from Abanasinia to Solamnia goes through Crossing. It's exactly what you'd expect of a port town—busy, loud, dangerous, often dirty, and with an overwhelming smell of brine and dead fish. The waterfront is a maze of warehouses, shipyards, drydocks, and businesses—both legal and illicit—that cater to the shipping industry. The Caergothian conglomerate's tight grip on the city's commerce has made them and their associates fabulously wealthy. These "merchant princes" as they've styled themselves rival the leaders of Solamnia and Northern Ergoth in sheer power and wealth, and they're not afraid to enforce their whims with the city's watch, mercenary home defense guard, and coast guard. 

Crossing is the most sensible port from which to travel to Solamnia, since Port 'o Call is spitting distance away across the mouth of Newsea. It can be a bit rough and tumble, but it's no worse than Haven when it comes to crime or general danger. The merchant princes are heavy-handed, though, and the city guard is crooked as a Klar's teeth. Getting stripped of your portable wealth or receiving a summary beating in public for minor infractions against the laws—the constantly changing, mutable laws with various interpretations—is a common occurrence. Stay away from anyone official looking and you should have a fine time in Crossing. —BT

Type

Large town