Vossevangen (City)

Vossevangen is centered around one thing: iron. While the dwarf-run mining town of Kel Toldir to the north of the town is responsible for ores, it is Vossevangen that processes the raw material. As such, it is home to one of the largest iron works in the eastern Northern Kingdoms, and home to the dwarf king Dreg Hurrim. Smelters and refineries make Vossevangen the center of iron production for much of the surrounding area, including some cities to the south in the outer Imperium. Additionally, because of its size, Vossevangen is the center of food production in the area; without Vossevangen’s supply of food from its own fields and its subsidiary farming hamlets, the population of the city would starve to death.

Demographics

A city of respectable size, Vossevangen is home to a population of about 9,000 residents, of which approximately 6,500 are laborers (farmers, miners, lumberjacks, etc.) and 2000 are lower class tradesmen, such as smelters, tailors, carpenters, etc. About 400 are business owners and high revenue tradesmen, and the remaining 100 are nobility. The military strength of the city is 1800, and much of it is used for offensive/defensive purposes, since the orc population lies just on the other side of the neighboring Blizzard Forest; only a couple hundred soldiers are assigned to the city guard. A number of merchants make up the populace, as well, but only a few have prominence. There are also a number of conglomerate forges of which, again, some are of notable repute. The population is mainly composed of humans and dwarves, although minor elven and half-orc populations exist alongside scattered pockets of other races; the minorities usually work lower class occupations, but some hold prominence (such as Torong Blackfist and Bertram Sackand). Below are listed the important people that PC’s are likely to interact with.

Industry & Trade

---Weapons/Equipment
=Blackfist Steel is run by Torong Blackfist, a captive taken from the orc bandits, the Tusks of the Tundra. Unlike Dwarven crafts, which pride themselves on geometric patterns and monosteel construction to imbue consistency and uniformity, Torong specializes in multisteel construction. His blades are extremely flexible yet retain a strong, sharp edge, unlike Dwarven blades which tend to be more brittle. Additionally, this makes all of blades extremely light, giving all of them the “Versatile” property as illustrated in the Player’s Handbook. Torong crafts weapons in exchange for his life and fair treatment (and a fair amount of gold, of course) since he is under permanent house arrest.
=Ironhand Smelting primarily sells ingots and refined ores, but it also produces basic arms and armor of varying makes, ranging from dwarven to elvish. However, Sergund is a master armorer, and can be called upon to make a custom work, though he is often reluctant to even consider the idea. Any armor he crafts, should he be convinced to make any, has one point of AC above the normal values as listed in the Player’s Handbook, and is considered a Rare item.
-------- ---Food/Lodging
=Bertram Sackand owns and operates the largest tavern/inn in Vossevangen, the Iron Tankard (usually abbreviated to the Tankard). It retains a massive amount of regular customers who continue to return for Bertram’s imported and self-brewed drinks. Because of the massive influx of customers on a daily basis, his prices are low for nearly everything, including rooms. He does not tolerate fighting, however, so his establishment lacks a fighting rink. He offers luxury rooms, as well, for the high paying guest.
=Red Snow lies on the outskirts of Vossevangen, and is a true to form arena. From fistfights to beast fights, Red Snow takes pride in the fact the snow on the ground of the ring is basically stained a permanent red, hence the establishment’s name. There is no true owner of Red Snow, as it stays open thanks to continuous upkeep fees supplied by the numerous scribes who collect winnings. It is a modest arena, being a circle measuring about 100ft in diameter: just wide enough to accommodate small group combat, but too small to house more than one beast bigger than the Large classification safely. It has a small barracks for any potential combatants, as well as a large betting/dining hall.
-------- ---Potions/Magic
=The Greenhouse functions as a hospital and apothecary, and is owned and operated by Melara Safarel. Players will find that Melara is capable of crafting just about any potion they can imagine, save for ones with legendary properties. A player with a serious, debilitating injury, such as compound fractures and damaged organs, who has not yet been treated to a high level healing spell can be treated at the Greenhouse, making a full recovery after two days.
-------- ---Wearable Goods
=While not a true source of equipment, any supplementary ingots and jewels the players may find can be brought to Gazann’s shop, Platinum Paradise, to be crafted into fine jewelry that surpasses the combined value of the components. Gazann gives players the money equivalent of the items they give him, and when the piece sells he might be convinced to surrender a portion of the profits.
=There are a number of tailor shops, leatherworkers, and other fabric artisans throughout the city, offering a variety of services for a variety of prices. No one artisan stands prominent over the others, as their businesses are spread throughout the city; their clienteles differ, leading to a broad scope of opinions.
-------- ---Beastiarys There are a number of stables that can be visited. While mostly populated by livestock, many stables have a few horses on hand that can either be rented or bought.
=The bestiary most likely sought out by adventurers would be Warsaddle. Owned and operated by a small clutch of elves, Warsaddle deals in riding and war horses, born and bred for combat. They are the primary trainers of all the horses used in the Vossevangen cavalry. While their goods come at a fairly steep price, such is the price to pay for absolute quality; the horses of Warsaddle “will take its rider from one end of the continent to the other within a week,” as the elves like to claim.