Manvongr
Overview
Manvongr is the first city of Humankind, which translates roughly to City of Man in common speach, is the capital of Hulwar, one of the oldest human kingdoms.
The city was re-populated a bit over half a year after the last regents of the Dragon Sun Empire died. They came into a mostly dead nation, derived of all life except for animals and plants. The fields were deserted, the cities laid empty and hollow, the palace of the once strong and honourable Golden Sun Bloodline only filled with ghosts.
Infrastructure
Scholars and Historians are not quite sure on which grounds the first settlers of the clans decided to found the capital in the knee of the river. Was it because of said river or because there were other resources? Nobody was really sure about it, but they are sure that it has something do to with both. And because of the river the city has a large port with a lot of defenses on both river-sides.
Spreading out from the port we have the workshops and sometimes homes of fisher and dyers (which are settled more at the far away end to not disturb other people). The first market is attached to the port.
After that there are a lot of buildings, mostly homes of the citizens and other workshops or stores. There are no real quarters for merchants or producers, only for storages which are settled behind the second wall of the city. To protect them against raids or sieges.
Technically there is a third wall between the noble villas and houses and the non-noble citizens, but it was cut down to the maximum height of a Dragonborn (~220cm / 7'2ft.) to not exclude the citizens from their wealthier kin. Not to the amusement of the nobility, but after a few bloody examples and a huge loss of coin they had to accept it.
The fourth wall is thick and tall enough to withstand siege-artillery for a long time and has built-in torsion catapults on top with large catapults on towers placed at tactical points. The gatehouses are typically protected by two narrow towers and archers.
Behind the fourth wall and between it and the fifth wall lie the gardens of royalty and the Counselors Halls and their personal manufacturers of every item the royal family wants or needs.
After that comes a deep trench where a side-arm of the river flows at the bottom of said trench, guarded by elite soldiers and the city guard. A three-part drawbridge connects the palace and the rest of the city. The middle part of the bridge can be rotated in case the other side is under siege, so enemy forces can't build large ladders or platforms to reach the bridge.
Behind the drawbridge lies the palace, a relic of the Dragon Sun Empire, only altered in a few places and re-furnished.
The armoury, the training grounds and the barracks are placed in the western part of the city. Outside the large outer wall lie farms, packed next to each other, and farms for livestock.
And last, but not least, the north-western corner inhabits the large temple complex which was repurposed and to a degree rebuilt to fit the needs of the faithful and their pantheon of ten gods and goddesses.
Civilians
There are not many civilians in the city because of the last attack onto the Spiral. It has cost many lives and most of the civilian population is either too old to have kids anymore or too young to have them. A lot of women marched to war as well because they thought it would be an honourable thing to do and why, by the gods, should only be men in the military?!
So the remaining population is growing again and you all know what that means right now. Besides that there are a lot of workers and (traveling) merchants, not counting the critical staff to maintain the vital parts of the city.
And slowly not only humans come back to the city, but also Dragonborn, Dwarves, Elves, some Underlings and - to the surprise of all - even Garladans. Only a few of them, but this is a story for another time.
Military
There are basically three different guard variants: District guards with patrols for inside the city cladded in red armour; the Silver Guard for the walls, towers and gatehouses and the golden-black palace guards. There is a fourth guard, but they are trained and assambled from the best of the best of the best of the other three departments.
Inside the military soldiers can become Builders which means they craft, build and maintain siege weapons and everything needed to maintain the safety of the citys walls and defense mechanisms.
Defenses
The city has four (five, if you count the narrow third wall) ringed walls, each one outfitted with torsion-catapults to shoot stones, oil, spears and arrows over large distances from inside the wall or from the top of a tower. Some have oil traps in it, other poison bombs or alchemic substances to let flesh rot or steel crumble. Or both. Or nastier things.
The only natural defense are the rivers, one at the port and one sitting in the trench between the city and the palace.
Trade
Import
Export
Import
Manvongr is one of the few cities of Hulwar which is importing the famous Chocolate beans (sometimes including the mischievous Chocolate Fairy) as a city and not only a few stores or restaurants. That doesn't mean that the chocolate beans are cheap. It only means that there is a general storage for chocolate beans from which manufacturers, restaurants and chocolatiers can pull their needed resource. There is even one manufacturer of chocolate bars, cakes and pralines which is only producing for the palace and the royal line.
Other imports are specific woods, elven paper, dwarven steel and tools, sometimes their mushrooms (other than the clan-specific ones), bread and especially whiskey from the Underlings and grudgingly rice and wine from the Garladans.
Export
The most sought-after things for merchants are the alchemic mixtures of Manvongr and their laboratories. For royalty and nobles the ceremonial armours and weapons are the most interesting things by far closely after expensive linen dresses for every occasion.
The very specific pottery from Manvongr is made with alchemic substances to make them sturdy, durable and creating a lot of colours even clay and minerals can't achieve. This also includes a lot of patterns. The most expensive ones are made with a not so strong variant of the weaponised Dragonsbreath.
A few manufacturers has also specialised on crafting the finest surgery tools and sometimes even normal eating cuttlery. Which means a normal farmer never could afford one of those sets; probably a few merchants can if they are not overly wealthy. And if they are overly wealthy, they can.
Of ruins & ghosts
Like most of the remnants of the Dragon Sun Empire and the Golden Sun Bloodline the old capital is reused as a... well, new capital. Buildings are repurposed and refurnished, sometimes renovated, others are the foundation of buildings on top of them. Walls are brought down or erected, ways enclosed in other walls or new ceilings, vanishing into the twilight between night and day or fall into eternal darkness.
In this cracks, this long forgotten roads and caves and storehouses, live the poor. The forgotten, the bandits, the lawless people. Or just those people who had been dealt a shitty hand in life and are just surviving. Sometimes prospering in the dark and for some reason those are the ones who have an eye on the city.
There are not only bandits and gangs and poor people. If one dares to venture down the road into the dark, into the twilight, into the alleys and narrow streets, one might find things. Whispering shadows, long lost artefacts and hunters of those, haunting ghosts and sometimes the screams of the dead souls in dire need of a Spiritfarer which will never come.
Tales
"She is an old city. A slumbering beast, old and battle worn. Tired sometimes. With teeths with holes in them, groaning of her weight. But she still supports us. Protects us. Strong walls and stronger towers, narrow roads to crush our enemies in them... the City of Man protects."
"Like the University the city is old and stands on top of large pillars, metaphorically speaking. The foundations are as strong as the defenses and vice versa. If ones steps lead down into the Undercity, into the dark, one may find what they search. Sometimes they don't find what they search, but what they need. And sometimes one even gets what one deserves."
"You can see Manvongr from far away. The palace is huge and its roofs are still golden and shimmer in the sun. The walls high, the rivers deep and the people - even despite their dark gods - quite happy. Well, most of them. Ah, who am I kidding, there is a sense, a tingling of despair and death hanging over the city like a thundercloud. Maybe it is because the city needs new life? Who knows. And the very distinctive point of interest is the port. Not as large as the one of Mearis - it can't be that big, the city lies at a river - but impressive with a good amount of peers and defenses. The sails of ships are always a sight to behold."
Manvongr by CrazyEddie via Midjourney
So full of detail. I love that you could switch between imports and exports on the trade section. I hope the population recovers and the city can thrive.
Thank you, the Trade-part gave me a mean headache. But worth it. And yes, they will eventually. :)