Harthwater

Art Credit: "Medieval Town - The river district" by AI Postcards https://www.deviantart.com/ai-postcards/art/Medieval-Town-The-river-district-947304136 

Demographics

Once a small checkpoint town between Waleah and The Tidecaller's Shrine, Harthwater is now an enormous and incredibly stratified society. There is a great divide between the destitute and wealthy and access to opportunity in Harthwater looks more like a Dumbell than a Bell Curve.
Most of the races that make up Harthwater are Gnomes, Halflings, and Dwarves, though they do have a healthy population of taller breeds.

Government

Harthwater is primarily a research town, one of the many reasons why it is home to large guilds such as 7 Staves. It operates as a satellite organization, a territory of the kingdom of Waleah with the same democratically installed administration. The people of Harthwater are legal citizens of Waleah and participate in their elections and are subject to the same legislation and laws enacted.

Defences

Harthwater is adjacent to the zone of Ob-2, making it a highly dangerous encampment, especially as one moves further West. Most of the city's defense resources are tied up in the barricades that separate the wastes from living areas. Guards and soldiers are outfitted with powerful weapons made of Mirinium and sent to patrole the area.

Assets

Previously a small establishment barely above a Hamlet, Harthwater experienced unprecedented and explosive growth after uncovering a vast resource deposit of a magical accelerant and material component called Mirinium. Highly reactive, highly conductive, several times more lightweight and durable than steel, and filled with enough potential energy to level an entire guildhouse.
Once reserves of Mirinium were discovered on the sovereign lands of Harthwater, the burgeoning kingdom of Waleah was soon to incorporate it into their territories.

Guilds and Factions

Harthwater is most famous as the founding cite for the first of the High Powers, the research guild 7 Staves. It is also home to fellow institutes of learning and magical exploration like Fiddler's Grove Seekers and Craster & Co.
The nation is not short of adventurers guilds either, its proximity to Ob-2 creates many battle thirsty rough-and-tumble types eager to make a name for themselves. Guilds like The Mirinium Knights, The Old & Endless, and Dezerek Engineers.

Type

Large town

Population

2.75 Million

Inhabitant Demonym

Harthers