Highport
Safe Harbor, Dangerous Town
The only safe harbor on the island, Highport is a city of four parts - the Southern Ward mostly populated with humans and the area of the city with the greatest means; the Platforms, three areas separately housing halflings, dwarves and elves built on a series of wooden platforms spanning the bay; Gloomwharf, on the northern side of the Deadmouth where the ships lie in wait for cargo and bring supplies; and Thornwall Gate, a separately walled area and a haven for foolhardy adventurers looking to explore the island, more daring merchants willing to live closer to the edge of the city, and the city watch, tasked as much with repelling monstrous incursions as they are with keeping the peace in the city.
Demographics
Racial Breakdown: Human 79%, Halfling 9%, Elf 5%, Dwarf 3%, Gnome 2%, Half-Elf 1%, Half-Orc 1%.
Profession Breakdown:
Bakers 3; Butchers 4; Furriers 7; Magic Shops 1; Roofers 1; Tanners 1; Barbers 15; Carpenters 3; Glovemakers 1; Maidservants 6; Ropemakers 1; Taverns 13; Bathers 1; Chandlers 4; Harness-makers 1; Masons 9; Rugmakers 1; Watercarriers 5; Beer-sellers 2; Chicken Butchers 4; Hatmakers 6; Mercers 5; Saddlers 2; Weavers 6; Blacksmiths 2; Coopers 5; Old Clothes 7; Scabbardmakers 6; Winesellers 4; Bleachers 1; Copyists 2; Illuminators 1; Painters 2; Sculptors 2; Woodcarvers 1; Cutlers 2; Inns 1; Pastrycooks 9; Shoemakers 38; Woodsellers 1; Booksellers 1; Doctors 2; Jewelers 10; Plasterers 4; Spice Merchants 2; Buckle Makers 1; Fishmongers 2; Locksmiths 2; Pursemakers 5; Tailors 21.
The peace is kept by 33 guardsmen, and there are 8 advocates to assist with legal matters. For those more concerned about their soul, there are 55 clergymen and 5 priests.
Government
No formal government exists. The district infrastructure is propped up by different groups. In the Southern Ward, the richest families pay an infrastructure tax to enable the Southern Ward to remain relatively affluent and civilized, and the Ward maintains a council of seven who manage the funds, with one representative from each of the seven richest families. The Southern Ward also charges an entry tax to come within its walls.
Each of the three platforms maintains its integrity with help from the other citizenry through only the necessity of maintaining a stable way of crossing the Deadmouth from Southern Ward to Gloomwharf. The platforms are "run" by gangs of elves, dwarves and halflings respectively, but actual governance is loose and lawlessness abounds.
The Gloomwharf on the northern side of the river is organized by merchants guilds who use the wharf to transport goods to and from Deadmouth Island and need a functioning port to do so.
Finally, the mercenaries and adventurers of Thornwall Gate are hired hands to settle disputes and keep a loose peace for the highest bidders - usually those who profit from the town not descending into chaos.
Defences
Aside from around Thornwall Gate, the walls are largely poorly maintained and provide meager defense. The Southern Ward attempts a more robust defense with walls under construction, however, the threat from the south is relatively little and many see them as a vanity project.
Industry & Trade
Highport as a whole exists because the island and its resources remain appealing despite the ongoing failures by numerous kingdoms to establish a colony. Highport itself is too fractious to be considered a colony in and of itself, serving instead as the necessary port for moving goods to and from the island for the descendants of broken colonies that remain behind. The port is the reason for the existence of the town and the surrounding small settlements and though other denizens of the island might view the disparate remains of centuries of attempted colonization as a whole to be an invasion, the challenge of keeping the port running without an established government, or even the whisper of such a thing appearing, means that survival is as much an industry here as anything else at least outside of the Southern Ward. Within the Southern Ward the desire for establishing what would be an independent settlement is strong, but a combination of infighting, bad management of resources and a tendency to spend on luxuries rather than organizing a truly sustainable settlement keeps it nothing more than a pretense of a true settlement filled with transient merchants and investors who rarely last for long in the harsh reality of Deadmouth Island. The Southern Ward is nothing more than a place for rich, largely human, dreamers with too much coin to waste and lack the drive to truly establish themselves. Hence the fact that the poorer elements of Highport maintain control of most of the shipping and control the bulk of the goods coming in and out of the city.
