Mistsdale
Government
The City is Governed by The Sightless, with a Regent that oversees the taxation and lawmaking. While the Regent is the connection back to Huron the Sightless hunters are the ones that run day to day operations. Though if you see a hunter, you are already caught, and escape from the quiet town has slim margins of success.
The Guild of Monster Hunters runs the policing and protection of the Hamlet. Though these rune-covered blind men have no issues with keeping streets and buildings maintained, various public works are installed and fixed with little to no interaction with the population. Some say as the mists drift out from the Valley of Mists they reveal their true forms and get the work done themselves.
Infrastructure
The Guild Hall
The main point of curiosity for the Hamlet is the Guild of Hunters themselves. The entire city having been built up around the fortification, the dark red brick of the outer walls offering very little to be seen from the outside. Covered in moss and ivy from the humid air breathed out from the Valley, the walls have withstood the test of time for centuries.
That isn't to say that the Sightless are unwelcoming. They simply don't speak much unless to discuss matters of state or Contracts to hunt some monstrosity down. If one were to walk into the guild hall you would be offered a warm meal and place to rest, though not allowed to wander the Guild's grounds or gardens. The one area that the general public would be allowed to wander is their vast library situated just below the main hall. Scripts covering everything from plays to historical documents, medical texts to mechanical manuscripts. First hand notes from The Forgemaster, questionable appropriated letters from major public figures. It all can be found here.
Inns and Hospitality
The point of interest for the general public beyond gawking at the Guild Hall is the immense number of restaurants, pantries, and Inns for a weary traveler to enjoy the foggy streets of the town. The warm glow of luminescent orbs atop each doorway offering a surreal experience anytime of day. Though one can get lost easily, it never gets to be a place where one feels threatened. Each door stays open and unlocked per the Sightless' demand, thieves and home invasions are quickly "dealt" with. A problem of a bygone era due to the relentless watch of the Hunters.
Should one get lost, or to find themselves in an uncomfortable situation, need only whisper to the misty dusk. A Hunter will seemingly appear out of nowhere to assist or to "deal with" the issue at hand. One should be careful when breaking the law or being rowdy and disrespectful in the City, the quiet hands of the Mist are ruthless things.
Many of the hospitality services are offered for free due to the lucrative enterprises of the Guild. The entire town being considered, by them at least, an extension of the Guild. Where it has become a magnet for those seeking to perfect their culinary craft, or to experiment with various distilleries. The travelers wafting through like a leaf on the wind, enjoy the rest in the city.
While the Merchants of the city enjoy the freedom and pleasure of working on the jobs they love, it doesn't come without a cost to the owners. All funds made by the shops are funneled back to the Guild in a pseudo-racketeering enterprise. The shops are not allowed to keep anything they make, though they are allowed to request anything they need, and are fed anything they please at any time. To leave the City as a shop owner is a simple walk to the Guild hall and requesting it, where one would be sent off with everything they would need to start a new life.
A bizarre sense of freedom is felt by all in the streets of dawn's weak light. The travelers feel no fear of being accosted, no threat of unfamiliar places, no unease at the state of the town. The Denizens feel no pressure to pursue anything for monetary gain just to survive, no do they feel trapped, they can leave whenever they please. Some would call a gilded cage, while many would call it a sanctuary that asks very little of you.
History
The City was originally just a small fortress built by a group of rangers hunting down a rogue nest of Venesca that had been causing issues for the Eastern Watchtower. It ended up becoming a lucrative business as they were hired for more and more things. Tracking down information, hunting down dark fell beasts that lurked through the mountains. On occasion taking contracts to hunt down more human prey, though a very good reason needs to be given for them to accept.
In the Early 700's the fortress had grown into a small village of a few hundred people that had tagged along with the Hunters back to the fortress. Eventually setting up their own lives there, often because whatever the Hunters had done, had left them without homes or property or family left. A sense of responsibility had set into the Guild overtime to protect those that were hurt from their enterprise.
Which gave rise to the Guild considering the town itself as an honorary extension to the guild itself as these people made their lives here. The odd customs of the actual citizens giving all their revenue to the Guild was a byproduct of a combination of gratefulness and stockholm syndrome. The Guild, originally uncomfortable with it, refused it all, though eventually began accepting it. The tradition sticking as years went on, the Sightless using that revenue exclusively on bettering the town. Their own contracts and enterprises being used for guild processes.
Though this knowledge is unknown to the general populace, it is known to the Regent. Thus the exceptional freedom allowed to its citizens, the town as it stands today is a sanctuary to all. Those traveling through the disconcertingly still mists that wall the passageway through the Valley often need a day to rest from the bizarre feeling of being stalked the entire time. Or from the opposite direction where many need a moment to prepare themselves for the leg of the journey.
Light and life by Thereasonwhy
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