Herus

Herus’ wealth was built on the cotton trade, but it’s fame comes from it’s association with theatre, music, and art. The city’s layout reflects these distinct activities with separate districts supporting the drivers of it’s wealth and fame.

Docks

Starting from the docks, the city is divided into northern and southern sections. The northern docks are for trade, with warehouses and shipyard helping to support the trade that is the lifeblood of the city. The southern docks are for those visiting the city for it’s cultural offerings, and feature an abundance of inns for those who can’t afford the more expensive accomodation further in.  

Middle Districts

Next to the docks the city is divided into three main districts:

• Art.
• Trade.
• Central.

Art District

The Art district contains inns suitable for the nobility, galleries, and an opera house. A small number of crafters operate here, but only those who sell expensive goods to the nobility. Entry to the district costs 5 copper pieces a time unless one has a permit showing they work there.

Trade District

The Trade district contains the crafts that support the town and the people that live there. There is no charge for entering this district but there are checks on goods entering it. Visitors rarely enter this part of the city unless they are after something that isn’t available in the central district.

Central District

The central district connects to the docks, trade, art, and outer districts. This district contains the grand market, the Dragonfire Arena, and the Theatre of Hopes. Entering the district costs 1 copper for those without a central pass.  

Outer Districts

Beyond the three middle districts are the outer districts including:

• Noble.
• Farm.
• Foul.

Noble District

This district is home to imperial nobles and the wealthiest of merchants. Access is restricted to those who live or work in the district and those who have an invitation from one of the households.  

Farm District

This district on the western side of the city is home to those who work the farms outside the city, those who work in the noble district and others who can afford to live outside of the Foul district. It is also home to the largest of the city’s barracks. Entry from outside the city costs a copper, but it is free to enter from other districts.

Foul District

Otherwise known as the Poor District, this is where the trades that produce unpleasant smells are located. It is also home to those who can’t afford to live anywhere else. A recruiting ground for day labour, it is also a hotbed of crime with minimal effort put in to maintain order.

Herus started as a fishing village before it’s harbour area became known as an easy place to dock. It would have likely remained a small trading port if it weren’t for the expansion of the cotton trade. A deep harbour and mostly favourable winds made it a popular choice for the larger ships that ferried cotton to the rest of the empire and wealth flowed into Herus.   Those who benefited from this trade wished to display their success without attracting comparisons with those from the imperial capital (since they had no way of competing with that level of wealth). Instead of jewellery or enchanted objects the wealthy of Herus took to becoming patrons of the arts, funding plays, musical compositions and paintings.   The arts thrived in Herus and this was only reinforced when the emperor became enamoured with one of the local theatre troupes and took them to the capital. Almost overnight Herus became known as the city where you could realise your dreams and for the wealthy being able to spot an upcoming talent became more important than the amount spent supporting them.   Regular visits by the imperial court which frequently resulted in more artists being invited to the captial reinforced the cities reputation as the place every artist aspired to be.   Unfortunately art and music don’t count for much when facing a horde of demons and Herus fell early on in the second Years of Darkness.