Shadeport

A large city right on the mouth of the Duskvale river which the majority of trade moves through. This trading port is the largest city in Duskvale and is very wealthy due to the fact that almost all of Duskvale’s trade, as well as the trade from the majority of the surrounding regions travels through it.

Shadeport is made up of many different districts with clearly defined borders made up mostly of large roads with walls over the sides. Just inside the gate in the east is the Gatehouse District which has the more important official things, Customs, guardhouses and the like.

Just west of that on the main through road is the Artisan District which also borders the Workman District and Luxury District. These three districts have less clear borders separating them, not separated by any walled roads, and all three are shopping areas. The areas only really have different names because of the unofficial gathering of like minded merchants in each area.

Further west is the Tavern District at the end of the main through road, a rather large area with many Inns, Taverns and Bars, as well as other restaurants and businesses of that nature.

Southwest of this is the large Shipping District that encompasses two major dock areas, one from the river, an artificial inlet with an extended barrier wall allowing ships to get into this inlet more easily. The inlet angles towards, but does not connect with a natural bay at the furthest west part of the city, which is also walled to allow a protected harbor. This shipping district also contains some more local fish eateries, and largely is full of business fronts, with very few people actually living here, which makes it an ideal place for the set-up of a thieves guild, which has also drawn a major guard presence, boosting the already significant attention this important business district has already gotten. Any given night there is a constant game of cat and mouse being played in the shadows of the harbors.

South of the main Through Road, bordering the shipping district is the Warehouse District. This is another area that doesn’t have a major walled road between it and the bordering district specifically for the convenience of transporting goods from the ships to the warehouses. Though it fills nearly the entire area south of the main road. This district, unlike the bordering shipping district, is filled with activity 24 hours a day, workers transporting cargo morning, noon and night, storing during the day, and loading or preparing loads overnight.

On the north end of the main road, further north than the shopping and tavern districts lies the three different residential districts, the furthest east of these is the Silverfrond District. The wealthiest area of town, furthest from the shipping yards it is where many of the ports owners stay, set far away from the ports in an attempts to make sure they’re safer from any possible attack from the sea. Named for Liam Silverfrond, a sailor who made good and ended up founding a major shipping company, one that helped build the city as a major force and source of wealth.

The furthest west of the residential districts is the Tealeaf District, the slums of the city, and where the majority of the workers and sailors live. Though it has the largest population, it is the smallest of the districts. Named for Meeko Tealeaf, a companion of Silverfrond. As Silverfrond succeeded, Tealeaf took the same chances too late and fell into squalor. He was given space by his old friend to live, but he had no money to maintain it, so the land became unkempt and slumlike, eventually turning into the literal slums of the city.

To the east of the Tealeaf, between it and the Silverfrond, lies the Teafrond District. This area was once filled with the poorer citizens, but as the benefits of being a major port grew, and people besides shipping magnates could make good money as well, the slums shrank and grew more crowded, while the district was unofficially named by combining the two districts is pulled from. As the people here (artisans, skilled craftsmen, successful local business owners) grew in wealth and power, the city created a border road to the west of it, making this unofficial district, official. It is the newest district in the city, and as a result doesn’t have a consistent architectural identity.

Furthest west in the city, west of the Tealeaf and north of the Shipping, also bordering the Tavern District lies the most popular district in the city, the Arena District where the Battle arena lies and fights take place for the entertainment of the city. These battles are rarely to the death, that sort of bloodiness is only saved for convicted criminals sentenced to death. There used to be significantly more death involved, but the influence of Duskvale’s major trading partner, the Tharasian Empire, has made many of the cities officials to believe the death barbaric. Now, if the death isn’t sanctioned, deaths in the arena are prosecuted by law, and many clerics are employed by the arena to heal the fight participants, keeping them stable after the fight.