Winter's Breath

Winter's Breath, also known as The City of Freemen, is a multi-racial city-state sitting on the northwestern coast of The Ocean Sea. Winter's Breath is regarded by many as the one of the wilder and more "rough and tumble" of the cities in The Civilized Lands.

Demographics

Winter's Breath is a cosmopolitan and cultured city, and even merchants from Amn and Calimshan, who have a poor opinion about the cities of the North, consider Winter's Breath to be a civilized place. The Winter's Breath avoid conflict and controversy, and are considered to be a quiet, mannered, literate, efficient, and hard-working folk, who have great respect for deadlines, as well as for the property and happiness of others. There have a great respect for peacefulness, law, and order. After the foundation of the Alagondar royal family in the late years of the 8th century AHL, the Winter's Breath became a very patriotic people, proud of their leaders and their city.
Winter's Breath is inhabited by a mixture of The Races of The Sword Coast, primarily humans, moon elves, half-elves, and hill dwarves with minorities of rock gnomes, lightfoot halflings, and dragonborn. A sizable minority of dragonborn live in the slums of The River District and are principally employed as mercenaries and household servants. The River District was invaded by a tribe of orcs from Many-Arrows, and although most of them had left Winter's Breath when they were recalled by their compatriots in the north, around 1021 AHL, a few orcs are still living in Winter's Breath today.

Government

As of 1096 AHL, the city is ruled by Lord Nasher Alagondar, an aging, veteran adventurer and devout worshiper of Holy Lady Chantrel. Lord Nasher rejected the position of King of Lord Nasher for much of his life, accepting the title only in old age, by public acclamation. Lord Nasher has ensured that the city is well defended, both physically and magically, against attacks or infiltration from Luskan, Winter's Breath warlike rival.
While Lord Nasher is the nominal leader of Winter's Breath , much of the real power in the city is split between Matriarch Mother Mary Starhe Linal, pastress of the Winter's Breath temple of The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel, and the artisan and trading guilds that conduct the city’s business. The king is advised by a council consisting of court nobles, clergy of the Holy Universal Church, clergy of the temples of Erathis and Falkor, the general staff of the Winter's Breath Guard, representatives from the local artisan and trading guilds, and a wizard from the Many-Starred Cloaks.

Defences

As of 1096 AHL, Winter's Breath had a standing army, the Winter's Guard, composed of professional archers and spearmen, that doubles as a city guard and patrols the High Road from Port Llast to Leilon. In times of attack the defenses of the city are bolstered by gnomish built devices and a few magical wards. In desperate situations, Lord Nasher can call upon a wizard of the order of the Many-Starred Cloaks, local militia, and hired mercenaries.

Industry & Trade

Winter's Breath takes in much of the output of dwarven mining outposts near The Underdark , the local fishing industry, and the logging of Winter's Breath Wood. In particular, much of the economy has come to rest on the quarterly trade of these materials with gnomish airships and the nearby cities of Jeet Siti and Vaticus . However, Winter's Breath's true assets are its importance as a center of craftwork, learning, and magical innovation. Merchants and craftsmen usually practice their works in buildings dedicated for such tasks. Street vendors are rarely seen in Winter's Breath.

Infrastructure

Notable Locations:

• The Beached Leviathan is a three-decked inn and tavern located in the Blacklake District of Winter's Breath that caters to sailors, smugglers, slavers, merchants, and others arriving by sea. It is built in and around the refurbished wreckage of the pirate ship Leviathan.
• The Blacklake District is the north district of Winter's Breath with the nobles who traditionally inhabit the District.
• Castle Never is the stronghold and home of the rulers of Winter's Breath .
• The Chasm is a huge canyon-like crack amid the southeastern district of Winter's Breath. No one knows what caused it. Most think it dates from a disaster during the fall of The Imperium of Man .
• The Cloak Tower (also written Cloaktower) is a wizard tower located in the River District of Winter's Breath, inhabited by the wizard order, The Many-Starred Cloaks.
• The Driftwood Tavern is a fine inn and tavern, which also doubled as a museum, located in the Blacklake District of Winter's Breath.

