Brigands' Landing
"And so the human detritus of war found its collective way to the port. Widows, orphans, those too weak or a’feared to seek safe haven in distant Hara. Farmers whose fields had burned, families with no homes. And as wolves will follow sheep, so too did the predators of mankind set upon their trail. Those awaiting passage on the few ships still sailing through the occupied Southern Sea were easy prey for all manner of banditry.
And once their fearsome appetites were sated, the wolves made camp.”
There are a few things that everyone in Brigands' Landing knows. The first: Rain. For it always rains in Brigands' Landing. Yes, always. Scholars from the University Omniscia insist on something to do with air currents converging near the coast of the Southern Sea. The bonespeakers rattle on about ancient curses and impending floods. But for the most part, the people of Brigands' Landing care not a whit why it rains. They just know it does. And it will. Always. The second: It is unwise to walk the soaked streets of the Landing with one’s purse-strings exposed, unless one is hoping a knife will be firmly jabbed into their vital organs. The Lay of the Land strongly favors Finders/Keepers over Losers/Weepers. There is no Law in Brigands' Landing, only the Lay of the Land. And if you can’t get the Lay of the Land, you won’t make it very far in the Landing. You will very likely end up a Loser/Weeper. The third, and this one is important:
Excerpt from “City of Thieves; The Founding of Brigands' Landing”, Johannes Bruges, 1202 Year of Enlightenment
There are a few things that everyone in Brigands' Landing knows. The first: Rain. For it always rains in Brigands' Landing. Yes, always. Scholars from the University Omniscia insist on something to do with air currents converging near the coast of the Southern Sea. The bonespeakers rattle on about ancient curses and impending floods. But for the most part, the people of Brigands' Landing care not a whit why it rains. They just know it does. And it will. Always. The second: It is unwise to walk the soaked streets of the Landing with one’s purse-strings exposed, unless one is hoping a knife will be firmly jabbed into their vital organs. The Lay of the Land strongly favors Finders/Keepers over Losers/Weepers. There is no Law in Brigands' Landing, only the Lay of the Land. And if you can’t get the Lay of the Land, you won’t make it very far in the Landing. You will very likely end up a Loser/Weeper. The third, and this one is important:
Do not fuck with the Coinlords.
Demographics
The Landing's population is divided amongst socio-economic groups, with the citizenry generally referred to as "Brigands". The richest live in opulent estates throughout the city (notably in the Eastern district known as 'Mary's Yard'), rarely leaving the safety of their walls and hired guards. The middle-class, constantly under pressure, make up the smallest demographic in the Landing, as their position is constantly under siege. Be it wealthier foes lacking scruples, who connive and scheme to steal the very land out from under them, or be it those poorer, whose desperation drives them to seek the easiest targets - in either case, the middle-class citizens of the Landing have none of the luxuries of security that money can provide.
Racial prejudices are almost non-existent due to aggressively capitalist government. The only thing that matters in the Landing is money - who has it, and who doesn't. Other than merchants and corporations which exist off the trade importance of the city, the city's population is mostly made up of sailors, shipwrights, oarsmen and fishermen. Almost no one lives in Brigands' Landing because they want to; most are in hock to the Coinlords for some manufactured debt, or involved with the shadowy black market.
Tritons have a strong presence in the Landing. Their skill as fishers and sailors being second to none, they are highly sought after and often well paid when they choose to accept work.
Racial prejudices are almost non-existent due to aggressively capitalist government. The only thing that matters in the Landing is money - who has it, and who doesn't. Other than merchants and corporations which exist off the trade importance of the city, the city's population is mostly made up of sailors, shipwrights, oarsmen and fishermen. Almost no one lives in Brigands' Landing because they want to; most are in hock to the Coinlords for some manufactured debt, or involved with the shadowy black market.
Tritons have a strong presence in the Landing. Their skill as fishers and sailors being second to none, they are highly sought after and often well paid when they choose to accept work.
Government
Though it is without question that the Emperor's rule includes all the lands occupied by the city of Brigands' Landing, perhaps one could be forgiven for thinking his gaze does not. For while Imperial Law is technically applicable in the Landing, the sheer lethality of the Coinlords' grip on the area prevents its enforcement without full military intervention. During the Whalers' War, as the city sprung up like an unnoticed tumor, there were larger concerns than the lawfulness of what amounted to, in the Emperor's eyes, a refugee camp around a trade-post. As such, the Coinlords had free reign to wrap their insidious tentacles around every aspect of the peoples' lives. By the time the war ended, those stuck in Brigands' Landing were either in debt to the Coinlords, or in business with them. In most cases, both.
