Hardby
Hardby is an independent-minded town of over five thousand souls. It has been under the protection and the control of the city of Greyhawk for almost 10 years. The city was founded in -278 CY by a Suel wizard named Ena Norbe, who desired a place to research spells in peace. Claiming this small harbor on the eastern side of Woolly Bay, she had her hirelings and local fisherfolk build the town of Norbe Harbor. Severe storms that winter and a plague that spring resulted in changing the name to Hard Bay. Ena married the captain of her guards and had several daughters. Thus began a legacy of Norbe women ruling the town now known as the Gynarchy of Hardby. Compared to the pirate towns of the Wild Coast, the Norbe Gynarchy was mild, with the ruler of Hardby undeserving of the title of Despotrix.
The Norbe women all proved strong in magic and capable of defending their home. Many married wealthy merchants or ranking soldiers and continued to have many daughters. An early Despotrix declared that only women could own land in the city of Hardby, and with the power of Norbe magic to back this edict, it became law. However, many men were able to prosper by accepting land grants outside the city. They make a good living fishing, farming, hunting, or trading. Hardby' s strength permitted local merchants to make advantageous deals with other towns along the Wild Coast as well as with the young city of Greyhawk-then called Selintan-enriching Hardby through trade. The deep bay proved able to service both shallow-draft river vessels and larger oceangoing ships. This made it a perfect link between river trade and sea merchants. Through a marriage of one of the Gynarch' s daughters to the mayor of Selintan, the two towns formed an alliance. Since then, these sister cities have never warred against each other despite political and mercantile competition as well as less than cordial relations at times.
Hardby continued to grow. After conquering and burning seven pirate towns north of Safeton in the early part of the third century CY, Hardby claimed all the land within IO leagues of the north shore of Woolly Bay. This claim was later relinquished when piracy remained low, though towns of the Wild Coast remained as unruly as ever.
During the middle of the third century the Great Kingdom of Aerdy placed garrisons in its border towns, including Selintan and Hardby, as the internal conflict known as the Turmoil Between Crowns wracked the realm. When these troops were withdrawn from the border towns in the last quarter of the century, quiet celebrations ensued in the two cities. That year, a boy-child named Zagig was born to a lesser member of the Gynarchy and a descendant of Lord Ganz of Greyhawk. He would later become Lord Mayor of Greyhawk, a powerful archmage, and possibly a demigod.
During the next 200 years, the status and government of Hardby changed. While the Gynarch and her family remained in place, a trade alliance of merchants and river folk slowly took power, enforcing their rule at first with brute force and later with carefully worded laws and a well-funded constabulary. Oddly, the Gynarch yielded power without a fight, possibly because most of the men on the council were related to women of the Gynarchy. Many believe that the Despotrix still retains final authority in the city, using the trade alliance to handle routine affairs, while secretly influencing more important issues. In addition to these political changes, the city of Hardby started to pay tribute to Greyhawk for military protection.
Hardby remained relatively secure and prosperous until the Greyhawk Wars of 582-584 CY. Humanoid and bandit raids from the nearby Abbor-Alz hills increased, so Greyhawk sent a garrison of its mountaineers to protect Hardby. The townsfolk were glad to accept the additional military presence, especially since the mountaineers were well paid and disciplined, which prevented disturbances that might have been caused by less dedicated troops. In addition, enterprises that catered to soldiers experienced a boom in business from their presence.
When the humanoid armies from the Pomarj invaded the Wild Coast, Greyhawk sent several warships to patrol the upper reaches of Woolly Bay to guard against humanoid and pirate attacks. These marines are largely crewed by Wild Coast slaves freed by edict of the city of Greyhawk. As such, they are very loyal to Greyhawk and full of pride in their service. Greyhawk' s mountaineers and the marines were given power over the ruling council and dictate many practical aspects of law and justice in Hardby, with the locals still deciding on trade policies. The Despotrix, an aged wizard named Ilena, has not voiced any objection to this, as several of the military officers have also married into her extensive family. It is likely that she still exerts great influence over affairs in her city.
Ilena is greatly respected by the locals as well as by the mountaineers and marines. This causes some concern for the Directing Oligarchy of Greyhawk, who thought to make her little more than a figurehead. The Gynarch has gone so far as to claim a seat on the Greyhawk Council of Mayors and Manorial Lords, which includes representatives from all towns and settlements in the Domain of Greyhawk, despite unsubtle attempts to prevent this. The Gynarch and the Lord Mayor of Greyhawk, Nerof Gasgal, are unfailingly polite to each other in public, but obviously hate each other, a sentiment that is shared by several of the Gynarch' s daughters and granddaughters.
General Information
Hardby is a town that relies on its waterways to survive. Most of its money comes from the trade of goods entering or leaving its docks or from businesses that support people who work on the sea and shorehostels, boarding houses, taverns, inns, brothels, and others. The original town wall follows the curve of the bay, though the city has grown nearly three times as large since that time. A wooden palisade has been built to protect those sections of town beyond the stone city wall. Two lighthouses, which double troop garrisons, flank the city on its southern shore, with a second pair on opposite arms of Hard Bay. Rising from the water in front of that fourth tower are two massive statues. One depicts a bearded heavyset man of late middle age, the other a slim, short, bearded fell ow; both have their fists raised as if to box each other. Decades ago, a Gynarch commissioned these statues to represent the meaningless squabbles of men. They serve as a symbol of Hardby' s feminine spirit. A small road leads westward from Hardby to the town of Orz, and another, known both as River Road and North Route, goes westward along the shores of the Woolly Bay to the town of One Ford and eventually reaches the city of Narwell.
