Dawnhaven

Dawnhaven is an independent city-state situated along the southern coast of the Emerald Woods. Free from the harsh regulation of the Lords' Alliance, Dawnhaven has become a flourishing cosmopolitan trade centre. The city has gained a reputation for being able to provide a man anything he desires; as long as he has enough coin to spare.

Dawnhaven Academy draws many acclaimed artisans, scholars and scientists to the city. Famed artist and play-write, Elsion von Haebich, was one of the better known among recent alumni.

History
DRAFT OUTLINE

- Founding 1854 DR following dissent with Van Der Brul's Newharbour and Lords' Alliance growth.

- Formation of the Blue Banners late 1854 to protect colony from pirates/Lords' Alliance.

- Formation of West Marches Trading Company 1865 during Van Der Brul trade lockdown and eventual deposition.

1965 - present continual growth as major trading hub.

Government
Having dispossessed the ruling nobility shortly after its founding, Dawnhaven is effectively run as a republic. The city is headed by the Dawn Council. The Dawn Council is unique in that the public only elects 1 of the 3 representatives who sit in office. The remaining 2 seats serve as permanent positions to be held by the West Marches Adventuring Company and West Marches Trading Company, respectively. Any resident of Dawnhaven may be elected for the remaining seat. Prior to its amalgamation with the West Marches Trading Company, the Blue Banners held a seat on the council.

Trade & Industry
Dawnhaven's dominant position as a trade centre was strengthened in 1867 with a monopoly for the West Marches Trading Company to trade with the Sword Coast following the deteriorating political stability within Newharbour. Having gained permanent membership within the Dawn Council, and receiving ongoing support from the Blue Banners, the West Marches Trading Company was no longer threatened by the merchant navies of the Lords' Alliance.

Dawnhaven also dominated trade between the cities of the West Marches. The city itself was favourably positioned at a crossing of east-west and north-south trade routes, and served as a midway point along the Pioneer's Road. The sub-tropic climate favoured winemakers, and traders shipped fine wine all over the continent, returning with grain for both the city and its surrounding settlements. Continued investment from the West Marches Trading Company has expanded local industry. Shipyards, breweries and sugar refineries are prime examples.

Society
In Dawnhaven, social status is largely determined by income. The landed nobility have relatively little importance, and it is the sea-faring merchant class that dominates Dawnian society.

That is not to say that aristocrats were without social status. On the contrary, wealthy merchants will often buy themselves into nobility by becoming landowners and acquiring a coat of arms and a seal. Aristocrats also regularly mix with other classes for financial reasons: they marry their daughters to wealthy merchants, became traders themselves or take up public or military office. Merchants also value public office as a means to greater economic power and prestige. The Dawnhaven Academy is often used as a career pathway into public office. Rich merchants and aristocrats send their children to the same university, and it is this form of intermixing of the patricians and aristocrats that is most prominent.

After aristocrats and patricians came the affluent middle class, consisting of lawyers, physicians, small merchants, industrialists and clerks of large state institutions. Lower status was attributed to farmers, craft and tradesmen, shopkeepers, and government bureaucrats. Below that stood skilled labourers, maids, servants, sailors, and other persons employed in the service industry. At the bottom of the pyramid were "paupers": impoverished peasants, many of whom tried their luck in a city as a beggar or day labourer.

Workers and labourers are generally paid better than their Newharbour contemporaries, and enjoyed relatively high living standards, although they also pay higher than normal taxes. Farmers prosper from mainly cash crops needed to support the urban and seafaring population. Dawnhaven has a notably higher population of non-human denizens, whose presence is accepted in mainstream society.

Geography
Dawnhaven has a sub-tropical climate, with warm summers, cool winters and uniform rainfall throughout the year. The weather is moderated by its proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are experienced further inland. Built around several quiet beaches, the city itself is nestled within jagged cliffs that predominately run the expanse of the surrounding coastline. The eroded remains of jutting headlands flank the seas around the city, forming an effective natural break-wall to the remnants of rough seas that often continue into the gulf in which the city sits. A freshwater river flows into the eastern bay of the city, and allows travel by boat further north until one intersects with the Pioneer's Road.

The river and surrounding mountainous terrain compliment the city's constructed defences, and help shield the harbour from direct assault. Consequently, the city may be supplied indefinitely by sea during the event of a siege.