Highmantle Gazette

Highmantle, the capital and heart of the Aurelian Republic. Founded in 2463, the city approaches its bicentennial birthday. The most cosmopolitan city in the land, Highmantle is home to over 400,000 citizens and is ever growing.

Demographics

Progenitor: 61% Hevulk: 23% Dragonbred: 11% Other: 5%
The folk living in Highmantle are dominantly progenitors of the elder folk and combinations of ethnically blended subgroups of human, elven, celestial, and orcish bloodlines. The Hevulk, especially dwarves and gnomes, are also quite common. Dragonbred, spireborn, and other, more exotic folk form roughly a collective quarter of the city's population.

Government

High Seat of the Republic. The High Seat of the Republic is both a political office and a physical location. The physical location, a grand, white-washed, domed palace sitting on the cliff-edge overlooking the sea, acts as the meeting place for the executors of the various seats of the Republic. Though they officiate over the High Seat, the office of Highmantle executor is not strictly afforded any more power than the other executors. The Highmantle executor is intended to be a regional governor with equal power to all other executors, though this position has often been fraught with over-application of symbolic power. The Hall of the High Seat simply acts as both embassy and meeting offices to the Republic as a whole. The executorial office is currently held by Rayner Ward, a human-aasimar progenitor.
Grand Mayoral Electorate. Though the Republic's capital sits atop the cliffs of Highmantle, the city's management falls to the office of the grand mayor. The grand mayor is elected from residents of the city every six years. Typically, besides attending to the many offices that maintain the city's welfare, the grand mayor of Highmantle assists the borough mayors in their individual governance of their respective territories. The grand mayor acts as a stop-gap to the executor's office; the grand mayor concerns themselves with the part while the executor focuses on the whole. If a borough mayor has a concern that the grand mayor cannot assist with, they may appeal the executor's office for assistance.

Defences

The Seawark.
Sanctuary Fort.

Industry & Trade

Imports: Green kelp (Grand Daroa), raw foodstuffs (Hearthlands, Antakiaton, Wardwood Plateua), raw Araashi cotton (Antakiaton), lumenfruit and wardwood (Ardinas), precious metals and sunhusk ore (Ozulbrook, Nook)
Exports: Lumenoil products, stygibone products, processed foodstuffs, textiles and dyed apparel, processed wardwood products, arcano-tech, general industrial products, cliff snail products (food, jewelry, dye)
Trade Lanes:

Infrastructure

The Waterways. Aquamancers in the employ of the Republic work around the clock to direct and purify the water that flows throughout the city's many sewer systems. Both a system of civic hydration and waste disposal, the Waterways Guild manages an extensive system of subterranean tunnels beneath the city, directing clean water supplies to neighborhood cisterns, purging waste pipes to the sea, and occasionally dealing with nasty beasts stuck in the dark of the complex.

Districts

Highmantle is split into three main areas: a lower city (coast-side or the coast), an upper city (cliff-side or the cliffs), and a deep network of natural and carved caves set in the rock below the upper city (the catacombs, or just the 'combs). While residential suburbs are spotted throughout each region, most of them are coast-side. Political, factional, and aristocratic centers are on the cliffs, and the 'combs are a blend of residential row-houses, financial districts, businesses, warehouses, and acts as the literal seedy underbelly of the city.

