Vortima
Vortima is a small, oddly formed town alongside Lake Giffen in the eastern mountains of Jorlinum. The main part of the city is little more than a medium sized town, but the expansion of mining in the local districts lead to two settlements growing up alongside the original town. As they grew, they merged with each other and the town, and became the city that now exists.
The land here has good food resources, which makes it more popular than some of the villages further down the valley to the west. The lake is rich with shellfish, especially freshwater mussels, which are heavily farmed and are one of the staples of the local diet. There is some agriculture here too - there is flat plain around the city which provides space and the land can sustain some arable crops.
In its years as a town, the original settlement never required a city wall. The town was always too remote a place to be considered a target, and despite its growth as a base for the mining activities to the west, this is still true. The wider settlements are spread over quite an area, and there is plenty of open space between the clusters of houses. This spread-out nature gives the whole place a feeling of being both suburban and part of a frontier to the wilderness.
The majority of farming takes place to the west of the town, on the lower slopes down by the road. The terrain here is not the best for growing food, and yields are lower when compared to the healthy farms of the plains, a week or more travel to the west. The fresh produce is welcome, though, and food is sold on to the other towns of the region, especially to Reginum, the town's southern neighbour.
A recent addition to the economy is a vineyard, which is also to the west of the town down the road to towards Olantius. The grapes grown here are small and they do not fare as well as those grown on the plains to the south, but the vines are still comparatively young. These factors make the white wines produced here quite distinctive - they're quite sharply flavoured and crisp.
The town is busy with traders who pass through this town frequently bringing in imported goods from the plains, and seeking ores and minerals for export. Unfortunately the quality of the inns is quite low when compared to those of more civilised regions elsewhere in the Kingdom. Small, grubby hostels are the norm. They tend to serve local wines and cider - there is little beer up here, other than what can be imported, while wild apples grow freely on the slopes away northwards.
Services
While all the major churches are represented, only Pendaroch has a proper church facility here. The other churches have informal gatherings, usually in one of the small guild premises, or at the home of the senior clerics. This can prove difficult with the small sizes of some of the houses in the town.
Political
The town falls under the administration of Count Friedrik von Halpstein, whose county seat is at Reginum to the south.