City of Tarnauld
Tarnauld is a city of energetic activity, movement, and noise that grows muted in fogs and by night, but never really ceases. Its cobbled streets are broad (enough to turn a coach or cart without unhitching its team) but are choked with wagons, carts, and folk mounted and afoot by day, and only a little less crowded by night. There are no sidewalks, and streets (rather than having a central “crown” to shed water to side gutters) slope gently down from the flanking buildings to a slimy open drainage trough running down the center of the street.
Most city houses are narrow, four-story-tall stone buildings with steeply sloped tile or slate roofs that bristle with dormers. (The fires in Tarnauld down the years have resulted in laws banning thatch or wooden shingle roofs.) Many have balconies on their third floor and higher, and several have exterior “back stairs” down into alleys. At the back of dwellings are small stables, with several neighbors sharing a common stable and green space. Street-level windows, and those on the floor above, are almost always equipped with stout shutters. North-south streets spend most of the day in shadow.
Most buildings in Tarnauld have a street-level shop, or a few shops sharing a space, while the upper floors contain offices, homes or apartments. Wealthier residents often have multi-level homes, but even these may have rental apartments on the fourth floor.
Tarnauld is crowded and noisy, day and night. The creaking and rumbling of carts is ever-present, the docks are always a center of shouting bustle as loading and unloading proceeds, and the streets just inland of the dock warehouses ring with smiths’ hammers and other loud noises of things being made or repaired, at all hours. At night, the Lamplighters' Guild travel throughout the city, lighting and replacing oil in the streetlamps. Tarnauld never truly sleeps.
Surprisingly, the stinks of rotting fish, seaweed, or sewage are mild and seldom carried far from the green, opaque harbor waters. This is thanks to abundant “puckerfish” (fish, with soft sucking mouths, that eat dung and rotting things) dwelling in the harbor. Puckerfish do not bite, but suck refuse off of any submerged surface; Tarns even keep puckerfish in pools for private bathing, or plunge into the harbor to have “wild” puckerfish clean them; short exposure to swarms of the sucking fish is said to be pleasant (and they drop off the moment a bather emerges from the water).
The only strong-smelling area of the city is the slum of Fisher's Point, where fish are sold (and gutted and cleaned for sale). Mongers hurl the innards out on the cobbles to attract shrieking, squawking gulls, which are promptly netted and clubbed or downed with hurled stones by poor children for home stewpots. This harvest that has little effect on the expanding gull population, but it cuts down on “thieving beaks” swooping at the fish stalls. Fisher's Point also suffers from frequent flooding, resulting in its nickname "Mud Point."
Tarnauld was once described as “jaws about to close around as much sea as they could swallow.” The River Ghiele empties into Tarnauld Bay cutting through the center of the city, serving as both its beating heart of commerce and a barrier to those seeking to cross it. The bridges are crowded bottlenecks of carts, wagons, and dodging pedestrians. Grandbridge is lined with merchant carts, hawkers and hustlers selling their wares or their bodies, while Tarnbridge, which leads to Tarnkeep, is kept clear.
A bewildering variety of small boats ferry Tarnauld and visitors in all directions across the harbor (for fees ranging from 2 cp per head per trip to as much as 5 gp for a known fugitive in a desperate hurry). Only by night, and in heavy fogs (of the sort that arise at most dawns), does traffic abate enough to let the eye gaze across large expanses of open water, or someone to cross a bridge at a steady, uninterrupted pace.
The laws of Tarnauld forbid visiting ships to anchor in the harbor for more than two nights at a time, but around sixty small, battered, leaky Tarnauld- owned vessels are found bobbing in its gentle swells. Their crews ply the crowded waters with fending- poles, oars, hunting horns, and curses, making the harbor noisy by day and much of the night. In so much bustle, seeing landmarks can be a problem in parts of the city; locals use corner-site businesses (such as taverns) to navigate and to arrange meetings with others.
With the advent of the Northern Kingdom, Tarnauld is poised for greatness, already one of the most populous cities in Arvanor, the city now attracts people by the score. With the increased population comes more demand for food and basic necessities. In a smaller city, that would be problematic, but for the trading hub of Tarnauld, that just means more ships, increased trade, and increased opportunities, making the allure of Tarnauld even greater. Tarnauld stands to be the biggest winner in the Northern Kingdom.
Government
Plutocracy. Two houses, the Council of Merchants (comprised of all land-owners) and the High Council (the six most-powerful and wealthiest merchants in Tarnauld). The High Councilor is elected from the High Council and is considered the "acting" Duke of Tarnauld.
