Großenhan
Culture
"The rich walk of the Gorland" is a popular phrase to refer to those from Großenhan. To be able to even afford to live in the city means that while peasentry are still largely poor, they certinely make a bit more coin than those in other cities might make. This has led to some sterotyping of the entire city being full of pompus rich snobs that indulge in every vice and sin one could imagine. While this isn't entirely true, the city's red light district is well known for a reason.
The city is cosmopolitan due to how it is the not the first but defiently the safest route connecting Nilush to Orleia. While some ports open to outsiders exist in the Deadlands, any land there can hardly be considered freindly. This aside from the vast wealth earned by the city means that the city plays hosts to a vast mixing pot of cultures and people. There is a famous elven quarter in the city of Großenhan, one of the closest to the main ports and perhaps the most posh and luxurious. It is said being able to live there is a sign of being able to live life like the high elves of Iadith when they were at their absolute zenith as a society. For high elves from Iaidth its seen as the only comfortable place to truly live in for the aristocratic elite.
Aside from this, the city is not all sunshine and whores, as vast wealth means lots of competition. More than one starting up merchant has been shanked and left to rot in a back alley for their goods, and so theifs guilds and very competitve merchant famalies call Großenhan their home. Gorlanders are sometimes called a city of thieves and scheming merchants, and sadly the city has plenty of those to result in some making the generalization. However everyone still goes to Großenhan even if the roads going there are notorious for bandits and monsters, because it really is the city where riches can begin, and noble famalies have been born of in the teeming streets of Großenhan.
History
There are three truths to the city of Großenhan: blood, whores, and coin. Indeed such matters formed the basis of what became the glorious city of Großenhan, and it truly does show. Long ago when the tribes began moving into Neundorf, some that had for a long time lived near coast lines seemed to have some sort of great yearning to once again live by a coastline. Moving west they eventually hit the land that would eventually form Großenhan, with some beliving the name came from one of the Gor beasts that the tribes people slew and wore the hides of. Regardless, the Gorlanders would settle the land, and lived off the fish of the great sea and defended from cannibal tribals and other threats.
However, probably the most intresting development for the city was when a elven fleet was scatterted off course by a storm and found themselves coming aside the city of Großenhan, roughly in the year of 40EC. While the elves of Iadith have had colonies upon mainland Nilush in the past, this marks the first offical, formal meeting of Nilushian residents with elven explorers. Despite inital complications in communicating, the two eventually were able to trade goods, with the elven goods being of a huge boon to the city itself. For the elves, they simply enjoyed collecting more "quaint" trinkets from the still relatively primitive tribes folk. Regardless, the elven goods and the promise of more trade helped Großenhan develop faster than the other city states. WHile Kaiserbruck remained the largest, Großenhan is a close second.
After the founding of the Neundorf Empire, the city became a trade capital for western Neundorf, however its rise to riches would really hit off in the year 3100EC, with first contact with the lands of Orleia were made. The riches and goods sold catapulted the wealth of the city, which for the most part helped establish it as perhaps the richest region of Neundorf. Such riches did cause some conflcits, such as the Gorland-Arnsdorf Trade War, which saw a purely naval war waged for trade lane rights and prefferable tax rates. However despite the efforts of political rivals and monsters, Großenhan remains the premire trade city of Neundorf, perhaps even of Nilush as a whole.
Foreign Relations
"It is quite simple mein guter herr, sign the deal, or you will understand that a fine will only be the beggining" - Gunthel Volkberg, a welathy merchant threatening a rival
"Stayed for the whores, had to leave after getting mugged. I swear youd think its that halfling city Mournshire with how much thieving little fucks there are." - Astrid John, Ashenfeld traveler
Gorlanders are perhaps some of the first people that those coming from Orleia will meet, and also those who regurarly travel among trade vessels. For this reason, the people of Gorland can be a bit off putting and strange to some, but by and large aside form the rampant murder and theft rates, it is a fine city indeed.
Type
Geopolitical, City-state
Alternative Names
Gorland
Demonym
Gorlander
Parent Organization
