The
City of Dyvers is located in perhaps the most lucrative trading nexus in all the
Flanaess, a fact that has benefited it greatly throughout its long history. The city’s position on the southern banks of the mouth of the
Velverdyva River allows Dyvers to capture the flow of trade from markets such as
Schwartzenbruin,
Highfolk Town,
Thornward, and
Verbobonc. Of course, trade flows up the Velverdyva, as well, so Dyvers sees much traffic from the
Nyr Dyv and her various port cities. Accordingly, Dyvers is a reflection of many cultures—even the common barkeep can make change in a dozen different coinage systems.
Overview
Dyvers is a walled city with a long riverfront. It has five districts: the
Royal Grounds, which hold the homes of petty nobles, the base of the Free Army, and the palace now used as the city hall and mayor’s office; the
Docks District, a low-class neighborhood along the waterfront;
Old Town, the center of business, manufacture, and rogues; the
River Quarter, four islands a few miles offshore; and the
Trade District, a middle-class area held mostly by merchants and guild members.
Entry into the city is free, either through the docks, the two gates for road traffic, or the four minor gates for pedestrians and handcarts. A tent town of foreign merchants stands outside the eastern gates. These merchants don’t wish to buy booth space within the Trade District, but must still pay a fee amounting to a 5% tariff plus 5% tax to the watch to police the tent market.
The Magister of Dyvers is elected by representatives of the city’s noble upper class, called the Gentry of Dyvers, and carries the title His (or Her) Excellency. These representatives and most candidates for office include influential mages, scholars, veteran warriors, and priests, all of whom are freemen landowners, minor nobles, or wealthy merchants. The Gentry owns all farmland around Dyvers, and leases it to freemen to work as sharecroppers in feudal fashion.
Dyvers lays claim to approximately 2,000 square miles of land outside the city walls, running mostly east to west along the south shore of the Nyr Dyv and the Velverdyva River. This territory is known as the
Free Lands of Dyvers. It includes a section of the
Gnarley Forest to the south, the town of
Caltaran to the west, and the town of
Maraven to the east, with
Castle Eastguard marking the eastern border of the Free Lands.
Dyvers owes much of its prosperity to trade caravans coming from
Furyondy and
Veluna. It also receives the bulk of boat and barge traffic from upriver, since it is impossible to miss Dyvers as one enters this corner of the Nyr Dyv. Its location also makes it a good stopping point for those traveling east. Dyvers has a long-standing rivalry with its neighbor, the
Free City of Greyhawk, and there is often fierce competition between the two for trade, property, and publicity.
The coinage of Dyvers is a modified form of that issued by Furyondy. Its gold wheatsheaves, silver wagons, and copper common shave circulated into nearby territories, while the platinum citadel and electrum galley are less common and are normally only found within the city itself.
Dyvers chief exports are ships and shipbuilding materials. It has two shipyards, one located outside the city walls to the west and the other on Great Crown Island, one of the four islands of the River Quarter. Wood for shipbuilding is cut in the Gnarley Forest, then floated down the Serault River to Caltaran, where it is stacked on flatboats or barges and sent to the shipyards.
Dyyers’s fishermen bring in pike, gar, trout, and bluefish from the Velverdyva, and bass, salmon, turtles, and a carp-like fish of golden color from the Nyr Dyv. These fish are sold to the locals and served in all the city’s inns and restaurants rather than being exported. The rest of the city s revenue comes from wool, clothing, meats, cheese, locally Slavers brewed ales, and food grown on the fertile banks of the river.
An enterprising rancher named Sejorr purchased a section of farmland three years ago and fenced it off to make a ranch for domesticated axebeaks; the beef-like meat is gaining popularity, as are the large eggs. The large feathers are coveted by the Gentry for fashion, medicinal, and utilitarian purposes.
Dyvers’s population is mostly human, with a respectable number of half-elves and a very minor population of dwarves and halflings. Gnomes from the nearby
Kron Hills make frequent visits to trade in the city, and so are not an uncommon sight. The city works hard to maintain amiable relations with these humanoid groups.
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