Malford

Ah, Malford. The oldest of the human cities, the most prosperous, the seat of invention. All that one could want is found with ease in this wealthy city... For those able to pay...   Prosperity has always been found here. As the seat of the once great halfling empire, Cartinnia was the destination for lavish parties, divine alcohol, and entertainment of the most deviant varieties; a home fit for even the most discerning hedonist. Now, centuries after its fall, those same pleasures can be found in spades. This thriving city is a land of opportunity, where anyone from the most conniving halfling to the lowliest half orc outcast can become richer than their feeble minds can begin to imagine... Or so that's the promise. The allure of wealth, while still drawing newcomers to malford, is not a promise that has been fulfilled for many, many years. Rather than the good fortune they were assured of, travelers quickly find themselves little more than cogs in this infernal machine.   The invention of steel shook the world, and in no place is that more evident than in Malford. As the only place in the world fine steel can be reliably produced in any serious quantity, the city has grown even larger as orders for the fine metal roll in. This has produced untold capital... for the very wealthy, at least. For those not so fortunate, few jobs remain that are not working directly or indirectly with the foundries, who are not known for clean safety records, or indeed, for their generosity. What once was a city of hope has now become a city of near slaves, with an insatiable and constant need for new bodies to replace the fallen, and turn the crank of industry.   Outside the foundries, much of Malford is crumbling, with every penny possible going to the cherry red furnaces driving her economy; Long gone are the once once renown inventors, academics, scientists, and precision manufacturers previously forming the backbone of the city and her power. The scholars quarter is now empty, the quarry and mason guilds shadows of their former selves. No, the attention of this, perhaps the largest of the three great cities of the humans, is turned only to her hot, sooty, heart.