Twelve-Tower City
Steam and Spell, Metal and Mettle, Knowledge and Secrets; all can be found here... For a price
Demographics
Humans, Halflings, Gnomes, Dark Elves, High Elves, Dwarves
Government
It is a constitutional monarchy of sorts, with a High Ruler, a ruling class of nobles and exalted citizens that discuss which rules are put into place.
Defences
A small but well-trained city militia, armed with 5 cannons, several pistols of different kinds, and a few cadre of warm ages defend the city, not to mention the city has been walled over and over by the Elves and Goblins before. Additionally, the members of the Academy have lend their aid in the protection of the city before, especially during the defense agains the Crimson Crusade.
Industry & Trade
Much of the trade and work that is done is mostly Industrial, creating pieces of clockwork and machinery that get distributed to the rest of the northlands, as well as alchemical products to use in different kinds of things; with access to the main Thunder-Rail line that goes north and south, several smaller trade routes and even access to the Under-Tunnel to the Duskborn city of Elselium. Additionally, there are several mines that are close to the city, which supply them with iron, copper, coal, and tin.
Additionally, there are smaller villages and towns close to the mountains that are affiliated to Twelve-Tower City, which provide them with a steady supply of food; and in return, they supply them with minerals.
Infrastructure
by jjpeabody
Assets
Besides being connected to several merchant roads, the City boasts many workshops of Artificiers, Alchemists, and several different stores. That being said, because of the limited size of the city and the altitude it is located, it requires merchants to transport food to them almost daily.
Guilds and Factions
While the City does boast a good number of citizen organizations, most (if not all) are affiliated, or absorbed eventually by The Academy, it's even rumored that a few Thieves' Guilds have been taken over by them, in order to help them explore the Undercity.
Additionally, there are several Merchant Guilds that deal with supplies coming in an out of the city.
History
While the City started first as a research settlement by the Elves, in order to understand the nature of the floating towers, the Narrathi took it during the War of Winter's Fire, and had been contested several times.
As the war ended, the settlement was eventually abandoned, until a group of displaced humans and dwarves found it, and started to use it as a merchant settlement. Eventually, a few mages lend their hand -as long as they could study the Towers in Peace- and the city began to prosper.
With the rise of the city, and the proper supply of food, and talent to help build up more and more buildings inside the city walls.
Several decades later, the Duskborn emerged from the Under-Way, and began to lend aid to the population, and from there, small Alchemist Workshops and Artificer Forges were founded; and, along with the wizards, began to create the building blocks of The Academy.
It was a this time that steam technology was being mastered, and steam-thaumaturgy was beginning to be assimilated by many arcanists, and even many Artificer workshops began to be developed in the Northlands, and the Southlands, that many of the artificer and alchemist guilds, the wizards of the city, and even local warlords and medics began to ponder the idea to create a place of learning, and so The Academy was born.
However, after a few decades later, massive tsunamis crashed the shores of the west; many coastal cities were devastated, people began to move away from the coastline. Because of this, the city began to have a larger population than ever before, and had to expand.
...Then, The Crimson Crusade appeared from the Western seas. The Crusaders arrived in the Southlands, but eventually began their campaign up north, claiming everything in their path. The cities and settlements quickly allied agains the Crusaders, and fought against them inch by bloody Inch.... And the war arrived at the gates of Twelve-Tower City.
The Siege was, though short, brutal. Cannon-fire ringed through the mountains, sky-ships were torn down by arcane magic, the walls stood strong, but the Crimson Crusade tried to dig their way, and the battle was taken into the Underpass, but eventually they were driven back.
After the Crusade ended, it took months for northern and Crimson Territories to forge peace, but eventually cooler heads prevailed.
Architecture
The city has been described many times, but, the word "mess" can aptly be used for the better. The City is a mash of elven architecture, goblin fortifications, human architecture of different eras, dwarven construction techniques. The city itself has expanded a two times, once during the initial occupation by humans (and later on some Mountain Dwarves ), and another expansion was later done after repelling the Crimson Crusade from the Neck, after the City Guard saw that the old defenses needed some refurbishing.
The City, due to the mix of different buildings has a maze-like appearance when walking through the streets: The different sounds of merchants selling their wares, the workshops, animals, people, and even the altitude of the city can be too much for outsiders that are accustomed to lower heights.
... And then are there Towers. The Twelve Towers are different, all looking slightly twisted and crooked, as if they had been heated, and made of some strange colored stone that is more akin to glass or Obsidian, but do not reflect light; they float gently across the city in a clockwise pattern, and people can tell the time just by looking which tower is in which part of the city (in fact, here is where the term 'towerwise' as an alternative to clockwise was coined).
Geography
Deep on the Neck of the North, the mountainous region offers a good amount of defense against would-be invaders, but the terrain itself has offered the difficulty that it requires to get much of its food from the lowlands, particularly from the Valley Princes.
The woods at the foot of the mountains provide a beautiful landscape when ascending the road to the city, and even the mountains themselves seem to have gigantic faces carved in their surface.
Once in the city, the clouds and the smokestacks keep part of the it in perpetual smoke and mist, which at the best days makes the city appear almost heavenly, but at worst it makes it difficult to navigate, with all the people, noises, the smells and the crammed look.
Natural Resources
Being deep into the mountains, the city has access to plenty of mineral resources, such as iron, tin, bronze, and even some silver. The nearby forests also provide enough lumber and coal for the machines and infrastructure of the city.
Alternative Name(s)
Twelve-Towers, The Twelve, City of Steam
Type
Large city
Population
10500
Location under
Owning Organization
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