Shimabara

You want some high quality artisanal goods? I'd reckon Shimabara is the best place you can get them from, but don't actually go there, the place is a mess. Trade ships stop by there every once and awhile, so if I were you I'd just stop by another port city and wait, usually you can find authentic Shimabaran goods within the season. Just tell them Genji sent you, ok?

-A merchant consulting a potential customer

Demographics

Race: 60% human, 30% aarakocra, 10% other
Wealth: unemployed/homeless 7%, labour class 80%, middle class 12.5%, upper class <0.5%
Age (in humans): 0-60: 30%, 61-105: 40%, 106-150: 20%, 151+: 10%

Defences

Being as it is a very isolated settlement, Shimabara is prone to attacks from beasts and one. It has a well secured border wall on the mountain side, but few defences on the ocean side, since the town is elevated by 20 meters of sheer cliff already. There is a guard who are trained from a young age, often the children of guard members. The wall has a few balistas, but they rarely see use except against the most threatening foes.

Industry & Trade

Imports Foodstuffs (crops), wood, refined metals Exports Artisanal goods (sculptures, tapestries, etc), unrefined ores
Industry The town survives due to it's animal farms and it's high quality goods, which it sells to trade ships once every season or so in return for other goods. Most of the human workers in the town are miners or resource gatherers, while the aarakocras make up most of the middle class as artisans.

History

Established in the mid Age of Independence, around 4300AC, the humans of the mountains, having been shunned by the dwarves, establish a small outpost on the coast where they come together to survive. Within 100 years of this a small population of Aarakocras join the settlement and offer their help with more refined craft. the events of the Age of Independence have little effect on the settlement, however during the Age of Turmoil it is attacked by dwarves, who mistake it for a military camp for humans who are preparing to attack. After a 40 day battle and several negotiations done by aarakocras, the siege stops and all dwarves are banned from the town. It continues on surviving and creating some of the best artisanal goods to survive via trade.

Architecture

The architecture is totally inconsistent here, as buildings are made out of basically whatever they can be. One will be made of logs and cobblestone, the one next to it will be mud brick, and the one after that will be predominately underground. The most consistent can be found in the wall, which is made of cobblestone and lined with sharpened long tied together at three points with rope.

Geography

On the North-Eastern corner of the map, sheltered behind the Tokugawa mountains lies Shimabara. It is 20 meters above sea level on a sheer cliff which leads directly to the water. Above the cliff is a lone crane for the occasional trade ship that passes by. On it's other side are the Tokugawa Mountains which often blot out the sun, giving the town only about 8 hours of true daylight a day. There are several abandoned quarries which can be seen from the village, and still active ones can be found further out, nestled within the mountains. There is also a cattle field and a swine field on the Northern border of the city.

Type

Town

Population

~15,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Shimabaran