Luskan

Coming down from the river after 3 weeks of travel, on the morning of sixth day the gray spires of the Twin Fangs pierced the haven. Not too long after Hendricks, the first mate, informed us that we would reach Luskan around midday.
Crossing the next bend you could see the smog rise over the blackened walls and the fangs, baring their weapons from every angle, stared down at us. We arrived at Luskan.
-Kadar Strongbeard, Mirabarian Smith

Demographics

Luskan is a melting pot of species and people of differing wealth. Due to its location on the coast and next to a big river a lot of travellers and merchants of differing species congregate in the city in the search for further travel arrangements or jobs. The city is primarily human but not by a large margin and a sizeable portion of the other races can be found here aswell. Even lesser seen races like Tabaxi or Tortles can be seen here.

Government

Luskan has no formalised law, even though it formally belongs to the kingdom of Xairin its location on the border of the kingdom makes it difficult for the crown to enforce the laws here. Luskan is instead ruled by five big city gangs, so called Ships. Each ship is lead by a single leader, who is called Grand Captain. These gangs have each carved out their own territory in the city and there are frequent fights over terrirtory. The local populace is being controlled by a mixture of intimidation and a public court showing called the Captains Court where people will be judged by one of the captains and then the sentenced will be carried out almost instantly. Most sentences are executions.

Defences

The city is defended by a high wall lined with turrets. The river leading inland is flanked by two giant defensive towers, called the Twin Fangs. These towers are almost double the height of the surrounding wall.

Industry & Trade

Industry in Luskan is only a small part of the city. There are some fisheries near the harbour and a few sawmills outside of city limits that harvest and process the wood from the nearby Whispering Wood. The primary source of income for Luskan is its flourishing trade. A lot of ocean fairing vessels dock in the harbour for a short stop before continuing inland or to sell their brought goods. Conversely almost all of the ships coming from the inland use Luskan as the primary spot to sell their wares. Luskan has a long standing trade partnership with Mirabar that sells almost all their metalworking goods in Luskan.

Infrastructure

The streets in the city are mostly muddy and not very well taken care of. The center piece are three intricate clockwork bridges that span the river crossing the city. There bridges kann be retracted in case a big ship needs to pass. The important infrastructure pieces needed for the trade route leading to and from Mirabar are always well cared for since the trade represents a big chunk of the income of the city so even the gangs have a vested interest in keeping the trade going and cashing in on all the tolls.

Guilds and Factions

Luskan is divided into five factions, the so called ships. The biggest one is Ship Kurth followed by Ship Baram. These two hold the most power in the Captains Court aswell as the most manpower inside the city. Ship Baram controls the northern part of the city, that includes the gate that leads onto the river towards Mirabar . Due to their control over the River Gate they get to levy tolls on all the incoming ships. Ship Kurth controls the commercial harbour near the estuary. So they control a large part of the incoming trade from other cities. This controls allows the to purches their supplies cheaper than the other factions which gives them an edge in the direct competition. The other three Ships are Ship Rethnor, Ship Taerl and Ship Suljack. They all control smaller parts of the city and all have their own specialisations.

Architecture

most of the houses in the city are build out of whatever wood the inhabitants could scavenge and fell from the nearby woods. This leads most of the city to look like a shanty town. The houses are build on top of another and leaning against each other. The few more organized districts, like the shield of Mirabar or the Captains court are lined by squat two story stone houses. The pride of the city is the so called Harbour of White Sails. The harbour where the so called military fleets dock. The pier is made of marble lined by black volcanic stone and each ship has its own docking point where warehouses are at the ready to resupply and unload.

Geography

Built on the estuary of the river Mira the main body of the city is located spread over both sides of the river. In addition to the sides of the river there a three small islands dotting the estuary itself where a prison and some fortifications have been built.

Natural Resources

The only natural resource Luskan itself has is a big supply of ocean fish that is being harvested each morning by a fleet of fisherboats.

Type

Large city

Population

68963

Inhabitant Demonym

Luskanites