The City of Keelford

Standing a proud jumble sale of mismatched buildings on The Kingdom of Archaria's storm-swept South coast, Keelford is the economic capital and gateway of the Kingdom. It is a labyrinth of winding markets and crooked bazars, of creaking docks and corroding warehouses, all hemmed in by teetering piles of structures, overflowing from every crevice, each bustling nook and all of the city's many crannies which only a true Keelfordian would be able to navigate. Around the thronging squares and gullies of the metropolis, bursts of magical flame from the turrets and half melted workshops of the mages' quarter indicate an experiment gone wrong, merchants with names that no one can pronounce barter with guildmasters in the towering stone structures of the ports, and thieves discuss the particulars of business amid the din of ships' bells and rampaging escaped oxen - all living life in the glorious chaos of Keelford.
Please note - All maps of the city will be facing East (please see The Kingdom of Archaria⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ).
The City is divided into 6 official wards, with the oldest and most wealthy areas in the South, while trade and industry is centred around the North of the city. These wards are: Dockland Roads, The Market Courts, The Wooded Alleys, The Old Courts, Smudditch and The Mages' Quarter. (Please note, all maps of the City are drawn facing East, towards the centre of the Archipelago).

Demographics

Races

Keelford is inhabited by humans ^(60,000), primarily. There is, however, a large dwarven population ^(8,000) and there are many gnomes ^(4,000). The rest of the population is made up of the small elven community ^(3,000) and other races ^(2,000).

Professions

The professions of Keelford, at last consensus, are organised as thus:

Bakers 89 , Barbers 102 ,Bathers 12 ,Beer-sellers 25 ,Blacksmiths 42 ,Bleachers 14 ,Bookbinders 17 ,booksellers 12, Buckle-makers 37 ,Butchers 54 ,Carpenters 139 ,Chandlers 88 ,Chicken Butchers 35 ,Clergymen 315,Coopers 91 ,Copyists 17 , Costamongers 112, Cutlers 14 ,Doctors 31 ,Fishmongers 112 ,Furriers 64 ,Glovemakers 9 ,Guards 504 ,Harness-makers 11 ,Hat-makers 24 ,Hay merchants 21 ,Illuminators 4 ,Inns 30 ,Jewellers 17 ,Lawyers 64 ,Locksmiths 28 ,Magic Shops 8 ,Mercers 97 ,Old clothes 119 ,Painters 22 ,Pastry-cooks 75 ,Plasterers 44 ,Priests 41 ,Purse-makers 31 ,Roofers 45 ,Ropemakers 88 ,Rugmakers 26 ,Saddlers 32 ,Scabbard-makers 50 ,Sculptors 18 ,Shoemakers 169 ,Spice-merchants 44 ,Tailors 135 ,Tanners 15 ,Taverns 150 ,Watercarriers 29 ,Weavers 69 ,Wine-sellers 62 ,Woodcarvers 19 ,Wood-sellers 76 .

The rest of Keelford's population are employed as labourers, craftsmen, fishermen, agricultural workers, shopkeepers, etc. There are 122 noble houses in Keelford.

Government

The Crown

The City's loyalties are first and foremost to The Kingdom of Archaria and it's monarch. Although the monarch gains shares of taxes from the City, they do not have full control of the city's administration. Being one of the largest cities in the kingdom and also a major centre of trade means that Keelford remains exempt from the semi-feudal system which is maintained in the countryside. Instead, it has it's own hierarchy, in which the Mayor and Council are placed in charge of most social and economic policy. In times of war, however, the Crown supplants the mayoral council as the prime ruler of the city. Other rights bestowed upon the city by the crown were the right to fortify and hold a garrison, the right to hold market and the right to have a trade port.

The Mayor

The Mayor is the head of the Keelford Council of Representatives, and represents the city in the Royal Council of Archeria. The Mayor is elected by the burghers of the city, groups which include guild members, merchants, priests, high ranking spellcasters, and members of the aristocracy. Labourers and craftsmen (commoners) not affiliated with a guild are not able to vote as they are not considered to be knowing in the ways of economics and guild politics. As head of the council, the Mayor is in charge of, with the council's guidance, setting taxation rates, setting the salaries of Keelford Government employees such as guards, tax collectors and bureaucrats (with the exception of council salaries, which are decided by the crown), as well as the writing of laws. The Mayor is most often a member of the Keelford Council of Representatives or the Aristocracy, but this is not a rule. In some cases, the Mayor has been a non-counselling burgher or even (in rare cases) a commoner. The Mayor of Keelford is given the honorary title of Earl of Keelford.

The Council

The Keelford Council of Representatives is a group of administrators responsible for advising the Mayor. The council can overrule the mayor's decisions if they vote with a majority, or create their own motions, but only if a significant portion of the council is behind the motion. The council is made up mostly of Guild-masters, high ranking clergymen, magi, merchants and aristocrats, each representing their own faction's interests in the council. For instance, Guild-masters and merchants represent the Burghers, priests represent the clergy of their own particular temples, magi represent the interests of spellcasters, and aristocrats represent the interests of the Crown. There has been some debate over the involvement of aristocrats in the council, where all the other representatives have been elected by their factions. However, no serious action has been taken to remove them from the council, as the other councillors fear that it might be viewed as an attack on the king's power, leading to a reduction in the council's influence in the city.

