Desheart

The settlement that makes up almost the entirety of the Free City of Desheart, Desheart city is a confusing, dangerous sprawl of canals, shanties and compounds for the criminal organisations that dominate the city-state.
Lying in the heart of the Destra Wetlands, the city has no roads, but its buildings and compounds are instead connected by canals which wind their way through the conurbation.

Demographics

As with the wider city-state, people of all species and ethnicities can be found within the city of Desheart, making it a melting pot of cultures from all over Kelbonnar.
As it is a place where fortunes can be made and lost incredibly quickly, it is virtually impossible to give any formal statistics as to the socio-economic make-up of its inhabitants.

Government

Just as its geopolitical parent entity, the Free City of Desheart, has no formalised government, the city of Desheart itself has no one who takes charge or responsibility for its governance, infrastructure or people. Those brave or foolhardy enough to choose to live in Desheart, and those who have no other choice must fend for themselves in all regards, or rely on the protection of one of the many criminal organisations that dominates the political and social life of the city.

Defences

The city has no formal defences or armed forces to protect it. Instead, the many crime syndicates and groups have built numerous fortified compounds throughout the city, which are defended by their own private defence forces.
Desheart’s greatest defence is its location within the Destra Wetlands, which makes it almost impossible for a large armed host to reach it. However, the city is plagued by the many monstrous creatures of the wetlands, who congregate in its waterways, especially at night, looking for an easy meal.

Industry & Trade

Despite its rather squalid appearance, Desheart is a bustling centre of trade. However, this trade is in black market goods and anything illegal or illicit that one could hope to get one’s hands on.
Instead of formalised market squares, the many large natural ponds and small lakes within the city’s limits, known as trading waters, are used during the day for boats of all shapes and sizes to congregate where people sell wares directly from their craft.
The only exception to this rule, is the Desheart Slave Market, run by the slavers of Kar-Dun, who have constructed a large auction hall which is raised above the water on the banks of the largest of these trading waters.

Infrastructure

Little coherent infrastructure exists within Desheart, and what does has been built by one of the criminal factions of the city, who wish to ingratiate themselves with the local population.
Queues for the few wells that exist are long, so most of the city’s inhabitants choose to boil water drawn straight from the canals for drinking, or avoid water altogether and stick to small beer for their hydration needs.

Guilds and Factions

Numerous factions exist within the city of Desheart, almost all of which are illicit in their aims and origins. More detail on the factions of the city can be found in the Free City of Desheart article.

Tourism

Despite its remote location, the city of Desheart receives a huge amount of visitors, though they almost all do not come to view the sites (which are few and far between), but to gain access to the thriving black market trading that goes on within the city.
The sheer number of these visitors means that Desheart has a huge number of inns, many of which are owned and run by one of the criminal cartels active within Desheart. Many others, however, have established themselves as Free-Houses, who operate independently of the criminal organisations and which are seen as neutral territory where anyone visiting Desheart who does not wish to be associated with one faction or another can stay, or where meetings between representatives of rival factions can meet on neutral ground.

Geography

The city of Desheart lies almost at the centre of the Destra Wetlands. The wetland waterways and bogs are impossible to hold back, save by marvellous and expensive works of engineering, so instead the people of Desheart embrace their soggy home environment. Instead of roads, natural waterways have been converted into canals and new canals built to connect the city’s buildings together, whilst most of its buildings are built on stilts so that their ground floors do not make contact with the sodden, or even non-existent earth.

Founding Date

215DP

Population

c.3,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Deshearts

Location under

Destra Wetlands

Owning Organization

Free City of Desheart