Ailsfall

The town of Ailsfall is at once a terrible and wonderful place to live. For any civilized locale to exist in Veno'mia is quite the feat, and the presiding vampire conclave knows this. With little to no alternatives in the local area, the citizens of Ailsfall have no choice but to grin and bear the blatant exploitation the vampire conclave commits. In exchange for their fortitude, the citizens are offered a relatively safe place to live, and even a chance to become a vampire themselves.

Demographics

Like the rest of Veno'mia, scorned individuals from all over the shell flock to Ailsfall. As the largest town with a decent proximity to the coast, many mutated creatures live here. Humanoids of all races call Ailsfall home, though seldom few are typical of their race. A category of people known as 'near-humanoids' make up the bulk of the population. These near-humanoids often have a glaring mutation, such as gills, tentacles, stony exteriors, a mucus membrane over their skin, patchy fur and sharp claws, feathers, scales, or a skeletal structure that feels profoundly wrong to look at.
These near-humanoids, and other humanoids like elves, dwarves, tieflings, and of course humans, make up half of the town's population. Another 10% is composed of shifters. Another 20% are vampires, dhampir, vampire spawn, and other vampiric entities. Finally, the remaining 20% of the population are comprised of monstrous races of all kinds, including gnolls, intelligent monstrosities and aberrations, and miscellaneous undead. It is presumed some percentage of the population are changelings or Alu-fiends, but those are nigh impossible to get an accurate count of.

Government

Ailsfall is a kraterocracy maintained by a conclave of vampire lords and ladies. These five overseers put in the bare minimum effort to maintain the town. Any influential government position within the town is held by a vampire spawn or dhampir, who is in turn connected with one of the lords or ladies. In exchange for some modicum of stability, the conclave imposes insanely high taxes, often reaching 50%, 60%, or 70% of the value of the good. Because trade couldn't exist without the conclave's protection, the citizens have no choice but to endure it, as unrest would doubtlessly lead to slaughter, not just from the conclave, but from the opportunists lurking outside of the town.
The vampire conclave's fangs sink deep into Ailsfall. Disallowing a vampire official - including vampire spawn, dhampir, and others - into one's home is illegal and is punishable by being turned into a blood slave; a meatbag used solely to add to the flesh and blood caches until death. Equally serious crimes include owning or selling holy water, wooden weaponry of any kind, any magic items that produce sunlight or use holy magic (as determined by the council), constructing a moat, or practicing 'dangerous magic', which includes spells from sacred flame all the way to sunbeam.

Defences

Ailsfall is a walled town, however parts of the town have expanded beyond the walls and have no protections against the wilderness. The guards are largely reflective of the town's population, though any vampiric individuals typically hold some level of authority. Trained wolves, snakes, and even rats make up a sizable amount of Ailsfall's reserve 'troops', which are trained by a small core of elite vampiric entities, as well as anyone who proved skilled in training animals.
Each vampire lord or lady has a known residence towards the center of town, however it is unknown how many other, if any, residences they each have.

Industry & Trade

As the only stable, large town for dozens of miles, any Veno'mians in the area who want to at least attempt to live a civilized life depends on Ailsfall in one way or another. Many individuals choose to bank their wealth in Ailsfall, given that much of Veno'mian 'currency' is perishable, and many lack the strength to protect it. The conclave is somewhat unreliable when it comes to paying out interest, or even allowing withdrawals, however the odds are better then trying to defends one's wealth alone.

Beyond banking, Ailsfall traffics all sorts of livestock, intelligent or otherwise. While creatures such as yame or dragon wyrmlings would be sold, they simply aren't found in the area, and thus aren't commonly for sale. Instead, all manner of monstrosity can be purchased for the right price, from owlbears to axebeaks to cockatrices. Mundane beasts are also for sale, and of course there is a thriving slave industry.
Ailsfall also exports stone, mined from nearby quarries by slaves.

Infrastructure

Ailsfall has paved roads, and a fairly organized city layout towards the center of the town. However, as one travels antiflow, the main vector of expansion, the town becomes less organized and more stitched together. Most goods can be found in Ailsfall, though any specialty goods are sold at exorbitant prices; easily 3 to 4 times the going price of Avem  or Fyoreland.
As the primary inland destination from the Pitfall Sea, Ailsfall does have exchange centers where most non-organic currencies can be converted. There are absolutely no fountains nor rivers or streams in Ailsfall, and most infrastructure is created of non-reflective materials. As a result, steel is uncommon in Ailsfall; less reflective metals are used instead. Stone is often used in place of wood wherever possible.

Assets

The vast majority of Ailsfall's assets are owned by the conclave. Due to the conclave's proclivity to collecting fine art, many impressive works can be found, or if one is willing to lose an arm and a leg - literally in some cases - purchased. The town's (known) liquid assets approach a million standard gold pieces. The vast majority of this wealth is stored in enchanted vats capable of holding such obscene amounts of blood, as well as huge underground vaults where bone and flesh is safely reposed.
As the home town to many vampires, hedonistic pursuits of all kinds are available, catering to both low and high class customers. Wineries, taverns, brothels, a stadium for blood sports, and all other manner of debauchery can be found here.

Guilds and Factions

Every aspect of Ailsfall is directly influenced by at least one member of the conclave. The security, exports and imports, magic development, administration and internal affairs, banking, and manufacture sectors all fall under the jurisdiction of a vampire lord or lady, with varying amounts of overlap. It is all but impossible to make it anywhere in the town without being connected to one of the vampire lords or ladies.

Architecture

There are no wooden buildings in Ailsfall. Buildings are made either from brick or stone. The buildings themselves stretch up rather than out, and have ornate designs etched into the stone. Roofs are typically slanted rather than curved, and most buildings have pointed arches. Flying buttresses that mimic Filyn'Drast's own adorn the largest buildings. Buildings typically use whites, blacks, grays, light browns, and reds.
All buildings constructed are made to be visually pleasing for the conclave. This, combined with the lack of wood available, means that the most impoverished live outside of the walls in hovels, out of sight of the council.

Geography

Ailsfall is slightly hilly, and like most of Veno'mia, quite cold. There are no trees in a 10 mile radius, all cut down and burned into charcoal on order of the conclave. Even shrubs and other small plants have been uprooted and destroyed over the decades of the town's existence. The entire city has a perpetual layer of fog that seeps from the ground itself, severely limiting visibility.

Founding Date

1730 AF

Alternative Name(s)

The Bloodsoaked City

Type

Large town

Population

22000

Owning Organization

Counts and Countesses of Ailsfall

Characters in Location

• Count Viscardi
• Countess Akasha