Highwater

The city of liars and thieves

Highwater is a young city-state in the northern parts of the Outer Provinces. One of its most striking feature is the fact that half the city is build on shoddy wooden platforms over a lake. The city attracts a lot of travelers from the 'more civilized east', mainly those that are not wanted anymore in their homelands. The city is ruled by a council of noble families. However, these days the rule of law is nothing compared to the power held by the city's numerous criminal factions. Their rise is partly due to growing food shortages that follow from the large lake freezing over more thickly ever year. Some attribute this strange phenomena to a curse that is placed on the city and the lake...

History of Highwater

Some romantics would claim that the past of Highwater was brighter, that law held some degree of control over the underworld. There is truth to these words, but make no mistake, Highwaters’ connection to the criminal underworld has been there since the very first foundations were built on the lake.

Settlers and Lizards

The great lake on which Highwater was settled had always attracted fishermen and farmers. These people would settle villages along the fertile southern coast and lived mainly from the fish that the lake provided. To the north of the lake, great swamps stretched far and wide. On this coast of the lake lived tribes of a particularly odd race. A people that had scales instead of skin, long tails on the lower side of their body, and monstrous teeth. To outsiders these people are known as Lizardfolk.
Where the southern settlers viewed the lake mainly as a source of food and fresh water, the Lizardfolk tribes also maintained a spiritual connection with the lake. They believed that the source of the water, located in the Lindali mountains to the west, streamed directly from the elemental plane of water. Tribe shamans were said to be able to communicate with each other from anywhere around or on the lake, using the water to direct their messages. In the same manner they would communicate with spirits that resided within the lake. The shamans were said to be able to summon these sprits as protectors, where they would lend their aid to help the shamans in their tasks.
It is said that the Lizardfolk named the lake ‘Orses’. However, in the present day the lake is often simply referred to as Lake Highwater.
Even as villages were settled and disappeared again, no permanent city would emerge near lake Orses for quite some time. It wasn't until after a disastrous flood destroyed the nearby city of Zanaris, and The Old Empire spread its dominion over the province, that the name Highwater would first appear.

A city is born

It was a band of outlaws that first saw lasting opportunity in the lake. Seeking refuge from the law, they constructed platforms supported by large wooden beams on the lake. Rowboats were the only method of getting on or of the platforms. These boats and platforms were said to be nigh invisible, especially at night. With the Old Empire's armies being spread as thin as they were in the Outer Provinces, it proved to be too much of a hassle to follow these outlaws onto the lake.
Soon enough, the thieves' retreat began to attract some of the local population. After all, the artificial islands felt safer than living on the edge of the wilderness. Paying some tribute to the 'criminals' that ran it was easily worth the cost. Slowly more buildings were constructed and the platforms grew in size. Slowly but surely a little town was forming.
The people of Highwater remember this period of defiance to the Old Empire fondly, with many legends speaking of clever outlaws outsmarting the Old Empire. One of the most famous of these is the tale of Lerai the Dragontamer, whose statue stands in the city's main square in the present day.
Nevertheless, over the years it became harder for this thieves hideout to escape the grasp of the Old Empire. However, at that point in time the town had grown so big that the founding thieves might as well have been considered lawful rulers. And so it was decided that they would allow the Old Empire onto their docks.
Of course not all nobles agreed with this decision. However these dissenters were promptly exiled from the city. Legend says that one of these nobles refused to leave the city and became the first Grandmaster of the The Shadows.
The name 'Highwater' was likely first used as a codename for the thieves hideout. However, at this point it had become the official name with which it welcomed the Old Empire.
Traders from inside and outside the province began to set up shop, and Highwater began to enjoy a good level of wealth. However, the mere beginnings of Highwater as a city coincided in the final days of the Old Empire. When the Old Empire finally collapsed, due to some cataclysmic event in their far away capital city, Highwater would have to face the future alone.

The Independent City-State

Fragile as it was, the Old Empire did bring some order to the Outer Provinces. With them gone, the regions quickly fell into lawlessness. Yet Highwater, situated on a lake, promised protection from the raiders and barbarians. Many from all around the Provinces began to flock to the town, which was thriving even though an empire was collapsing far to the east.
In the 50 or so years since the Old Empire's collapse, Highwater increased in size at least tenfold. Instead of building further into the lake, the city felt strong enough to expand outwards onto the land. By now roughly half the city stands on wooden platforms on the lake, with the other half standing firmly on land surrounded by strong stone walls.
Although the Outer Provinces as a whole are seen as a backwater, Highwater has also attracted people from the more 'civilized' world. These are often people that, for various reasons, are no longer welcome in their home cities. With Highwater being on the edge of the edge of 'proper' civilization, it proves to be the furthest away one can hide without braving the wilderness. An entire district of the city has been dubbed 'The Stranger’s district', where most of these outsiders dwell. It is said that because of the high degree of 'strangers' in the city, outsiders are treated relatively well. That is to say, everyone is distrusted equally, regardless of origins.

