Novigrad

War is chaos and it never ends. Nilfgaardians embrace and celebrate war as nowhere else. Castles dot the countryside. Private armies and the forces of its various lords march every spring to seize land, cattle, gold, and entire towns. War is a way of life, and its advancements and reversals are as much a part of day-to-day business as the price of bread or the chance of rain. Those leaders who fail to prepare for it find their time as ruler to be short. Only a fool argues for a peaceful year when glory’s crown awaits over the border. This war footing is so ingrained that other regions consider the Nilfgaardians— inhabitants of the Novigrad region—a crazed lot of bloodthirsty, or at least calculating, warmongers. Many come to the cities to earn their coin as mercenaries when the yearly raids and ambushes turn into larger battles and sieges. The lucky seize a general’s laurels or a lord’s title for their initiative on the battlefield; the unlucky perish. The people of Novigrad fight to show their strength, their divine blessings from their gods, the wisdom of their rulers, and the cleverness of their generals. They fight because conquest and victory are honorable and righteous. Now, a new reason for war arises. With dragonfire and marching Imperial legions shattering their kingdom and with the death of the king with no rightful heir, there has been a major change in the balance of power. Now the seven most powerful cities of Novigrad fight to sit upon the throne of the kingdom. Only one city may stand victorious, will they destroy each other in the process or unite against a larger threat?

Republic of Valera

Valera is an empire in name only. Its Lord is largely toothless outside matters of finance, and its people no longer lord it over half the south with displays of wealth and power. However, it has experience, ancient secrets, and a cadre of well-trained, devoted servants of the gods on its side. It is one of the most devout of the Seven Cities, and many families “give a son to the gods” either for the priesthood or (for those of the poorest class) for the legions as a spearman or archer. Valera still thinks of itself as first among equals, and its Lord and nobles remain convinced they will rise and rule, with or without the other cities support.

Government

Valera is governed by its Imperial Senate made up of 100 individuals who dictate the direction of the city state. Senator is the highest position one can achieve and all senators are considered among equals as none hold more power than the other.

Military

The Valeran military is mostly comprised of garrisons of infantry and archers to back them. They will also employ pikemen against the Trombei calvary that attack from the north. The elven art of "running archers" has also been employed thanks to the skirmishers they deploy in battle.

Valera, The Temple City

The seat of power, Valera echoes with the sounds of hammers, workers, and construction. Upon competing for the throne, its Lord launched a major reconstruction effort. Now, new neighborhoods arise from the ruins of the old. Despite the rebuilding efforts, most of the temples to a dozen major gods stand abandoned. The elven gods have neither priests nor followers in Valera, though occasionally an offering turns up on the temple steps.

House of Swords

Valera’s oldest castle, partly of elven construction. Its stones hardened with elven magic, the fort now acts as a strong point against the other city states.

Paveto

The backwater town of Valera’s northwest, home to footloose mercenaries and street brawls.

Theocracy of Kammae

The inquisitors of Kammae know how to strike at their foes’ weakest spots. The priests of the Moon Goddess know where and when to attack those foes. The oracle knows how defeating those foes leads to a chain of events culminating in Kammae’s ultimate triumph. It is all foretold. Life in the Theocracy is eldritch and peculiar. The nation is populated by a zealous citizenry obsessed with displays of public piety, works of true charity, and great deeds of devotion.

Government

Kammae is ruled by the rule of two. The Pantheon's avatar leads the city state through their political and military needs however it is the Oracle who has the final say of any matter due to their divine gift of foresight.

Military

What Kammae lacks in numbers, they make up for in pure quality. Kammae spartans are among the best of all soldiers in Novigrad. It is said a single spartan is worth 100 soldiers from any other city state. Along with this they deploy their troops on the backs of ghost boar; giant boar with aggression to match that of an owlbear.

Kammae, City of the Oracle

The city is a fine sight of blue tile roofs and whitewashed houses, all well kept, its people learned and fanatically pious. The city’s forges create weapons and armor while legions of priestesses imbue healing potions, scrolls, and other magical implements to support Kammae’s army. In the fields outside the walls, the ghost-boar cavalry trains.

Antiba, City of Stone

Antiba quarries fine stone, including blue-veined marble and a variety of pink granite, and boasts some of the finest sculptors in Midgard. Its workshops turn out religious and memorial statuary in great numbers. Many nations pay well for this quality stone, making it one of Kammae’s few exports.

The Smoking Mountain

Kammae’s famous semi-active volcano spews ash every few years to bury the land around it. The Smoking Mountain shelters salamanders, fire elementals, and even swarms of blackscaled kobolds. Some say a dragon also lairs here. True or otherwise, a few groups of brave souls who explore the caldera go missing every year.

