Throneport

City Wards

Other Parts of the City

Outside the City

Local Peculiarities

Law and Order

Throneport_-_small.jpg
(High-quality version of map with street names)

Modern Day Metropolis

Throneport is one of Khorvaire’s largest cities, and while it (along with every other city on the continent) is an order of magnitude smaller than Sharn it is the second largest city on Scions Sound, only just barely smaller than Flamekeep, the capital city of Thrane. While somewhat smaller than Flamekeep, as the once-imperial capital and a crossroads between three nations Throneport is far more cosmopolitan and is the cultural and social center for the region. Abandoned by the Five Nations and largely ignored as a battleground during the Last War, Throneport is also one of the few cities on Khorvaire that escaped serious damage from a century of warfare.

Today, the city is officially neutral ground, with the major city wards under the control of the countries that survived the Last War, but the castle Thronehold remains off limits and under the watchful eye of the Throne Wardens. Castle Ward and official defense of the city are the responsibility of Throneport’s own dedicated forces.

For the purposes of governance and security, Throneport has long been divided into a system of wards and civic districts. The six recognized wards of Throneport are Castle Ward, Dock Ward, North Ward, Sea Ward, Southern Ward, and Trades Ward. The City of the Dead is nearly a seventh ward unto itself, Deepwater Harbor and the surrounding islands form an informal eighth ward, and Field Ward is a disorganized warren of shelters sprung up to meet the needs of war refugees.

The Treaty of Thronehold gave four of these wards to the remaining Nations of Galifar. Many considerations went into determining these allocations, not least of which were which countries hated each other the least after the Last War. Bustling Dock Ward was given to Breland with Thrane abutting the Brelish enclave in Southern Ward, and Karrnath received wealthy Sea Ward while Aundair became responsible for North Ward.

Trades Ward was officially sanctioned as the location for enclaves of 10 of the 12 Dragonmarked Houses, with Deneith and Vadalis both already having a sizable presence on the grounds of now off-limits Thronehold. With neutral Castle Ward, the City of the Dead, and Trades Ward forming a belt across the middle of the city, the treaty neatly separates the folk most likely to kill each other with the least provocation.

History

Nearly a thousand years ago, Galifar I united the Five Nations and forged a new kingdom. He realized early on that the crown could not rule from one of the existing realms. To do so would be to put one of the Five Nations above the other, and that would lead to breaks and fractures that would eventually destroy the kingdom. From the moment young Galifar stood on the banks of Scions Sound and looked upon the mysterious island that rested just out of reach of the Five Nations, he knew that the island would play an important role in the realization of his dream of unification. On this island he would build his capital—Thronehold.

Prior to Galifar, the island was considered to be haunted, a place of the old ways of Khorvaire. That reputation, and its location sandwiched in between Aundair, Thrane, Cyre, and Karrnath, made it the perfect place for Galifar’s purposes. The great castle Thronehold became a shining symbol of the kingdom, and the island around it developed into a wondrous showcase for the realm. Throneport was one of Khorvaire’s great cities, rivaling Flamekeep, Metrol, and even Sharn. It remained so until the Last War, when it became a reminder of things lost.

After Jarot’s death and the rejection of the line of succession that led to the Last War, the island and castle of Thronehold were largely abandoned by the governments of the Five Nations in an unspoken effort to not despoil what would ultimately be the capital of a new Galifar. A special detachment of House Deneith guards, the Throne Wardens, remained in place to protect and maintain the castle, but all government functions once dictated by the king fell to Thronehold’s Seneschal and Throneport’s Lord Mayor. The city’s population plummeted as the rival governments pulled out their representatives and ended official functions in the once capital city, until only true Throneporters remained.

While open conflict was prohibited in the city, the Last War proceeded in Throneport’s back alleys and shadows. The city became a place for dissidents, spies, criminals, and mercenaries, and the once opulent and safe crown jewel turned into a city of intrigue without allegiance to any single nation.

This neutrality served Throneport well; by 975 YK it had returned nearly to its former size, with all nations and Dragonmarked Houses present in at least some small capacity. It had developed a reputation as a hotbed of international intrigue, with diplomats, spies, traitors, turncoats, and asylum seekers operating in a complex web of deception. The Treaty of Thronehold further solidified this position, establishing the city of Throneport as a multinational province under the control of peacekeeping forces from Aundair, Breland, Karrnath, and Thrane, with House Deneith Throne Wardens in place to make sure the terms of the treaty are honored.

Even so, it is a city where spies trail each other in broad daylight, clandestine deals are brokered a dozen times a day, and it often feels like simmering resentment could boil over into live hostilities at any moment. It is a city with a half dozen or more major powers jostling for advantage and an uncountable number of others vying for favor or the scraps they let fall from the high table. In other words, it is a city brimming with opportunity for those brave enough to take it.

Statistics

Size Metropolis
Population 464,349 (approx. density: 33,872/sq.mi.; pop. of entire island of Thronehold: 1,215,179)
Demographics Human 57%, Half-elves 15%, Elves 10%, Dwarves 5%, Halflings 5%, Gnomes 3%, Half-orcs 2%, Other 3%
Government Oligarchy (independent city-state, led by the Stewards Council)
Climate Temperate (summers are comfortable and partly cloudy and the winters are long, very cold, windy, and mostly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 34°F to 71°F and is rarely below 22°F or above 81°F.)

Notable NPCs

Seneschal
Lord Mayor
Stewards Council
Warden of Throneport
Defender of the Harbor
Master of the North Towers
Master of the South Towers
Commander of the Watch
Mage Civilar
Senior Armsmaster
Grand Civilar

Throneport

Hell of a Summer karlprosek