Heche, the City of Shadows (Heh-Shay)

Insuldan. The northern-most reach of the southern sub-continent. Hemmed to the north by the Sunstone Plateau. The Scorched Ocean only a distant memory, far to the west. Here, the climate is more mild than elsewhere in Tuwellios. There are mountains. Swamps. Vast forests. And upon the northern coast, on a barren stone shelf above the sea, a city.
Spires grasp for the skies, a legion of clutching lances. Vast storm-systems roll across Insuldan, the sun piercing through their marshaled formations at unexpected moments. These cast long, portentous shadows across the ancient port city, wherefrom mighty fleets have issued time and time again. Chaotic and surging waves batter the high, jagged cliffs. Mothers dare not even teach their children to swim, lest they tempt the fickle tides below. Gouges cut through by the twin branches of the river Vlrath form perilous canyons across which the city perches.
Within is an icon of industry and wealth. Heche has grasped the wealth of Insuldan for hundreds of years without any significant rival to challenge their claim. Metal from the mountains to the west made their fortune, but it was their ships that secured their might. This place was once a port, whose sailors time and again had to redesign their sails to challenge the ever changing tide and loathsome sea-beasts. Lesser peoples would have simply abandoned the place, but the stubborn few who choose this place as home became master wrights. Their traditions have evolved into the Navy of Heche's present, stubborn and bold and ignorant of peril.

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Heche is defined by three main factors:

• Its historical pride in its navy.
• A culture of drama and a fascination with the macabre that creates many famous, heart-rending tragedies.
• An immense cauldron of industry and metalworking that forms her undercity.

Of these three, the last perhaps has gone underappreciated, as evidenced by the existence of the Dusk Line, and the vast urban expanse beneath the Rustwalk. Loads of metal and powder are hauled in both above ground and below, fueling the incessant banging and clanking of a war-economy.
And war is certainly on the minds of every citizen of Heche. It has become clear to the people of the City that the Accords demand more of them than they can give. Chevelar and Deshala demand their wealth and their strength, and offer nothing in return but empty words, hollow tradition, and deceitful mages. Insuldan has outgrown Tuwellios, and they must strike first to take Chevelar, and more importantly Deshala, before the leeches render them impotent.
...at least, this is the message that's being put out. Many people see the war as still avertable, or at the very least terribly unnecessary.
But this is life in Heche. Strong leaders decide the fate and direction of the city, and the people are left to adapt. Thus it has always been.

Demographics

Dominant: Human
Minorities: Tiefling, Dwarf, Goliath
Groups: Drow, Halfling
Enclave: Goblin, Half-Orc, Genasi
Singular: High Elf, Aasimar

Government

The revolutionary group that eventually wrenched Heche from the grasp of the king was called, simply, the Trust. This name has filtered down into various government bodies in the city, remaining as a general name for city authority.
Specifically, five bodies govern the Entrusted Republic of Insuldan, as well as Heche:

• The Court of Eighty: An amalgamation of elected, nominated, and hereditary positions are responsible for general governorship.
• The Recsuanct Beast: An entity of paramount mystery, whose arrival coincided with the monarchy's ascendance some centuries ago. Heche has always looked to the Recusanct for guidance, and in exchange offer it shelter and reverence, enshrining it in glory in the innermost chambers of Contramemoria, in a place called Citrine Terminus.
• The Chamber of Six: A smaller council of representatives from specific organizations in the city. They are the only six people in the city who are allowed an audience with the Recusanct. The identities of the Chamber are kept secret, though recently one member has volunteered their identity.
• Militia of the Trust: Once merely a self-organized band of citizens grasping for order, they are now the official peacekeeping force in Heche. Deploying from imposing spike-like spires scattered across the city, the Millitia retain some of their rag-tag character in their lack of a definitive uniform. The particular character of the local Militia ranges from region to region, from the prim-and-proper sentinels of Silverbank to the imposing mask-wearing enforcers below the Dusk Line.
• The Navy: Primary military force of Heche, commanded by Admiral Arccovo. The navy wields more influence today than at any point since the Revolution. Their supporters and officers control a full quarter of the seats within the Court of Eighty, and the Admiral herself is rumored to have a seat on the Chamber of Six.

Beyond the government, other important groups include:
High Society:

• The Azure Swath: Cultural collective strangely immune to the recent suspicion of magic-users.
• Dan Der Grimalder: Wealthy family with hands in many of the banks and paper mills of the city. If it's on paper, Grimalders have touched it somehow.
• Voronov: Former nobility who still control many of the mines that feed the city an endless river of ore.
• Calibrum Consortium: High-powered collective of merchants and bureaucrats trying to leverage their way into power with oceans of money.

Cliffs, Pits, and Duskliners:

• Sons of St. Jerrick: Dockworker's union. Have taken peacekeeping duties of their district upon themselves, in defiance of the Millitia.
• Fisherman's Guild: Tiefling enclave of expert sea-beast hunters. Rising in notoriety and respect due to the influx of valuable materials they bring into the city.
• Makar: Vague name for the gangs and kingpins who run the streets below the Dusk Line. Most notorious of these being Varya Nikolavich.

