Fairhaven

The flag of of Fairhaven

**Fairhaven**, often referred to as the **Pearl of the Ausper Coast**, was a major city situated on the **Ausper Coast**. It was the largest free city in Middenwuld, and the capital of the Fairhaven Principality; a major regional power and an important trade city frequented by merchants, travelers, adventurers, and pilgrims of all races and nations due to its central location and easy accessibility from both sea and land.

The city was built into a hill composed of several districts of staggered height, with the districts frequented by the aristocracy higher up and those of the common folk below near the sea. At the very highest point of the hill was the towering **Skyscarpe**, and next to it was **Sarnasgavol**. Below this hill lay **Undercity**.

## Defences

The defences of Fairhaven were under the purview of the City Watch, led by a Sword-Captain appointed by the King. The City Watch served primarily as a local police force, although the Sword-Captain themselves were both the Commander of the City Watch and, during wartime, the commander of any raised levies.

The three landward sides of Fairhaven were protected by both strong walls, as well as the natural advantage provided to Skyscarpe by virtue of its height. The walls surrounding the city were considerably thicker on the northern side.

While the city did not maintain an active navy, it did have an assortment of cannons mounted along the docks.

## Banner

The flag of Fairhaven depicted three blood lilies, representing Luna, Barbados, and Tyyrgysh, the three divines that were said to have come to the city's aid during times of trouble and strife. The blood lily itself was a symbol of the city and was said to grow only in Fairhaven.

## Districts

**Dockside:** The lowest part of the city, the docks district of Fairhaven were located towards the west. Trade vessels travelling farther north or west often stopped here to stock up.

**Coin-Splitter’s Ward:** The mercantile part of the city. A number of shops, inns, and workshops were located within this district, such as the Hook and Tackle inn, Arnjolf's Magical Mysteries, and Aleiksander’s Arsenal.

**Lower Levitica:** Centrally located, this residential district was home to most of the traders, merchants, artisans and workers who plied their trade in the Upper Quays. The Guardhouse and the Gaol were also located here.

**Artisans Walk:** Located towards the south, Artisans Walk was the entertainment district of Fairhaven. The Embassy building was also located here, close to the Royal Park, as was the Magistratum.

**Threetemples Ward:** Named after the three temples that stood in the city at the time of its founding. Today, temples to all Archdivines could be found here, though those of Luna, Barbados and Tyyrgysh were the most prominent. This district was also the hosting site for most religious events, such as the Sunwrought Festival.

**Upper Levitica:** The residential ward for the affluent folk of the city. Both Ventris Academy and the De Silva Library could be found here.

**Skyscarpe:** The highest district of Fairhaven, Skyscarpe was dominated by the white-stone royal palace, which in turn was dwarfed by Sarnasgavol, the slender and tall tower of the wizard Ettrix Ophyss. The annual debutante dance was held here, in the Royal Park, during the Sunwrought Festival.

## Notable Locations

**The Silver Marrows:** An alchemist’s shop in Upper Levitica, run by the Grisschel brothers. They provided the men and women of Upper Levitica with legal medicine, such as poppygrass and Salas milk, and the right sort of people with more illicit substances.

**Aleiksander’s Armory:** The orc blacksmith Arkon Aleiksander’s workshop (and regular shop) was located in Artisans Walk.

**De Silva Library:** A library situated in Upper Levitica. The library stayed open at all times, and at nighttime was usually filled with students from the nearby Ventris Academy.

**Ventris Academy:** The foremost educational institution in Fairhaven. Students who graduated from Ventris Academy were guaranteed admission into the Academy of Natural Science.

### Sarnasgavol

Ostensibly a simple lighthouse, Sarnasgavol was also the residence of Fairhaven's **Lord Esoterist**, whose duties included insuring the upkeep and maintainence of the tower and its secret.

The lighthouse contained, at its top, a large chunk of arcanith- by rough estimate a stone of around fifty cubic feet. The light emanating from this stone was focused towards the Ausper Sea by a series of mirrors.

