Driftwood

The Town is divided up among five different "Gangs" each controlling its own part of the city and ruling it as they see fit, there is an official Mayor Appointed by Shiver Town, but he holds only nominal authority in the town.  

The Big Five:

  The Crimson Wake, the most ruthless of the gangs, lead by Marc Bloodmane who use the gang as scavengers and thugs for profit and intimidation, they control Driftwood: Chicken Docks.     The Aeternum, a gang with a peculiar fascination for Ordering art and objects, thugs that speak in a fanciful way and play at scholarly debates, their leader is Kasus Belend, they currently "rule" in Driftwood: Clear Borough.     The Bilge Rats controll Driftwood: Butcher's Lane through shere force of numbers, the urchin gang of Driftwood roam as pickpockets and paupers, some entrepenaurial Bilge Rats even run protection rackets for the smaller Merchant stalls. Vince "Two Time" di Donato is the leader of the gang and he rules with charm and wit.     The Disarray control Driftwood: The Iron Pole where they live in the largest ship-wreck in Driftwood: "Dies Irae", the Oldest remaining gang of Driftwood, this gang do not act like a criminal gang, instead they operate as a Thieves guild with several front houses and fences across Haru. Juliet "Stiletto" Faust leads the guild to take a more politically active and community building approach, she has quickly become a local celebrity of Driftwood. It is jokingly said that The Dissaray are the only ones who actually make any money in Driftwood.     The Akashi is a new Gang in the streets of Driftwood that quickly rose to prominence due to their ruthless, effective and honorable tactics. Comprised of Crimson Refugees, the Gang favors the ethos found in their home cities and as such is very different from their rugged criminal counterparts. They extort travelers and citizens who stray too far into the dark alleys of the Driftwood: Old Ward. They have no central leader and instead work independently as they see fit, but with a common code.

The town is woefully undefended and understaffed, partially due to neglect from Shiver Town and partially due to the dominance of criminal gangs. It should, however, be noted that the town has trade treaties and backroom deals that make it far more favorable to deal peacefully with the town than forcefully.

Driftwood was originally built around a dredged natural bay, and the center port, now Driftwood: The Iron Pole and Driftwood: Chicken Docks have modern infrastructure with a sewer system running underneath the center of town. The central roads starting east with Piccola Strada and ending north-west with Grande Strada are cobbled stone with a central runoff leading to the sewers for horse manure, a popular invention from Apex City that hasn't been faithfully implemented in Driftwood leading to frequent overflooding cisterns and poorly maintained sewer canals.

Established in 1761 by the Lord Mayor of Shiver Town as an expansion to accommodate for the increased trade due to the newly built Sullen Mine, Shiver Town had since its founding had an unfortunate issue with the ground sediment not being easily dredged for a deep harbor, as such no large ships could safely dock in the city. Driftwood was established around the site originally erected to celebrate The Battle of Defiance Bay, with a statue of Khalesar The Waterwalker built on the coast back in 1310, when it was established the town was called Defiance bay.   Defiance bay received a large amount of funding early on from House di Floranna who elected to build a large dock and wharf originally intending to excavate a large drydock for shipbuilding, but due to pressure from local merchant families and after finding a similar sediment issue that plagued Shiver Town instead built a large warehouse in its place.