Derindin
Like many other settlements on the Tradeway, Derindin owes its existence primarily to geography. The waters of the Glimmrill Run gouged the earth and stone to create a wide and deep canyon separating Bard’s Gate from Freegate. At some unknown time in the distant past, the elves erected a wondrous suspension bridge made from magically reinforced cords that spanned the entire length of the intimidating chasm. When they abandoned the crossing, bandits filled the void and controlled the bridge for several centuries until the combined forces of elves and Freegate’s phalanxes severed the structure’s supports, simultaneously wrecking the bridge and the brigands who controlled it. With the bandits out of the way, the city of Bard’s Gate swooped in to rebuild the span with the indigenous elves’ permission and assistance. The engineers who designed the successor bridge recreated many of the span’s original features as well as fortifying its ends to prevent another entity from duplicating what the elves and Freegate had done to sabotage the structure. Today, the city of Derindin occupies the bridge itself as well as the land adjacent to each end of the crossing.
Much like the bandit lords of old, Commissary Vronton Tweege watches over the shops, tenements, and structures from his lofty perch atop the tower at the bridge’s center rather than dwelling on solid ground or at one of its secure ends. Although the span no longer sways like its first incarnation, some observers believe the commissary tempts fate by duplicating the error of its last bandit leader Ootmar the Short-Sighted who plummeted to his death in the canyon when his adversaries literally cut the bridge’s cords on one end. Vronton believes his personal safety relies more heavily on facilitating commerce in Derindin and ensuring the safety of the Tradeway in his neck of the woods rather than taking up a strategic position on the city’s bridge. Although firmly part of the Suzerainty of Bard’s Gate, the commissary wants to transform Derindin into more than just another stopover on the Tradeway. To attract merchants to the city, Vronton discreetly encourages the city’s manufacturers to produce knockoffs of valuable goods and commodities that they intersperse among the genuine articles at a discount price. The creation of fake diamonds and other gemstones made from glass and other worthless minerals has risen to such a level that jewelers deride a poorly cut gemstone as a “Derindian trinket.” Metallurgists also get in the fun, forging counterfeit weapons purportedly made out of legendary steel. Those manufacturers and merchants who partake in this pastime frequently worship the treacherous god Moccavallo in his temple not surprisingly constructed on the moderately unstable northern precipice of the bridge. Of course, not everything on Derindin’s shelves is a fabrication. The real deals are out there for educated customers who can spot the difference between the genuine article and a phony one.
The notion of dangling precariously above a chasm instills a sense of bravado among its citizens who realize it only takes a hard shove to send someone into a headfirst freefall into the canyon below the bridge. The self-reliant residents take matters into their own hands rather than foist their grievances onto the apathetic civic authorities. Obviously, they also expect the same of those visiting their city, especially when it comes to someone who was cheated in the unregulated marketplace. In Derindin, dueling resolves every dispute. The parameters of this personal contest must be agreed upon beforehand by both parties, including the types of weapons used, the lethality of the affair, and the specific date and time for the potentially deadly rendezvous. Newcomers soon discover that Derindin’s laws allow for the selection of a champion to take the combatant’s place in this match. Not surprisingly, the city’s influential Champions’ Guild fiercely lobbied for this exception, which almost all of Derindin’s business owners happily invoke when faced off against an angry customer.
On those rare occasions when the commissary has no choice but to intervene in a civic matter, he relies upon the settlement’s 43 handpicked marshals to amicably resolve the situation, if possible. In keeping with Derindin’s customs, those who refuse to come along peacefully or disrespect the marshals’ authority get ceremoniously pushed over the side of the bridge and into the canyon 110 feet beneath the span. The fortunate few who survive the plunge face a lifetime ban from Derindin, but no further retribution from Vronton and his marshals unless they return. The city’s military forces include 10 Lyreguard officers who command a volunteer force of 370 bowmen, spearmen, and men-at-arms. A contingent of 40 elven knights from Arendia and a phalanx of 64 legionnaires from Freegate complement Derindin’s army, which ultimately answers to its true masters back in Bard’s Gate.
Settlement
Derindin, City of
Type
City
Owning Organization
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