Galigia

Galigia stands in the foothills of the southeastern mountain range separating Etruria and Lycia. The city is divided in half by a great cliff snaking northwest to southeast across the town. The bluffs average 150 to 250 feet in height. The primary function of this town is supporting the student body of the Radiant Academy. There is also a fair amount of trade that comes up the Nentir River from the ocean.The surrounding ridges shelter several small valleys where farmers and woodsfolk live; few are more than six or seven miles from the town. In general the people outside Galigia's walls earn their living by farming or keeping livestock, and the people inside the walls are artisans, laborers, or merchants. People with no other prospects can make a hard living as porters, carrying cargo from the Lower Quays to the Upper Quays (or vice versa).
Up until five centuries or so ago, the southern reaches of Etruria were thinly settled borderlands, home to quarrelsome human hill-chieftains and remote realms of non-humans such as dwarves and halflings. Giants, minotaurs, orcs, ogres, and goblins from the mountains and the Nabata Desert plagued the area. Ruins such as those on the Gray Downs or the ring-forts atop the Old Hills date back to these days, as do stories of the hero Vendar and the dragon of the Nentir.
When the Vinato dynasty came to power in Etruria, settlers began to spread south to the Nentir River, establishing farmsteads, and villages in the southern plains. An Etrurian hero named Aranda Markelhay obtained a charter to build a keep at the portage of the Nentir Falls. She raised a simple tower at the site of Moonstone Keep three hundred and ten years ago, and under its protection the town of Galigia began to grow.
Over the next two centuries, Galigia grew into a small and prosperous city. It was a natural intersection for trade, coming in from the western seas, going out to Etruria, Hammerfast, and Ostia, and the Markelhay family ruled it well. Just north of the city, across the Nentir, the Radiant Academy rose to prominence as the premiere magic academy in Elibe, bringing new travelers, residents, and economy.
Ninety years ago, a fierce horde of desert-dwelling orcs known as the Bloodspears came up from the south and swept over the southern reach. In a rash attempt to halt the Bloodspears at the Zeratuz Downs, Galigia's army was defeated, even with assistance from the Mage Corps, and the Academy. The Bloodspears burned and pillaged Galigia and went on to wreak havoc all across the reach.
In the decades since the Bloodspear War, Galigia has struggled somewhat to reestablish itself. The town is a shadow of the former city; though trade still passes up the river these days. The countryside for scores of miles around is dotted with abandoned homesteads and manors from the days before the Bloodspears. Once again the southern reach is a thinly settled borderland where few folk live. This city, and region, can certainly use assistance from whoever is willing.

Demographics

The people of Galigia are mostly humans (0-60), halflings (61-75), and dwarves (76-90). The other 10% are primarily sturdy races, working the docks: tortles, half-orcs, and goliath

Government

The human noble Faren Markelhay is the Lord Warden (hereditary lord) of the town. He is in charge of the town’s justice, defense, and laws. The Lord Warden appoints a town council to look after routine commerce and public projects. His wife, Lady Allande, an Eladrin (spring) woman late in her first century protects him with her divination magic.

Defences

The Galigian Guard numbers sixty warriors (see the accompanying statistics block), who also serve as constables. Moonstone Keep is their barracks. The Lord Warden can call up 350 militia at need.

Maps

• 

  Galigia

Type

Town

Population

1,350; another 900 or so live in the countryside within a few miles of the town

Inhabitant Demonym

Galigians

Location under

Etruria