The Barony of The Black Coast

The Black Coast Barony ranges nearly the entire western coast of Andrim; from port city Capital Black Bottom to the bleakest northern town of Blackmarsh Port; The massive barony was amassed by Saldoric Black, The Bloody during the age of the reign of Kel'Azad;  Saldoric was a grand descendant of the line of Balaste, their bastards called Black since the ancient times. The evil dracolich made a deal with Saldoric that he could cannibalize the smaller baronies of Korrig and the vast southern elven city of Morag. Once the two had been absorbed, Saldoric began a campaign to expand his sights beyond the coast out into the ocean. He sent countless fleets into the black sea, many to their deaths; some managed to reach Kaldore. He was hoping they would find undiscovered lands, or perhaps gold and riches forgotten by the ancients or from the kingdom of the Giants, they found nothing. But a simple fisherman, in the waters of The Black Bay pulled up from the water a small yet strange looking whale, purple, with a slight blue glow that emanated from the edges of its body, its gills and eyes. The Fisherman released the creature back into the bay, but took a small piece of its fin to the wharf with him and began discussing the creatures. Within 2 years that same man was building vessels large enough to hunt the adults; by now they had earned the name Oma Whales, and mages and scholars alike had worked tirelessly to understand them, discovering they possessed a strange blubber that was conductive to natural elements as well as magical ones. Said simply, it was a powersource ; truly, this was Saldoric's treasure he longed for.
However, Saldoric; the bloody baron, could not see the potential of the whales and what they meant for The Blacklands. He saw only more fish, the same fish that surrounded him, trapped him into his small city for so long. He did not believe his advisors or his seers when they informed him of the Oma Whales unique blubber and the magical properties it produced and over time he grew to hate the whales, he eventually would order a cease to all whaling activity in the kingdom; but by this point so much of Black Bottoms and the coast at large's economy was reliant on the whales that his advisors would not stand for it. They rose up against the baron and murdered him, replacing him as the rulers of the city; deciding that a council should rather be elected to rule the barony. They had suspicions that while the baron did not start out so bloody, perhaps the pressure of ruling the barony drove him insane; or perhaps it was a side effect of his deal with Kel'Azad.
The Barony as it stood dissolved and was replaced by the former baron's cabinet of advisors; some of the smartest, richest and most capable people in the city. They called themselves the Trade Council of Black Bottom; and they propelled the city into new heights. Pushing the Oma Whaling industry further and allowing magic and technology to live together in harmony, as well as continuing Saldoric's legacy of production and factory building, starting the first canning industries within Andrim; a great way to deal with the lack of agricultural possiblity in the black coast as the years wained on. While not nearly as advanced as the Magus Isles or the great city of Shale ; Black Bottom is by far the most advanced city within Andrim; its Golems building perfect brick houses and its streets lined with Gaslights that emanate the same blue glow of the oma whales blubber. The Council since those days has had many iterations and forms yet they still rule the barony from The Circlet, a building in the Ivory district of Black Bottom.
Whaling, Fishing, Sailing, are a very significant part of the culture of The Black Lands, The Black Sea, a bay of purely obsidian liquid saltwater is the ocean these folk call their own. Many believe the sea gives life, magic, wealth and should be thanked as such. The sailors of the Black are some of the most fearsome, as the dark waters and choppy seas not only make navigation difficult; but the things that lurk beneath the opaque surface are much larger, and much more terrifying than your average fish from the Ruby Sea of the south east. The Black Sea is very famous for its Eels, a staple of Black Bottom cuisine as well as the Skarn Fish, a large fish that is often roasted over an open fire or smoked for several hours.

Important Cities of the Black Coast

The Black Coast, being a trade hub for the revolutionary Oma Oil as well as the capital of fishing and sailing within Andrim has many large cities, likely the most of any barony as it certainly keeps the most gold per capita of any of its peers. Most of the cities are Ports, but deeper into the coast one can find many people settled into smaller villages in the Flats, a region of vast linear land of mostly rock and brush where not much food grows outside of root vegetables, in recent years the Trade Council has begun importing Eastern Andrimian soil in droves to these regions in attempts to build new types of farms that can host more varied crops, but results have been mixed thus far.
When visiting Andrim's most vast barony, there are many Cities to consider, in order of population they are as follows
Black Bottom; With a populace larger than the next 3 cities on this list put together, the Capital of the Black Coast is an electric hub of fishing, trade, commerce, art and just about everything else. It is truly the largest city in Andrim both horizontally and vertically; with sky scraping buildings of marble and iron that rise up from the cobblestone streets. The city is an ever folding and twisting maze of districts, wards, and neighborhoods, some with cultures all of their own. Organized Crime and The Trade council struggle for control of the city, its people and the gold they carry
Garrison Port: Garrsion Port is a whaling harbor 75 miles north of Black Bottom, this is where a majority of the powerful and valuable Oma oil is processed through, with several factories and laboratories dedicated to creating new and exciting designs and finding new purposes for the mysterious liquid. Many older members of Black Bottom's elite Ivory society retire to Garrison Port for its scenic views and all the convivence of the Capital without all the crowds, though as more and more move there, that is slowly changing.

Terrenaga: The City of Strangers; Terrenaga was at one time a supermax type of prison for criminals of the balaste age, including dark mages, warlocks, necromancers, zealots, barbarians of the savage lands that had been captured in raids; it housed thousands of inmates in its hay day; however eventually Kel Azad usurped the Balaste line, and the Fort was left to its inmates, eventually realizing their new found freedom the city eventually became what it is today, a hub of crime, corruption and lawlessness; the city famously has no guards or city watch of any kind, as well as a reputation for an anything goes attitude. The city of Strangers is famously home to The Ceaseless Syndicate 
Saltstone: Founded by the first dwarven fisherman of the Black Coast, Salt Stone is named for the large pillars of black and grey salt that rise from the black coast in this area,  massive salt deposit that seemingly grows larger every year. Combining their new found love of the sea with their knowledge of mining, the dwarves of the Saltskin clan turned Saltstone into a commercial success, selling the salt as some of, if not andrim's absolute finest, and over the years it has proven itself as such, coveted by chefs all across Andrim. 
Saorti: The City of Mirrors is named so for the 3 large triangular towers that loom over the passway boats enter the city by, each one identical and made of the reflective mirror glass the city is famous for producing; the most prolific college and center of higher education on the black coast; the Saorti Institute is located here, and students travel to Saorti from all over the country and some even beyond to attend the school here. It is most famous for its doctrines and courses on Law, Philosophy, Diplomacy and Engineering. Dr. Gregor Kazamoff, the creator of the device that turned the Oma Whale oil into an energy source, is a professor at the school, one of many famous instructors at the school.

Type

Geopolitical, Barony

Capital

Black Bottom

Parent Organization

Kingdom of Andrim

Location

Orund