Coast-side Districts and Landmarks

The coast-side districts are home to some of the oldest buildings and neighborhoods in Highmantle. Many of them are now run down or have been replaced by warehouses and dockyards, but just as many resolutely remain. The majority of the lower and middle-class of Highmantle live somewhere in Coast-side.
The Shambles. The Shambles is the oldest, poorest, and largest ghetto in Highmantle. The Shambles runs parallel to the coast and is a chaotic combination of warehouses, boarding houses, hostels, and dockyards. The Gulls have a major presence in the Shambles and, sadly, most new refugees wind up stuck there thanks to a mixture of their predation and plain, bad luck.
Curtain Strand. Highmantle boasts a phenomenally high and thick wall on its northern and seaward sides. On the seaward side, the wall runs along the far edge of a large peninsula that shelters the Golden Cove. On the outside of the wall rests the city's main docks. The peninsula is home to an assortment of businesses and amenities catering to travelers. Many wayward folk wind up in taverns and hostels on the Strand with little need to enter Highmantle proper. The Lancing Guild Charter House sits on the far, southern end of the Strand, though it is more castle than house.
Battery Row. Battery Row is the largest prison in the Republic save for the island of Kendwick north of Grand Daroa. So named, not for the violence inflicted upon its denizens (though the beatings are often generous), but for the arcane battery systems installed therein. Battery Row serves specifically as a prison for the magically-inclined, and the Ordinators oversee its security. Battery Row houses a one-of-a-kind system of essence siphons designed to draw forth prisoners' raw magic, keeping them tapped of their natural reserves of energy. From here, the energy is stored in batteries and turned into exports. Essence batteries from Battery Row are used in all manners of artifice, and for the publicly available inhalant known as Arc-wind.
Temple Lane and Temple Hill. Temple Lane is long, straight, inclined road leading from the Shambles to Temple Hill, a lightly fortified landmark that denotes the site of the first Radiant Church planted in Aurelia. Originally a tiny wooden outpost, a moderate, stone temple was erected to accommodate the faithful. Services are often packed with reverent radiants who cannot attend illumination at the High Chapel cliff-side. Temple Hill is an interchange connecting to several main thoroughfares, and many folk pass the First Chapel on a daily basis. The lane houses a number of charities, orphanages, and hostels specifically established for pilgrims.
The Araashi Trade Quarter. When the Araashi kingdoms fell, refugees poured into the Republic. Where once was a small collective of Araashi professionals now sits the largest Araashi merchant district outside of Red Pillars or Antakiaton. The Araashi ply their respective trades with gusto amidst color-soaked kiosks, dealing mainly in textiles, apparel, and jewelry.
Cove Guard Base. The Cove Guard are a division of the Republican Navy that polices the Golden Cove and all other docks and waterways in and around Highmantle. Their base is a light fortification at the northeast end of the cove.
Redshingle. Sandwiched between the urban sprawl that is the Shambles and the base of the Highmantle cliffs is Redshingle. Redshingle is home to over 75% of Highmantle's middle class. It is a relatively safe, well appointed district sporting clean limestone houses furnished with titular red slate shingle roofs. Many storefronts, amenities, and even a couple of small parks and water features can be found in Redshingle. Redshingle is laced with canals and bridges that carry water from the cliff-falls to Golden Cove. The canals in Redshingle, unlike those in the Shambles, are religiously maintained by a volunteer group of aquamancers.
Fort Bryncraig (BURN-crayk)/Greatgate. Named for a traitor admiral who escorted voyagers to the new world, Fort Bryncraig was built in in a defensive position on the north end of the city following the Sacking of Highmantle. The bulk of the Republican Guard stationed at Highmantle can be found at the fort, which houses stables for mounts both exotic and mundane, barracks for many men, and the armories to equip them. The area around the huge northern gates is called Greatgate.
Fort Dagmyr (DAG-meer)/Littlegate. Fort Dagmyr is a small but resolute complex. The lesser portion of Dagmyr, the tower fort, rests atop Shuddering Stone Island, a tiny, sharp outcropping of rock dividing the river Borelyn in two at its mouth. The greater portion, the Castle Proper, was built on the far bank of the river. Two large, sturdy stone bridges extending from the tower fort connect the city to castle, which in turn leads to the lands across the river. Dagmyr Castle on the far bank of acts as a checkpoint for all travelers seeking entry to the city from the south. The area is often called Littlegate despite its frequency of use often being much higher than its larger brother gate on the north end of the city.
The Heliculine. The first voyagers were starved for food upon their arrival, but soon found that the cliffs, rich in damp lichen, were home to a unique breed of snails. These snails quickly became a staple for the hungry colonists, and it was soon found that the snails' shells, when crushed, acted as a natural dye in purple and red varieties. It is suspected that this find hastened the Empire's response to the colonization of the new world, as their production of purple dye had previously been unique in the world.
Now, the Heliculine is a narrow strand of farms and complexes running between the cliffs and the south end of Redshingle. A unique part of the city, the farms run vertically. Farming families own patches of the cliff face and cultivate patches of lichen, vines, and other tropic greenery on the solid stone cliff face, which in turn sustains vast routs of snails. Snails are an important part of life in Highmantle, and most families have a shell jar by their dining table so as to collect spent husks for recycling at the nearest dyeworks.
The Heliculine is also home to an aerie of awakened hawks unique to the region. As awakened beasts they are not considered citizens, but are allowed to maintain their own business at the base of the cliffs. Whitefeather's Aerie has existed for over 150 years, and the Aurelian Snailhawks that reside there have served Highmantle as message carriers for most of that time. They are somewhat resentful that they must now work for their food, but serve the Republic nonetheless. They have little choice given that their ancestors nearly went extinct before Aegium druids awakened them and advocated for their integration into society. They are also paid as guards to ensure that the colonies remain safe from other wildlife.
The Vanyal Quarter. After their integration into the Republic, it was only natural that a Vanyal-exclusive district would form in Highmantle eventually. That said, it was not a welcome addition to the city. Unique in that it is a completely walled off district with its own private guard, the Vanyal Quarter is somewhat exclusive and mysterious. Willing to trade in gems and luxuries for purple dye, a luxury to which they no longer have access with the loss of their spider warrens in Henos, the Vanyal have helped revive the city's economy since the conclusion of the war. It is noteworthy that their quarter remains in the lower city despite its wealth, a clear symbol that they will not soon ascend within Aurelian society.

