City of North Point

## **North Point:** *the* **Beacon** *of the* **Sword Coast**

North Point is a brilliant star in the central Sword Coast. Founded at roughly the half-way point between Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep, the settlement rose as a maritime waypoint between those legendary cities – *and kept rising*. It will never have the size of either, but it has become a focal point for commerce, industry, magic and mundane technology around the globe.

The future will pass through North Point.

### **The New Home of House Stonehearth**

With roots in Baldur's Gate, and social momentum reaching escape velocity, political pressures were on the verge of violent revolution. House Stonehearth had no desire for bloodshed in the Gate, but that's what it was leading to. Remaining a patriar (noble) of the city, but re-casting themselves as the City's northern protection – *a marquisate* – redefined the conversation and brought peace.

The possible areas were scouted, surveyed and analyzed for a decade before a decision was made. They broke ground in 1409 for the City of North Point, and the new House Stonehearth headquarters in adjacent North Point Keep.

Designed for a permanent population of 12,000 (the very upper edge of a "small city"), North Point has consistently hovered at a semi-steady 15,500 residents for the last four decades. It would be more, and at one time was, but the recognition of area sovereignty and the expansion of the marquisate south into the rest of the peninsula has helped make North Point the staging area for populating the the counties and baronies to the south.

The city itself was planned and engineered from below the ground to the airspace overhead. They have since adapted the lowlands management, but at nearly 16,000 residents plus ~1,500 travelers any given day, this solidly slots North Point into the traffic problems of "large city" (by D&D metrics).

### **Location, Location, Location...**

Positioned right at the mouth of the Winding Water river, a major waterway of the Sword Coast, the settlement became a fusion of frontier sensibility and maritime culture marching to the drumbeat of a relentless wartime tempo.

There are miles of coastal lowlands farmland surrounding the keep, all in the literal shadow of the Sword Coast cliffs above. The agriculture is primarily vineyards and orchards, with wine one of the major exports and tax sources of the area.

There are windmills throughout the area, taking advantage of the near-constant breeze. Along the riverbanks in particular are watermills that harness the constant flow of the river, whether grinding grain, rolling, hammering, cutting or operating bellows for blast furnaces.

From the approach on the highlands land routes, it’s not immediately apparent there’s a keep nearby. Both down the coast and inland (upriver), dozens of cozy hamlets dot rolling farmland. In the lowlands, a few miles out from North Point, the occasional hamlets are grow to village-size, eventually coming together in a quaint suburban sprawl.

The thoroughfares have cobblestone-center streets, giving shod horses better traction, while the outer wheel bands are brick-paved.

For those arriving by more exotic means, North Point follows a similar policy to Waterdeep: spelljammers and skyships may approach the city and dock at rental marinas (just like everybody else). Likewise, there are landing areas outside the walls for flying mounts.

However a visitor may arrive, once they pass the vineyards and orchards, they now enter the sprawl beyond the gate. There is no single style outside the walls, though an earth visitor might feel comfortable identifying the majority of buildings have a stout red brick style similar to colonial Georgian with common slate rooftops.

In the middle of the sprawl are the towering, 6-story polished gray city walls of North Point.

### **Arrived: North Point**

At the keep, both the salt air and local waters are turbulent. The massive river flows into the sea right at the deepwater docks. Above, warmer inland winds are channeled down the river canyon and slam into the cool northwest sea breeze right above the city. Battling the bluster, clouds of seagulls mark where fleets of fishing boats dock on the outer marinas.

The city walls are tall, thick, massive cut gray granite. They are carefully maintained, with the stone polished enough to reflect the afternoon sun. While the portcullises haven’t been directly assaulted in two decades, that’s only because Stonehearth Arms aggressively meets threats before they get close.

At the main gate, the towers are five stories tall and 25 feet thick.

8-foot tall ceramic tile mosaics form murals surround the stone of the gate towers. Many tiles feature red marble and gold leaf, crafted in nearly-poetic flame patterns. The colors match the red and gold tincture of the Stonehearth coat of arms, itself symbolic of a glowing fire in a circular hearth of stone. It is unmistakable wealth, but not an ostentatious display.

Along the base, the murals cover cover thick iron plates that reinforce the stone. Around the entry way, the red-gold tile mosaics are literally magical in their beauty, with the tints magically shifting to give a sense of captured motion.

The gates have both portcullis and hinged metal doors that are regularly opened and closed in testing, but effectively, the gates are always open… and always visibly guarded.

The cobblestone winds around the north side of the town walls, a cue that horse-drawn merchant traffic is to loop around and enter at the North Gate.

