Godspear

Dominated by one massive tower half a mile in height, the city of Godspear has grown around this massive edifice, with formidable defenses enclosing the Old City and a slightly less impressive wall one mile further out. Though elven populations grow slowly, Godspear has long attracted visitors of every race, and the city continues to expand past the outer wall and into the surrounding plains.

Religion

Despite the name, this city isn’t more or less religious than most. Temples exist to major deities, with elven gods honored in the tower itself and other races establishing temples in their own neighborhoods.

Races

High elves discovered the Godspear and made it inhabitable. Legend persists that the tower came from the old world of the gods, and though the elves didn’t build it, they did cleanse the tower of the bizarre automatons found within and restored its habitability. High elves make up 60% of the population (which is roughly 125,000 individuals), largely due to the massive spike following the destruction of their homeland to the north. Other elves make up 10%, with humans and halflings splitting the remaining percentage more or less equally. Less than 2% of the city population is made up of races not listed here.

Laws and Magic

The founding charter of Godspear outlines the handful of city laws that all must abide by, and high elven councils have installed additional ordinances for other parts of the city (and other non-elven inhabitants). Punishments are rarely listed, as elven justice allows for the court to suggest a punishment and the accused in any case to offer a counter punishment, with the punishment then voted upon. Killing others within the city is only allowed during times of war or in formal duels to be had in public areas, and the creation of undead or disturbance of elven bodies is strictly forbidden. (Most elves favor a sky burial, and anything left after one year is used to feed the gardens.) Powerful magics have been woven around the city for millennia, and no spell that alters weather or creates earthquakes or tsunamis will function within half a mile of city limits. Disintegrate automatically fails if cast within the city as well, and any of the aforementioned natural disasters will not penetrate the wards woven into the walls around the Old City (though anyone outside runs the risk of losing their homes or lives).

The Tower

Discovered by high elves shortly after their return to the Prime Material, the Tower hosted dozens of automatons and bizarre technology coupled with reams of obscure lore. Elven adventurers diligently cleared it out and paved the way for permanent high elven occupancy. High elves have lived in Godspear for ten thousand years, repelling numerous attempts to conquer the spire and forging a unique culture in what’s become the most famous elven city-state in the world. The bottom eight floors are open to visitors and contain upscale markets, taverns, and inns. No accommodations in this part of the tower offer anything less than Comfortable level of quality, and conventional wisdom in the area is that “the Tower don’t mint copper”. Above the broad base and it’s accessible areas, fully 900 homes arranged in apartments rise up through the tower, broken up in places by terraces and observatories. Gardens dominate the viewing areas arranged around the tower. Floors 9 through 108 are taken up by these residences, with sophisticated plumbing and elevators operating throughout. Floors 111 through 121 serve as a wizarding school, referred to simply as ‘The Tower’, which focuses on magical research and the eight classic schools (though necromancy is viewed askance, students are still encouraged to research it). Floors 125 through 135 function as a fighter and piloting academy, and also instruct young elves in language, navigation, and other academics while laying the groundwork for their swordsmanship. Floors 139 through 147 are the fabled Bladesong Academy, of which all over bladesinger schools are considered offshoots. This is the only high section of the tower that most elves who aren’t high elves see, as Bladesong Academy celebrates all styles and their practitioners. Floors 149 through 159 are one massive temple to Corellon and other deities of importance to the elves. Thousands of small tokens bearing the names of heroic elven ancestors adorn these floors, and the first task for most acolytes is to read them all and recite a sentence or two about each (which takes years of study).

Outer City

Half a mile out from the base of the tower stand heavily runed walls which project a magic shield around the tower, blocking natural disasters and violent magical energies. Within the wall stands the original city built around the tower, started as a camp from which adventurers forged the way into the great edifice and growing into a historical district in its own right. Little Sister would be an impressive tower in any other city, and has served skyships coming to the city for millennia. Elves have made cozy neighborhoods in the shadow of Godspear, and the neighborhoods of wood elves and drow here have rich histories and notable ancestors all their own. The restaurant Shadows is famous for fusing drow and high elven cuisine for reasonable prices, and the humble-seeming Three Wolves Inn may be the oldest in the world, having been built five years after the Tower was discovered. South of the Tower is a massive amphitheater, and it’s here that citizens gather to vote on policy and hear resolutions. When no vote is forthcoming, elven dramas still draw large audiences.

The Sprawl

Though non-elves are permitted in the Old City and bottom of the tower, very few live there (most residences have been passed down from mother to daughter for several elven generations). Though not protected by the old wall of the city, non-elves still move to the area to partake in the Godspear’s bounty of arcana and elven goods. (The strong magics make for excellent farming weather as well.) Most neighborhoods fashion low walls or other defenses, and some are quite orderly or well planned, but the elves care little for the arrangement of these outer wards so long as the main thoroughfares are unblocked. Here, visitors can find wealthy human merchants, magically inclined dwarven smiths, and desperate rogues living in the slums alike. Situated roughly five miles from the ocean, the city is primarily watered by portals to other fresh water sources, and many of the crops grown here are either magically adapted to brackish water or grow in it naturally.

Demographics

High elves make up 60% of the population (which is roughly 125,000 individuals), largely due to the massive spike following the destruction of their homeland to the north. Other elves make up 10%, with humans and halflings splitting the remaining percentage more or less equally. Less than 2% of the city population is made up of races not listed here.

Government

Government

Godspear is a true democracy, though only the high elves of the city are considered citizens. Laws are few, but when they’re broken, citizens serve as court based on lot. Major decisions about the direction of the city (whether to go to war, impose trade embargos, etc.) are decided by vote, with every citizen not only eligible but expected to weigh in. Spearians take their civic duty very seriously, and any elf who doesn’t regularly vote can expect censure.

Population

125,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Spearians