Bard's Gate
Established many years ago as a bard’s outpost and way station for travelers between the eastern Forest Kingdom of Blood Wood and the city of Iopos, Bard’s Gate has grown into an important crossroads for trade and travel.
The city’s banner depicts a silver lyre above a stone gatehouse on a green field.
Known as the City of the Lyre, Bard’s Gate is an independent city, most allied to the nearby city of Iopos, for mutual defence and prosperity. The Waymarch Duke’s troops help defend the city against the evil creatures from the Stoneheart Mountains to the north, as well as defend (and often press) its interests abroad. A generally liberal and tolerant city, Bard’s Gate welcomes all races.
Industry & Trade
Due to its important trade location, Bard’s Gate is highly prosperous. There is also a huge number of skilled craftsmen in the city, as the city is a hub of manufacturing (both in the most advanced magical and non-magical methods) and attracts the best and the brightest from the world over who seek innovation and acclaim in their various crafts. As a result a great variety of goods are available of outstanding — and often times entirely unique — quality. Nearly any item can be purchased here and usually at a masterwork level of craftsmanship.
For centuries Bard’s Gate stood on what was universally considered the “edge” of civilized lands though it has been experiencing its own renaissance in recent decades and is currently trying to establish something of a reputation as the “center” of civilized lands
History
Because of its strategic position on the only easily-bridged area on the Stoneheart River, the city developed quickly. In addition to being a way station and trade center, Bard’s Gate quickly became a meeting place for wandering bards, skalds and other performers.
To the south, the Stoneheart River was once impassable due to a series of sheer falls on the edge of the Scol Mountains. As a result of this, the Central Island of Bard’s Gate originally became an important port for barge and overland traffic, from which goods were transported to Iopos and other environs. Thus, the western side of the town developed first, with the Central Island used as a defensive and governmental center. Over time, with the city growing exponentially, the government facilities grew, and the docks and supporting businesses expanded.
With the influence of imperial power to the southwest, merchants began to avoid shipping goods by river and travelled overland along the Tradeway to Bard’s Gate and on to Iopos, bringing still more prosperity to the growing city. The guild system developed due to the high volume of trade passing through the city. To this day, Bard’s Gate — especially in its outlying districts — retains a rough and almost frontier feel, though it paradoxically bears an air of sophistication and avant-garde in its more central areas.
Climate
Bard’s Gate enjoys a moderate climate, ranging from temperatures just below freezing during the winter to occasionally heavy rains in the spring and heat ranging into the 90s during high summer. The formidable Stoneheart Mountains to the north, and in particular the accursed Ice Wastes to the northwest, would be expected to produce howling northern winds off the heights and cause winter temperatures to dip much lower and create a less hospitable region for settlement. However, the strange and poorly understood warming action of Blood Wood creates gentle, warming breezes, heavily laden with moisture, to blow in and bring both their rain and moderating temperatures to the land.
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