Ostia
In the era of The Scouring, Ostia was a humble village and the birthplace and home of the warrior Roland Kelldorai, who went on to become one of the Eight Legends and the wielder of the Blazing Blade Durandal. At the Scouring's conclusion, before the Ending Winter seeped the magic from the world, Roland returned to Ostia and used Durandal's power to restore life to the ravaged land. From the town, Roland founded the modern state of Ostia and Lycia as a whole, reigning as the first Marquess Ostia. Roland lived into his second century before his time came to meet the mother of ravens.
Throughout the intervening years, Ostia remained the powerhouse of the Lycian League, economically and politically, and its marquesses consistently ruled as the leader of the Lycian League for a thousand years. Its military, the strongest in Lycia, came to be primarily comprised of heavily armored knights, for which it became famous. Between its military might and its own structure, Castle Ostia has long held a reptuation as an impregnable fortress. Ostia also became renowned as a center of education among the Lycian states, with the nobility of Lycia's other houses frequently coming to Ostia to study in their youth.
House Kelldorai ruled Ostia for 4 generations, until an assassin sent by Bern ended the bloodline by killing the Marquess Rashid, his wife, and two sons. In an unprecedented situation, the minor lords of Ostia convened to determine who would take up the seat of Marquess Ostia. It was determined that the matriarch of Clan Daerdahk, Thaerlin, a severe woman in her second century, would lead March Ostia going forward, and her family after her. So it was that House Daerdahk became the ruling house of Ostia, and the de facto leaders of the Lycian League.
Demographics
Ostia is primarily a city of dwarves and humans, as the lands surrounding stretch across the plains between the Sinsonee and Taliver mountain ranges. About 70% of the population is split evenly between the two races; of the remaining people, 25% is made up of halflings, gnomes, and half-elves, and the last 5% being the rare tiefling, genasi, and dragonborn. "Monstrous" races are fairly discriminated against, and as such, there are very few residents, though a few coming through with a trade caravan isn't unheard of. Elves typically avoid Ostia, except when necessary, as a city ruled by dwarves can't be a good thing.
Government
The leader of the city of Ostia is the Marquess of March Ostia, currently Uther Daerdahk, the fifth generation of Daerdahk dwarves to sit on the throne of Ostia. The general of Ostia's Stalwart Regiment is the younger brother of the Marquess, Hector. Uther is advised by a council of minor lords, each of whom specialize in a different area of city management. Hector, of course, is the military and defense adviser. The trade adviser is a female red-scaled dragonborn named Udajit, a former captain of a merchant vessel that sailed between Ostia and Aquleia on the southern fork of the Ceronda River. The adviser of law, the high-court judge, a dark-skinned female scourge aasimar, divine-born of Erathis, wielding a ceremonial greataxe with the scales of justice etched into the axehead. The faith adviser is High Priest Pyntle Gimlen of Pelor, an stern old gnome wearing a set of silver plate armor with gold trace, and a hood with a yellow interior. The transportation adviser, who primarily oversees travel through the teleportation gate, is a young dwarven man, in his early 40s, Magi Nordak. He wears plain robes, and meticulously tracks all goings-on near the teleportation gate.
Defences
The city is not walled, Lycia being allied with Etruria for many generations. The city is protected by the Stalwart Regiment, a force of 1000 heavily armed knights, recruited from across Lycia, and the city guard, a force of approximately 300, Ostian citizens who have received training under the Stalwart knights. The city guard patrols the streets of the town, as well as sending patrols out around the perimeter of the city. The city guard are lightly armored and armed, their primary function being to keep the peace in town, and alert the Stalwarts of any threats beyond their ability. The Stalwarts serve many defensive functions. Some are the Marquess' personal guards, others patrol the castle. Some are stationed in smaller cities within the March, cities without their own guard presence. Some Stalwarts ride out in parties of 10-20 to the wilderness on the backs of tamed dire wolves, to patrol for any growing bandit presences. Others patrol the roads in and out of March Ostia. Long story short: city guard defends the city of Ostia from itself; Stalwarts defend March Ostia from all threats, in a variety of functions (City Guard is the police, Stalwart Regiment is the army)
The Castle itself was not constructed to be beautiful. While House Kelldorai was content to rule the march from their familial manor, House Daerdahk constructed a bastion of a castle. The masons of the Daerdahk clan built the castle to be impregnable from all attack, out of perhaps a paranoia that someday the dragons would return. The castle has never been breached by a hostile force (though that claim has rarely been challenged due to the location of the city)
Infrastructure
The city has a fairly expansive, and fairly recently built (~50 years old) sewer system, built by members of the Daerdahk clan working with the dwarven miners of Hammerfast. The sewer system creates a method (however disgusting) of getting anywhere in the city without exposing yourself to the surface. There are a select few entrances to the sewers, most of which are guarded at most times, but some unknown side tunnels exist to connect the underbelly of the city.
On the southeastern edge of the city, the furnace district spews out smoke at all hours. 4 large furnaces, powered by a massive pool of red mana, built and filled over a hundred years, are used by many of the smiths in the city, as well as driving a small economy of its own with workshop space being rented to traveling smiths wishing to use the furnaces. The furnace runs so hot, metals can be forged that would otherwise be prohibitively difficult to work with. In the winter, while snow falls on the rest of the city, the ambient temperature of the furnaces keeps most of the district clear of snow. Some tinkerers from the Roughhands clan have been devising a way to pipe this heat into homes from the forge, but thus far, have been unsuccessful, resulting in large fires in the district.
There is a massive open market just south of Castle Ostia, where traveling merchants set up stalls, residents have set up storefronts, and all mingle and gather to purchase goods. The 3 main roads in/out of Ostia all lead straight to this market. On heading west to Etruria, one towards Eastern Lycia, and one towards southern Lycia.
Architecture
Due to the sprawling and multi-cultural nature of the city, Ostia has many styles of housing and architecture. Near the city center, inns and multi-family homes are more common, built of stone, with wooden accents, sharp edges, and little decoration (dwarven architecture). As the city spread, there are many kinds of homes, from cabin-style homes built entirely of wood, to hollowed out hills, inhabited by several generations of a hill dwarf clan. It's very difficult to tell exactly where the city ends, and the guardhouses have been rebuilt several times to account for the sprawl of the city. Thus, the guardhouses are typically quickly-built wooden huts.
Geography
The center of the city is located in somewhat of a valley between two hills. Prior to the development of the sewer system, this caused some houses (and the basement/dungeons of Castle Ostia) to have flooding issues. The area surrounding the city is moderately hilly, with a few small lakes dotted about. About 25 miles to the southwest, the Ceronda River runs down from the Sinsonee Mountains, traveling north into Etruria.
Natural Resources
There are several forests north of Ostia, and the surroundings towns and villages provide all the trade goods and livestock for the city. There is a mostly inactive mine in the northeastern quarter of the city that once output nearly all of the city's metal ore. Now, most of the metal ore is shipped into the city from mines in the Taliver and Sinsonee mountains.
Type
Capital
Population
40,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Ostians
Location under
Included Locations
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