The old city wall contains the rowdy Dock District, spacious warehouses, the residential and meatpacking section known as Fish Town, and the militarized North End. The rest of the city is divided roughly between the market Trade Town, where merchants barter with each other for their wares, and a sprawling residential district called the Ebbfields that hosts merchants, Greyhawk soldiers, and minor nobles, as well as artisans' shops and quality inns. A wooden stockade protects the buildings beyond the city wall. A few miles inland stands the Gynarch' s Estate and f!ardfield Manor, owned by a minor branch of the Gynarch family that has long avoided politics. Outside of the dock district, the city is pleasant and peaceful, with wide streets, attractive buildings, and plenty of open space, although it pales in comparison to the city of Greyhawk. Entrance to the city is open to all, whether on foot, by horse or wagon. A tax of I 0% on all goods sold is levied on foreigners trading within sight of the city. This encourages merchants to pledge allegiance to Hardby and establish a permanent shop to avoid the higher tax. Due to the nearness of the Orcish Empire of the Pomarj and the comparatively wild Abbor-Alz, carrying weapons is legal in the city, but drawing a weapon is punishable by a hefty fine and imprisonment.
The Gynarchy has enough younger sisters and cousins to have wizard advisers present in all courts. They will use divination spells to verify the truth of statements and evidence in all but minor cases. Theft, vandalism, and breach of contract often result in sizable fines or confiscation of property of equal value, or the perpetrator may be sentenced to perform public service or join the militia ( one day of service equals IO gp value). Fighting in town occurs often enough that a strict punishment for fighting would quickly land half the town in jail; thus, as long as no serious injuries result, those involved are usually freed within a day. Still, brawls may turn violent enough to result in one or more deaths, and punishment for such crimes can be just as brutal. Penalties for manslaughter include payment of a wergilt ( I 00 gp per character level +I), forfeiture of property, being sold into indentured servitude, and even beheading ( depending on how heinous the crime is).
Maritime legal matters are decided by a ship's captain who acts as judge and jury. He may mete out any punishment he chooses. The Hardby pilot's office provides services to navigate the bay and trade inspectors to catch smugglers. The city has no thieves guild of its own, for most professional thieves in Hardby act as independents or belongs to Greyhawk' s guild.
Hardby' s Trade Council consists of six merchants, six rivermen, and one Judge. Six members ( three merchants and three rivermen) are elected every three years by the merchants, dockworkers, and sailors of Hardby. The judge is elected every five years by the guardsmen of North End and staff of the city courts. Currently, all six rivermen on the council are from the Greyhawk Mountaineers or the Hardby Marines. Hardby currently claims all the land within 15 miles, although such a claim is somewhat moot since the city is currently controlled by Greyhawk. Hardby uses Greyhawk coinage, not being large enough or influential enough to justify minting its own. It commands a decent amount of trade with salted fish and small farming, but most of its income derives from shipping goods. Its major clients are the human towns and demihuman mines to the east in the Abbor-Alz sending their goods west to the Wild Coast and north to Greyhawk and cities along the Nyr Dyv. Although the Scarlet Brotherhood's blockade of the Densac Gulf has limited the amount of trade from the south, the dock masters have high hopes that the United Kingdom of Ahlissa will soon begin shipping goods westward from the coastal city of Prymp in the Relmor Bay.
Hardby' s population is mostly human. As much as 20-25% are halforcs, longtime residents of the region that have proven their loyalty to the city. The remaining population, less than 1 %, are elves, gnomes, dwarves, and halflings. As in Greyhawk, the churches of Pelor, Cuthbert, Xerbo, Osprem, and Zilchus are the most popular, with a small following for the Suel goddess Wee Jas (magic, vanity, law) who is mainly worshiped by the Gynarchs. There is also a church of Berei (home, family, and agriculture) and the recent addition of a temple to the martial deity Mayaheine (protection, justice, valor; a servant of Pelor ).
Of the six war galleys that the Hardby Marines operate, one is based in Saf eton, one has made port in Hardby, and the other four sail patrols across the northern part of Woolly Bay. There are at least eighty Hardby Marines at home in the city at any time-one full crew plus new recruits. They wear leather armor and carry a cutlass, club, and knife or light crossbow. Each ship's crew also includes a wizard and usually a priest of Pelor or St. Cuthbert. Each ship has a few special crewmembers trained in the use of grapples, harpoons, pikes, and flaming artillery. The marines are ready to defend the city even if they're on land.
Wilbrem Carister, a huge barrel of a man with tattoos, is commander of the marines. He sometimes is overzealous, making forays into waters controlled by the Orcish Empire and even making an occasional land raid against small ore war bands. He has a fierce parrot named Erule ( a fomorian giant polymorphed by a good mage ). In addition to the three hundred Greyhawk Mountaineers, Hardby has its own militia of one hundred fifty infantry and one hundred cavalry that often patrol as far north as the Neen River.
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