(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e0/d8/09/e0d8099306a40e6665b3de37ccf0a0f9.jpg)<br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: impact;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Crescent City, Kingdom of Odall</span></span><br/><br/>The city of Crescents, it was called, mainly because it composed of a half circle of terraces that led to the open plains and the river Thangris valley. The upper terraces were dug out of the cliffs and hillsides overlooking the Shining Sea. The nobles and upper class lived there. WIth walled complexes and guarded gates. Servants of the nobles were often housed there in the complex in separate buildings. The estates were well tended by gardeners, and guards patrolled the streets.<br/><br/>Cobblestone streets were the norm on this side of town. Winding in a switchback pattern around estates and past the opulent Palace of the Duke of Odall. Carriages would rattle along the streets at almost all hours. The tree lined streets had magical lamps that came on at sunset and went out with the rise of the sun in the morning.<br/><br/>The Duke, Harval Winchester, was an elderly gent with a few heirs who could hardly wait for him to pass on. His wife the, Lady Janine, seemed almost as eager, as she was far younger and had her eyes on younger replacements. He had two sons, Harval, Jr., and Jasok, who was the youngest. His two daughters, Melora and Sybil, were old enough to be wed soon and talk was that the Earl of Templeton had put forth his son Nathir for eldest, Melora, while Sybil had decided to go into the Sisters of Mercy Monastery and study as a Priestess. They did not expect any problem with the older son inheriting the title of Duke.<br/><br/>The city itself was a huge bustling merchant trade center. The docks on the ocean side of the city were busy night and day. Huge cranes sat on the docks to load and unload cargo in the many merchant ships coming and going from all along the southern coast. Huge warehouses were always being filled and emptied, making the merchants rich, and in turn, the Duke.<br/>Nobles had various functions, most of them founding their respective trade houses on specific goods, like the grain and agricultural goods, owned by House Farstead, being shipped down the Thangris River to the port and from there to other ports.<br/><br/>Mines in the distant but visible mountains to the north sent barges of ore, mostly iron, tin and copper. House Brighton controlled the mining industry. Sometimes a barge brought in rare metals in smaller containers mixed in with the common ore. It was a happy day for most when a barge made it downriver with gold or silver. Mithril was so rare it made the gossip in Court nearly explode in excitement. That was of course if the merchant selling it cared to inform the Tax Collector.<br/><br/>A great many smaller Houses tried to combine many of the exotic trades, like gems, artifacts, and textiles from other parts of the continent. It was a risky venture to send either ships to the other countries past the borders and somewhere on the charts, or to send caravans to the interior, where sometimes bandits and other enemies of the Kingdom awaited a chance to strike.<br/><br/>Next to the nobles on a lower tier of the terrace were the merchant houses. Most of them built of stone and mortar, with elegant wood trim and fenced yards not quite as fancy as the nobles. Here the streets were still cobblestone, but not as well kept as the upper streets. Smaller lot sizes and sometimes crowded together to make it hard to tell where one property left off and another began. Here there were smaller businesses like a fine fancy Inn could set up to cater to the wealthy, merchants and nobles alike would use it as a meeting place.<br/><br/>There were barber shops, clothing shops with tailors, a small market square for local produce and trade goods, and quite a few homes scattered about. It was dubbed the Gerswin Square, and was a place where the more genteel of the merchants could congregate and shop.<br/><br/>The lower levels of the city were bordering the docks. Here the not so wealthy set up crowded housing that often shared walls and yards. Noisy and crowded most of the time, it was more squalid the closer it got to the docks.<br/><br/>There was a very large and bustling area named the Market Square right next to the docks. Here the goods arriving from ships and barges could be bought and sold. Many taverns, inns and craftsmens shops were set up, including the Blacksmiths and the leather tanners and crafters. Business was good here, if a bit hectic.<br/><br/>In all of this was an overtone of corruption. Nothing unusual, just that bribery, clandestine meetings and  even the occasional assassination between warring Houses was common. There was an established City Guard, headed by a Captain, who answered to the Duke. There was a Justicar who held court to judge the criminals and sentence them. There was no such thing as a jury or peers. Though it was sometimes easy for the Justicar to be bribed, he was also subject to public opinion and was mostly a fair and open minded man, appointed by the Duke.<br/><br/>In the Harbor District, Admiral Sutherland kept his fleet of Royal Navy ships ready to repel foreign invaders and pirates. His flagship, the Pomeroy, was a three masted warship with 110 cannon. He also had everything from 80 gun frigates to 40 gun sloops that would patrol the various sea lanes within twenty miles of the port.<br/><br/>(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/67/e5/96/67e596a5545fc98d043b5dde45e89ec0.jpg)<br/><br/>(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/43/ed/17/43ed1763d82cb2d630023a724f8cd53e.jpg)<br/><br/><br/><br/>