Architecture
The Wards
Tarnkeep
Home of the Council of Merchants, Tarnkeep is the center of the government and military. The site of the original motte-and-bailey fortification designed to protect the harbor market of Noordenport, Tarnkeep still guards the River Ghiele.Noordenport
The site of the original harbor market from which Tarnauld grew, Noordenport is now the center of the oldest, most established, and richest merchant houses. While Grandmark is now the true the center of commerce for Tarnauld, Noordenport is still where the money is at.Grandmark
Home of the Grand Marketplace and the majority of docks, Grandmark never sleeps. The largest district in terms of population, Grandmark also boasts the most craftsmen. The homes are close together, and most streets spend much of the day in shadow. Tenements are home to extended families, and children play in the streets, weaving in and out of carts and porters.Vanderstaad
To the west of Grandmark, Vanderstaad is home to those who haven't made their mark yet. Servants and common workers can't afford the prices in Grandmark, so live in Vanderstaad. Every morning a veritable army of workers and wage-earners make the trek from Vanderstaad into Grandmark and Noordenport, and returning home at dusk.Fisher's Point
While the people of Vanderstaad have jobs and income, the truly desperate reside in Fisher's Point. Equal parts fishermen and destitute, Fisher's Point constantly reeks of fish and the cry of gulls is ever-present. Homes are cheap here, and rarely rise above the first level. Many are shacks, and most are built on moorings which hoist them a few feet above the roads. The reason for that is that Fisher's Point floods often.Dawnside
A smaller district, Dawnside started as home to the wealthier merchants of Noordenport. Those old manors have long since been subdivided into apartments. Dawnside is quieter than Grandmark, being mostly residential, although the main temple to the Olympian gods and the Tarn branch of the Arcanum both call Dawnside home. Dawnside is also home to the Kithrodain Academy, a bardic college known and respected throughout Arvanor.Brugestaad
The Bridge District, Brugestaad is home to up and coming merchant houses, along with foreign merchant concerns. Its nearness to Tarnkeep make it the perfect ward for foreign ambassadors and trading concerns to live.Newcoin
There's no talking about Newcoin without talking about Oldcoin. Iinitially called the Coin Ward, Oldcoin was the ward where the wealthy built their estates. The Great Fire destroyed much of Oldcoin. The wealthier families moved to Wavecliff while those without the funds to relocate did their best to rebuild. Unfortunately, the Great Fire had destroyed much of the wealth for the families that remained. Eventually new up-and-coming families began purchasing homes in the district, "New Coin" moved in and over time, gave the ward is name.Wavecliff
When Oldcoin burned, the wealthier families that survived moved even further west and settled in the new district of Wavecliff. Even years later, Wavecliff is exclusive. From the outside, the homes don't look that different from homes in the other wards, but once past the drab exteriors, the homes of Wavecliff reveal their opulence.Outside the Walls
Eastwall
The ward of Eastwall hugs both the north and south banks of the River Ghiele east of Tarnkeep. River traffic that can't afford to do business in the city stops in Eastwall, giving the unwalled ward a near monopoly on eastern traffic. Now that the Northern Kingdom has reclaimed much of the wilderness east of Tarnauld from the humanoid raiders, that traffic has increased, and so has the wealth of Eastwall residents.The Northern Farmsteads
North of Tarnauld the Tarn peninsula is hedged in by the Horgen Hills to the east and the River Ghiele to the south. This land is the breadbasket of Tarnauld, although it doesn't produce enough to completely feed the city. Farmsteads dot the area, each controlling acres of farmland. Many of the farmsteads are indebted to the wealthier merchant houses.The South Tarn
The lands just south of Tarnauld were subject to humanoid raids from the Arvanweald and the Orcs of Darcos. Now that the lands have been reclaimed from the humanoids, wealthier families are purchasing these lands. Wealthy estates are beginning to pop up, offering the truly wealthy a way to live outside the city and still be close enough to manage their concerns. With the advent of the Northern Kingdom, Tarnauld has become a magnet for Arvanorans to settle and make their mark. The city itself is bursting at the seams, and many immigrants have set up temporary homes and camps on the South Tarn. City leaders are already considering annexing and planning for a new ward located south of Brugestaad and Newcoin.
Type
Large city
Population
45,000 and rising
Inhabitant Demonym
Tarns
Owning Organization
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