Ironwall (City)

Ironwall is the capital city, and the namesake of the region of the same name. It is bordered to the west by the Kingdom of Oster, to the south by the Forest of Veils, and to the east by the Giantshield Mountains. The city is constantly threatened by the hobgoblin armies of the Borderlands, and while small skirmishes are fairly constant, a larger war seems almost inevitable.

Demographics

• The city of Ironwall holds most of the kingdom’s population of men, dwarfs, and halflings (in that order). Most of the others live in tiny mining villages nearby.

• Due to Ironwall's remoteness and relative poverty, few folk of other races have any reason to make their homes here.

Government

• Ironwall has been ruled by a hereditary War-King, descended from the warriors who took this land from the goblins following the Elveswar. The current War-King is Varig. He is harsh but effective.

Defences

• The Iron Guard watches over Ironwall and enforces its laws. They are generally more concerned with protecting the city from outside threats than internal crime.

• Nearly every able-bodied man is required to serve in the standing army once drafted; the War-King can lead as many as 600 troops to defend the city.

• Ironwall is famous for the impressively high (30'), extremely stable wall that surrounds the city. It was built by dwarven stonemasons when the city was founded, and has scarcely needed updating.

Industry & Trade

• Poverty is rampant and relatively non-discriminating. The nobles of Ironwall live like the merchants of Ralindor, and the merchants live like peasants.

• Most agriculture is unreliable at best. They must import a fair amount of crops, limiting their diet to mostly wheat and whatever meat that can be hunted in the wilderness.

• The city exports stone and metal goods, as well as raw stone and iron ore. And while merchants are eager to sell their wares to the folk here, travel is difficult and imports are expensive. Most people are miners.

• The exchange of mercenaries is vital to the economy.

• The people of Ironwall occasionally trade with the dwarfs in the nearby mountains, although the Stout-Folk are rare to accept outsiders. Dwarfs in the city tend to be well-connected to their clans in the Giantshield Mountains, so they are the wealthiest demographic in the region, which occasionally stokes the ire of other folk living here.

• There exists a black-market for slaves, which are exported from the city to the goblins beyond the mountains.

Infrastructure

• Within the city walls, streets are made of flagstone, but the roads leading up to it are only dirt.

• The lack of a sewer system has proven difficult; folk from Ironwall must allow the rain to carry their refuse down the mountain.

• It can be said that the plentiful amounts of workable stone makes structures sound and permanent.

History

Following the Elveswar, much of the lands that would become known as Ironwall were under the control of goblin war-bands. Humans from nearby Oster pressed eastward to form their own kingdom. They beat back the goblins, and most of their early efforts ended in failure (the region is still dotted with ruined settlements), until they built the City of Ironwall to serve as an impressive line of defense against the monsters of the Borderlands.

Alternative Name(s)

The City of Blades, the City of Walls & Towers, the City of Blood

Type

Large town

Population

20,000

Location under

Ironwall

Owner/Ruler

War-King Varig

Characters in Location

• War-King Varig