Infrastructure
The Southern Ward actually has a fully functioning sewer system. It also houses a racetrack and a large barracks and training grounds.
At the western end of Gloomwharf, a ruined citadel sits overlooking the town. The walled area contains the Righteous Church of Kaereles and the mysterious Dark Fraternity. The two powerful groups have thus far kept out most encroachment upon the area, using the established crumbling infrastructure of the older citadel and its market space for profit. Most nautical traffic coming to Deadmouth Island lands at the Gloomwharf.
The Thornwall Gate is the most defensible place of the town precisely because it maximizes the use of their land and resources with military proficiency, using the leverage they have as protectors of the rest of the populace.
Guilds and Factions
- The Virtuous Church of Chysk: Dominating the religious life of the Southern Ward populace as the only sizable place of worship within the ward, the church's public face is benevolent, but mystery surrounds the High Priest of Chysk who rarely appears in public, leaving most matters to his acolytes.
- The Righteous Church of Kaereles: Perhaps being more focused on Kaereles other domains explains why so few horses are associated with the the church of the horse goddess. After all, Kaereles is also the goddess of secrets. Which might well explain why so little is known to the populace of Highport of exactly what this church's aims are in establishing themselves within the old citadel area of town and what exactly their influences are within Highport or beyond.
- The Glorious Temple of Faisky: The Platforms likely could not survive without the charity of the Temple of Faisky whose open doors shelter the homeless of all races and who never seem to run out of the small portions of food they hand out on a daily basis.
- The Watchful Reapers: This mercenary company, based in Thornwall Gate and consisting of elite soldiers, are expensive to hire but boast a fearsome reputation for protecting their clients' interests with ruthless efficiency.
- Prince Street Barracks: The Prince Street Barracks house the largest number of militia in the city, though many, if not most, are young and inexperienced, looking for the relative safety and luxury within the Southern Ward. However, their numbers protect the Southern Ward as much as their abiities.
- The Demon Patrol: Little more than a gang of thugs with delusions of grandeur, they nonetheless control the major northern entry point into Gloomwharf. As long as their tolls remain reasonable and they staick to their established domain, they are tolerated by those who could do anything about reigning them in.
- The Champions Ring: Thornwall Gate's weekly fighting pits draw large crowds and serve as a recruiting ground for those looking to hire capable fighters.
- The Almighty: Dwarven racketeers at constant odds with The Hidden Bandits
- The Dark Fraternity: No doubt connected with the The Righteous Church of Kaereles in some way, this group of arcane magic users is a shadowy as their name suggests.
- The Hidden Bandits: An organized gang of halfling thieves, swindlers, beggars and burglars who vie for control of The Platforms with The Almighty.
- The Forgotten: A group of female warriors-for-hire, of varying races, that rely on stealth, guile and agility to defeat their foes rather than frontal assault.
- Magicians Mystical: A high end guild of magicians providing services, scrolls and potions to the select few that can afford their exorbitant rates.
- The Grand League: The closest thing to a traditional adventurer's guild in Highpoint, this collection of explorers, dungeoneers and thrill seekers pays a membership to the League in return for access to potential jobs, clients and rumors of hidden treasures.
- The Lodge: Whereas the Magicians Mystical offer services to the wealthy at a steep price, common citizens turn to The Lodge for their magical needs. Their business thrives on small, cheap enchantments, but they are capable of more.
- The Secret Order of Highwaymen: Neither secret nor, strictly speaking, highwaymen, the Secret Order of Highwaymen could be best described as bored rich kids playing at petty crime. They know their limitations and, despite their bravado, don't stray out of their depth. In truth, a bit of a joke to the Highpoint populace, but their coin makes them influential even beyond the Southern Ward and keeps them, mostly, out of real trouble.
