Hisarlik

In the west of the Great Continent, an inlet runs up between the landmass known as the Scythe and the mountainous peninsula dominated by the dwarves. Hisarlik sits on an outcrop of land on the east side of this inlet, and in this position they handily dominate trade in the area, particularly between the dwarves in the east and the Republic to the northwest. While the Republic has tried before to conquer the city, Hisarlik boasts mighty walls said to have been built by the gods themselves, which have never been breached. Coupled with the amount of warmachines, skyships, and sea ships the lone city-state possesses, Hisarlik remains one of the most influential trade cities in the world.

Demographics

70% human, 25% dwarven, 4% man'di, 1% elven

Government

A council of seven oligarchs meets to create laws and decide on critical matters. Five human families and two dwarven houses have this honor, and the laws passed are minimalist by design. Don't disrupt trade, honor the custom of hospitality, do not betray Hisarlik to outsiders, and seek vengeance only with sanction from your family head are the four most important laws, with individual districts deciding on regulations. Hisarlik has no state apparatus for prosecuting crimes, which means a victim (or the victim's family) must take another to court for compensation or use vendetta. During wars or sieges much of this is suspended; if the Council declares martial law, offenders typically get thrown over the wall with little preamble.
Each oligarch maintains a small, well-equipped fighting force, and all permanent residents of the city are expected to come to its defense when necessary. The equipment of the common folk varies wildly, with some merchants or craftspeople turning out in carefully preserved arms and armor that have been in the family for generations, while others sharpen a stick and pray to their gods.

Defences

The massive wall for which the city is famous stands forty feet tall and ten feet thick, and encircles the city proper as well as its protected bay. One gate permits entry on the landward side, and a passage wide enough to permit most trade vessels allows ships entry into the harbor. Mounted on the wall are all manner of defenses, from conventional ballistae to hwacha and even powered cannons drawing energy from crystals. Large-scale skyship combat is rare, since the city is surrounded by ocean on three sides (making it tougher for the larger vessels to stay up) and the city's warmachines favor weapon loadouts that can take down flying vessels.

Industry & Trade

Trade is the number one source of revenue for this city. Local spices, incense, and finished goods created from raw materials brought in make up the bulk of Hisarlik's exports.

Infrastructure

Dwarven engineering provides the city with underground sewers and the dwarves' novel heat distribution systems, drawing the heat radiating from dwarven forges and using it to provide hot water for public baths and the community kitchens dwarves are renowned for. In an effort to make themselves more self-sufficient, human mages in Hisarlik devised a means of separating salt from water using large machines, creating drinkable water from the ocean itself.

Assets

When it comes to sea trade, Hisarlik dominates much of the hemisphere with just over four hundred sea vessels (magical and otherwise). Even the trade vessels are ready for limited action, as pirates have plagued the city-state since its founding. Though Hisarlik also has around a hundred skyships, none of them are especially large, with armed trade vessels and small skirmishing vessels the norm. One warmachine foundry occupies the city, ensuring that over the years Hisarlik has produced a few hundred of these potent devices (though many have been destroyed in battle or sold, leaving the wealthy of the city with around two hundred to pilot). The city doesn't want for money, run as it is by powerful merchants who retain an interest in glorifying their city and defending it. It's a matter of civic pride for the rich to engage in public works projects and better defense, and in the past, council members who didn't abide by these principles swiftly fell victim to those who did.
Outside the city, fertile farmland stretches away toward the end of the city's peninsula, the fertility of which is carefully overseen. Salt-resistant rice is grown in the lowlands with wheat grown further from the sea, along with numerous vegetables, beans, and olives. Though sieges have cut off food supplies in the past, vast storehouses and intrepid skyship pilots have rendered these moot.

Guilds and Factions

Each family with a member on the Council wields considerable influence, and these seven families drive nearly all of the politics in the city. Despite their continued loyalty to their parent Houses, even the dwarves focus on Hisarlik more than their House politics.
Two prominent outliers also hold considerable sway in the city: the Ravens, and the assassin's guild. The former is more of a social club for traders and merchants not connected with the seven families, but they carry enough weight together that the council listens on occasion, and membership serves to protect individuals while they're in the city, as no one wishes to cross the powerful club. The assassin's guild is run by the elves, giving them a sinister reputation, yet their clandestine services are often called upon. Hisarlik custom states that vendettas must proceed to the person who hired the assassin, not the assassin themselves, and since the elves are never forthcoming about their employers this can make prosecuting crimes extremely difficult. Still, they are a fixture in the city, and no family would risk cutting off access to them.

Alternative Name(s)

The Wall

Type

Large city

Population

Roughly 200,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Hissars

Owning Organization

The Jagged Sea