The "government" of Brigands' Landing is less of an actual political entity as it is the collective fear of the Coinlords, and their various bodies of secret police. There are no laws in Brigands' Landing, only an abstract concept of ownership known as the "Lay of the Land". The Lay of the Land is interpreted differently in almost every situation, usually to the benefit of whichever party can afford to buy the judgement of the Coinlords, the most common arbiters for disputes amongst the Brigands. The Court of the Coinlords is the only "legal" authority, and its "law" should cause any right-thinking Imperial to shudder in disgust. When two are called to the Court, the disputes are handled in one way. There is, in the middle of the Court, a massive living glass scale. Though it stands nearly ten feet tall, with weighing dishes large enough for a man to lay across, it is sensitive to the weight of a single hair, such is the precision of a true artisan Shaper. The disputing parties take turns dropping coins into the dishes, until one or the other has exhausted their supply. The scales tip to determine the winner. In most cases, the Coinlords respect the Judgement of the Scales. In all cases, they keep the legal fees of both disputers. In very rare cases, the Coinlords may defy the Judgement of the Scales, but their decision is then based on a coin-toss. Since the currency of the Landing is gold coins stamped with the face of Mary Culligan, the custom is known as the "Word o' Mary".
Beyond the Coinlords and their aberrant court system, "justice" in the Landing is meted out by the different gangs employed by the Coinlords as secret police. The Gentlemen are a bloody vampire cult who revel in and further the murderous agenda of Azar Ibn-Alhad, and control most of the black market in the Landing which isn't under the direct influence of the Coinlords themselves. Alhad also employs numerous mercenaries, most of whom were in his own mercenary band before he rose to power during the war. Niles DeVries' Shipwrights' Union are press-ganged, indentured thugs who blindly obey the orders of their slave-master DeVries, no matter how dangerous or inhumane, to ensure their families are not cast into the forced poverty of the Landings' most unfortunate. Mary Culligan had few friends left after her betrayal of the Whalers, and made little effort to make new ones - but there were three among those she betrayed that were bewitched by her despite her treachery. Malcolm Roe, Jonathan Fin and Patricio Albacoré, known to the people of Brigands' Landing as Mary's Boys, are among the most brutal and hardened killers on the continent. Silas Varacco, the Collector of Debts, employs a large force of "Collectors", who are paid to harass and harm those who owe money to the Coinlords. Which, of course, is every single person who lives in Brigands' Landing.
The "government" of Brigands' Landing is less of an actual political entity as it is the collective fear of the Coinlords, and their various bodies of secret police. There are no laws in Brigands' Landing, only an abstract concept of ownership known as the "Lay of the Land". The Lay of the Land is interpreted differently in almost every situation, usually to the benefit of whichever party can afford to buy the judgement of the Coinlords, the most common arbiters for disputes amongst the Brigands. The Court of the Coinlords is the only "legal" authority, and its "law" should cause any right-thinking Imperial to shudder in disgust. When two are called to the Court, the disputes are handled in one way. There is, in the middle of the Court, a massive living glass scale. Though it stands nearly ten feet tall, with weighing dishes large enough for a man to lay across, it is sensitive to the weight of a single hair, such is the precision of a true artisan Shaper. The disputing parties take turns dropping coins into the dishes, until one or the other has exhausted their supply. The scales tip to determine the winner. In most cases, the Coinlords respect the Judgement of the Scales. In all cases, they keep the legal fees of both disputers. In very rare cases, the Coinlords may defy the Judgement of the Scales, but their decision is then based on a coin-toss. Since the currency of the Landing is gold coins stamped with the face of Mary Culligan, the custom is known as the "Word o' Mary".
