City of Hero's Gate
"'The end of the world.' That's what most people in the Kingdom call it. Which only goes to show how ignorant most people in the Kingdom are."
"It started as a mining camp, growing thanks to the proliferation of state-approved suicide that somehow remains a fad among nobles who otherwise covet their lives and possessions. Now it's a spectacle as much as it's a city. And the show plays out on a stage where, so go the stories, anything can happen."
"Is it any wonder, then, that such a grotesque display would draw the attention of the fleas of danger - Adventurers?"
Archimedes Dufresne, Duke Chauncey Professor of History at d'Historia Bardic College and History Sage at The Scholar's Salon.
"It started as a mining camp, growing thanks to the proliferation of state-approved suicide that somehow remains a fad among nobles who otherwise covet their lives and possessions. Now it's a spectacle as much as it's a city. And the show plays out on a stage where, so go the stories, anything can happen."
"Is it any wonder, then, that such a grotesque display would draw the attention of the fleas of danger - Adventurers?"
Demographics
75% human, 11% dwarf, 5% halflings, 4% gnomes, 5% other
Government
Baronial Autocracy, with a privy council of advisors from the church, the guilds, and the bardic college
Defences
The city makes use of the natural terrain to create a defense that surrounds the entire city. The Stonesblood and St. Victor's Thread Rivers make up the less perilous southern and eastern borders, and water traffic from the Kingdom flows north to the town regularly. The high hills at the edge of the Zmeimagna Mountain range combine with the thick forests to create a nearly impenetrable landscape to the north and west, with only two routes into the glen where the city rests. Those paths are blocked by 20-foot high stone walls, each pierced by a single gate and manned by Gatesmen constantly. An entire battalion of Gatesmen is dedicated to patrolling the woods and ensuring no orcs or goblins can gather in sufficient numbers to prove to be a threat.
Within the city, a network of inner walls and gates can be closed to block off the city center, comprised of the the Great Keep of Fort North and The Empyrean Hall. Most of the population can be drawn into these two locations as a last ditch defense.
Within the city, a network of inner walls and gates can be closed to block off the city center, comprised of the the Great Keep of Fort North and The Empyrean Hall. Most of the population can be drawn into these two locations as a last ditch defense.
Industry & Trade
Agriculture, Mining, Tourism
History
The town was originally called Stonesblood, and was a mining and stonemasonry camp. The plentiful granite meant that the town rapidly had good quality walls and bridges, and even when the mines in the nearby hills dried up, the quarry just seemed to go on. Humans and Dwarves cooperated in the development of the town. It might have just remained a bastion of mostly-Dwarven commerce (the long-lived dwarves eventually became the owners of most of the stonework industry), but then came The Worthy and the tradition of The Last March.
Despite its walls, Stonesblood had long suffered predations from local goblin and orc tribes, so it did not take much to convince them to become part of the Kingdom of the Anthegoths. The monarch declared them the seat of the new Barony of the Northwest, which covered both the city and a massive swath of territory that belonged to the crown pretty much in name only. Even when the Royal Guard built the border fortress that became the town of Hommelet, reports back of the immense dangers in the territory meant that the regional expansion stopped there. When Hommelet fell to orc raiders, the vast and untamed wilderness was left as a problem for another generation.
When King Leorand de Castor abdicated his throne to take “A Last March, to earn my place in the Heavens and secure my deeds unto legacy,” he probably did not intend for it to become a widespread tradition. While not every noble now makes a Last March into the northwest, a sizeable portion of them do. The passage of so many nobles into the wilderness eventually reshaped the character of Stonesblood. Clergy of The Worthy and The Archivist gathered in the city to exhort the nobles on and to record their passing, respectively. The increasing number of scholars eventually led to the founding of a Bardic College, sponsored by nobles who wanted their lives recorded in song and verse. As her last act before her own abdication and Last March, Queen Gwendolyn III renamed Stonesblood as “Hero’s Gate” - the portal through which the scions of the realm passed in order to (they hoped) become Worthy.
Despite its walls, Stonesblood had long suffered predations from local goblin and orc tribes, so it did not take much to convince them to become part of the Kingdom of the Anthegoths. The monarch declared them the seat of the new Barony of the Northwest, which covered both the city and a massive swath of territory that belonged to the crown pretty much in name only. Even when the Royal Guard built the border fortress that became the town of Hommelet, reports back of the immense dangers in the territory meant that the regional expansion stopped there. When Hommelet fell to orc raiders, the vast and untamed wilderness was left as a problem for another generation.
When King Leorand de Castor abdicated his throne to take “A Last March, to earn my place in the Heavens and secure my deeds unto legacy,” he probably did not intend for it to become a widespread tradition. While not every noble now makes a Last March into the northwest, a sizeable portion of them do. The passage of so many nobles into the wilderness eventually reshaped the character of Stonesblood. Clergy of The Worthy and The Archivist gathered in the city to exhort the nobles on and to record their passing, respectively. The increasing number of scholars eventually led to the founding of a Bardic College, sponsored by nobles who wanted their lives recorded in song and verse. As her last act before her own abdication and Last March, Queen Gwendolyn III renamed Stonesblood as “Hero’s Gate” - the portal through which the scions of the realm passed in order to (they hoped) become Worthy.
Architecture
The granite from the "Stones" quarry is so plentiful that it is ubiquitous in the construction in Hero's Gate. Even the least fancy dwellings generally have a first floor of stone, though the second or higher floors will be white-washed wood. Businesses of any repute and homes of upper-middle class and higher are stone throughout.
Geography
Hero's Gate is in the northwest corner of the Kingdom of the Anthegoths, at the convergence of the Stonesblood and St. Victor's Thread Rivers. The plot of land it is nestle on is flat and open, but surrounded by high hills, allowing the city to only put walls and gates in the passable portions.
Natural Resources
Gems, Granite, Livestock, Precious Metals, Timber
Alternative Name(s)
The Gate, The End of the World, Stonesblood
Type
City
Population
8,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Gaters
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
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