Irongate, Free City of

Ruled by His Resolute Honor, Cobb Darg, Lord High Mayor of Irongate

Irongate is a free and independent city located on the eastern coast of the Azure Sea in a bay framed by the imposing set of hills known as the Headlands in the west and the Iron Hills in the east. The Fortress City is one of the few Oeridian-controlled ports on the largely Suel-dominated southern waterways. The metropolis proper sits upon a hillock at the mouth of a narrow valley that runs north to south across the isthmus that connects the Onnwal Peninsula to the rest of the Flanaess.
Irongate's large and heavily fortified walls form a bottleneck to the flow of traffic between the southern provinces of the Great Kingdom and Onnwal. Its natural harbor is one of the few sheltered ports along the long coast stretching from Scant to Naerie, and it is typically the refuge of many scores of seagoing vessels at any given time. Irongate's territorial control stretches north to the shores of Dunhead Bay in the Sea of Gearnat, where the small town of Northanchor acts as an ancillary harbor connected to the city proper by an efficient portage system run largely by dwarves. The city controls the surrounding hills to the west, about a day's march into the Headlands. To the east, Irongate claims the hills as far as the border with the dwarves' Kingdom of the Iron Hills. This is generally accepted to be the Ahlissan Road, a pass that cuts through the hills between South Province and the Azure coast. A handful of minor villages lie within the region controlled by Irongate, as do the strongholds of dwarven clans aligned with the city.
The local climate is generally warm and comfortable year round, as the vast waters of the Azure Sea prevent the extremes often suffered inland. The land surrounding the city is hilly, and affords little soil to till and cultivate for food. However, the place is rich in mineral resources, including many gems and some platinum. Of course, Irongate is most famous for the high-quality iron ore that has been the stock and trade of the local dwarves for centuries. By virtue of its position, Irongate also has controlled a large portion of the trade coming from the Sea of Gearnat and the western shores of the Azure Sea to points in the Aerdi interior, Idee, and Sunndi. However, its most important industry is undoubtedly the mining and metalwork for which the place is universally heralded. The city was often referred to as the "Overking's Armory" in the days before it gained its independence, and the weaponsmiths of Irongate are generally accorded the best in the Flanaess, a combination of the best talent fielded by the human and dwarven populace. An often-heard remark is that if something is found to be unbending or unbreakable, it must have been forged in Irongate.
Irongate is both a founding member and the headquarters of the alliance known as the Iron League, making it a nexus of political and economic intrigue for the region. Due its strategic location and the pervasive siege mentality exhibited by its denizens, Irongate maintains a large and powerful standing force that includes human and dwarven regulars. It also sports a large and well-trained navy, one of the most highly respected in the region. Its large bay is warded by an island citadel, and a series of interlocking gates controls access to the city from the northern valley. All of these formidable barriers well suit the city's lord mayor—a short stocky and wily old man named Cobb Darg. Darg has ruled the city with aplomb for decades and has earned the respect of friend and foe alike.

