Loghedge
Standing on the coast of the Talonside lake, close to the Greywolf Peaks and inside the beginnings of the Ironwood forest, this city supervises the southeast and western side of the kingdom, including the towns of Bearsteep, Bogsbed, Emberbite and Hazelcub. Ensuring the roads stay safe from animal and human attacks, clear from vegetation and obstacles and intact from the constant attack from the elements is a big task on its own, but there's also the management of the towns and their resources to care for
The location helps managing the resources, being the lake and the river a much more reliable way to transport the the goods to the other towns. And being on the edge of the forest means not having to face the thick vegetation to travel to the mountains, though even then the trip can be quite tricky. Being in an isolate spot, far from the richness of resources further down east, means not many travel to this city unless they have specific business there
Between the city and the forest there's a large clearing. It was man-made over the decades, trees cut down and vegetation kept at bay as people need more land to build farms and such
Though the buildings close to its border still suffer the constant threat of the fast plant growth, not to mention the invasion from wild animals after the cattle and the thieves that occasionally take shelter in the trees
Inside the city things were segmented into areas as houses grew and were rebuild over the old ones. Some services are much easier to find in certain sections, though it's not impossible to find quieter or less popular ones in the other parts of the town
The market area extends all over the right side of the main street and the first half of the upper-left one. All type of goods and services can be found there, specially around the squares. Food, clothes, wood, horses, blacksmiths, tailors... all of them concentrate there and along the main road, where everyone comes to buy and they compete for the best spot and clients
The other section within the wall is the residential area. Things are quieter than the always busy market sector, the perfect place to find taverns, pubs, inns and smaller (And often less pricy) establishments. But in those tight streets is also where the dark part of the city is settled. Shady businesses, dangerous hangouts, blackmarket deals... the nasty side of a good metropolis
The area of the docks doesn't have any housing besides the shacks where the ships being repaired stay. All the goods are transported into the safety of the walls, which makes matters much more complicated to the few river pirates around
The baron's castle is set on top of the high sloped hill, surveying the city behind it's double walls. The only access to it is up the curvy road that goes through the city private forest, a reminder of the trees that once used to dominate the place. People are free to go there, but it's forbidden to damage that forest when there's so much out there to explore in terms of wood and hunt. Besides the woods, the castle is isolated on the other side by the cliffs
Though the castle is the baron's home, along with the few noblemen that aid him in the keeping of the territory, it's also the headquarters of the local guard. Those who are allowed up there are either servants of the castle, or have specific business with one of the nobles
The local church is located on the second town square, between the castle walls and the docks. It's a large building, fit to house it's inhabitants and provide them with services, but there are a couple of smaller chapels that help branching the service
But the symbol mages and the doctors aren't located in the church however. They can be found in the market area, while the important and more specialized services stay inside the church
There are other 2 important details to mention about the city. In order to prevent the gates to be constantly occupied with people going to the river to fetch water, fountains were built all over the town a long time ago. It supplies everyone with fresh, running water and there are places specifically design for the women to wash their clothes, preventing contamination of the drinking water
As for the second, there was a serious problem when ships had to pass under the bridge to reach the docks. In the beginning the masts were low enough not to raise problems, but as time passed that became more of a concern. That's why the church mages came with the solution of a rotating bridge, which would move aside as the taller ships needed to pass
