Nilulum

Primarily dwarves (about 70%), with human merchants and sailors making up another 20%. The remaining 10% are a mix of elves, gnomes, and transient folk drawn by trade. Wealth is uneven—merchant families and mill owners control much of the wealth, while dockworkers, cane-cutters, and refinery hands fill the lower quarters.

The Council of Refiners functions as both civic and mercantile leadership. Decision-making is slow but deliberate, with policies rooted in trade law, taxation on exports, and maintenance of the harbor. Religious observance to Ilmos God of the Hunt and Nature is cultural but not enforced.

The city is encircled by stout stone walls, though its greatest defense is its navy—dwarven-crafted galleys with reinforced keels. The harbor mouth is partially shielded by a massive chain, raised in times of danger.

Primary Export: Greycane sugar (refined crystalline sugar, candy, molasses).

Secondary Exports: Rum, salted fish, brined rice cakes, ship anchors, chains, and ballast stone.

Imports: Rice from Bokdat, timber from Holbohr, foreign spices, fruits, and luxury goods. Nilulum thrives as both a provisioning hub and a luxury supplier, making it indispensable to inland and overseas trade alike.

Nilulum’s port dominates the shoreline, with stone quays, drydocks, and massive warehouses for storing cane sugar and salted goods. The sugar refineries are the city’s heart, powered by tidal wheels and dwarven engineering. A complex network of canals irrigates the cane fields and feeds into salt pans.

The Sweetworks: sugar refineries and candy workshops, heavy with the smell of boiling syrup.

Dockside: bustling port district with taverns, warehouses, and shipyards.

Stonechain Quarter: where anchors, chains, and ballast are forged.

Highbarrel Hill: home to breweries, distilleries, and cooperages producing Nilulum’s famous rum.

Greycane Marches: misty coastal fields just outside the walls where sugarcane is cultivated.

Vast refineries producing sugar bricks and rock candy.

Drydocks capable of repairing large ocean-going ships.

Strong banking guilds funded by sugar wealth.

Taverns and breweries that export their rum

Founded in 2743, Nilulum grew rapidly as the outlet for Holbohr’s timber and Bokdat’s rice. The discovery of Greycane transformed it from a simple port into a wealthy hub of trade. Over centuries, the city earned a reputation for luxury and provision alike, becoming the last major northern stop before the return back to the other side of the continent.

Visitors come for Nilulum’s sweets and rum, eager to tour the refineries and taste sugar shaped like gemstones. The city’s taverns are legendary for their rowdy charm, and even pilgrims of Ilmos stop to marvel at the Greycanes’ misty fields.

Solid dwarven stonework dominates, but many buildings are accented with candy-colored tiles or stained glass that catches the sea light. Refineries are massive stone halls with vaulted chimneys. Taverns often display carved wooden barrels as signs of pride.

Nilulum sits on a northern coast with misty lowland deltas leading inland. Salt flats and cane fields stretch along the shore, while forests rise behind the city, linking it with Holbohr’s inland trade.

Cool, mist-laden, with long wet seasons and mild summers. Winters are damp but rarely severe enough to freeze the cane fields. Frequent fogs blanket the city, softening its outlines in pale grey light.