Dumeldein: City and environs

[Memnus]

Dumeldein: large city (48180)

Human 84%
Dwarf 6%
Halfling 3%
Elf 2%
Other (half-elf, gnome, half-orc) 5%

Dumeldein is the largest city and capitol of Mittendein. The majority of the trade from outside the kingdom has its ultimate destination here. The stone walls of the city rise a full fifty feet from the ground, and not a single flaw is evident in their Dwarven construction. At the center of the city stands the mighty Castle Mittendien, home of the Kaiser and royal family, along with sprawling temples to Adenan Stronghand, Prosimus, and Os. The great walls have gates to the north, sout, east, and west, and the gates are always open except in times of emergency that have not been seen in many years.

The main entrance to the city is to the west. Here, just inside the wall, is the bustling Traders' Plaza, a wide cobbled courtyard where merchants from around Aerde can be found plying their wares. Three huge gates and six towers here are always manned with a full contingent of guards, and duty at the Traders' Gate is one of the most respected positions in the Mittendienish army. Just east of the Traders' Plaza is the smaller, but just as lively, Bards' Plaza, mecca of every artist in the Kingdom.

At the center of town is the Kaiser's Plaza, a wide circle of open ground decorated with the standards of the Kingdom and its greatest families. In the center of the plaza is a large fountain in the shape of a stag, the symbol of the ruling Holfdem family. The castle and temples all open onto this plaza.

East of the Kaiser's Plaza, a patch of green still flourishes within the city walls. Volksdien Park is maintained by a few druids and adepts that continually remind the rulers - rightly - that their might would not be possible without the blessing of the fertile Alderlands, and the park is kept within the city walls as a gesture of thanks. East from the park runs the tree-lined Volksdien Walk to the east gate of the city.

The richest and most opulent part of the city is the area just north or west of the castle. While there is not enough space within the city for the great families to have the sprawling manors favored in Mittendienish high culture, most families that can afford it maintain a mansion in this region. Along the wall in the northwest quarter are warehouses, and the rest of the north half of the city contains ordered rows of clean and decent houses, where the middle class of the city live and go about their lives.

In the souther quarter of the city, however, the order intended by the city's Dwarven designers is nowhere to be seen. Here, the small, rundown houses are built practically on top of each other, and the streets are close and windy. This area, known about town as the Warrens, takes up only a third of the city's land but houses over half of the population. Crowded as it is, though, poverty is only obvious in the deepest areas, and the guard usually maintains the peace.

For travellers not inclined to brave the depths of the city, a few inns and hostels have sprouted up on the roads just outside the city, within sight of the gates. At these houses, more than anywhere else in the Kingdom, an outsider can find a warm welcome and a strong ale; so diverse are the visitors here that one can often find humans, elves, dwarves, and even goblinoids and the small folk sharing the same tavern peacefully, a rare enough site in the rest of the kingdom.

 

[Emiricol]

Telund's Wares

Telund's place is near the Kaiser's plaza. It is a blue building with a hanging sign over the door that has an image of three interlocking rings - his personal sygil. It is set back slightly, not clearly visible from the plaza circle itself.

He is not a magic shoppe per se, but rather a wizard of some repute who happens to have a lot of items he has made or found and will buy, sell, or trade for. His home is on the top floor, while the downstairs is largely for his laboratory. He has no "storefront", exactly, simply doing business one-on-one from the comfort of several plush chairs in the lab.

 

[Emiricol]

Neighborhood Guildsman

The Guildsmen are the lieutenants of the Dumeldein underworld, each controlling a chunk of territory in the city.

Typical of the petty "lords" who control criminal activity for given areas of Dumeldein, Grimen is a shrewd, capable leader with ambition and wisdom, not to mention patience.

Under Grimen are the Vice Sergeants, each of whom controls one criminal activity in Grimen's turf. Prostitution, narcotics, burglary, pickpockets and more are represtented by their own Vice Sergeant, who skims some off the top before passing the proceeds to Grimen, who then repeats the process up the ladder.

Grimen operates in the warrens of the poor area of town, controlling two blocks and often hanging out in a large, two-story house owned by Mabel, and operated as a house of ill repute with prostitution and gambling.

 

[Emiricol]

Mabel's House of Ill Repute

This large, two-story house is probably a series of three adjoining houses that were worked over into one. Downstairs is a bar, gambling and dancing, while upstairs are... rooms.

Mabel is a beautiful young curvacious woman, with one major flaw to her features - a wicked scar that runs from cheek to forehead, and which blinded her in the left eye.

The house is located deep within the poor sections of town, and lays within Grimen the Guildsman's territory. Though many pickpockets and worse infest the area, patrons of Mabel's are generally safe if they keep their wits about them. Otherwise, it would be bad for business and Grimen wouldn't tolerate that.

 

[Emiricol]

Desert Flower

The Desert Flower bakery and restaurant, located in the Kaizer's Plaza, is impossible to miss with its red awning flapping gently in the breeze that penetrates to the plaza at all times, despite the massive walls around the town. Its tables are inviting. Perhaps ten tables in all, half of which are occupied by fine-clothed noblemen and the wealthy magistrates and such that cater to them.

The menu, which is written in Mittendeinish and Suryanastan both, includes Dwarven light and Dwarven stout ales and lagers, imported from Thoradur or Cryndon. It is most famous for its Suryanastan spiced sweetrolls, a tangy spiced meats dish (eaten traditionally with fingers but with utensils by most locals), and an odd dish in which the meat is rolled into a ball of the same dough as for the sweetrolls, and then fried in a light oil. The seasonings are authentic Suryanastan, imported at great expense.

An order of any one of these items is a meal costing 3gp, plus 2gp for an 6-pint pitcher of ale/lager (5 silver for a single pint).

This restaurant is a trendy establishment among the wealthy, or the merely pretentious.

 

[Emiricol]

Lord Strom

A Dumeldein noble. A minor lord, more of a courtier really. He is ambitious and unscrupulous. In the Thoradur-Mittendein war, he readily received goods from Ulruz, and has no problem contracting the local rogue guild when expedient.

He has business dealings with the Kaiser as well, and is in fierce competition with an unknown nobleman from Solinburg over commerce issues.

 

[Emiricol]

Stein Woodlund

A Dumeldein merchant who runs back and forth from Dumeldein to the coastal port cities of Ceomyr, by way of Thoradur. He is mostly legitimate, and requires those he hires merely to sign a letter of intent that spells out each party's intentions.

His caravan numbers some 10 carts, and he is quite wealthy - although it is rumored to be bad business to ask him about his wife, who has a rather tarnished reputation.