Catacomb Districts

Early in Highmantle's history, a network of natural caves served as storehouses for the first settlers. Throughout the city's history, the caves were slowly expanded into a vast, cloistered undercity. Intermixing all societal classes thanks to its many financial districts, towering housing areas, and dark alleys, the 'combs are the cosmopolitan heart of Highmantle and the middle ground between the cliffs and coast. The catacombs are somewhat of a labyrinth, but is generally divided into 15 levels, each about two stories tall, accounting in total for almost the full height of the Highmantle cliffs, which stand at an impressive 450 feet. Public transport between the tines is facilitated in tandem by a system of publicly maintained anti-gravity platforms known as locommuters. Every square foot of the catacombs is maintained by state geomancers, who monthly inspect and reinforce its superstructure.
The Tines. Each level of the catacombs, known locally as "the tines," was formally designated during a major civic overhaul almost 30 years ago. Some large buildings occupy multiple levels, but their addresses are generally based on the floor that their main door occupies. Arranged into three groups of five with a numbering system for each sublevel, the floors from top to bottom are Apex, Ascension, and Nadir. Each sublevel is designated First through Fifth with the lowest floor being first in the series and are approximately 25 feet in height each.
The Tower Stair (The Shaft). At the western edge of Redshingle is a massive limestone tower built into the cliff face. Known formally as the Tower Stair and colloquially as the Shaft (of the comb), this complex houses the largest locommuters in the city. Designed to ferry dozens from floor to floor, the center of the tower houses a series of secondary vertical and horizontal passages for the purpose of accommodating locommuters, which run like clockwork at all hours.
Highmantle's local taxes upkeep the public locommuters while private locommuters intended for cargo transport can be levied for extra fees. A guild of state-sponsored kinetimancers oversee their operation and maintenance. Few folk use the Shaft's stairs unless to ascend by just a level or two. The tower's walls are pitted with kiosks serving food and offering rest for weary climbers too impatient (or foolish) to wait for their turn on a busy locommuter. The Tower Stair is the spinal column of the combs, and serves doubly duty as its main interchange and as the city's primary thoroughfare between the cliffs, combs, and coast.
The Barrows. Occupying much of Nadir's first three levels, the Barrows are to the combs what the Shambles are to the coast. A warren of haphazardly carved hevulk ghettos, abandoned industrial facilities, and Gull-houses, the Barrows is likely the most dangerous district in the city and competes daily with the Shambles for poorest. Occasionally a rift to the Twisting Deep opens and consumes a building or two, releasing monsters into the Barrows that must be summarily dealt with...at some point. The Republican Guard tends to take its time with the Barrows. Communities will often band together to hire adventurers to deal with their problems, though this often proves to cause more problems than it solves.
The Deadhalls. Every city needs its cemetery. The Deadhalls are Highmantle's burial ground for hevulk and any not seeking cremation per radiant tradition or burial at sea. It is a haunting place set at the back of the first and second sublevels of Nadir. Echoing with the laments of mourners, the Deadhalls are a dark and cavernous labyrinth with solemn lanes of crypts stacked stories tall. Since the Eclipse, the Deadhalls have become haunted a bit more literally, and the restless dead have come forth to cause problems for Nadir. A number of adventuring parties are kept on retainer for cleansings and funerary escort.
Honzatown. The fourth and fifth tines of Nadir and bottom of Ascension are home to many of the dwarven honza's industrial enterprises. Too demanding to be fully accommodated by locommuters from the Tower Stair, many of the factories in Honzatown operate their own dedicated locommuter shafts that feed into the lower levels of Nadir. These shafts are usually heavily guarded as they are prime targets for looters and thieves living in the pits of Nadir.
Financial District. Occupying a good quarter of the space in Ascension is Highmantle's Financial District. Home to innumerable merchant offices and the First Bank of the Republic, the Financial District stands in gleaming, well-lit juxtaposition to the sections directly below it in Nadir. The infrastructure around the bank is kept particularly reinforced and warded so as to discourage miners attempting to rob it, and the entire district is well-policed. The bank has it's own series of secure locommuters for ferrying their swagons and other valuable cargo to-and-fro.
Basin Heights. Basin Heights is a charming neighborhood occupying a roughly cylindrical space three levels deep at the top of Apex. Beloved by locals, it is a pleasant housing district replete with middle- and upper-class manors carved into the walls. Built in the belly of a lush sinkhole with a narrow mouth atop Highmantle Plateau, Basin Heights proper is ringed by cozy, sizable living spaces, the roof and walls of the structure are draped in greenery, and a small pond collects rain water at the center of a welcoming park area. The cul-de-sac leading to Basin Heights is split into two paved roads by a double-sided line of businesses and amenity suites catering to residents. Basin Heights is a coveted place to live for Highmantle's middle class, and is made only less ideal a place to live by a wildly overbearing home-owner's association.
Ascension Plaza. A wide-open space occupying all 5 levels at the front of the Ascension district and a large plaza buzzing with businesses, offices, and amenities.

