Handlestadt
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| Handlestadt | |
 | |
| Country/Region | The Squatter Kingdom |
| Size | Small City: 12,000+ |
| Demographics | Humans and Gnomes in as the shared majority, followed by a boat halflings, and then dwarven trading enclaves |
| Government | Kleptocracy |
| Economy | {{{7}}} |
Handlestadt, also known as The City of Golden Knives and Anarchytown, is an emerald poised between the hammer and anvil, where the eastern and western Golden Highways meet. To the north, the Servitor kingdoms and monster states. To the south, the barbarians and beasts of the Great Ulan. From Hakan to the east and Southport and Achenveltd to the west, however, flow rivers of silver from a dozen nations which pool here for those strong and brave enough to drink.
In olden times, this area was known as "The Pinch," although nobody is really sure why. In the late 1430s or early 1440s, the entire region was destroyed by some unknown event. A new settlement was build near a large Crater Lake that formed after the event. It is under the dominion of no nation or king and is ruled by an oligarchic merchant council seen over by the Grand Doge, a position that shifts monthly between among the patricians of the council.
Government
- Kleptocracy
- Doge, a monthly position passes between the counselors.
- 3 Gnome Counselors, 3 Human Counselors, 2 Dwarven Counselor (doge's vote is a tiebreaker.)
- Dwarves are overrepresented as executive: no race can serve a consecutive term, so dwarves traditionally act as transition rulers.
- Halflings have elected not to participate in order to invoke the Concord of the Highways, subjecting them to internal law but double taxation.
Commerce
- Tremendously lucrative. The main nexus of both E/W and N/S trade across the mainland.
- Boat Halfling, and their Road Halfling Cousins, control the N/S routes, while Gnomes control the Eastern routes and Humans the Western.
- Dwarven enclave is mostly there to buy high value exotics that will fetch a premium back in Gildenhome.