Prospera

Prospera is a haven built in the ideal location to export a number of valuable resources. Due to the profit inherent in its wealth of resources, it has been the subject of a number of conflicts for control of the city. It was renamed to Prospera during the last of these conflicts, which was four winters ago. Four winters is a reasonable long period of governmental stability, and the current ruling organization, The Gild is seen as a particularly strong group. They rule with a fairly iron fist when it comes to challenges to their authority, though they make a number of efforts to appear as if they are the best thing for the less powerful citizens of Prospera as well.
Physically, Prospera is built on top of a stumpy hill (that changes name as often as the city) surrounded on all sides by Needlewoods. The surrounding forest is known as the Shootwood. It is affected by a magical phenomenon that causes plants (primarily the Thrumming Pines) to grow much more rapidly. A seedling in the Shootwood can expect to grow about a four feet a year for the first several years of its lifetime. This affects food crops at a much reduced rate, but it still often allows Prospera to get an extra harvest in per summer. Much of this excess food is sold off to other nearby havens at a premium.
Many Prosperans are also engaged in lumber harvesting, with some amount of deforestation work being done almost year round. The sap from the thrumming pines can be refined as fuel and the needles and other parts of the tree make for useful magical catalysts.
Beneath Prospera Hill, there are rich deposits of natural gas, which is critical for heating the city. There are also large deposits of gold and iron, which are critical raw materials. Because it is so dangerous to attempt to build a settlement without a nearby heat source, many havens have to go to great lengths to acquire these critical earth-borne materials, or simply resort to buying them when possible. Gold and iron are both important materials for exploits mechanical, electrical, and magical, and the Prosperan merchants have never shown mercy on pricing.

Demographics

Like many havens, Prospera is inhabited by a mix of mutated and unmutated humans. The hard life in the city means that the population tends to fluctuate, though it has been stable recently. The scales fall more toward the mutated side, if only because many of the mutated humans are able to withstand the rigors of life in Prospera a little more easily, especially if they are physically stronger or resistant to the cold.
The working population is split broadly into three categories. There are the Jacks, who go out into the Shootwood to harvest the rapidly growing lumber. There are the miners, who descend into Prospera Hill to extract the various precious metals and materials that can be found beneath the city. And there are the merchants, who make commerce flow.

Government

Prospera is a military plutocracy. There is very little unity among the various merchants of the city. Material wealth decides rank in both government and the military, though the actual named ruler in the city is usually the military leader who last conquered the city. The struggle for power between the disparate merchants and the military is ongoing and unstable.

Alternative Name(s)

The Smokey City, Andrea, Sap City

Type

City

Population

150,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Prosperan

Location under

Needlewood

Owner/Ruler

Antonio "Goldfingers" Rocha

Owning Organization

The Gild