• The Fallen Tower is one of the most popular taverns in Winter's Breath.
• The village of Fisher's Float was founded during The Age of Sorrows.. Although rumors about how the fishermen had thrived since those days because they had made pacts with dark powers were pretty common in Winter's Breath, the Winters nonetheless traded with them ever since the foundation of the village.
• The Hall of Justice is the temple of Seric, Lord of Justice.
• Her Lady of the Holy Flame: The beautiful grand cathedral of The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel , holds thousands at a time with intricate stained glass windows.
• The House of Knowledge is a temple to Erathis, the Great Engineer.
• The House of a Thousand Faces is a tavern located in the Blacklake District.
• The Moonstone Mask is one of the most renowned festhalls in Winter's Breath and across all The Sword Coast.
• The Mask is known for its discretion as well as its rarefied delights.
• Winter's Breath is the burial grounds of Winter's Breath .
• Pirate’s Skyhold: A group of pirates have built a fortress there, renaming the earthmote Pirates' Skyhold, and hide within the fortress all the fortune they had amassed.
• Protector’s Enclave: The city's market, where all commerce in Winter's Breath takes place, is located in the Protector's Enclave. Merchants from Vaticus , Jeet Siti , and other cities of The Sword Coast have to pay high taxes to sell their wares here.
• River District: The Dragonborn quarter of the city. A crime ridden slum, where the Winter's Guard fears to entire. The Five Families and other criminal organizations rule these streets.
• The Shard of Night is a mysterious tower in the River District of Winter's Breath.
• The Tarmalune Trade House, is known as the Tarmalune Auction House, is a trade cartel from Tarmalune that operates out of Winter's Breath.
• The Vellgard Manor is a villa located in the Blacklake District of Winter's Breath.
• The Winged Wyvern Bridge is one of the three emblematic bridges of Winter's Breath.

Guilds and Factions

As of the 11th century AHL, The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel is the majority religion, and the religion of the royal family but, Winter's Breath has no official religion. While followers of Erathis and Falkor are in the minority, their temples still have symbolic power as they are tied to the proud history and traditions of the city. The temples of the Hall of Justice and House of Knowledge served to cater the faithful of Erathis and Falkor, while the Disciples of Chantrel congregate in the large cathedral of Chantrel, Her Lady of the Holy Flame, the head temple of the surrounding canton.
Currently, The Children of The Father, an underground sect of Unitarians that are devoted to spreading The Word of The Great Father, and converting the city, have a small underground cell in the city. While they are not prohibited, they do not desire to draw the attention of the Matriarch Mother of Her Lady of the Holy Flame. It is not clear if the Matriarch Mother has been made aware of their existence, however she has been pushing Lord Alagondar to officially proclaim the city as devoted to The Teachings of Chantrel and The Holy Universal Church.
As of 1096 AHL, many of the following factions vie for control of the city. Among the most important are:

• The Covenant, an order of wizards that has operated out of Winter's Breath since before the end of The Age of Sorrows.

• The Many-Starred Cloak, an order of wizards that supports the rule of Lord Nasher Alagondar.
• The Winter's Guard, the army and the security force of Winter's Breath.
• The Five Families, dragonborn underworld bosses, that are pulling the strings from behind the shadows in Winter's Breath.
• The Brothers and Sisters of Chantrel, the missionary and militant arms of the Holy Universal Church.
• The Children of the Father, an underground sect of Unitarians, trying to spread the Word of The Great Father and convert Winter's Breath.
• A cell of the Order of the Gauntlet, an order of clerics and paladins of The Old Gods dedicated to ridding the world of evil.
• The Dead Rats of Luskan, a street gang who has gained a foothold in Winter's Breath.

• A tribe of orcs from Many-Arrows.

• And there have been rumors of the following organizations infiltrating the city:

• The Ashmadai, who secretly worship the infernal being Asmodeus.

• A secret cell of wizards looking to overthrow the king and the church and establish a magocracy.

• A cell of dark elves, from the Under dark, looking to bend the city to their purposes.

Maps

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  Winter's Breath

Type

Large city

Population

250,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Winters