Focosgost
Focosgost, commonly called Focos by its residents, is a large, walled settlement located to the east of Neverwinter and to the west of the bulk of the Neverwinter Wood. It is known for its unique, meritocratic form of government, though the events of the 1493 Decker Coup casts doubts as to whether Focosgost's lord will remain non-hereditary and elected or if it will transition into a more traditional monarchy.
Government
Historically, Focosgost has been ruled by its Council of Guilds, above which sits the city's lord. The lord of the city is chosen from among the heads of the various guilds by the other guild leaders and serves for life. Candidates for the lordship of Focosgost are selected based off of their "merit," that is how well they have excelled in their own respective field.
This governmental structure was altered following the 1493 Decker Coup, when Hargrave Decker, a soldier from Focosgost that fought in the Great Dragon War in the Neverwinter Guard argued that he obtained far more merit than Joakim Ferox, the current lord. His claim was dismissed summarily by the Council of Guilds, but Decker raised a mercenary army, with the under-the-table aid of Neverwinter, and stormed the city walls of Focosgost, deposing Ferox and proclaiming himself lord. Though it has only been a few years since the Decker Coup, the ramifications it will have on Gostian succession going forward is still unknown.
History
At some point before the 1490s, Joakim Ferox was elected the lord of Focosgost. While a popular ruler within Focos, Ferox was distinctly isolationist, and drew criticism from the member states of the Lords' Alliance for his decision to remain neutral in the Great Dragon War.
In 1493, Hargrave Decker launched a Neverwinter-backed coup in Focosgost that forced out Ferox as the lord of Focosgost. With no choice but to obey, the Council of Guilds elected Hargrave Decker to replace him.
Decker's rule over Focos has been predominately focused on increasing ties with Neverwinter, and Lord Decker was one of the first lords to pledge his city to the newly formed Neveren Alliance in 1496, furhter emeshing Focos and Neverwinter together. However, Decker's rule was not without its critics and the Free Focos Movement formed in opposition to Lord Decker. A decentralized movement, members associating with the Free Focos movement began engaging in violent acts of protest in 1496, sharply dividing Gostians. While many of these acts, such as the Attack on the Neverwinter Gala, gala were actually false flag attacks orchestrated by the aboleth S'gothgah as part of the Banesmark Crisis, others were performed by actual Gostians, feeling that only brutal action would free Focosgost.
A civil war was averted by the ending of the Banesmark Crisis, which broke S'gothgah's mental hold over the most violent offenders, and the return of Krisella Ferox, the daughter of Joakim, to Focosgost in 1497. Krisella began organizing the Free Focos Movement into a centralized political party, seperating the group from its most violent offenders and thereby legitimizing it. Elected as the representative of the Guild of Streetworkers, despite Krisella having never done street cleaining in her life, the Lady Ferox became Decker's chief political rival. She was aided by the return of another Gostian, Necian Arrzen, one of the Heroes of Saltmarsh, in 1508. Though the conflict within Focosgost has moved from the streets into the halls of power, it has become no less tense.
by Ashley
Type
Large town
Population
5,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Gostians
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Characters in Location
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