Highvault, 827 AA
Highvault, the capital of the Novatsk Empire, is carved into the rocky cliffs of Merchant's Bay. Once a trading hub ruled by wealthy guild masters, mismanagement and unfortunate circumstances led the city into decline until a coup led by a young general transformed the failing city into a vast empire. The city's prosperity became entwined with its military power and a new class rose from within the ranks of the army, made wealthy from the spoils of war.
However, with the death of the first king, the city's way of life has once more changed. A decade into the peaceful King Illya's rule, the city still grapples with the sudden societal shift. Decades-old workshops that once made siege weapons, armor, and ammunition now battle to establish themselves as the finest manufacturers of luxury goods like glass, porcelain, and silver. As a new generation comes of age and seeks its fortune, fresh blood attempts to gain a foothold in industries dominated by the ultra-wealthy military class that had established its dominance in the previous decades.
Demographics
65% human, 15% half-elf, 10% halfling, 5% elves, 3% dwarves, 2% other
There is a noticeable dip in the population of people, particularly men, between the ages of 30 and 45. This is due to the massive number of casualties in the later years of King Leonid's wars.
Government
Apart from his passion project of improving education in the city, the king mostly deals with the larger issues of the kingdom rather than the day-to-day of governing the city. Instead, each district has an elected mayor. These mayors form a council that determines local laws and events and holds a monthly meeting with the king to bring up any issues.
The Istrian Empire has no noble class. The influence such a class holds in society is held by high-ranking military officials, prominent merchants, and guild masters.
Districts
All city districts contain basic shops such as green grocers, tailors, taverns and the like. Each also contains a schoolhouse and the temple of the district’s namesake.
Fortress Hill: Located at the mouth of the Greentide River, Fortress Hill towers above its neighboring districts. At its peak lies Novatsk Fortress. At the edge of the cliffs lies the Sunwood Lighthouse. The ancient white lighthouse is carved with massive reliefs of Yteus and the Maiden of Trees.
Notable buildings: Sunwood Lightouse, the palace, City Hall
District of Yteus: Along with Yteus’s temple, this district also has an expansive park and houses the largest number of residents. Counterintuitively, the largest market in the city is in this district, and not that of Oseus.
Notable buildings: Temple of Yteus, Empyrean Library, the Market Halls
District of Oseus:
Three Sisters: Home of the temples of the three sisters, some consider it three districts as the temples are separated. Tends sour cherry, plum, and hazelnut orchards. On either side of Shaemora’s temple, carved into the hillside, sit a museum and specialized library.
Notable buildings: Mother Willow’s Orphanage, The Highvault Institute of the Ancients, The Obsidian Athenaeum
Aurmeia’s Steppe:
Twin Bridges:
Panrian’s Hold:
Winter’s Bluff:
Autumn Ridge:
Spring Slope:
Summer Rise:
The Mysteries: The district of Vethliss’ temple. This small district is tucked up against the northern cliff that falls off from the university campus. It also has a temple to Vashana. Most of Highvault’s 50-some-odd shadow elves and half-elves live in this district, which welcomed them with open arms. Most of its shops operate on a modified schedule, shifting their opening hours to later in the day and not closing until early morning.
Notable buildings: Temple of Vethliss, Temple of Vashana, The Carnival Vault
Guilds and Factions
The Underbelly:
The Ghost Soldiers: The longest-standing criminal organization in Highvault, the Ghosts were founded roughly 15 years ago. In the late years of Leonid’s reign, conditions for soldiers grew progressively worse, leading to a significant number of deserters. Shunned by the hyper-patriotic citizens, a group of these deserters, led by a human named Entin Azarov, formed the Ghost Soldiers. They primarily deal in smuggling, protection racketeering, and murder-for-hire. Generally speaking, they use force over finesse, bullying their way to power with heavily built grunts. The Red Serpents: While the Red Serpents of Taureluum don’t have a strong physical presence in Highvault, they maintain a strategic relationship with the Ghosts. Taureluum is the largest producer of magic goods on the continent but is very stingy with the types of items exported. The Red Serpents smuggle illegal exports like magical weaponry out of the underdark and into Highvault (among other places), where the Ghosts purchase and resell it. A handful of shadow elves belonging to the Red Serpents live in Highvault, and even those few nearly outnumber the shadow elves in the city for legitimate reasons. Most members of the Red Serpent in Highvault work for the Onyx Lily on the side. The Onyx Lily: Highvault’s premiere drug dealers and poisoners. In contrast to the Ghost Soldiers’ brutish ways, the members of the Onyx Lily are adept at finesse in both their actions and their social maneuvering. It’s rumored that the leader, a sea elf named Sana Kou, fraternizes with extraplanar beings. They manufacture drugs both magical and mundane.History
King Leonid:
For the city of Highvault, the last 70 years were a turbulent period. Once a failing city-state ruled by a wealthy merchant class, it fell to a coup led by General Leonid Novatsk. Over the following 57 years, it grew into an empire encompassing the entire western plateau of Istros, from the southwestern sea line to the Iron Mountains in the east and Everbell in the north.