Cliff-side Districts

Atop the cliffs of Highmantle sits a once-verdant, tropical plateau. Long since cleared of foliage and graded flat, the plateau is now home to most of the Republic's political real-estate, upper class residents, and academic facilities. It is an enviable place to live, and precious few who enter Highmantle will ever have cause to set foot or financial prosperity to live on the cliffs.
The Palantium. The Palantium is a long, heavily policed stretch of land comprising numerous fenced manor-estates belonging to various political figures, old-world nobility, and even a few renowned adventurers. It is one of the only districts in the city to be off limits to the public, as concerns of security prevent any from entering who do not have business with or invitation from palace residents. Stretching along the northern side of the cliffs, seaward palaces along the cliff's edge are considered more desirable than landward estates, but generally most are just happy to be living in the Palantium at all.
Entelechy Park. Interchangeably identified as a park, a campus, and a plaza, the Entelechy occupies an exceptionally large patch of still-lush land in the north eastern part of the plateau. Home to one of the greatest institutions of learning in the Republic, Entelechy Park has turned out some of the greatest adventurers and wise-folk of the modern era.
The Pilgrim Road.
Entelechy Campus.
House of Seats.

Points of interest

Lighthouse Chapel. The Light House Chapel is a lighthouse and temple both, catering foremost to radiant sailors. It is a proud building that doubles as a turret set at the angle of the curtain wall with a rectangular temple opening onto the grounds of the Strand at its base.

Climate

Highmantle runs the gamut of tropical climates. The coast is often temperate and cooled by sea winds slamming into the cliffs, which are usually much more humid and warm. Storms are frequent, but the modern city has been designed to direct water runoff back to the sea with great efficiency and the seawall has been purpose-built to deflect tidal waves.

Highmantle Shops

Highmantle is absolutely replete with exotic shops and famed amenities. Here are just a few:
(COPYING AND PASTING MADE A MESS, WILL FIX)

• The Killing Rhythm (Artisanal weapons and armor smithing and training)

• The Quiet Alchemist (Artisanal Alchemy)

• Chicanery Arcane (common-uncommon magic items, but also organic items harvested from monsters and other magical materials)

• Eb & Flo (Herbalist and tea shop, owned by Midden-gnomes Ebonizir Enrac Elado and Floritia Fenlor Finibric)
  
• All That Glitters (Artisanal Jewelry)
  
• The Clothier's Cooperative (All apparel, from day wear to shoes and so-on in numerous styles, run out of the Araashi Trade Quarter, including tanneries and dyeworks; technically multiple shops, but they have a cooperative process involving shuffling customers between merchants in the cooperative)

• Bearfeller's (Survival/marksman equipment [guns, bows, tents, some tools and hunting gear, etc.])

Founding Date

2463

Founders

• Kelso Flowersea

Type

City

Population

400,000+

Inhabitant Demonym

mantlians

Owner/Ruler

Grand Mayor Stefano Hallosorn

Additional Rulers/Owners

• Rayner Ward

Ruling/Owning Rank

Grand Mayor

Owning Organization

The Aurelian Republic