Barony of Capleon

A major trading location from the founding of Novigrad, Capleon once grew rich on its merchants and bankers. Recent setbacks have shrunk both the borders and its future prospects. So-called patriots drive dragonkin from the barony, cutting off vital trade and income and infuriating the Dragon Empire. With heroes and bankers alike calling for the baron’s removal, Capleon frequently trembles on the brink of internal revolt or murderous rioting.

Government

Capleon is ruled by a single baron who holds supreme power in the region. Anything the baron says goes and theres no one that can say otherwise.

Military

Capleon's official military can barely even be called that. Instead the baron prefers to hire private armies, mercenaries, and resorts to using bandits and thugs alike to enforce his position of power. With the vast wealth at his disposal its easy to buy the loyalty of others.

Capleon, City of Peace

The city of Capleon is wealthy due to trade, and trade has led it to develop sophisticated banking instruments. Its bankers are shrewd and ruthless in pursuit of efficient, wise uses of Capleon’s position—most of the time. Many buy private armies, spend vast sums currying favor, or gain fortunes (and sometimes lose them again) fortunes on risky ventures. Capleon always held itself as a safe place to do business, but that stability might be failing fast. Once, just under half of the city’s bankers came from the Dragon Empire or Southern realms, but now, with the dragonkin driven out, new financial opportunities arise for native Capleoni.

Draga's Horn

A small but well-sited keep once held this crucial road through the hills between Kammae and Capleon. Famed for its dragon bone ribbed great hall, the fort was sacked and burned by a Kammae raid three years ago. Now, a ghostly drake haunts the ruins trying to piece its own skeleton back together.

Umbardia

The second city of Capleon has rich tin and copper mines and enormous olive orchards and fields of lavender. Currently under martial law to suppress a wave of protests and riots, its people are staunch traditionalists opposed to the baron’s dabbling with the dragons.

Canton of Melana

Ancient prophecies of the king’s long lost heir's return grow closer to fulfillment and Melana prepares for the greatness approaching. Melana controls the eastern gateway to the Seven Cities and a great deal of the overland trade into and out of the region, including the Lowland Road to the Free City of Zobeck.

Government

Melana is ruled by two individuals known as the censors. Censors are elected once every 5 years and a censor cannot serve consecutive terms however can be elected again for a non-consecutive term. Typically censors are elected from amongst the richest and/or most influential individuals within Melana.

Military

What Melana may lack in numbers or quality of troops, they most certainly make up for with their technological marvels they create for sieges. Their siege weapons are by far the best out of all the city states and they use this to their advantage.

Melana, City of Iron

An architectural marvel, the city of Melana sits proudly at the intersection of three trade routes. Behind its massive defensive wall, wide flagstone streets provide easy access to the city’s many marketplaces and public courtyards. The tall, slender towers of villas reach into the sky, and the Censors’ Palace—with its dome and massive colonnades—looks out over the Great Market and the entrance to the Undercity.

Sinkhole Mine

The scene of Melana’s greatest mining disaster, the Sinkhole was once one of the deepest mines ever dug by dwarven hands. Unfortunately, 3 years ago the bottom dropped out of the mine, literally. The five lowest levels of the mine fell into a huge sinkhole and vanished into the darkness. The mine was quickly shut down, but rumors linger that the sinkhole is bottomless, or leads to another plane or to the other side of the world.

Friula, City of Secrets

The stone spires of Friula thrust skyward along the shore and cast their shadows over a massive barrier reef. Friula took in exiles and refugees and sent out adventurous souls to explore the ruined coast, haunted keeps, and empty towers to bring their treasures back to the city. Within a decade, Friula housed more books, scrolls, and records than anywhere outside. Friula’s wealth of knowledge attracts scholars, arcanists, and secret-seekers from all corners, and with this success has come great suspicion from its neighbors. Fortunately for the city, an assault by land would require a march through difficult, basilisk-infested hills. Friula’s allies and her enemies send spies more often than armies. A center of art and knowledge, Friula constantly balances shifting political tides to maintain its isolation. Aside from lore, the city has built a strong trade in vellum, bounties of rare inks and dyes from the nearby reef, and other tools of the scholar’s trade.

Government

Friula is ruled by a mage council that oversees the city state. The council itself is made up of the most powerful mages of Friula and they model themselves off of the old Magocracies of the past when they still existed within the Wasted West.

Military

Friula relies more on spies and sabotage rather than armies. Using these methods they are able to sway the tides of politics in their favor to avoid conflict. However when conflict does arise they support their infantry with powerful mages that rain fire upon their enemies.

Starlight Keep

Home to astronomers, summoners, and active mages who might discomfit the scholars of Friula, Starlight Keep holds the elite and the wise. Its grounds are forbidden to most, and the garrison here has repelled several Valeran attacks with arcane fire.

