Twin-Peak
"If you listen close enough you can hear the dinosaurs screeching from Kathar, if you're unlucky enough you may even see one." -Vladmir Abdulov, Fredrick O'Leary murder trial, 466 CA
Twin-Peak, a city of harsh contrasts straddling the fine line between Everwealth and Kathar, a borderland where survival is dictated by coin, cunning, and the ever-present shadow of larger forces at play. Towering spires and domed temples rise alongside mudbrick alleys and shadowed bazaars, where Orcish merchants and Everwealthy officials conduct business in equal measure. The air is thick with the scent of spices, oils, and blood, luxury and brutality intertwined. Twinpeak is an economic battleground, where the law bends and breaks beneath the weight of Kathar’s influence. Slavery, smuggling, and black-market trade flourish in the city’s hidden quarters, often overlooked by Everwealth’s governance in favor of securing profitable arrangements. Though Twinpeak belongs to Everwealth in name, The Orcish Crime Syndicate runs its streets, ensuring that nothing, be it silk, steel, or stolen life, moves through the city without their approval. This is a city whose name is spoken in the same breath as cruelty and spectacle. Where Opulence gilds its cruelty in velvet curtains, Twinpeak bares it, steel and chain in full view. Extortion is expected, morality is a matter of money, slave caravans march here in endless lines to the mines or the many, many fight pits. To live in Twinpeak is to live with the echo of the crowd, clashing of steel, and the smell of blood.
Demographics
Twinpeak is home to a large Orcish population, their presence deeply embedded in the city’s infrastructure, from the mercenary companies that provide security to the trade syndicates that dictate what is sold and to whom. Humans, particularly Everwealthy traders and government officials, maintain a significant presence, though their power is more symbolic than actual. Leonin warriors and exiled Dwarfish craftsmen also make their homes here, their skills sought by those who can afford them. Wealth is the only true citizenship in Twinpeak, a penniless human is worth less than a well-connected Orc, and the city’s shifting alliances ensure that no one group dominates indefinitely.
Government
While an Everwealth-appointed governor technically rules Twinpeak, their authority is undermined by the sheer force of commerce and bribery. The Orcish trade syndicates operate as a parallel government, ensuring that coin, not law, decides the fate of the city. The Everwealthy presence is strongest in military compounds and administrative buildings, while the streets belong to those who can enforce their own power. Even within Everwealth’s own ranks, officers and magistrates are often deep in the pockets of the cartels, making true governance an illusion maintained for the sake of diplomacy.
Defences
Twinpeak is protected by its geography as much as its military. The Twin Cliffs form an almost impenetrable natural barrier, with the city nestled between them. Walls reinforced with steel and magic guard the passageway, their defenses designed to withstand sieges from both Everwealth’s enemies and its allies. Katharan war elephants and Everwealth’s war machines stand at opposite ends of the city, each a reminder that, should the fragile peace break, Twinpeak would be the first battlefield. The true defense of the city, however, is the sheer economic entanglement between Everwealth and Kathar, neither side can afford to burn the bridge that keeps their wealth flowing.
Industry & Trade
Twinpeak is Everwealth’s gateway to Kathar, and with it, to some of the most valuable commodities in the Three Lands. Katharan steel, rare textiles, narcotics, and exotic animals pass through its streets, often accompanied by the hidden trade of weapons, mercenaries, and slaves. The Everwealthy Merchant Consortium, while officially condemning the darker dealings, benefits immensely from the wealth that flows through Twinpeak’s shadow markets. Even forbidden goods, such as pre-Schism firearms and enchanted relics, find their way into the right hands for the right price.
Infrastructure
Twinpeak is protected by its geography as much as its military. The Twin Cliffs form an almost impenetrable natural barrier, with the city nestled between them. Walls reinforced with steel and magic guard the passageway, their defenses designed to withstand sieges from both Everwealth’s enemies and its allies. Kathari war elephants and Everwealth’s war machines stand at opposite ends of the city, each a reminder that, should the fragile peace break, Twinpeak would be the first battlefield. The true defense of the city, however, is the sheer economic entanglement between Everwealth and Kathar, neither side can afford to burn the bridge that keeps their wealth flowing.
Districts
Twinpeak is divided into several districts, each a reflection of its divided power structure.
