Dalansvale
Dalansvale is a small city in the newly founded kingdom of The Vale, which arose during The Cataclysms. The city was a small inland river stopover before the Cataclysms destroyed the coastline and pushed the town to the edge of the sea. In the aftermath of this change, the leadership of the kingdom in Lyesa was less than enthusiastic about helping Dalansvale resettle the thousands of refugees who had flooded into the area. Angered at this, Dalansvale spoke to the other nearby towns of Errolton and Shadowshore and decided to declare independence to form their own kingdom. After a brief conflict with Chernin, the three towns were allowed to form their own kingdom, much to the king of Chernin's annoyance.
Consisting of two small, mostly frontier towns and a recently coastal, ever-growing city, the kingdom is not incredibly prosperous or wealthy, but what wealth exists is concentrated in Dalansvale. In the wake of The Cataclysms, the city built up one of the largest port facilities in the world to help move goods from the sea to river ships bound for Lyesa -- and vice versa. This stranglehold control on Lyesa's trade and goods has left Dalansvale in a very politically advantageous place, as they can demand large tariffs or concessions from Chernin to allow ships and goods to pass.
Due to a combination of refugees from Rivermouth and Brottor as well as the city's expansion and rapid growth, it is a rapidly growing area in population and cosmopolitanism. People from all over the world are moving to Dalansvale to take advantage of its booming economy and multitude of port jobs. This trend -- and with it the town's livelihood -- is being threatened by the construction of the lock canal system in New Yazar, which would render the Tegan River obsolete to move goods to and from Lyesa. The leaders of Dalansvale and The Vale in general have begun trying to implement other industries and shift the economy, anticipating this disruption to happen in the next few years.
Dalansvale is a strange mix of old buildings and traditions that have been around for centuries and new values and styles from the more recent arrivals. This initially caused tension with Dalansvale's mostly down-home, traditional population, but as the town continued to grow the momentum of cosmopolitanism eventually took over. There is very little hostility between the "old families" and the newer settlers, though some in the nobility still rankle at the thought of new money distorting their influence on the area.
Demographics
The "old families" of Dalansvale are mostly human and halfling, but the city's rapidly diversifying population has drastically cut into this majority. As a newer, growing city of hope and prosperity, Dalansvale has attracted peoples from all walks of life and areas of origin in recent decades.
The majority of the town is working class, with various portions of the population engaged in dock work, warehouse work, shipbuilding, construction, and hospitality. A small, mostly newer middle class is made up mostly of merchants and bankers who finance new ships and trade expeditions.
The city has several large temples dedicated to various deities, including the main temple of the religion of Sharess and smaller ones for the religions of Chauntea, Sashelas, and Waukeen, among other more common deities like Pelor or the Raven Queen.
Government
The city is under the control of the absolute monarch of the kingdom, though the needs of the city are seen to by a small council. This council is made up of influential nobles who oversee various parts of the city's administration. Recent years have seen fierce competition for these council seats, as the "new money" families have tried to get involved in the city's government. The Marquis has yet to "pick a side", so the political campaigns and back-room maneuvering by both sides of the nobility has become increasingly vitriolic; however, it very rarely spills out into the public eye.
Defences
The city has recently expanded its outer perimeter to encompass more of the new citizens' housing than the previous walls. Parts of the old, inner walls were torn down, with sections of the wall left standing where they connected to other buildings, or where local citizens wanted to keep the walls for defense, nostalgia, or some other reason entirely.
Part of the modernization and refurbishment project on the port facility has seen the city install some of the world's most advanced naval/coastal defenses. The four massive trebuchets in the docks have been rumored to have an effective range of up to a mile offshore, though they have not been publicly tested yet. There are also several arcane cannons, of unknown origin or creation, that were either found or commissioned for the city's use which can destroy ships with a combination of ice, fire, and lightning several thousand feet away from the coastal facilities.
Infrastructure
Dalansvale is in the process of building one of the world's grandest port facilities. With its relatively new role as a coastal shipping hub, the city has been put under intense pressure to increase their dock space. The major city of Lyesa upriver commands a huge volume of incoming and outgoing trade, and Dalansvale has struggled to meet and organize this demand until very recently. The new wealth in the city has allowed the creation of more sophisticated roads and sewer systems, as well as running water in some parts of the city. The shipyards and drydocks stretch down the coast far past the city's defensive walls in either direction, and the city has left it to the shipbuilding companies to provide private security for these areas, as the Watch cannot spare enough men to patrol that far out of town.
Guilds and Factions
As the city has grown in recent years, guilds have gained more and more power and prominence in local government. Unquestionably the most powerful guilds in the city are the shipbuilders and the dockworkers, as they represent the city's most vital industries and could cripple the city if they were to stop working. Other smaller guilds represent other professions, and the nobility of the city has even founded a merchant's guild to vouch for their own policies and make sure their mercantile exploits are allowed to continue with minimal invasion.
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