History

The city known today as Irongate was completed in 124 CY by imperial architects charged to give the Aerdi a fortified presence on the Azure Sea. The kingdom of Aerdy was already a rich and vast land, but much of this wealth was measured in livestock and crop, and while it is said that armies march on their stomachs, they also fight with cold steel and defend themselves with sturdy armor. Long and ever-expanding campaigns demanded much in the way of metal goods and supplies, particularly weapons. Deposits of iron ore, particularly that of high quality to produce weapons, were not in great supply in the kingdom proper, except for minor deposits in the Gull Cliffs. As the Aerdi conquered the native Flan in what would later become South Province, they learned of the rich and relatively easily accessible ore deposits in the region of the Iron Hills, However, along with the many dangers the hills already harbored, the Aerdi had to contend with their Suel inhabitants.
The Aerdi were always wiser in their dealings with good nonhumans than were their Suel competitors, and an alliance with the dwarves of the hills came quickly after assurances of mutual autonomy and cooperation. The Aerdi then moved exploratory forces to their camps in southern Ahlissa and began mining the northern hills. The Suel, who had watched these developments closely, took this as a hostile action and amassed forces to repel the invaders. After a series of bloody skirmishes, the siege and subsequent burning of a Suel harbor town proved to be decisive, and the whole region fell to the Aerdi. An outpost was built near the burned port to take in supplies from Aerdi ships.
The potential of the outpost and surrounding terrain was recognized early on by the imperial architects sent to fortify the harbor on behalf of the Malachite Throne. This was done in coordination with imperial miners and engineers, who organized the excavation effort with the dwarves. These master builders set about the task of erecting a city equal to the Great Kingdom's ambitions for the region, a plan that would take decades to complete. Not only did the Aerdi want a base of operations from which to exploit the resources of the peninsula, but they earnestly wanted a fortified port from which to maintain a naval force on the Azure Sea the year round. By this time, the Aerdi already controlled the Sea of Gearnat and were eager for access to western Azure ports.
Irongate grew more independent under the rule of the progressively decadent and neglectful House Rax. Its lord mayor, whose appointment was made directly in Rauxes by the Malachite Throne, was considered a princely peer and wielded much power in the region. While technically a vassal (a fief within a fief) of the herzog of South Province, the city held virtual palatinate status for its own affairs. Provincial taxes were levied in these southern fiefs, and these monies eventually ended up in the coffers of Zelradton, which was then held by the enlightened House Cranden.
The Turmoil Between Crowns broke the grip House Rax had upon the Malachite Throne. It did not go unnoticed that the lord mayor of Irongate, like many of his brethren in the south, had actively supported the Rax claim. The official succession of Ivid I of Naelax to the Malachite Throne precipitated the final break. The entire south, including Irongate, refused to pledge allegiance and fealty to him.
Long-standing pressures upon South Province to bring the southern fiefs into line drove Damalinor of Naelax, the new herzog appointed by Ivid, to attempt to break the rebellion with an infamous act of villainy. In 446 CY, the lord mayor of Irongate petitioned to have his grievances heard in Zelradton and accepted an invitation to attend the herzog at his palace. When he and his party arrived, they were imprisoned and tortured to death for the overking's entertainment. Their remains were on display for weeks in the Traitor's Garden in Rauxes. So horrified were the people of Irongate by the account of the mayor's demise that the city revolted against the herzog and the overking. South Province was plunged into civil war and chaos. Aerdy garrisons and offices were expelled from much of the region by the end of 447, with only the core of South Province, that region called Ahlissa, left in imperial control.
In response, Herzog Damalinor declared open season on the rebellious states. He targeted Irongate in particular as the keystone of the rebellion. He called up a force composed of hundreds of his vassals and kin (most of whom were landless, errant princes) and as bounty, he offered them a piece of the conquered states as spoils. So numerous were the so-called "privateers" and their men-at-arms that the ensuing siege of Irongate would be called the Battle of a Thousand Banners. However, the force was stymied by the success of the kingdom's own design of the fortress-city. Irongate was impregnable, designed to withstand siege and repel invaders like no other city. The herzog's commanders failed to quickly penetrate the city, and the Provincial Expeditionary Force was slaughtered by a combined host of men, elves, and dwarves; the surviving invaders were hunted down in the hills and slain over the next few weeks.
Word of the success of Irongate's defense quickly spread, and a great conference was called in the city, including representatives of other various rebellious states once a part of or governed by the vast South Province. Irongate, Onnwal, Idee, Sunndi, and the Lordship of the Isles declared independence from the Great Kingdom, witnessed by ambassadors from Nyrond and dwarf nobles from the Glorioles, Hestmark Highlands, and Iron Hills. This was followed by the formation of the Iron League by Irongate, Onnwal, and Idee in late 447 CY. Irongate became the headquarters of the alliance, accepting ambassadors from the other states. The Iron League was quickly joined by the Lordship of the Isles in 448, and eventually the county of Sunndi in 455.
The Iron League became very successful at keeping its enemies in the Great Kingdom at bay, using spies and subterfuge to resist the efforts of all herzogs to reclaim it for more than a century. In the mid-550s, cousins of the overking known as the Chelors were awarded rulership of South Province, and for thirty years they ran an aggressive campaign to win back these rich provinces, but to no avail. In 579 CY, the Iron Alliance expanded to formally include Almor, and together with its supporters in Nyrond was dubbed the Golden League. A series of naval battles in Relmor Bay soon followed, but by the end of 580 Ivid V gained a minor victory against the insurgents by preventing their further expansion and stalemating their armies.
Irongate was largely untouched by the Greyhawk Wars until a new enemy revealed itself from the south. The Scarlet Brotherhood and its agents usurped the governments of three member states of the Iron League, but old Cobb Darg proved to be one step ahead of them and prevented the same from happening in Irongate. The Lordship of the Isles and its new lord declared support of the Brotherhood during the winter of 583-584, and Irongate reacted with revulsion at the activities of its former ally. These included raids on ports of the Iron League and assisting in the subsequent isolation of Irongate by blockading the city. The city's fleet suffered greatly at their hands, and now has standing orders to attack the ships of the Lordship of the Isles upon sight.
Irongate lived under siege until late 586 CY, when the Scarlet Brotherhood suffered setbacks in Idee and Onnwal that prevented it from keeping the pressure on Irongate's defenders. Irongate is no longer pushed back on its heels and has tried to reestablish the alliance. In 590 CY, Cobb Darg extended his support to the freedom movement in Onnwal, but he is now being pushed to intervene directly to retake Scant. Close relations are maintained with Dwarfking Holgi Hirsute of the Iron Hills, who has no love of Ahlissa, as well as the new elven king of Sunndi, who still pledges his support to Irongate and remains its greatest ally.

Government: Lord mayor elected by city council for a ten-year term; city council made up of old nobles, merchants, clerics, military heads; founding member of the Iron League
Capital: Irongate
Major Towns: Irongate (pop. 51,400), Northanchor (pop. 4,850), several small villages
Provinces: Single city-state with surrounding lands encompassing about 1,500 square miles
Resources: Gems (II-III), iron ore
Coinage: Dragoneye (gp), starry (sp), common (cp)
Population: 71,000—Human 83% (Os), Dwarf 15% (hill), Halfling 1%, Other 1%
Languages: Common, Dwarven, Ferral (military command language)
Alignments: LN, LG* NG
Religions: Heironeous, Zilchus, Procan, dwarf pantheon, Osprem, Xerbo, Norebo, Fortubo, Jascar, Lendor
Allies: Onnwal (rebels only), Sunndi, Nyrond, folk of the Headlands
Enemies: Scarlet Brotherhood (including Scant in Onnwal), Ahlissa (distrusted)

  Location in the Flanaess