Praven

Praven, aside from the Imperial City, is the only major settlement in the Corithan Lowlands. The mid sized town of about 3,000 sits at the delta of the Corithan River and serves as the harbor for all river freight that comes and goes from the Capitol. On the surface it's an industrious but unremarkable town.

Locations

Docks Ward

The Docks Ward is heart of Praven and the whole reason the town exists. Built atop the ancient shipyards that were used to build triremes for the Imperial Navy during the Thutmose wars, the docks now see a near endless trickle of merchant ships and rivermen's boats coming and going both night and day to meet the demands for trade in the Imperial Capitol. The Docks Ward is a crowded and bustling area that contains the prefecture house for the Vigile, seemingly innumerable taverns and inns to serve seamen, rows of warehouses, homes, and a shrine to Neptune and Mercury.

Hag's Home

Hag's Home seems like a run of the mill drinking establishment that caters to the common sailors who come to shore after long weeks at sea. The wooden structure has a temporary look to it despite its continual operation for the last 10 years, the floors are straw covered dirt, tables are old ale barrels, the stools all seem rickety and overused, they only serve one kind of beer, there is no food or music, and the bar is just some planks tossed atop some sawhorses. Despite all of that Hag's Home has a steady flow of customers coming to get the establishment's famous beer which is known to sailors throughout the Prate Neptunia and beyond for its taste, potency, and cheap price. The tavern's publican Caelus Aemilius Castus has been offered small fortunes for his recipe but he has refused them every time. He has never shared any details of his recipe.

Praven Prefecture

A wood gnome named Klerbist Thieftaker currently serves as Constable in Praven and is in charge of the 30 man detachment of Vigils from the Capitol that provide law and order in the town. Given the nature of the seafaring men and woman they deal with on a constant basis Praven's vigiles are rough and tough and are more than likely to start breaking skulls and dragging people to cells than to investigate the reasons behind a brawl or sufficiently loud argument. 24 watchmen, two decani, and three quaesitors work beneath Klerbist. The prefecture house is quite large and contains a dozen jail cells and a barracks capable of supporting half again as many vigils as are stationed there. A siphos and a prisoner wagon are kept at the carriage house of The Golden Spear.

Praven Shrine

The shrine is a small brick structure with a facade of white granite. It contains two alters, one dedicated to Neptune and another to Mercury. It's tended by two lay priests, twin brothers named Titus and Publious Manilius - neither is a cleric capable of casting spells. Worshippers of the Imperial gods come to pray and leave offerings to one or both gods before heading on a new voyage or trade expedition for wealth and safety.

The Wrong Glory Inn

Pralda Whitfoot runs this inn which was named after a childhood story told by strongheart halflings. The most notable thing about this otherwise typical establishment is how its sized specifically to cater to small folk, all the beds, counters, meals, drinks, and furniture are half sized so as to cater to the gnomes and halflings who live in and travel to Praven.

Eastbank

On the east side of the Corithan River Eastbank is home to the majority of the middle class and patrician residents of Praven. Most of the important structures can be found in Eastbank, including the forum of Praven, the palace of the Baronessa, and the decaying remains of the Le Sueur villa. The Golden Spear Inn caters to those traders and travelers with coin to spare.

Emerita Palace

The palace serves as both the administrative center of Praven and it's barony and home for the members of the Emerita family. Emerita palace is a large single floor building with a marble facade and columns on the outside. One half of the palace is devoted to administration and contains a throne room for official business and all the offices of the ministers, tax collectors, and other officials employed and elected to run Praven. The second half is closed to the public and is home to the Baronessa Lucretia; a somewhat reclusive woman in her fifties who never married nor mothered any children. Emerita Palace is due north of the forum.

The Forum of Praven

Praven's forum is a large plaza that's centrally located in Eastbank and joins the neighborhood with the Docks Ward on its south side. A public fountain that provides drinking water for everyone is located centrally in the middle of the plaza, it's adorned with reliefs of men constructing triremes for the Imperial Navy. The third Day of Labor is market day at the forum.

The Golden Spear Inn

The Amshigan woman Aspasia and her husband Olufo from Bibracte run a two story tall inn made of stone and timber and located inside the walls near the gate to Mason's Shade. The establishment is quite upscale for a town like Praven and has its own courtyard, stable, and carriage house. Inside the inn rooms are large and private with woolen mattresses on sturdy bed frames and soft down filled pillows. The common room is warm, always open, and has its own house band that plays through the dinner hours. Meals are planned ahead and cost 3 nummi, a room costs one denar as does putting up a single mount or a carriage for a night.

Le Sueur Villa

Once the home of the wealthy Le Sueur family from Jharekhan, which made a significant fortune trading in spices, incense, gems, and art from Thutmose and So-So. Inexplicable tragedy after inexplicable tragedy struck the Le Sueurs and the family disappeared into irrelevancy some decades ago. The ruined villa is now under 24 hour guard and has become the focus of many rumors.