Beyond the Coinlords and their aberrant court system, "justice" in the Landing is meted out by the different gangs employed by the Coinlords as secret police. The Gentlemen are a bloody vampire cult who revel in and further the murderous agenda of Azar Ibn-Alhad, and control most of the black market in the Landing which isn't under the direct influence of the Coinlords themselves. Alhad also employs numerous mercenaries, most of whom were in his own mercenary band before he rose to power during the war. Niles DeVries' Shipwrights' Union are press-ganged, indentured thugs who blindly obey the orders of their slave-master DeVries, no matter how dangerous or inhumane, to ensure their families are not cast into the forced poverty of the Landings' most unfortunate. Mary Culligan had few friends left after her betrayal of the Whalers, and made little effort to make new ones - but there were three among those she betrayed that were bewitched by her despite her treachery. Malcolm Roe, Jonathan Fin and Patricio Albacoré, known to the people of Brigands' Landing as Mary's Boys, are among the most brutal and hardened killers on the continent. Silas Varacco, the Collector of Debts, employs a large force of "Collectors", who are paid to harass and harm those who owe money to the Coinlords. Which, of course, is every single person who lives in Brigands' Landing.
Industry & Trade
- Main trade port with the Southern Continents.
- Major smuggling hub.
- Main exports: fish, nets, ships, narcotics and illegal goods
Infrastructure
The port of Brigands' Landing is secured with a massive chain gate which was built by Niles DeVries' shipwrights during the second decade of the Whalers' War, to defend against the vicious hit-and-run strikes of the Whaler guerrillas. Two gigantic chains, each a thousand feet long, with links as wide around as three men, were forged and heaved into place between guard towers at the mouth of the port. By way of massive ironwork gears and complex counterweighting systems, the chains can be raised and lowered to allow or deny ships passage, without being driven by horses or slaves. The wartime work crews were driven without mercy, and between the dangerous sea conditions and sheer exhaustion, an abhorrent worker fatality rate sparked a bloody rebellion during the construction of the lower chain, which was put down by Azar Ibn-Alhad's mercenaries. The mutinous workers' bodies were hung from the upper chain as the lower one was completed by the defeated workforce, leading to the name "Jamey's Chain", after the leader of the rebellion, James Colville, whose body was the first one hung. It was after this rebellion that Niles DeVries instituted the Shipwrights Union, which promised fairer pay and better conditions, but in reality was a scheme to trick workers into signing away more and more of their pay, and evolved into a violent, xenophobic gang.
Beyond the mouth of the port, the shipyards of Brigands' Landing are the rival of any in the Northern Continent. Niles DeVries built the first shipyard here to serve as a convenient launching point and trading post for commerce with the Southern Continent. It was the whale oil trade which truly spurred the first growth - as Silas Varacco began to invest in a whaling fleet based out of the yet unnamed port, DeVries pragmatically expanded his shipyards, ensuring he could continuously supply the budding industry with the ships it would require. The population began to swell as more workers were needed, and whalers - at this point only harvesters of the sea, rather than defenders of it - were drawn to the port seeking employment. By the time Mary Culligan had begun to stir up discontent, DeVries' shipyards could produce three whaleships in one year, making them second only to the Imperial shipyards in their capacity.
Beyond the mouth of the port, the shipyards of Brigands' Landing are the rival of any in the Northern Continent. Niles DeVries built the first shipyard here to serve as a convenient launching point and trading post for commerce with the Southern Continent. It was the whale oil trade which truly spurred the first growth - as Silas Varacco began to invest in a whaling fleet based out of the yet unnamed port, DeVries pragmatically expanded his shipyards, ensuring he could continuously supply the budding industry with the ships it would require. The population began to swell as more workers were needed, and whalers - at this point only harvesters of the sea, rather than defenders of it - were drawn to the port seeking employment. By the time Mary Culligan had begun to stir up discontent, DeVries' shipyards could produce three whaleships in one year, making them second only to the Imperial shipyards in their capacity.
Guilds and Factions
The Coinlords control the majority of trade and industry in the Landing. Niles DeVries maintains an iron grip on the shiyards and docks, while Silas Varacco owns the massive whaling fleets. Azar Ibn-Alhad has connections to the shadowy Gentlemen, who reap enormous profit from the illegal slave trade. Mary Culligan came to be involved with nearly every smuggling operation which runs through the ports of Brigands' Landing, and woe betide the unwary criminal who fails to pay Mary's tax. All commerce in the Landing is subject to strict taxes due the Coinlords' collective coffers - which does not include any additional taxes an individual Coinlord may choose at any time to collect.
Geography
Built on the bank of the natural harbor named Barnum's Bay, Brigands' Landing is nestled in the lush Sanarin Valley, between the Southern Sea shoreline and the arid flatlands of Pur.
Type
City
Population
~10,000 Souls (no accurate Imperial census data)
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
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