Mirabar
| Mirabar |
|
|
For as long as the average Mirabarran cares to look back, their city has been the richest in the lands north of Waterdeep. Being the chief mining center of the north for years, their quarries have provided metals of all kinds. The miners and merchants both made money - big money - and they were happy.
With the rebirth of Mithral Hall, all their dreams threatened to come shattering down. Not only does Mithral Hall stand as a legend, but these same legends recall that the metals extracted from the dwarfhold created the best weapons in the history of Faerûn. Whether these rumors are true or false doesn’t matter to Mirabar as a whole; it’s tough to compete with a legend. Established trade and the remoteness of Mithral Hall have helped Mirabar survive, however.
The Look and the Feel
The gray stone city is surrounded by
shafts, quarries, and taluses. Across the river to the west and south of the
city, dead and bloated mines are used to store building stone and rubble to
shore up the ever-crumbling gravel roads that carry Mirabar’s metal wealth,
forged metal bars, fine gems, and metalwork south to the rest of Faerûn.
Mirabar is a city of hard work with a grim, no-nonsense manner.
The city’s protective walls are set in concentric rings so besieged defenders can fall back from the outer wall without leaving the city unprotected. The walls are thick and sloped, allowing defenders to fire arrows down the sides or pour water down them to make ice slides in winter. In the center of town is a walled garden that helps keep Mirabar less dependent on imported food. The area features well shafts bringing water from the Underdark - water warmed by the heat of the depths. There’s a permanently installed control weather effect in this garden which keeps the temperature comfortable for plants, allowing year-round growth.
The streets narrow as they flow toward the center of town, ending at a wall. There’s a circular street running around the ring wall to staggered entrances, where another street starts. One street looks much like another, but observant travelers notice images carved in the wall at the head of each street, so one can find Griffon Street, Manticore Street, Flame Street, Anvil Street, and so on, with ease. There are seven concentric ring walls in Mirabar.
The dwellings, warehouses, and businesses are addressed in order to simplify courier deliveries and advertising for businesses. Beginning at the Northgate and working clockwise, each house along the ring-shaped streets is numbered (in sequences of five when possible), with odd numbers on the outer side of the street and the even numbers on the inner side. The spoke streets are numbered, beginning with the central-most buildings with odd number on the left and even numbers to the right (when one’s back is to the center of town). Alleys are numbered, but each one tends to use its own system.
The city has four gates: Northgate, primarily used by mine wagons; the Eastgate, where the town watch quarters; River Gate, where the bridge crosses the Mirar River; and Sunset Gate to the west, where most visitors and merchants enter the city. Each of these gates has a double metal gridwork palisade, a large slab of solid granite three feet thick, and an ironwood barricade (magically immunized against fire) that can be dropped into place to help protect the city from outside invasion. The protection between concentric ring walls in the city, however, is not so elaborate. A single metallic gridwork palisade and an ironwood barricade are all that stands between the central section of the city and invaders who manage to break through the outer gates. Mirabar, however, has no way to protect itself from invaders who gate or teleport into the city.
The mines of Mirabar are guarded against raids by a standing army, the Axe of Mirabar. At 1,000 strong, the Axe is a force of grim, experienced warriors who fight with crossbows, lances, and hammers, riding mountain ponies in summer and rothé in winter. Merchant houses in the city keep another 500 trained soldiers under arms. They realize these mines are the life of the city - and where their salaries come from. With the reinstatement of Mithral Hall’s mining operations, Mirabarrans have been screaming that the government send in vandals to Mithral Hall to sabotage every possible operation. Thus far, the marchion has refused to grant such an act - mostly in fear of retribution from Mithral Hall and its allies. Sending spies to watch, listen, and report back with whatever they see and hear is a possibility Elastul’s willing to debate.
The royal badge of Mirabar is an upright, double-bladed axe with a pointed haft and a flaring, flat base. It’s customarily rustred on a black field, though the field is sometimes a deep purple or white when presented on ship pennants. The badge is plainly visible on the shields of all Axe militia.
The People and the Places
Mirabar is a city of grim folk, hard
work, long hours, hard drinking, and exhausted slumber. There’s little rowdiness
and little crime. Visitors are frequently watched to make sure they’re not thinking
of starting trouble or spying for other cities. Thieves are frequently apprehended
rapidly by the militia, who employ professional iethief watchersle throughout
the city. Some 19,000 humans and more than 4,000 dwarves live in relative harmony
here, working the earth shoulder to shoulder.
Rivalries over forging skills are common, but all regard fellow citizens as friends and the rest of the world as unfriendly (or as foes). Treachery is unthinkable to a dwarf of Mirabar, and it’s hard to tempt even the poorest human in the city. The miners are on the alert for plots, attempts to sway or mislead them, and attacks or surveillance by rivals (which now includes Mithral Hall).
Shrines: Shrines to Tymora and Chauntea can be found here, but the temples dedicated to dwarven powers are underground in the dwarven communities.