Havar-Erek

Havar-Erek was one of the twin capitals of the Erechine Rajir, the empire that was overrun by monstrous races during the Breaking of Nations. The old city, once a dwarven port settlement, was completely burned and destroyed, leaving a series of collapsed tunnels and mounds of buried ruins, which have often been excavated by treasure seekers. The modern city has been constructed nearer to the coast (which shifted over history due to the Parraphthes river silting up) on a roughly hexagonal plan, with a palace and fort situated on a hill beside the Erechine Lagoon. They are famous for their horse-breeding and heavy cavalry traditions.   Even before the Breaking of the Pact, there was a heavy local tradition of a sort of feudalistic rule, with local knights under the employ of barons, who answer to regional lords and eventually to the local monarchs in the two major Erechine cities of Melk-Makar and Havar-Erek.   Havar-Erek expanded greatly under the Taorminite empire, being the major north-western settlement and the major army base for many centuries. The original plan of the city was expanded with the addition of three rectangular city-blocks with open areas (a public square, market square and sporting precinct), all built out of local grey-brick and limestone.   The area is most famous for its mineral wealth, including diamond, lead, copper and iron mines, forests of fine timber, and large areas taken up by cattle ranches and grain farms. It is near enough to the northern wastes to be subject to occasional raids by barbarians or monstrous races.   The climate is warm and wet enough to raise wheat in summer, though the rest of the year is colder and drier. Occasional blizzards from the North sweep through the area, and the northern freshwater end of the lagoon has frozen over several times in living memory.   The population is mostly human (a mix of local 'Reccies' and Taorminite 'Southies' with a large number of more barbarous 'Northies'), with a very large population of halflings and many dwarves, who run the many mining companies in the area.