The Governor’s Roost, the only true Everwealth-controlled sector, houses the palatial residence of the governor, along with the barracks of the Everwealth Watch.
The Amber Exchange is the city’s trade capital, where Kathari silk, Everwealthy wine, and rare desert gemstones change hands in deals that could determine the course of nations.
The Smokeward, a labyrinthine network of gambling halls, fighting pits, and narcotic dens, is where the orcish cartels make their fortunes.
The Hollow Quarters serve as housing for mercenaries and wandering traders, many of whom are in Twinpeak only long enough to make or lose a fortune before moving on.
Finally, the Dune Warren, a shantytown at the city’s outskirts, is home to the desperate, the displaced, and those with no place in the world but Twinpeak itself.
The Governor’s Roost, the only true Everwealth-controlled sector, houses the palatial residence of the governor, along with the barracks of the Everwealth Watch.
The Amber Exchange is the city’s trade capital, where Kathari silk, Everwealthy wine, and rare desert gemstones change hands in deals that could determine the course of nations.
The Smokeward, a labyrinthine network of gambling halls, fighting pits, and narcotic dens, is where the orcish cartels make their fortunes.
The Hollow Quarters serve as housing for mercenaries and wandering traders, many of whom are in Twinpeak only long enough to make or lose a fortune before moving on.
Finally, the Dune Warren, a shantytown at the city’s outskirts, is home to the desperate, the displaced, and those with no place in the world but Twinpeak itself.
Assets
Twinpeak’s greatest assets are its trade networks and mercenary forces. The city is home to some of the finest weaponsmiths outside of Everwealth’s main forges, with Kathari steel being highly prized for its durability and craftsmanship. The Ivory Market is one of the few places in the Three Lands where pre-Schism firearms can be found for sale, at exorbitant prices. The mercenary companies stationed here, some of whom trace their lineage back to the Schism itself, ensure that those with enough coin never need to worry about their safety.
Guilds and Factions
The Katharan Trade Syndicates hold the greatest power, their leaders equal parts warlords and merchants, ensuring Everwealth’s reliance on Kathar remains unbroken. The Merchant Consortium, while officially opposed to illegal dealings, works behind closed doors to ensure that Twinpeak’s trade routes remain profitable. The Dune Jackals, an infamous cartel dealing in slavery and assassination, operates out of the Smokeward, their reach extending beyond Twinpeak itself.
History
Twinpeak was originally constructed as a military outpost meant to hold the gap in the Battlement Cliffs, preventing Kathari warbands from pushing into Everwealth. However, as trade between the two nations expanded, it became evident that Twinpeak was too valuable to remain merely a fortress. By 29 CA, the outpost had transformed into a fully-fledged city, its walls now guarding merchants as much as soldiers. Throughout history, Twinpeak has been sacked, rebuilt, and repurposed, but it has never fallen entirely. Even during the darkest years of the Schism, the trade continued, for gold will always find a way to survive.
Points of interest
- The Red Rings - Twin amphitheatres carved into opposing cliff faces, infamous for their nightly bloodsport. Slaves, mercenaries, and beasts are thrown into the sand while nobles and cartel bosses cheer from gilded balconies. Unlike Opulence’s staged theatre of cruelty, the Rings are chaotic, vicious, and spectacular, reveling in fire, collapsing arenas, and mobs of chained fighters set loose all at once.
- The Deep Pits - Quarry-mines dug into the Twin Cliffs, worked by Minotaur, Orcs, and unlucky debtors until collapse takes them. Overseers drive the workers with whips and shouts, knowing corpses are cheaper to replace than tools. The stone of Twinpeak, they say, is mortared with blood as much as lime.
- The Ivory Market - A sprawling bazaar where everything forbidden elsewhere is sold openly, pre-Schism firearms, narcotics from Kathar, enchanted relics, and human lives. Its stalls glitter with ivory, silver, and silk, but the true wealth is traded in shadowy back rooms, where ledgers are inked with names rather than numbers.
- The Amber Exchange - The city’s heart of “legitimate” trade, where nobles and cartel brokers haggle over silks, gems, and Kathari steel. Officially sanctioned by Everwealth, it is the one place where governors pretend to hold sway. In truth, it is a money-laundering house for smuggling and slave coin.
