Alkenstar City

The city of Alkenstar is divided into two distinct parts—Smokeside and Skyside—naturally separated by the Ustradi River. The poorer and more dangerous half of the city, Smokeside, is located in a permanent pocket of antimagic, where spells both arcane and divine simply cease to function. Here, a tumble down the stairs can be just as lethal as a bullet wound (though the latter is far more likely), as magical healing is non-existent and unpracticed doctors are the only way for many citizens to remedy deadly injuries or disease. Gangs and criminal organizations operate out of soot-covered factories, ruling the streets beneath a perpetual cloud of lung-burning smog. For all its hazards, however, this side of the city is also one of the most highly sought out, since it is one of the few places in the Inner Sea where one can reliably avoid magical detection via divination, as scrying and other eldritch means of locating a person simply do not work among the smokestacks and filth-ridden alleys of Smokeside. The half of the city on the eastern side of the Ustradi River is known as Skyside because the towers here are among the few places in Alkenstar where one can penetrate the blanket of smog and see the sky. The wide river itself is an area of unforgiving primal magic, which washes down the Alken Falls as surely as it occasionally seeps into the waters of Smokeside and Skyside from time to time. Only the wealthiest and most established Alkenstarians may live in Skyside. Here, the Grand Duchy holds sway, as do the myriad engineering guilds, metallurgic factories, Brigh- and Abadar-worshiping temples, and universities of alchemy and primal magic. The organizations and businesses of Skyside utilize the unpredictable fonts of magical energy that course through the soil—arcane remnants of the ancient wars between neighboring Geb and Nex—in order to drive their noxious industries ever forward in the name of profit, progress, and power. The result of these two distinct sectors is a dichotomy between the haves and have-nots—those who use haphazard magic in their privileged daily lives and those who must subsist in a raw, unforgiving world run by machinery and grit alone. Factor in the presence of clockwork automatons constructed by Skyside's wealthiest engineering guilds and the burgeoning technology of guns, and Alkenstar quickly proves to be one of the most fascinating, exotic, and compelling cities in the Inner Sea region. As part of the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar, the city of Alkenstar is technically a vassal of the nation of Nex, and Grand Duchess Trietta Ricia should, by the letter of the law, report to the rulers of that land. In practice, however, Alkenstar remains a fairly independent city-state and a force of neutrality between the rival nations of Nex and Geb

Demographics

85% humans, 7% dwarves, 3% halflings, 5% other

Government

The Grand Duchy of Alkenstar is technically a vassal of the nation of Nex to the north of the Mana Wastes and Grand Duchess Trietta Ricia should, by the letter of the law, report to the rulers of that land. In practice, however, Alkenstar remains a fairly independent city-state and a force of neutrality between the rival nations of Nex and Geb. The small nation is governed by a High Parliament consisting of 73 ministers representing the various factions in the three settlements and small rural sections of the city-state's realm

Industry & Trade

Alkenstar City is also the nation's center of industry, housing the duchy's infamous Gunworks, the source of mass-produced firearms used both for the protection of the city-state and for trade throughout the Inner Sea region. As a result of the industrial advancement of Alkenstar, a constant cloud of white steam and sooty smoke hangs in a haze over the city, generated by the gears and pistons of countless factories operating around the clock.
Alkenstar is one of the only places in the world where firearms are manufactured and their understanding of this situation has allowed the city-state to control the supply of these weapons, keeping the price high and their coffers full. In fact, a full ninety percent of all firearms, both personal weapons and artillery manufactured in the Gunworks are kept within Alkenstar itself, both for protection and to maintain product scarcity throughout the rest of the world. In addition to exporting firearms, Alkenstar profits greatly on the commodity of its citizens' expertise in the fields of engineering, alchemy, and metallurgy, sending masters on lucrative contract jobs across the Inner Sea region and beyond. The mineral-rich mountains in which the Grand Duchy sits provide raw materials for export as well, such as the quartz crystals shipped through Nex to Vudra far to the east. The nation's banks, housed in the town of Martel, are known for their shrewd fiscal practices and are little trusted outside of Alkenstar itself. As wealthy as Alkenstar may be from its manufacturing and engineering exports, the desolation of the Mana Wastes has left arable land quite scarce in the region. As a result, the city-state imports most of its food from its southern neighbor of Geb, often trading one of the few potable goods produced locally, a potent ice wine.

History

Alkenstar began as a refuge for residents of Nex and Geb, fleeing the centuries-long war that devastated both nations. In the relative safety of the Shattered Range, they developed, primarily out of necessity, incredibly advanced technology. The rate of progress can be seen by examining the two oldest structures in the city-state, Old and New Bridge, separated by only a few centuries but noticeably different in terms of architecture and technological achievement.[3] The city's Gunworks were founded in 1903 AR and since then the city's renown has only increased. To the current day, nations throughout the Inner Sea region contract the engineers and metallurgists of Alkenstar to craft weapons for them, such as the Taldan bombard Worldbreaker of 2009 AR and their own Great Maw of Rovagug of 4450.

Geography

The sprawling city of Alkenstar straddles the Ustradi River at a point where a 500-foot-tall cliff face, called the Hellfallen Cliffs, creates the perilous Alken Falls waterfall. The city-state of Alkenstar is located on the banks of the Ustradi River where it plunges over the Hellfallen Cliffs in the Alken Falls. Amid the magic-dead region known as the Mana Wastes, Alkenstar is perfectly suited to act as a neutral intermediary between its neighbors of Nex and Geb to the north and south respectively. The nation itself occupies a low valley amidst the barren Shattered Range and consists of three settlements which are often considered districts of the same large city. The primary of these is Alkenstar City, located on the edge of the cliffs and containing most of Alkenstar's population. At the foot of the cliffs lies the town of Martel, which connects to the main city via two immense towers which climb over the seven hundred feet to connect with buildings in Alkenstar City through skybridges. Linked via the cyclopean sky-bound Bridge of the Gods, the dwarven Sky Citadel of Dongun Hold produces much of the city's mineral resources, used locally in manufacturing or trading abroad. At the other end of the great bridge, on the other side of the canyon, one finds Cloudreaver Keep, which guards the city's eastern border.

Type

Metropolis

Population

53,600