Deep Breath

Deep Breath was a small village that was established during the construction of Quick River. After construction ended the Shogun had it repurposed into a trade hub with neighboring regions.
Originally established by dwarves, this is the only city in Usilia where Dwarven architecture can be seen. Forges, forts and even a shrine built in honor of one of their Gods, Moradin, still remain standing to this day and it is the only city with foreign nation embassies.
This city along with the other main cities of Usilia, boasts a significant number of military men that not only secure the border but also help inspect and escort trade goods, and armed men patrol every street to keep a watchful eye on foreigners that come to visit as a convenient way to experience a bit of Usilia's culture, and acquire some of their goods.

Government

The city is ruled by a Shogun-appointed Daimyo (High Lord) who is tasked with controlling any and all imports and exports and defending the walls against occasional orcish raids from the north.
Most High Lords in the past did not last very long in their position, as the Shogun's patience for failure is very thin. It is not uncommon for the city to see itself ruled by three or four different Daimyo over the course of a century.
The current Daimyo has remained one of the most successful ones thus far, outlasting all of his predecessors. Thanks to his ingenuity and his ability to see some of the strengths that Dwarves bring to the city he incorporated their armor smithing techniques into the traditional Usilian style and was able to construct the sturdiest armor available in Usilia, able to withstand spear throws and arrows.
This equipment along with the army's strict training doctrine of exercising high in the mountains, near their outposts have turned the elven soldiers there into some of the hardiest ones in the region.

Defences

The city is surrounded by tall rock walls with towers on each corner and palisades that force any mounted invaders to be funneled towards the city's entrance where its heaviest defenses lie.

Infrastructure

With its proximity to Metrus and Dwarven Blacksmith, Deep Breath boasts a surprising variety of blacksmiths capable of producing weapons that are entirely uncommon in Usilia, like Warhammers and Great Axes and also the Dwarven inspired plate armor that is a considerable improved armor compared to the layered splint armor used by most experienced warriors.
It is also a city full of stores that sell Usilian trade goods such as furniture, eating utensils, kimonos, straw hats. If there is a typical good you can associate with Usilia, it can be found here. Outside of the capital itself, there is no better place to buy Usilian goods though, given that most of them are sold to foreigners, the quality of the goods tends to be of lesser quality than ones sold elsewhere.

History

After Usilia was unified under one rule and the Shogun requested the aid, of all races, to the dwarves of Metrus to help build his new capital the land itself started falling into disarray. The Great March had begun to sink with entire portions of the city buried under swamp waters, the orcs still raided and pillaged just across the river to the north of his capital and the former Lords his army chased out to sea had begun attack his trade ships, essentially tightening a noose around Usilia's economy and bringing down the nation along with it.
Given that naval routes were compromised, the Shogun decided to expand and fortify a small village that was established during the years when Metrusians traveled to Ruby Fields and helped in its construction. Thankfully for the Shogun, the wood industries of Quick River and the rice farming of the Great March Halflings became abundant commodities that Usilia had more than enough to sell and thus a trade deal was established first with the Metrusians, who buy lumber and rice for their mining efforts and for slave feeding, and later on with the Marble Coast.
The town that had been nicknamed "Deep Breath", after a common tale of Metrusians warning Usilians about traveling into Metrus without breathing masks, had now become a city, with its own dispatch of troops, and various trade routes established with the neighboring regions.

Location under

Usilia