### **Step Inside...**

Just inside the Main Gate, there is a dense, bustling multi-story urban environment. Trees are sparse inside the walls, but every wall is covered with vines, so there's no lack of green life. What space isn't textured by a dozen different types of ivy is covered with more moving mosaics or actually-enchanted frescoes. New visitors to the city will feel magic course through all five senses.

Unlike many cities, North Point not only doesn’t smell bad, it actually smells pretty good. There is no muck in the streets and during the spring and summer months, the thickly-cultivated wisteria vines tickle the nose.

As no walls are visible beneath the art (or vines), there is no unifying architectural style. What some may note, however, is that the buildings are built in careful rows and separated by wide boulevards. The outer ring, closest to the city walls, is four stories tall. The middle ring is three stories tall. Towards the middle, the southwest cluster of buildings pointed towards the Keep is two stories tall.

Those who arrived by air will note the roofs of the city are universally *patios*. Most of the buildings have trees, grass, maybe a pond, and generally a park-like atmosphere.

Away from the predominantly commercial main thoroughfares, the normal streets and alleyways have a myriad of smaller shops and residences.

#### **Welcome to the Gateway Boulevard District**

Coming in through the southeast entrance, the primary for surface traffic, the boulevard is named for the gate. The street surface itself is an upgrade to the signature thoroughfares that stretch through the Marquisate: a carefully-maintained herringbone pattern, in red and gray brick paving.

The shops in this District are the highest visibility – and are renown enough that there are regular visitors from Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate and places where the social crowd competes to be the most cosmopolitan. Feature merchants include the *Twin Pixie* jeweler, the *Golden Brocade* finery, the *Temple of Liberty’s Maiden* (a church of Waukeen) and the *Lively Lich* accomodations.

Gateway Boulevard leads to the center of town, opening to a substantial open-air market.

#### **The Central Market**

The central market surrounds a tall, 6-story watch tower in the same architecture of the city walls and the main keep. In the dead of night, when traffic quiets to a dull roar, one can almost hear the hum of magic emanating from the tower: the primary transmitter for the city's mythallar.

The merchant traffic is *very* heavy: here, the pulse of commerce pounds hard enough to drown out the drumbeat of war. The heaviest trade is during daylight, with mass mercantile transactions from sunup to sundown, but commerce runs 24 hours a day. The middle areas lean more toward finery. The outer market has several platforms for auctions and tends to lean toward commodities.

There are four stand-alone portal arches on the south-southeast side of the market. Those go to similar public-market areas at the four county seats of the Marquisate. On the north side of the central tower, there is a recent fifth portal installed that provides an always-on portal to Shadowbane Keep in Aetheril (former Netheril).

#### **North Gate**

The northwest thoroughfare hosts the more industrial, working class section of the city. North Gate is the primary route for merchant caravans to get to the central market.

Merchants here include the *Bottomless Barrel Cooper*, the *Twin Morlock Tannery*, the *Pachyderm and Porcelain General Goods* and the *Tranquil Idol Inn* among other staples.

#### **The Docks**

To the west, one can navigate to (or from) the docks. This is the one area of the city that doesn’t have walls, allowing street level breezes – and potential invaders. It also makes a very inviting commerce connection as the docks are on a deep-water harbor that can moor the biggest of ocean-going vessels.

The coastal view includes the docks themselves, the harbormaster’s office, several bustling warehouses, the *Tides of Selune Maritime Shoppe*, and the *Lantern and Cutlass quarters*.

#### **Coronet Way**

The Southern thoroughfare, and the only street in the city actually lined with trees, leads to North Point Keep. The merchants and the mood of the District itself take cues and overtones from the Stonehearth nobility.

The feature merchants here include the *Savage Sword Arms*, a premiere weapon smithy, the *Parchment Palatine* scribery, the *Sid Arcanery* and the *Boiling Cauldron* alchemist.

## **North Point Keep**

The capital of House Stonehearth is officially North Point Keep, anchor of the walled City of North Point. The keep design is a concentric castle, with two curtain walls surrounding an artificial motte-and-bailey castle.

The Keep is primary residence of the marquis of Stonehearth, the executive of the House. It is also the chambers of Parliament of Light of the Stonehearth Marquisate (the House sovereignty), as well as the Congress of Light (the governing body of the Commonwealth).

The Keep is *not* the House Headquarters: that's the castle on the perimeter of Baldur's Gate. Nor is the Keep the parliament of the small-m marquisate or the city itself. Those two are handled in chambers in the North Point City.