History
Much like the failed colonies on the island, Highport's history is one of attempts to build a city that have failed. Since the First Landing over three hundred years ago, the area has been occupied. It remains the only easily accessible and "safe" harbor on the island for ships of any size. Now larger than it has ever been before, the town's history is nonetheless one of transients, short lived factions and the strong taking what they can from the weak. It continues to draw an odd mix of rich thrill seekers, explorers, adventurers, the stranded and the remnants, dregs and descendants of the numerous failed colonies on the island.
Few of its inhabitants consider themselves a true "Highporter". It is a town that many people move through, though a few people stay. In some ways, however, Highport could be considered to be the greatest success in establishing a permanent presence on Deadmouth Island. Though the original citadel now lies abandoned, the port itself is established and relatively busy, with sufficient population between Highpoint and Cliffegarde to necessitate supplies and even luxuries and sufficient resources on the island to warrant an active port. Merchants compete to leverage resources. Perhaps one day a conglomerate will establish a stable rule, but to date the situation in Highport regarding rulership, control and stability remains fluid.
At points during its history, Highport has been, variously, larger and more organized; and almost abandoned. But its geographic location continues to draw people and the legendary lost riches of the failed colonizations of the island (which may or may not actually exist) are a constant attraction to the outside world. Highport is the easiest, in many ways the only, entrance point to the island that holds any hope of survival. Certainly for a large force, there is no other option but to come through the port. This has been the status quo for more than three centuries.
Architecture
There is no consistent style to the architecture of Highport. Indeed, much of the city is little more than a shanty town. The Southern Ward comes closest to a consistent style of architecture as much of the Southern Ward was designed by the same group of builders and architects hired by the richer families during a period when to come to Deadmouth Island was a fashionable thing for noble families to do. These richer buildings in the Southern Ward are more spacious, often including small gardens attached to them and are a curious tudor style with the main part of the house raised above street level held up by stone arches that create a miniature cloister beneath the house itself. Kitchen areas tend to be on street level with steps up to the main level from the kitchen itself. The richest properties in the Southern Ward even have a semblance of indoor plumbing attached to the only functioning sewer system in Highport.
Thornwall Gate consists of an eclectic collection of compounds. The Platforms have nothing resembling any kind of architectural or city planning. Buildings are cheap and flimsy, often as much a lean-to or shack as an actual building. Large portions of Gloomwharf are simply tent cities, though there is more of a tendency of a practical style of architecture for the warehouses and mercantile areas of the quarter.
Even the abandoned citadel is a mishmash of styles built over decades through necessity. Need rather than design has driven the buildings of Highport and the numerous cultural origins of the populace as influenced the decorations and construction of the city.
Geography
Highport spans the Deadmouth fjord at its lowest point with the Gloomwharf coming down to the sea level to allow the port to be constructed, and the Southern Ward sitting barely 150 ft. above the water line. The Platforms vary in height and though there is a relatively level main path through the platforms between Gloomwharf and the Southern Ward, those with the ability and inclination to climb ladders and slip through narrow spaces can move about far more quickly.
The sides of the fjord on the north and south quickly climb on both sides to thousands of feet high and the Deadmouth widens significantly and rapidly, making the location of Highport genuinely the only option for a landing of any size within the fjord and by far the safest point of entry to the island itself.
From the highest points of Highport, the tops of The Platforms, the citadel and the western edges of the Southern Ward, the views are truly breathtaking in both directions.
Natural Resources
The edges of the Motionless Heights are safely quarried for stone, though breaching the interior of the heights is only for the foolhardy and adventurous. Three centuries of taking wood from the Gladview Wilds has pushed the treeline back further from the city and made harvesting the wood more dangerous, but wood supplies remain plentiful. The soil is rich which has led to an expansion of farming outside the city. Edible sealife in the fjord supplies a rich variety of food to the city, though increasingly pollution in the immediate area of Highport has meant that more distance, risk and skill has been needed to bring in the catches,
Maps
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Town of Highport
A current map of Highport.
Type
City
Population
approx. 3700
Related Ethnicities
Inhabitant Demonym
Highporter
Included Locations
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