Waterhelm is unique amongst the capitals of Attovia in that it was constructed after the country was established. Naturally this resulted in a city which mirrored it’s nations founding ethos. Straight edged streets outline measured city blocks that pack cheap and efficient housing together like sardines. The mortar used was extremely cost effective but some 300 years later the Patchers crawl the streets replacing it gallons at a time as it crumbles around them.
Details
Population: 17,000
Governer/Leader: The King Raivo Woodsoul
City Scale (in miles): 2
Capital of the Kingdom of Helva
Buildings/Layout
The House of Commerce has had a heavy hand in ensuring that the city stays very organized. The Ward of Commerce is a 4 by 4 block section of business. Merchants, inns, taverns, brothels and anyone hoping to provide a desirable service are relegated to this area. The Ward of Commerce is surrounded by residential housing which fills out all other blocks that are not reserved for any other purpose. Interspersed are the large mansions of the rich, temples, and several clinics/dispensaries. Outside of the high castle walls that hem in the city many of the poor live in thatch roofed huts
Shops
- Bakery
A gnome by the name of Chyou Shen runs the large bakery here in waterhelm, exiled from her home by her family she was granted a paltry sum to start a bakery with and has turned it into this massive financial gain. - Forge Masters
A nation famous Yewdi run smithy renowned for their unique one-edged blades. A style of weaponry brought in from their Strana Gigantov heritage. Many of their weapons are commissioned works used as a symbol of status. - The Pot Boils Over
At first you might think you have found a new entrance to the sewers when you descend some 15 feet below the streets surface to this little shop of magical mixes. Run by Helen a portly Tréigtheoir Sliabh woman who has a large quantity of drying herbs woven into the many locks and braids of her beard. She cares not for the outward appearance of her clientele, and will happily sell her work to anyone who might find it useful. - A Treasure’s Crest
A Krest Man named Kardinaul who is in for half the year and out the other half collects and sells wondrous items of all kinds in his small shop that is full of trinkets both powerful and useless.
Inns/Taverns
Other
- Houses of Helva
Each House of Helva is built a mansion from the King’s own pocket where all their staff live and work. There were 3 mansions built and 6 open plots when Waterhelm was created now only 2 empty plots remain in the 3 by 3 grid. The mansions are identical to each other, the only differences being found in any satellite locations. - Maintenance Ward
A single city block where Patcher’s are given places to live, new mortar is mixed, and two entrances to the sewers sandwich the cramped buildings from the north and south. - The Palace
Taking up a full 2 by 2 city blocks worth of square footage The Palace is the home of the King and the Council. It also functions as a final stronghold, a keep of sorts. Crenelated battlements surround the top of its high stone walls which form a plus like shape where each convex corner has a Bastion tower filling the empty space with connecting suspended wall walks at the top. Otherwise these towers are completely separate from The Palace and are built to be intentionally collapsed on potential attackers, collapsing the four towers will open up a large section of the stone ground around The Palace a pit that leads down to the sewers being the only thing between the rest of the city and the defensible keep.
Silver Sword Chapter
Other Details
Patchers
Due to the cheap mortar used during Waterhelm’s first decades of construction large portions of it crack and flake away every day. The Patchers comb the streets with large buckets of newer, better mortar provided by the House of Commerce which they are paid to replace wherever they might find mortar missing.
Sewers
There are other cities with rudimentary sewer systems, but no one has mastered the removal of liquid waste like Waterhelm. Each city block is surrounded by a sloped trough where human waste is dumped and flows slowly into a large opening where it drops into the network of stone lined tunnels beneath the city. The Frihet River is connected to Hhai Nahar and facilitates a constant flow of water through the bowels of the city keeping waste from building up. There are of course several locations within the sewer where the engineering failed in practicality and the river water cannot reach. Here the waste that is dumped continues to pile up for decades into a rotting stinking mass of trash, feces, and animal parts.
The Sewers of Waterhelm only have three entrances. Two in the maintenance ward and one that has been manually dug into a backroom of the House of Affairs.