The City of Daultin, ancestral capital city of Reddown and seat of the Earls of Galastry is an ancient, and many say beautiful city. Its construction began only a year after the death of the last Earl Galastry, under the guidance of his house standard bearer Daultin, who took the mantle of Earldom into his line and for whom the city was named. It is centered on two high hills called Harald’s Hill and Basilica Hill and five smaller islands out in Lake Dale, all of which are named for the district that is built on them and all of which are connected by long stone bridges.
Region: Ahlonia, The Earldoms, Galastry
Total Population: 19,940 approx.
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Tech. Level: 6
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In the style of most of the Earldoms, the city is built like a fortress. Each hill has three walled districts which the people call baileys, progressing up the hill, thus the city is broken into ten districts: High-seat and Harald’s Watch are at the tops of the two hills, then on Harald’s hill there is the upper and lower bailey. On Basilica hill are built the priest’s bailey, and the lower layer, the market district, links the two hills around Simon’s Way. Other than the castle that sits far out in the lake the islands are called Cobbler’s Isle, Fletcher’s Isle, Smith’s Isle and Taylor’s Isle, and were originally named for the industries practised there. While they have become a little more versatile generally someone looking for one of those four trades would still go to the appropriate island. Low sea walls, and towers along the shores defend them. Because rent is charged based on the square footage of a building’s ground floor people build their homes and shops with broad upper floors, and others live and trade from shallow barges on the lake. Daultin is considered quite a wonder on the Isle, and though it is not strictly beautiful it is certainly unique. Unlike the bare timber and stone buildings of the rest of the Isle, with their thatched roofs and stone chimneys the buildings of Daultin are nearly all made of slabs of hard mustard-coloured sandstone mortared together, these are taken from the bottom of the lake and generally used as they are found. The upper levels are of the same stone, with narrow barred windows, but extensions are built of bare oak and the roofs are made of thickly tarred shingles. The buildings are imposing and square, each like a miniature fortress. The walls are thick and solid and the windows, barred with wrought iron, are narrow and grow larger between the inside and outside wall. The buildings directly abut one another and it is common for houses to have small towers housing their stairwells, so that city blocks are a single large, sprawling structure, an amalgam of many smaller buildings, usually surrounding a central courtyard containing a shallow well and accessible through the buildings or occasionally through narrow alleyways. There are three major bridges in the city, and these are considered wonders of the achievements of men, visitors are generally awed these. The three great bridges have broad bases for carriages or mounted traffic, and a narrower upper bridge for foot traffic from which great banners are hung. The bridges arch steeply, almost an entire story, and rise out of raised sections of road, so that with their second layers, and with the gatehouses at either end these bridges tower almost four stories, higher than any of the major buildings of the city: only the dome of the Basilica and the towers of Proudmoore reach above the towering gatehouses of the bridges. The people of Daultin seem non-nonplussed by the unique reputation of their austere, sand coloured city. Their homes tend to be darker and colder than those of other towns and the dark coloured oak with which the wealthy line their inner walls does nothing to alleviate this oppressiveness.
There are a few key locations in the city. People wanting somewhere to stay would go to the market district which stretches around Basilica hill and links it to the base of Harald’s Hill and to the mouths of the three bridges that feed off the mainland. It is by far the largest district and incorporates the only two gates into the city, Simon’s Way and Daultin’s Way. There are three huge markets, all of which are run just like an independent way station with their own inn and markets, traders from the islands rent stalls in these squares and merchant companies keep caravans here in their off seasons. The only real landmarks here are axeman’s square by Daultin’s Way, where public executions and trials take place, and the Earl’s garden, an area entirely made of stone paths and boxes filled with wild flowers. While they are small a visitor could still wander for a few hours, because the area twists and turns, and loops back over and under itself. Basilica hill houses the Basilica to the Dioune, a huge ornate stone structure with twin domes reaching into the sky and decorated with ornate carvings on dark wood panels depicting the legends from the Book of Ahlana. Private services can be held here, but mostly it serves as the center of administration for the church in Reddown. The rest of the hill houses priests, scholars and artists, as well as the sanatorium, a low building full of healing cells run by the brothers of the beneficent hand, the local chapter of the Order of the Living Heart.
Harald’s hill’s lower bailey is mostly inhabited by private homes, the upper bailey holds the guild houses of the various merchant companies that operate out of Daultin, and Harald’s Watch holds the houses of the wealthy and the merchants as well as the city homes of the more wealthy steaders of the entire land. Also the city’s main garrison, the squat and solid fort Borost, is built into the walls that circle Harald’s Watch looking out to the east. A trebuchette capable of launching for over a league points always to the east from the uppermost tower. At the center of the district stands the monument to Harald, standing with his shield held firm, staring east. There is also a great stable and kennel operated by the Earl Galastry, it’s called the dome, and is essentially a broad wooden frame like an overturned ship over a large yard and cobbled road covered with canvas. The Earl of Galastry breeds and trains greyhounds here, which he keeps as pets or gives as gifts, he also breeds painted horses like those the goblyns ride which his ancestors bred from a captured goblin stable. While they have not mastered horse breeding like the goblins have these are still the very finest and most prized steeds that a landsman can come by.
Daultin is a city of nearly twenty thousand people. It is the sovereign property of the Earl of Galastry and he collects rents from anyone with a permanent dwelling here, and charges a gate tax on anyone bringing good in through the gates. The city is patrolled by his armies and administrated by his Major Doge Faldin, a brisk no-nonsense man and a twelve-year veteran of the armies of Galastry. Beneath him there is a Doge for each district including the Castle. Each Doge is given command of a contingent of fifty infantrymen to police the city and man the fortifications. No one is sure why such a huge military presence is maintained at the moment, but even larger armies are being drilled and housed only a few leagues outside the city walls. The entire city remains walled and fortified, and regular patrols of the walls are maintained around the clock.
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