Anong's Crucible

Anong's Crucible is famous throughout the world as the place where Healixirs were invented, revolutionising the practice of healing and slashing recovery times for injury and illness to almost nothing. The greatest impact was on adventurers, who no longer had lengthy periods of recuperation after each quest and now had the option of running dungeons back-to-back.
Healixirs are not the fully story, however; Anong's Crucible has been at the forefront of the development of all kinds of potions for centuries. In most cases the advances in alchemy were more efficient recipes for known potions than true novelties, although there were more than a few of the latter.

Government

Control of the city is centralised in an executive chamber, appointed by the Adventurers' Guild but only with the approval of local merchant interests. Over the last several years, the Guild has put more pressure on the merchant to accept appointees with close Guild ties, up to and including senior adventurers on hiatus from active duty.
Because Healixirs form such an important part of the economy of the Coastal Safe Zone, and are exported world-wide, very harsh penalties are in effect for theft and smuggling both in the city and the surrounding area. Justices have traditionally been lenient on those who had clearly been stealing in order to avoid starvation, but recently those unfortunates have been pushed into becoming auxiliaries to the Adventurers' Guild, as an alternative to prison.

Industry & Trade

Anong's Crucible is not just the largest centre of manufacture for Healixirs, it is also the only place where the highest tiers of Healixir are made. The recipe for these potions, vital to the job of all high-Skill adventurers, is a closely-guarded secret held by only four master alchemists working in the city. The Adventurers' Guild enforces price controls, in order to keep their own forces well-supplied, but their manufacture is still enormously profitable. Consequently, Anong's Crucible is the richest city in the Coastal Safe Zone, and arguably the world.

Geography

The city occupies a deep, circular crater some distance north-east of the Forest of Lies. Such a perfectly geometric feature suggests that magic was the cause, although no records survive as to how. The lip of the crater forms a natural barrier that was fortified with a continuous wall when the city was still a small town. The existing gates eventually proved too much of a bottle-neck for the city's trade, so an ambitious project was commissioned to dig wide tunnels as new entry points for the city. The natural slope inside and outside the rim of the crater meant that carts could enter and leave the city without traversing a significant slope, another potential gain. In the end, only one such tunnel was built as the plan proved impractically expensive and difficult.

Type

City

Location under

Coastal Safe Zone