Fairhaven

Fairhaven is the social and cultural center of Aundair as well as its capital city. Accordingly, it’s also the center of intrigue for the region and fertile ground for adventure. Agents in Fairhaven can establish connections with the Royal Eyes, smuggle for the black market, research at the University of Wynarn, or bid on exotic wares in the famed Distant Exchange.
Fairhaven lies near the headwaters of the Aundair River some 50 miles west of the Thrane border. City planners divide the city into a dozen wards, sprawling across a rocky plain near the river.
Fairhaven may not be the first city to use magical lighting, but it was the first to do so at scale. Earning the moniker The City of Lights, the thousands of continual flame torches are uncovered every night, lighting up every tower and shadowy corner of the city.

Districts

Rordan's Gate

Home to various enclaves of the Dragonmarked Houses, as well as industrial parks and quality housing for their workers and agents. It holds major enclaves of most houses, including the headquarters of Cannith West, House Phiarlan's authors and playwrights in the Demesne of Memory, a major hospital for House Jorasco, and smaller enclaves for most other houses.
Here, the red brick plaza called the Chalice Centre is the first part of Fairhaven that well-to-do travelers see. At one end of the square is the docking tower for House Lyrandar’s airships. Airships depart daily, for those with wealth to spare and time at a premium. The other end of Chalice Center contains House Orien’s lightning rail station. Lightning rails depart every hour for the Orien hub at Passage. Within a few hours on any given day there’s a lightning rail going through Passage and on to Wroat and Sharn, or north to Thaliost.

Fairhold

Queen Aurala's palace takes up acres in the center of Fairhaven. Parts of it are open to the public, including a museum, extensive public gardens, and a large winery. Other parts of Fairhold, such as the royal family residences and the detention center within the Courts of Justice, define high security and bristle with both mundane and magical guardians.
The centerpiece of Fairhold is the Crown’s Hall, where Queen Aurala holds audience on a daily basis. The arena-sized hall has gold-leaf decorations on nearly every surface—so much shiny gold that the very walls seem to radiate a warm light of their own.
The Tower of Eyes can also be found here, though the purpose or significance of that particular alabaster tower is not publicised.

Chequer's Ward

The city has larger marketplaces, but none are as vibrant and exotic as the Distant Exchange, found in the central Chequer's Ward. Caravans from House Orien and independent merchants pull up almost daily to sell wares from far-off lands. By custom, nothing sold at the Distant Exchange can be found within Aundair’s borders. Shoppers thus find everything from Karrnathi brandy to Q’barran ebony carvings. Many of the vendors offer exotic food, drink, and clothing, but more than a dozen antiquities dealers have shops on the streets that surround the Distant Exchange. Treasures from Xen’drik often turn up here, though they rarely stay on sale for long.

Sovereign Ward

The Sovereign Host has a sprawling temple in the ward to which it lends its name. The temple has a central Hall of the Assembled Host that seats almost two thousand worshipers. Individual shrines to each of the deities that comprise the Sovereign Host surround the central hall; Arawai and Olladra’s shrines are particularly large and well attended. The surrounding buildings provide residences for the acolytes and priests of the temple. In the south part of the ward, a number of vacant buildings denote the crumbling emptiness of the Church of the Silver Flame.

Whiteroof Ward

Named for the light gray slate roofs on many of the buildings, the Whiteroof Ward handles much of the city’s river shipping. A rough-and-tumble part of town, Whiteroof is home to Fairhaven’s transient half-elf population. The “river elves” of Whiteroof spend about half their time idling in Fairhaven and the rest of it fishing the Aundair River or shipping cargo downriver to Scions Sound. The half-elves have a reputation up and down the river as schemers and con artists, but as canny business owners as well.

Knowledge Ward

The University of Wynarn dominates the Knowledge Ward. The rest of the ward is given over to meager student housing, inexpensive public houses, and a small enclave of several hundred kalashtar. The nearby Five Domes district is named for the architecture of the public buildings here - a museum, gallery, library, courthouse and cultural centre.

Residential Districts

To the north, Besalle's Ward once housed the city's largest market, before an uncontrolled fire set by a saboteur during the war destroyed it, and today it holds middle-class homes while most of the merchants have moved to Pine Hill, now renowned as an entertainment district. The Eastway Ward covers the north-east gate and is home to many traders and foreigners. The Marble Halls to the west, once a high-end district, fell into disrepair a century ago and is known as a warren of aging, seedy homes and businesses. Grangehall Ward to the south-east is nearly an extension of the farms, known for its connections to the fields, their druids, and families that trace back to the Eldeen Reaches. Finally, to the west is the Nealford Ward, that houses the most fashionable manor houses and high-end homes, adjacent to the Chequer's Ward that's run by finance and business districts.

Climate

Warm, Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild winters.

Population

460,000

Owning Organization

Aundair