"Highwater is as far as you can get from proper civilization, while retaining some semblance of order"

"In Highwater, everyone is distrusted equally regardless or origin."

Troubles with the Lizardfolk

While the growth of the city has proven to be a blessing for those seeking shelter from the wilderness, time has not been kind to the Lizardfolk who inhabited the lake in the past. These people, famously averted towards large cities and other signs of 'proper' civilization, would slowly retreat towards the northern swamps. Some say the Lizardfolk left on their own account, others argue that they were forcefully removed out by the settlers. The people of Highwater unsurprisingly choose to believe the first version of events, celebrating the 'peaceful exodus', in which the Lizardfolk 'peacefully surrendered' in a yearly Growth Festival.
At first things seemed to work out for both factions, as the populous settlers would claim the fertile south bank and the smaller Lizardfolk clans would wander around the marshes to the north. However, throughout the years distrust began to grow between the factions. Whenever disaster struck around the lake both factions would blame each other, occasionally leading to violence.
No official reports or trustworthy accounts exist on the following matters, but many stories are told about what happened next. Around 20 years ago tensions came to a boiling point. A mass of armed men and women from Highwater marched north. Some claim they were soldiers, some say it were merely bigoted drunks. The results were the same though. The northern edges of the lake were brutally raided, with the invaders taking and killing whatever they pleased.
Some whisper that the shamans of the Lizardfolk, in a final desperate moment of revenge, cursed the entirety of Lake Orses. The effects of this infamous 'Curse of Highwater' are not agreed upon in the stories. However it is said that every winter since then, the lake has begun to turn slightly colder, eventually freezing altogether. Of course, the lake freezing has never been a completely unheard of occurrence. However these days the ice seems to returns every year, slightly thicker and remaining for longer each time. This has led to difficulties for the many fisherman of Highwater, trying to find food in the winter.
The northern raids are not exactly common knowledge, as the men who participated in them are either deeply ashamed, or perhaps paid not to say anything. Some will even argue that no raids ever took place. While there is no official proof of these matters, and no one in the ruling council is in a hurry to investigate such matters, it is a fact that no Lizardfolk have been seen living in the swamps for nearly twenty years.

Highwater Today

The rise of the city has brought some degree of stability back to the lands immediately outside of it. Still, the conflict with the Lizardfolk is one of the rare cases of Highwater interfering with the larger world. The nobles of the city were never able to focus on spreading their power outwards, as there are constant power struggles within the city walls.
These conflicts are not only between the nobles themselves, but also with the guilds of merchants and underground factions. In recent years especially there has been a new wave of criminal power. This is often attributed to the food shortages which follow the freezing of the lake each year. Due to the shortages, trust in the traditional rulers decreased, especially when smugglers are occasionally able to get food and other hunger-reducing substances into the city.
This is where we find the city of Highwater today. Some say the city is ready to sink beneath the lake due to the weight of conflict within the walls. Others say that this is just business as usual. If there is one thing that remains certain for both groups, it is that nothing is ever certain in Highwater.

"If there is one thing that remains certain, it is that nothing is ever certain in Highwater."

Key Factions and Players

In name the city is still ruled by a council of noble families. The most powerful of these is the The Hilltop family. Lord Hilltop serves as an unofficial ruler of this council.
The many merchant guilds also hold a lot of indirect influence over this council, representing the traders of the city. In contrast, the Fishing Guild holds influence due to its sheer size, composed mainly of the lower class that still lives on wooden platforms on the lake.
Currently there are four main criminal families that exist in the city. They might not hold power in name, but they are the true rulers of the city. The most dangerous of these gangs are the The Red Knives, who rely on intimidation and violence to get what they want. The Buccaneers instead focus on getting illegal goods in and out of the city. The group known as Whiskers Incorporated is a spy network that gathers information and sells these secrets to the highest bidder. Finally there are The Shadows, the oldest still existing gang. They see themselves as 'gentlemen thieves', focusing on stealing valuables and disappearing without a trace.

Type

Large town