Troye
The high granite walls of Troye are resplendent with banners, and lines of colorful shields affixed to the battlements represent the various noble houses of the Duchy of the Rampart. Great towers stand at intervals above the walls, some crowned with trebuchets and ballistae, others with high, pointed roofs. Over it all rises the vast citadel of the duke, the greatest and most formidable structure in a city designed for war.
Troye is the capital of the Duchy of the Rampart and was founded in the Hyperborean era. The city is a major destination for caravans, whose merchants sell their cargos here to buy goods from faraway places for the return journey. Merchants planning on making the whole trek from the Kingdom of Foere into the provinces and back (most likely to Manas, but sometimes to Endhome) stop here to enjoy one last taste of city comforts before heading off into the wild.
This great metropolis at the far reaches of the Kingdoms of Foere offers a vast array of interesting sights, sounds, cultures, clothes, music, merriment, purchases, people, and pickpockets. It is wise to keep one hand on the belt pouch when walking through crowds in Troye. Tourist attractions include the University of Subtleties, the Great Stone Rabbit in Lapin Square, the smoke-snorting iron bull atop the temple of Mithras, the great Marchantal market, the dried remains of the six tall thieves (at the Citadel’s Gate), and the Court of Thespians.
In any of the city’s hundred small markets, mostly temporary affairs blocking crossroads, one can find herb-crusted breads, baskets of the dark purple, dream-inducing apples grown in the Yolbiac Vale, puppets, trained cats, dwarf-crafted trinkets, colorful surcoats, stolen items available for quick sale, clay idols painted with symbols, and all manner of merchandise culled from traveling merchants of the world.
Shells are a particularly popular item of jewelry, a curiosity in a city so far from the sea, and are often seen adorning wealthy merchants and nobles when they ride through the city’s narrow streets. Pearls are also much more highly prized than mined gemstones.
Troye is governed by a lord-mayor whose position is equivalent in status to a count (in other words, higher than a baron but not ranked as high as a duke). The duke-palatine appoints the lord-mayor, but a council of burgesses elected by the city’s landowners handles most of the job of managing the city. In the past, lords-mayor who continued to make unpopular decrees were stopped in their tracks by the citizens who shut down the gates, blocked streets, and started arresting people loyal to the unpopular mayor. So even though the city is not technically self-governed, there is a practical limit to what the duke can impose upon his capital city without its consent.
Troye is the headquarters or an important area of operations for a number of different organizations. Principal among these, of course, is the city’s government and city guard. Others include the Council of Guilds that regulates the city’s commerce; the Most Honorable Guild of Thieves, which regulates the city’s crime and underworld; the Church of Vanitthu and the Temple of Jamboor, both important players in the city’s politics and spiritual life; the city chapterhouse of the Order of the Swan; and the Guild of Magisters.
Troye is a large city containing many secrets — and many dangers for the unwary. Decadence is setting in, which is giving rise to a much higher level of murders and lesser crimes than in centuries — and even decades — past. The worst of the symptoms is the growth of demon-cults hiding within the city’s walls that are conducting secret sacrifices and engaging in vicious plots to undermine the forces of law and mercy. Heresies are whispered in the shadows, and criminal gangs roam the streets at night, disappearing into dark alleys and abandoned buildings if challenged by the guards.
If a party of adventurers asks around about strange events, especially among city officials, they may hear about the bizarre posters, pamphlets, and handbills that have been finding their way into the city over the last couple of years. The texts of these writings are nonsensical and disturbing: visions of the underworld, pointless ramblings, and deranged advice. The city’s officials have grave concerns about what seems at first glance to be nothing more than one more quirk of city life. They have observed that the printed materials have a certain fascination to them, and many citizens seem to be collecting them, even quoting them from time to time in ordinary discussions. Each time a new batch of pamphlets arrives, the city suffers a spate of unusual and pointless crimes, most of them completely petty. Signs are removed, turned upside down, or switched with those of other establishments. Horses are stolen from one stable, only to appear in another across the city. Bakeries report a tripling or quadrupling of the ordinary rate of pilfering. There seems to be no direct connection to the pamphlets, but the correlation is precise.
Capital
Troye, City of (Capital)
Type
Capital
Owning Organization
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