Rotterdam
Rotterdam has been around for a number of years sitting on the dam of the river Rotte. It has mysteriously started to develop quicker than expected, and some speculate that the dam that has been built in the past few years has somehow been made with advanced stonework.
Demographics
Primarily humans live here belonging to Frisian tribal members. A number of Dwarves & High Elves live here too affiliated with the Frisians. A Jarl and a few theigns run the city. Wealth is distributed amongst the people with a number of rich families and a number of breweries in the region. Dwarven stonemasons have a small presence here able to shape & move their products both up north, and into other nationalities to the south.
Government
A Jarl, and a number of Theigns run the city, backed by a number of noble houses that run the businesses or at least helping them out. Militias and a court is present laying down laws, and enforcing them.
Industry & Trade
Brewing is the major export with many farms nearby growing wheat, barley, oats, and beetroot for use in this. Glassblowers, coopers, and blacksmiths make bottles & barrels, with a few clay makers making the standard bottles used for beer. Stoppers and suchlike are produced on the side out of quality spare material. A few of the farms have been turned into apple orchards (primarily crab apples). A number of this produce are used in the local breweries, while any land is used for other produce, and the spare produce traded off.
Most goods are traded to other towns & cities n the surrounding Frisian, Westphilian, Saxon, Frankish & Danish lands. There they are either bartered for goods sought by the locals, or traded further afield. Animal products and metals are common goods that are imported.
Infrastructure
Breweries are common, along with carpentry workshops, and blacksmith forges. Farmland, especially those specialising in plants & orchards, are on the outskirts. Dam maintenance, and the dam, is a major structure, along with levies & artificial waterways are built throughout.
Assets
Warehouses are spread throughout storing timber, barrels, wooden boards, and metal loops. Quite a few warehouses store ingredients for brewing, and finished products such as beers & ciders. Tools related to the wheelwright, cooper, carpenter & blacksmith trades are dotted here & there. Brewing equipment is kept on-site in small individual breweries or in large buildings owned by the larger family run businesses. The odd glassblower & maker facility is also dotted about. A large dam that controls the flow of the river Rotte is also present and has attached warehouses & workshops are attached with stonemasons. Many of the carpentry & blacksmith forges are found nearby too. Levies, and suchlike are built on the river to control the flow of the river and used to drain water into channels to be used for the local industries.
Guilds and Factions
The Master Dutch Breweries are the main faction in the city, and control & monitor the brewing businesses. They fall between a Guild, and to a lesser degree, family or religious owned businesses.
A Dwarven guild of stonemasons operate too in the city. They look after the dam and the waterways, maintaining the stone & brick works of these.
History
Settled a number of decades ago due to the river Rotte, and the rich soil here, the Frisian tribes & families that make up the city decided to make full use of it in farming. Far enough away from the sea, and no real threat to any of the surrounding peoples, they have turned from constant raiding to being entrepreneurial. Most found the idea of producing alcoholic drinks a boon supplying the surrounding regions with these, and the byproducts too, such as mash to farm animals.
Over time a few different types of Elves & Dwarves came through and both decided to stay. Many of them brought differing fermentation techniques & tricks, and different equipment & ingredients. The Dwarves especially helped out with this and recognised that by building a dam on the river could help regulate the water, and build up a reservoir of water all year round. They used techniques from the strongholds of their kin to build it, and some say that they experimented with it to some end.
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