Defences

Due to it's dangerous surroundings, Keelford has an extensive network of defence. The city is surrounded multiple sets of concentric walls, which were built as the town expanded. The oldest walls surround the old town in the South. The newest and strongest walls are located on the north side of the city, and older walls to the west have been updated. This strong outer wall is 35 ft high with round towers each 75m. These watchtowers are armed with ballistae, and manned with watchmen. The South wall is built on top of a cliff, which has halted further northward expansion of the city. There are multiple gates to the city, two in the North, two to the West, and one facing South.
The city is overlooked by Keelford Castle - a large fortress built on a rocky hill in South Keelford. It is protected by at most 3 sets of concentric walls (depending on the part of the castle), each containing a raised bailey. The castle's keep is the oldest part of the castle, and has been greatly expanded since it was built. For more info, see the castle's article.
One little known defensive feature of the city is less of a defence, and more of a safe haven for the city's inhabitants. It is a tunnel, leading from the Temple of Tarf Derelactis to The Stronghold of Dal Gabond⁣⁣⁣. It originally was built as an escape passage by the corrupt devotees of Derelactis, to provide freedom to one of the magicians held prisoner in the castle. Once the tunnel was complete, the magician prepared to leave. Having acquired a spell scroll on the prison's black market that would have allowed him to pass unnoticed between the fields of detection in the castle, he planned to slip away to join his fellow conspirators. However, although the magician was careful, the clerics were not. Unaware of the security systems, one cleric cast a simple spell of light within the castle's walls, which immediately triggered alarms and anti-magic field. All five conspirators were caught and hanged. Two decades passed, before the passage was rediscovered, and was secretly developed into an escape route to boats at the stronghold, which saw extensive use in relieving the Second Siege of Keelford.

Industry & Trade

Keelford, being a centre for trade has no difficulty staying afloat.

Trade

As detailed above, Keelford is a settlement reliant on trade and the sea for most of their income, with all ships entering Archarian waters required to dock there by law, due to a famous law passed by Queen Ardil I to keep the city from loosing out on trade to cities further North. It is unclear to historians why she favoured this law, but the most widely accepted view is that she was persuaded by the mayor of Keelford, who was in turn persuaded by the numerous merchants' guilds that hold enormous power over the city's commerce. Now, docking at Keelford is not so much of a requirement for the merchants, as a necessity. Keelford's markets are some of those most plentiful in customers and stall-holders in the land, and to visit the city practically guarantees a good turnover for merchants.

Guilds and Factions

Keelford has many major factions who assert control over city politics.

The Traditionalists

Before the discovery of Gnomic Technology, The Kingdom of Archaria was governed primarily by the aristocracy in a feudal system, with exceptions for larger towns and spellcasters, who did not generally follow this system. However, with the discovery, merchants and factory owners gained much more political traction through their wealth and control over manufactured goods. Therefore, throughout the Age of Advancement (also known as the Age of Expansion), the aristocracy lost power, and the feudal system started to fall apart, as the new merchants did not fit into the traditional system. However, when the Great Ruination occurred, the feudal system was partially reinstated, although the new merchants still held a significant amount of the realm's wealth, and therefore a lot of power. The Traditionalist faction is mostly made up of nobles attempting to protect the interests of the Crown and the aristocracy. Whilst some traditionalists wish to see the Kingdom return to a full feudal system, many simply wish to maintain a stable government and to impose tougher regulations on the new merchants and the guilds.

The New Merchants

This faction is made up of people who's families gained sudden wealth and power after the discovery of gnomic technology in 0 AE. These were the emerging middle class, who produced the technology in their factories and capitalised from it's trade. This group also includes other 'new money', such as merchants who took advantage of the expansion of Keelford to make money. This faction is mostly made up of the descendants of families who capitalised on Sky Gnome technology, and newer overseas traders and merchants. This faction's goals are wider and more varied than that of the traditionalists. They mostly involve securing trade routes and vouching for less strict tariffs on their goods. However, some other goals which some members have include trying to stop the piracy which poses a constant danger to merchant ships, or even trying to reinstate gnomic technology to bring the faction back to the "Glory days". n. It represents all of Keelford's commercial guilds in the Council, and attempts to

Maps

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  Keelford (Unfinished)

  A map showing the streets of Northern Keelford. I still need to finish the South.

Type

City

Population

77,000

Included Locations

• Keelford Castle
• Kobold House
• North Market
• St. Grevon's Cathedral
• The Black Ship inn
• The Citadel
• The Fish Market
• The Shipyard
• The Stronghold of Dal Gabond
• Traders' Bridge
• Warehouse Islands

Ruling/Owning Rank

Mayor of Keelford

Owning Organization

The Kingdom of Archaria

Characters in Location

• Captain Radcliffe
• Sir Carvanon Greylock

Related Reports (Primary)

• Gallinor Hall raid (SECRET)