Mason's Shade

Also known as the Dwarven Quarter though it has a much higher population of gnomes, Mason's Shade is nestled against the walls of Praven in an area covered in perpetual shade by the city walls. It serves as home to most the dwarfs and rock gnomes who maintain the machinery, damns, and levies that keep Praven from being flooded by the tides coming from the Prata Neptunia and the currents of the Corithan River basin. The buildings of Mason's Shade are mostly homes and built in the style of hill dwarves.

Singer Stonefinger's

The only shop in Mason's Shade is owned by a rock cutter named Jynlen Stonefinger, she uses both traditional means and stone singing to create sculptures and masonry.

Sunrise Quarter

Much like with the dwarves, Praven's elves have opted for their own smaller community outside the town's walls. The Sunrise Quarter sticks out in stark contrast to the rest of Praven because of its graceful constructions that blend the styles of both the high and wood elves. Every home in the Sunrise Quarter has it's entrance facing toward the east in traditional high elf fashion.

Westbank

Westbank is mostly residential, the cottages and insulae of the common plebs who work the docks, warehouses, and boats of Praven and the general laborers. Westbank is also where keelboats are constructed for the journey up and down the river, it also contains the guard barracks and of all things, a magic store.

The Boatyard of Praven

Praven's boatyard is busy year round with the construction of keelboats for river and coastal trade; this particular industry is directly owned by the Emerita family and at peak proficiency turns out as many as three shallow draft boats that are 60 feet long, 15 feet wide, and powered by a single square sail or six oarsmen every month. For 300 talents an aspiring boat captain or established trader can purchase a vessel, but custom orders cost more. The half-orc Grubb oversees the construction of all vessels and the day to day operations.

Guard Barracks

Praven's Barracks is actually two buildings set up against the wall of the western gate, the heavily fortified buildings can each house over 200 soldiers but are currently at less than half capacity. Only the southern barrack is in use and houses 150 men at arms commanded by the half-elf Captain Havenar Paci and two lieutenants.

Lol Vael

Nestled inexplicably between the insulae and cottages of Westbank is the tallest structure in all of Praven. The four story square tower of wood and stone and elvish design is near the banks of the river and home to the wood elf wizard named Lol Vael. For about 200 years Vael has resided in Praven where he serves as an on again, off again magical adviser for the barones and baronessas and deals in potions and scrolls of magic with the occasional visitor who has the coin. Lol Vael always has any common potion or spell scroll and sometimes deals in uncommon or even rare magical items.

Demographics

The town of Praven covers an area of approximately 49 acres, with a total population of around 3000 people. The population is mostly human (2,370), with smaller numbers of halflings (270), elves (150), Half-Orcs (90), half-elves (40), gnomes (35), and Dwarves (10).

Government

Baronessa Lucretia Emerita Floria lives, rules, and administrates in the town of Praven.

Defences

On land Praven is protected by a 20 foot stone wall studded with towers, they're an outdated design and with no serious threats for as long as people can remember the walls have fallen into disrepair. A 30 man detachment of the Vigilie from the Imperial City maintains the peace and the Baronessa maintains a small retinue of 150 men at arms to guard her domain. Praven also falls under the protection of the Emperor's Legio II, and First Fleet which can arrive within hours of any event.

Industry & Trade

The shipping of trade goods up and down the Corithan River is the town's primary industry and purpose so the very vast majority of the town's permanent residents are boatmen or dockhands. The construction of keelboats and barges is the second most important industry in Praven, followed by the inns, taverns, and other businesses that cater to visiting seafarers that take and bring merchandise every single day. The town's gnome and dwarf population almost exclusively works to operate and maintain the sophisticated devices that keep Praven from being a boggy mess.

Assets

The town's gold piece limit is 3,000 gp. Anything, whether it be mundane or magical, having a price under that limit is most likely available for purchase. The total amount of available coinage, or the total value of any given item of equipment for sale at any given time, is 450,000 gp.

Guilds and Factions

The River Traders' Company maintains an outpost in the town and there is also a boatman's guild servicing the river captains and boatbuilders.

History

Praven grew up in a time when there were several smaller settlements that once all competed with one another to ferry supplies up and down the Corithan River from the oceangoing vessels looking to trade with the Capitol. Many towns and villages catered to the sea captains but the incorporation of Praven on its location right at the conjunction of the Corithan River and Prata Neptunia soon saw all their competitors fade into obscurity. The town itself is built upon the ruins of a great shipyard constructed during the Thutmose Wars to produce warships for the Imperial Navy; the first of Baronessa Emerita's ancestors and some patrician investors restored a portion of the great and ancient works that keep the town from being a wet, swampy, mess and founded the settlement at great cost some 500 years or so past.

Type

Town

Population

3,000

Location under

Corithan Peninsula

Owning Organization

The Empire of Coritha