Melvaunt

"You want the finest sword this side of Waterdeep, Melvaunt's your place. Just expect to be robbed for every gold piece you have and then being made debt ridden for the courtesy before you're thrown back out on your ass. "

The City of Melvaunt is the largest city state in North Moonsea and serves as one of the main ports and trading hubs of the region. Renown for its industry and forges, the smog blanketed city is regarded as an architectural marvel of towering smoke stacks, sorcery-infused machines and multi-tiered city planning. A host of races work together to churn out everything from weapons and ships, to building materials and even much vaulted airships. Supported by several local Dwarven enclaves in the Moonwatch Hills, few cities in Faerun can compare to it's craftsmanship and artisans, and fewer yet match it's often exuberant prices and taxes. This does little to deter traders who flock to it's ports and the merchant families and guilds that effectively run the city have grown fat and decadent The city has paid another price for its industry in that it is covered in a blanket of smog and mist, part by product of the endless forges that are constantly lit and part rolling sea mist from the Moonsea itself. As such, the city is alive with beacons, torches and alchemical devices that can be seen for miles in every direction and gives rises to its nickname as the City of Lights. Beneath it's wealth and technical brilliance, like every city there remains a dark under belly; Melvaunt is one of the few cities in the region that allows the legal purchase of slaves, to which are in huge demand and a crucial commodity in providing the necessary cheap labour that fuels the city. Laws expressly support private property over life, everything has a price and to those that cannot pay or find themselves bankrupt, quickly find themselves on the slavers block. Business itself is a life or death pursuit where even the richest are one bad deal away from ruin and imprisonment.