### Undercity

**Undercity** was a large, underground district that lay deep below the streets of Fairhaven. Access to Undercity was a closely guarded privilege extended to very few, and any who broke Undercity's one law- secrecy above all- met a swift end. Fairhaven's wealth and growth allowed Undercity to develop in tandem, and by 1706 AD Undercity had grown nearly as large as Fairhaven- although much of the district was polluted to the extent that it had become unlivable.

Many of the goods that ended in the hands of Fairhaven's residents came from Undercity's back-alley chemists and artificers, and scholars who found the restrictions placed upon them by the Provost of the Ventris Academy too restrictive often found their dangerous research welcomed in Undercity. However, this unfettered development of volatile technologies and reckless industry came at a steep cost, and by 1706 AD vast swathes of Undercity had been rendered uninhabitable.

#### Layers

**Lower Dockside:** The westernmost district of Undercity, adjacent to the Dockside of upper Fairhaven. Lower Dockside was the only part of Undercity that did not lay completely underground.

**The Stills:** The Stills was the largest layer of Undercity. It was here that the many unlicensed chemists, doctors, artificers and mages carried out their business. Fences selling pilfered goods and houses of pleasure could also be found here, as could a large number of *Intrigantes* who made this layer their home.

**Deephole:** Deephole was the deepest layer of Undercity still habitable, and could charitably be called its residential district.

**Deathward:** The deepest layer of Undercity. Deathward was collapsed and sealed off by the Verdant Bannerets in an effort to contain the illithid that threatened to emerge from below it.

## People of Interest

### Nobility

**Prince Bothria:** Prince Randol Bothria’s great grandfather was one of the primary signatories of the March Treaty, which guaranteed mutual defence in response to an attack by an external party. However, Randol Bothria’s inaction at the Empire’s siege of Wyssenweald and their continual expansion caused a fracturing among the remaining marches.

**Princess Bothria:** Anise Bothria was Randol Bothria's wife, and the Princess of Fairhaven. She was considered by the staff to be a mirthless woman; the stress of running the city due to her husband's, the Lord Princes' disinterest in his royal duties had worn her down, and though she was younger that Randol she appeared to be older.

### Government & Aristocracy

**Blade-Captain Lindell:** The Blade-Captain of Fairhaven commanded the armies of the Marches in war and the City Watch of Fairhaven in peace. Blade-Captain Lyras Lindell, however, was relegated to hunting down bandits in the nearby woods and shaking down petty criminals in the lower city, as the king repeatedly dismissed his detailed reports on the encroaching empire and his applications to begin marshaling the armies of the Marches.

**Lord Spymaster d'Aragano:** Daud d'Aragano was the Spymaster of the city of Fairhaven.

**Lord Esoterist Ophyss:** Ettrix Ophyss was the Lord Esoterist (or courtly wizard) of Fairhaven, and had a residence in Skyscarpe.

**Lady Ayrlien:** Lady Catherine Ayrlien was a high-ranking member of the Magistratum, and a prominent spice merchant.

### Clergy

**Hierarch Invested Garen:** The Hierarch Invested of Fairhaven represented the many disparate temples of Fairhaven. The post of Hierarch Invested rotated amoongst the many temples; in 1706 AD the Hierarch Invested of Fairhaven was the halfling Sun Priest Kahl Garen, of the temple of Solas.

### Undercity

**Intrigante Sadarn:** Sol Sadarn was a member of the Right People. He operated out of the back-rooms of the Decadent Delight.

**The Ratcatcher:** An anonymous gang boss who worked out of Dockside.

**Dyfferyn Loucaar:** A one-armed, one-legged enforcer who worked with the Ratcatcher.

### Craftsmiths

**Artificer Aleiksander:** Owner of Aleiksander’s Armory, the orc blacksmith Arkon Aleiksander was Fairhaven’s least leading purveyor of magical goods. Nearly always accompanied by his pet cardinal Klink, a small automaton he created with the assistance of a wandering smith who refused to share her name.