Infrastructure

https://watabou.github.io/city-generator/?size=46&seed=336527297&greens=0&farms=1&citadel=1&urban_castle=1&plaza=1&temple=1&walls=1&shantytown=1&coast=1&river=1&hub=1&sea=0.5

Districts

Silverbank -

The sea-cliff rising from they bay serves as table to many of the city’s wealthier families. Several noble families retained their titles and wealth after the Revolution, and their manor houses provide the most impressive of the silhouettes on Heche's skyline. Their manors snag and tangle with one another, sometimes rising to intimidating heights. At night, harmless spirits are ensorcelled to provide roaming ghostlight to travelers. Cobblestone walkways, dramatic vistas, and winding stairways leading seemingly nowhere are commonplace.
Within Silverbank reside many of the playhouses and art galleries that comprise the piercing artistic scene of Heche. Such enterprises are flourishing of late, with the tragedies of several well-known figures serving as fuel for new stories.
Points of Interest:

• Eusifel Manor
• Fausteen House, den of the Azure Swath
• Hall of Fearsome Truth
• Heartpiercer & Sons Tailoring

The Rustwalk -

Ten thousand capillaries all connect to this main, vibrant orange-as-filth artery. The largest and most important road of Heche also shares the name with the winding district that comprises the areas crowding around it. The towers of Silverbank and the edifices of Contramemoria impose on either side. On rooftops and elevated walkways, however, pockets of calm can be found. Clean air. Secluded rooftop gardens.
Below, however, is another world. The Rustwalk is divided in twain, one world above, another below. The Dusk Line casts a portion of the district in gloom, buried and sunken in the deep trench that runs through the city. Direct sunlight rarely reaches down here, where metal and fire are king. This is where the industry of Heche lives. Artificers, smiths, and clockworkers create a new generation of automatons and constructs, creating weapons that do not yet have a name.
Points of Interest:

• Schemer's Port
• Bellowfast's Bellowing Emporium
• The Ring of Brass, construct battle arena

Contramemoria -

The center of Heche, the Cathedral-Ward at the umbra's heart. Here are the churches, temples, and offices that make up the governing bodies of Heche. At the center of this place is Citrine Terminus, where the Recusanct has resided for nigh seven hundred years. Only those worthy are allowed to tread here, and many go their entire lives setting foot in Contramemoria less than a dozen times. It is impossible to stumble into the ward on accident, made clear as it is by the imposing walls secluding it from the rest of the city. An atmosphere of quiet guilt pervades all within, its stone numbing sound and dulling even the liveliest of conversations.
It is austere and beautiful. Intimidating enough to turn away most explorers, giving it a reputation of mysticism.
Points of Interest:

• Citrine Terminus
• Oldcastle, the still-partially-ruined keep of the former king, where the Court of Eighty now hold their meetings.
• Cathedral of St. Esthel, headquarters of Hechen religion.

Coinach's Ferry -

Straddling the Vlrath are squat, modest neighborhoods wreathed in sea-breeze and salt-smell. Here are good, honest people of Heche, descendants of those stubborn mariners who first made this place home. While it is considered unwise to teach children to swim in Heche, the people of the Ferry nonetheless spend much of their lives around water, loading, unloading, or building the many ships that pass through Safekeep Harbor each day.
Of import in these parts are the Sons of St. Jerrick, a dockworker's union that wields increasingly more influence as their services are being relied upon more and more to create the Navy's new fleet. St. Jerrick is a patron of this place, his name adorning many taverns, as well as the secret harbor where the mighty galleons of Heche are created.
Points of Interest:

• Jerrick's Jaws, the Galleon-Crucible
• Bramble Briar, cozy pub and unofficial headquarters of the Sons of St. Jerrick
• Embrace, brothel & temple to the Thorn-Veiled Bride

Velka-Troja -

On the barren, rocky shores and within the jagged river-channel carved through the cliffs is Velka-Troja. The history of this place is long, writ in blood and infernal pact, but suffice to say it is sometimes called the Horned Quarter, on account of the large population of Tieflings that came to reside here some fifty years ago, seeking refuge from the upheaval in the Nine-Chain City. Heche uneasily welcomed them, though they are largely still confined to the most derelict of places in the city. The Tieflings make their way by being accomplished hunters of sea-beasts, braving the waters again and again with harpoons in hand to battle with the beasts of Safekeep Harbor, bringing back bounties of monster-flesh and the ever-useful substance called grail oil.

Points of Interest:

• The Fisherman's Guild
• Little Dis
• Forge of the Grimtide Slayers

Crowns -

A small village just outside the city, Crowns is a gateway for those coming and going from the pale of the Shadow. An excellent place for laying low, getting some air, or simply enjoying the comforts of a slightly more rustic, less complicated life.

• The Listless Lapis, sagging pub and haunt of Pentacle, the Handler.

History

Insuldan once had a king, and Heche was their throne. This king was a bizarre chimeric creation of a man and his wife, enthralled by sorcery and ambition to pursue immortality. This was compounded by the advent of the Ruby Tide century, leading to a period of constant warfare, much of it fruitless.
Enter the rule of King Dashokov, who came to be called the Gorged King. During his rule they became unsatisfied with being merely the union of two people, and began to consume others. Their court, their advisers, then a tithe of one person per day for three years. The Twilight Temple was their haunt, where horrendous experiments were carried out on prisoners of war, or on their own people. The end of this hideous age marked the end of biomantic and alchemical research in Heche.
And yet, there was pride. There were victories among the immense loss. There was Heche, standing tall over all Insuldan, very nearly over all Tuwellios, before the ascendance of the Shingas and the Strixarch. This pride did not disperse. It festered.

Inhabitant Demonym

Chey's

Owning Organization

Tuwellios

Note: Religion in Heche

Heche ascribes to the Akkadian faith, venerating many of His aspects as a family unit.
They appear as:
Patient Father, Versed in all Professions
Dutiful Daughter, Soldier-Saint, Sin-Eater, Eternal Martyr
Harbinger Twins, the Axes of Fortunes