- The Smokeward - A district of gambling dens, fighting pits, and narcotic halls where the Orcish cartels hold court. Slaves and mercenaries alike are trafficked here, their contracts auctioned in smoke-filled back rooms while drunken crowds wager fortunes on bloodsport outside.
- The Dune Mines - Dangerous shafts carved into the desert outskirts, abandoned and reopened as new veins of silver and arcanite are uncovered. Slaves work here chained in teams, their bodies often left behind when collapses bury entire crews alive. Local superstition holds that the mines are cursed, echoing with the screams of the buried.
- The Governor’s Roost - A palatial fortress where the Everwealth-appointed governor resides, more cage than court. From its balconies the Monarchy’s banners still hang, though everyone knows true power belongs to the cartels and syndicates outside its walls.
- The Twin-Peak Brewery - Once a Lost Ages alchemy laboratory, now a sprawling brewery run like a minor fortress. Copper tanks still bearing the marks of ancient craftsmen, steam channels that stabilize fermentation even in dire weather. Its ale exports are vital to soldier morale and local trade alike.
Tourism
Twinpeak is not just a city for the rich to leisure, it is a city for those seeking wealth, power, or protection. Traders, mercenaries, and bounty hunters flock to the city, looking to make their fortune before the tides of war shift. The Ivory Market draws in aristocrats and warlords, while the fighting pits of the Smokeward entertain those who prefer bloodsport to politics.
Architecture
A blend of Katharan practicality and Everwealthy gaudy opulence, Twinpeak’s structures are built from sandstone and reinforced with steel, their exteriors adorned with intricate mosaics and golden domes. Grand staircases and elevated bridges connect the city’s multiple levels, while alleyways wind through ancient structures repurposed for modern use.
Geography
Twinpeak is built within the only natural break in the Battlement Cliffs, two sheer rock formations rising on either side like the jagged fangs of some ancient beast. The city itself stretches between these two peaks, a fortress of commerce and conflict standing as the lone bridge between Everwealth and Kathar. To the west, the arid deserts and rolling savannahs of Kathar spread as far as the eye can see, a land of dust, nomads, and shifting alliances. To the east, Everwealth’s rugged highlands roll into the fertile valleys beyond, a stark contrast between the two nations. The Twin Cliffs themselves are carved with ancient tombs and forgotten ruins, remnants of those who once sought dominion over this vital passage. Fresh water is scarce, primarily sourced from deep wells and aqueducts, though the occasional rainfall fills underground cisterns, ensuring the city does not wither under the weight of its own excess.
Climate
Twinpeak is a land of extremes. Daytime temperatures reach unbearable highs, the sun baking the city’s sandstone walls until they radiate heat long into the evening. At night, the air turns bitterly cold, the desert winds howling through the alleyways like the whispers of forgotten ghosts. Sandstorms roll in from Kathar, turning the sky into a choking haze, forcing merchants to close their stalls and travelers to seek shelter. Heavy rains are rare but devastating, flooding the lower districts and sweeping away anything not built to endure the deluge. Seasons are an afterthought, there is only the dry season and the wet season, the latter lasting no more than a handful of weeks before the land is once more scorched beneath the desert sun.
Natural Resources
Twinpeak’s greatest resource is its location, a lifeline between two nations that would otherwise remain divided. However, it is not without its own material wealth. The sandstone quarries of the Twin Cliffs provide building materials for much of the region, their pale stone a staple of both Everwealthy and Katharan architecture. The Ivory Market deals in more illicit commodities, from pre-Schism artifacts to rare narcotics smuggled in from the far corners of the world. The Dune Mines, though dangerous and often abandoned, yield veins of silver and trace amounts of arcanite, making them highly sought after despite the risks. Additionally, rare alchemical ingredients, such as the venom of Katharan sand-serpents and the bones of creatures lost to time, fetch high prices among apothecaries and warlocks alike. However, the city’s greatest dependency remains on Everwealth’s fresh water shipments, without which much of Kathar beyond Twinpeak would crumble into dust within months.
Founding Date
29 CA
Alternative Name(s)
'Rich Man's Paradise', 'Heaven for Sale'.
Population
60,000 folk.
Inhabitant Demonym
'Twins'.
Owning Organization
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