Smitlaw
The town of Smitlaw has been a thriving boom town over the past several decades. Trade on Lake Smit has proven extremely lucrative as rare goods and minerals cross the water from the Shin Empire into the Confederacy. Acting as one of only two trading routes into the Confederacy, and the only still passably legal route of trade into the Shin Empire, has made many of the people of Smitlaw extraordinarily rich, and they have adopted quite a bit of Imperial lifestyles and architecture in recent years. Shin ancestral worship has grown extremely popular, and thanks to the community being far away from any major battles of the Sypi Civil War, it became an arsenal of victory for the Bienombes and their allies.
Demographics
The majority of people living within the town of Smitlaw are Mineters, but they consider themselves more cosmopolitan than their brothers to the south, and have become increasingly influenced by the ways of the Shin Empire. Although native Shin would probably view the culture of the local Mineters as borderline offensive, they have taken on the surface trappings of Shin life and culture. The tolerant society that has emerged has allowed for a town that is flush with a diversity of races, including intermingling, leading to a surprisingly large population of half-orcs as the Saru Tribe integrated itself into the Confederacy. Orcs, goblins, dwarves, and gnomes also have large areas of habitation, and even a small community of halflings has emerged from caravan outposts created by trading conglomerates from The Villages in the Jakonian Empire.
Government
The people of Smitlaw are proud of their democratic traditions, and since the town was founded, a new mayor has been elected every four years to oversee the community's well managed bureaucracy. The bureaucracy itself is organized along Shin lines, with dedicated testing and merit being the primary means of advancement through the various departments that oversee the infrastructure, military, and other departments of the town. As in the Shin empire, testing is extraordinarily important, and education in Smitlaw focuses heavily upon being able to pass these tests. As the only bureaucratic government in the Sypi Confederacy, it is viewed with suspicion by many others, but it is a truly meritocratic society for those willing to put in the effort.
Defences
Smitlaw is incredibly well defended, with two large keeps and a massive stone wall protecting the periphery of the town. They have also maintained two garrisoned outposts between the Conino Resort and Smitlaw, to help protect trade and commerce with the Conino Tribe and those who would travel the northern road of the Confederacy. Two small warships are also kept, to prevent brigands or raiders from using Lake Smitlaw to threaten the peace between the Confederacy and the Shin Empire. All of these are manned by around three hundred professionally paid and trained soldiers from all races, who dedicate their lives to military service. In the case of a true emergency, nearly a thousand locals could be raised as a militia to supplement the paid forces.
Industry & Trade
Trade is the lifeblood of Smitlaw, with commerce with the Shin Empire being the source of the blooming wealth of the town. Thanks to old ties between the Sypi Confederacy and the Shin Empire dating back to the Great War, the town has been allowed to maintain their trade with the Shin, even after the empire shut down the rest of its borders to the outside world. This has been supplemented by a dwarven mining community which digs out various rare metals from the hills surrounding the lake and a series of farms that provide for the community as a whole. The rare trinkets and metals that are obtained here are sold throughout the Confederacy, making it exceedingly wealthy and influential in the nation's politics, particularly since the end of the Civil War.
Infrastructure
The roads of Smitlaw are all paved, and the town has a functioning drainage and partial sewage system in the wealthier neighborhoods. The taxes in Smitlaw are the heaviest in the Confederacy and they go to sponsor the maintanence and development of new roads, including some of the Smitlaw Road to the southwest to help pay for caravan travel. They have also maintained the popularly titled "Bridge to Nowhere," which goes out to an artificial island created by Shin engineers and only nominally part of Smitlaw. This artificial island continues to be paid for and developed by Smitlaw, as it is the only legal place in all of Emicara for outsiders to trade with the Shin Empire.
Assets
Smitlaw has much to offer any adventurers and travelers, with three different inns, two traditional marketplaces, and some of the finest artisans that the Sypi Confederacy has to offer. It also provides refuge to Shin seeking a less oppressive environment than their homeland, but only to limited degrees. The greatest asset to any wanderers, however, has to be the Golden Island. Not literally made of gold, this island has received its name because in recent decades it is the only place were anyone is allowed to engage in commerce with citizens of the Shin Empire. Luxuries unknown in the rest of the world and strange technologies can be bought here at high prices and grant people a taste of the wonders held within the borders of the isolationist land.
Founding Date
775 AF
Type
Town
Population
5,300
Inhabitant Demonym
Smitlawite
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
Comments