Hardeskar

Hardeskar is a town located in Baross on the edge of the mountain range dividing it from the Wyrmsea Republic. The iron mines it has dug into the mountains produce the finest steel in the Sundered Lands, giving it an unparalleled reputation for quality.

Demographics

Hardeskar has the largest population of dwarfs outside Alagaesia's mountain ranges. Most are employed in the mining and metalworking industries, creating a fusion of human and dwarven art and science that is unmatched. The majority of the population are human, and there are significant numbers of halflings, many of whom work in the service industries providing for the miners and their families.

Government

The town answers to the king of Baross, but enjoys many freedoms thanks to its success and wealth. A single governor runs the town, and is advised by a council consisting of the heads of each of the guilds and major merchant organisations. This causes tension on occasions as each of the guilds tries to maneouvre the situation to its own advantage, while the governor is responsible for acting in the good of the town and the kingdom.

Defences

Huge, heavily-guarded warehouses form rings around the town itself, with their defences forming onion-like layers inside the town walls. Tall walls were built from the stone quarried in the mines, and the stone houses themselves were built to be defensible in the event of an attack. The rivers are diverted to form a moat around the town where it is nestled against the un-climbable mountainside, and watch towers line the walls and project from the mountains, reachable only by passages within the living rock.
The town has never been attacked, but its defenders will not allow that to distract them from preparations, thanks to the town's importance to Baross' trade, and the sheer amount of valuables contained within the warehouses.

Industry & Trade

Steel forms the vast majority of the town's exports, whether in ingots or manufactured goods, but it is far from the only product of the mines shipped out. Other metals dug out of the mines are smelted and then subsequently turned to creating valuables for sale by Hardeskar.
The forests nearby are steadily being logged to bring in wood for use, both to power the furnaces together with coal, and as part of the finished goods which are shipped out. Hardeskar's governor insists on new saplings being planted to ensure the forests are usable by the town well into the future, and although some members of the council grumble, most acknowledge it is the only realistic way to ensure wood will remain available when needed, thanks to its slow growth.

Infrastructure

Rows of blast furnaces stud the mountainsides, although dwarven engineering means they produce only a fraction as much airborne soot as human designs. Carefully-laid stone roads, many dwarven-engineered, lead from the mines through the town and away toward the trade routes and ports. Thanks to the dwarven preference for building underground, much of the heavy industrial infrastructure is partially or completely hidden underground, such as the immense water-wheels which drive the huge hammers used in the industrial steel manufacture. The water gushing from the mountainsides into carefully-carved channels are the only visible sign that even the rivers are put to use.
There are many taverns and bars for thirsty and hungry miners ending their shifts, and a number of entrepreneurs have built venues like horse-racing stadiums.

Districts

The town is neatly divided into districts by the roads, with larger roads forming a grid with smaller roads running between them to create individual blocks. The districts contain mixes of housing, although many of the lower dwarven- and halfling-scale homes tend to be grouped together. All are patrolled equally by the town watch, and served equally by the water fountains, sewers, and merchants, as the guilds would never permit one group to gain advantage over another.

Architecture

Almost completely built of stone, the town of Hardeskar is an unusual blend of human and dwarven architectural styles. Blunt and functional human-scaled buildings will have flourishes of dwarven carving, while above-ground dwarven buildings will have human architectural elements. The result is unusual and not seen anywhere else in the world, but it works visually to create a pleasing and unified whole.