Malberina
Malberina is the capital of the kingdom of ["Jorlinum"] which forms part of [:The Carrodian Empire:the former Empire]. It sits on the north-east bank of the ["River Anarestus"], most of the city spreads away to the north and east, but there is some suburban sprawl to the south of the river.
Currently the city is sited upon the main export road from ["Wolsnium"] to ["Francorum"] and off through there to the rest of the former Empire, and the docks at Obsecum. There is a new road and bridge planned south from Sigiliem to join up with the way-station north of Francorum, and this will alleviate some of the heavy stone traffic that passes through the city.
Geographic Overview
The city lies mostly to the north of the river, but mining work has mean that there is a raised demand for houses here, and the majority of those have been built on the flat former farmlands to the south of the river. These new houses are built from stone foundations and wood farmed from the Malberina woodland to the north of the city. Rather than let this new area sprawl, the Prince of Malberina has ensured a degree of planning has taken place, and as a result the houses are well spaced and larger than many in suburbs across other towns and cities in the former Empire.
The city has three bridges, the southernmost of these is extremely heavy duty. It's built in a dwarven style, and it looks quite odd nestled against the backdrop of the capital of an Imperial Kingdom. It is extremely hefty, made with iron beams and huge stone blocks. This is the Bezzek Bridge, and is the newest of the constructions - it was constructed in the 1340's by and is it's name is derived (humourlessly, as it was named by dwarfs) from the dwarfish for 'Number Three'.
The middle bridge is a lightweight footbridge, and the northern one is a sturdy arched stone construction, high enough to allow barges underneath.
There are two dock fronts, one is upriver from the three bridges, the other is just downstream of the new bridge, and was constructed at the same time. Like the new bridge, the southern-eastern dock is set up to handle large barges which can carry heavy shipments of stone and ore. The upriver dock is a lighter duty construction, it handles trade from Cuckstall, Hagiliom and Tarimest.
The city itself is, like most of the major cities of the former Empire, walled. But the walls here is a little different to most of the other. When this bounding wall was constructed, the city was far smaller. Parts of the wall had fallen into disrepair fifty or so years ago, and so had been partially pulled down for safety. There are now gaps in the defences, which have been exploited by traders and suburban builders. There are plans to rebuild the wall, but the growth in size of the city is making decisions about exactly where it should go are making the plans difficult to finalise.
At the centre of the city is the familiar Imperial-style square, an open area where the Prince has a palace and the churches are nestled closely together. This square is, like the old city, much smaller than its contemporaries across the former Empire. As it is the capital of the Kingdom, all the religions are present. Services available in the city are, likewise, very good.
CategoryPlaces [:DmMalberina:Malberina for the DM]