There among the narrowed and winding streets of cobbled stone the common man will find the snow stained gray with the dust of the miner’s labor thick in drifts between the shoulders of crowded buildings which seem in their own way to huddle against the cold of northern winds. There among the hard hands and weathered faces of the low he will know the scent of roasting potato and two-copper pies, and he will know the sounds of shod hooves on stone and the whine of the wagon wheel among the coughing and the murmur of the pickman, the carpenter, and the mason too. He will know the barker’s cry and too the roaring tide of the market crowded when the sun is high — and always will he turn high his eyes and see set against the sky the pale and rising roads of stone and upon them those who walk in silk and silver among the gardens above — the gleaming promise of something more.
It is said that all which falls within the realm belongs to the Baroness Tyr Isendel — but at the edge of the world before the bleak expanse that is the wild lands of Jorung, the noble families that control the surrounding southern lands and hold estate in Northgate had for generations enjoyed a tremendous degree of autonomy in industry and trade alike so long as was paid their tithe and loyal were their oaths.
There are many who might say that it is by the machinations and maneuvering of the nobility that the city knows both its tremendous prosperity and poverty in an ever-shifting game of gambits and intrigue — where fortune and ruin are found at the knife’s edge of a single secret.
The Noble Houses of Northgate
It is said the woe and weal of the city rests in the hands of nobility. There are five great families that control the vast majority of wealth and influence within Northgate and a dozen more lesser noble houses whose influences shape the lives of the many people who live within the city and the surrounding region.
A bit more than two centuries of conflict and the refinement of political struggle has resulted in a tangled and precarious society that has managed to survive and thrive to build upon its own complexity despite its many perils. The noble houses of Northgate exist in a perpetual state of shared and secret malediction — simultaneously allies and rivals — one hand shared and one hand hidden.
- House Silverun
- House Petriar
- House Sharpe
- House Caravan
- House Blackbarrel
Neighborhoods
The central part of Northgate near the Grand Theater, officially called the Central District, is known more commonly to locals as The Farrow. It’s a place of dense trade, criers, and a better place to find imported and fine goods.
Dustown also has North and South markets, but of poorer stock (but arguably more authentic food).