Republic of Trombei

The walled city of Trombei sits coiled like a serpent at the conjunction of the three major highways, and controls all traffic moving north or south through Novigrad. Flanked on either side by impassable marshes, Trombei has leveraged its strategic location and the bounty of its fertile farms to become an economic juggernaut—and a military power, based on the strength of its cavalry. Graft and corruption increasingly sap the nation’s strength, and growing discontent over the disease striking their precious herds threatens the foundation of the Republic.

Trombei, City of Horses

Controlling the intersection of the highways; the large city of Trombei serves as a customs stop for caravans headed into or out of Trombei. Several companies of mercenary centaurs patrol the border to root out bandits and discourage smugglers. Trombei is also the site of the tremendous Trombei Horse Fair held each year, where the trades are quick and fortunes are made and lost. Nothing is too exotic, from a nightmare to a unicorn. The highlight of the social calendar, the horse fair of Trombei is a huge event spanning 10 days in Last Seed, and involving tens of thousands of horses, grooms, and buyers. The centaurs are headquartered in an immense elven fortress south of the city they call the Old Hold. Some humans have taken to calling it the Stable. Strangely, since the appearance of the black strangles, the centaurs of Trombei have closed the gates of the Old Hold, driving away visitors with words and arrows. Those centaurs who continue to patrol stay far away from other travelers, offering no explanation for their odd behavior.

Government

The commune are the 35 representatives that rule over Trombei. Out of these representatives, 24 are the best horse breeders and trainers in the city state, 10 are the largest land owners, and 1 is from the centaur clans. Together they elect a chief administrator. While most decisions require a vote from amongst the commune, the chief administrator's vote counts as 10 votes. Additionally the chief administrator has complete say over the military positions in their armies, as they choose who they want to be the field marshal and the master of horses.

Military

Trombei, by far, has the best calvary in all the land. They have access to some horse breeds that cannot be found anywhere else in Midgard which makes them a force to be reckon with. Their calvary has trampled many armies in the past and with the aid of the centaurs, they have proven time and time again that open terrain warfare is the worst place you would want to be found in a fight against Trombei.

The Wreck

This crumbling former castle lists at a dangerous angle, like a sunken ship. Currently this site is occupied by the Ladies of the Wreck, a coven of cannibalistic hags worshipping the Hunger. They use the flesh and bones of their victims in the construction of a massive corpse golem, which they believe will eventually house an avatar of their dark god.

Republic of Triolo

The corsairs of Triolo are notorious as fearless raiders who strike any shipping other than their own, seize cargoes of all kinds, and ransom captives from every nation. The richness of Triolo’s spice and glass trade goes far, as does its clever diplomacy, but the city seems to exist on a precariously balanced stew of lawlessness, infernal bargains, and vast fortunes pledged and squandered. Fortunately, its people are loyal, proud, and hard working. A preeminent sea power, the wealth brought in by Triolo’s fleets ought to ensure security—but that was before Novigrad was broken by the Dragon Empire. Rocked to its core by this, Triolo suddenly finds itself on the front line of a war most fooled themselves into believing was still far away. Now past the fear-fueled conflicts between citizens and refugees, Triolo stands mostly united behind a singular goal: to drive the Dragon Empire back.

Government

Triolo is ruled by a triumverant. Three total individuals hold absolute power here, however each hold no more power than the other and cannot interfere with the sections of government that each hold. The Excellency holds power over all political matters within Triolo, the Pope runs all aspects of Triolo's religion, and the Legatus commands Triolo's military.

Military

Triolo's main weapon is its unrivaled navy, making the inner sea an impossible place for other city states to attempt to move their armies through. However their navy isnt their only weapon, their legions of soldiers by far outnumber any army in Novigrad and it would take the combined armies of of each city state to be larger than Triolo's legions. However Triolo prioritizes size over quality and prefers to mass produce its armies rather than spend vast amounts of time training a single soldier. 

Triolo City and Harbor

Home to more than 100,000 people, Triolo is the heart of a web of sea routes and trading relationships extending in the south and east. Its harbor front is among the most cosmopolitan and outrageous length of flagstones anywhere. Eager to do anything to help the cause of uniting their home, displaced citizens have thrown themselves into the ranks of the army, navy, and labor pools of the shipbuilding guilds. The same cannot be said for the nobles. Some dedicate themselves to the restoration of their home. Others, though, wallow in their depression or ruthlessly try to carve out a place for “nobles” in a Republic dominated by naval officers.

Living Colossus

As a sign of blessing of the alliance between Kammae and Triolo, a sea titan guards the oceans they sail upon. The titan does not speak and refuses to communicate but acts swiftly against Dragon Empire vessels and aerial forces. He has already destroyed several raids single-handedly.

Stenchhold

The political prison for enemies of the Triolan state is also the fortress holding its border against Trombei. Largely neglected and falling into greater disrepair with each season, it sits on a hill with an excellent view of the ocean. Soldiers, politicians, and citizens alike consider this place a pestilential backwater and do their best to forget both it and the people sentenced there.