But in Leonid’s late years, his mental state deteriorated and he took increasingly erratic actions. In 816, spurred on by war profiteers’ desires to control the iron mines, he began an extended siege on the Dwarvish-Gnomish city of Coldcairn. The attack was disastrous, with thousands of soldiers dying in traps around the city and illness from weeks spent in the cold, muddy landscape. In the chaos, Leonid took an arrow to the brain. To this day, whispered rumors claim the King was killed by his own men. Despite the King’s death, a deal was negotiated with Coldcairn by way of an Ytean paladin named Aumrath Lathlaeril, bringing the city under control of the now leaderless empire.
Upon their return to Highvault, the question of succession hung over the city. Despite Leonid’s descent into madness, he had garnered extreme loyalty from a significant chunk of the population. Discontent quickly grew in the city, which rejected the idea of a new government and demanded an heir to the throne. No official heir existed, however, as Leonid had no legitimate children and over a dozen illegitimate.
Ultimately, choosing the next King fell on the Ytean temple, who gave Lathlaeril, the Hero of Coldcairn, the responsibility of finding the most suitable among Leonid’s bastard children. To the chagrin of military leadership, their new king was the soft-spoken young Illya.
King Illya:
Eleven years have passed since King Illya’s coronation and much has changed for the city. The Philosopher King turned the empire’s attention inwards, focusing on developing infrastructure, expanding educational access, and establishing safe trade routes. Despite the city flourishing, the high-ranking military class, who hold a place in society more typical of nobility, itches for the days of the empire’s militaristic beginnings.
Points of interest
Mother Willow Orphanage is an orphanage run by the temple of Aeona. It houses roughly 50 children. Many of the older children are the offspring of soldiers killed at the Battle of Coldcairn.
The Carnival Vault is a permanent carnival center that boasts a number of magically enhanced attractions like a hall of mirrors and a haunted maze.
The Highvault Institute of the Ancients is a museum dedicated to relics of the era of the Ancients (which ended roughly 7,000 years ago)
Empyrean Library is the city’s main library. Contains a lot of fictional works as well as references for basic academic disciplines, but nothing cutting edge.
Aarseth College: Last year, the empire’s first college was opened and dedicated by the king to his wife and respected mathematician, Miriam Novatsk, née Aarseth. The school is funded by the crown and tuition for all of its day-to-day expenses. Tuition is 750 gp per year, which means the students are mostly from the upper echelons of society, though roughly a quarter of the students there attend on a scholarship basis.
The Obsidian Athenaeum is a specialized library run by the temple of Shaemora. It contains detailed academic studies and unique aging books that require special care. It also has facilities for scholars and scientists.
The Market Halls is the largest market in Highvault. It is a large structure that butts up against Fortress hill, has two levels of market space as well as administrative and guild offices on top of those. (Think Trajan’s Market)
The Quiet Grove is Highvault’s cemetery, it’s situated on the top of the hill that the northern districts run along. At the crown of the hill is a grove of gnarled trees that stubbornly defy the coastal wind and form a canopy of ancient, bone-white branches that shield the tombstones of the dead.
The Feathered Cat and The Whiskered Hen are both magic shops that sit directly across from each other on Warbler Street. Dazzling signs enhanced with minor enchantments proclaim that each shop produces the finest magical goods in Highvault while disparaging the shop on the opposite side of the street. The Feathered Cat is owned by a half high-elf named Aeberos Selda and the Whiskered Hen is owned by a half-drow named Vrinn Kiizza. The two were rival classmates in Taureluum. Upon graduation, Aeberos opened shop in his home of Highvault and Kiizza followed suit for the sole reason of pissing him off.
Architecture
Most of the city is built from locally quarried, dark gray stone. Wood construction is gaining popularity, particularly for adding additional floors to existing buildings. Over the past decade, there was a movement to liven up the drab city. As a result, many shops and homes now boast murals of varying subjects, colorful doors, and window boxes bursting with flowers in the summer or blown glass ornaments when the frost sets in.
Geography
Highvault is built around a cluster of large karst formations on the cliffs of Merchant's Bay. Originally built between the dark gray stone of the hills, the city eventually expanded up by carving artificial terraces into the hill slopes. The city is split down the middle by a moderately deep, 20-foot-wide gorge carved by the Emerald River. The river empties into the sea by Fortress Hill. Though officially called Emerald Fall, the waterfall has colloquially been renamed "The King's Fall." Whether the renaming refers to its location by the palace or a sort of memento mori aimed at the king depends on who you ask.
Beyond the city is a patchy forest of birch, spruce, and pine that sprouts up wherever it might gain a barrier from the strong coastal winds. The only trees that survive the windswept cliffs and karst hills directly on the coastline are ancient, gnarled pines and other stunted varieties. The handful of orchards within the city are strategically placed in locations shielded from the wind.
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