Foreward: Secrets of the Labyrinth
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The bustling trade metropolis of Haven sits on both sides of the Dorian River, at the only place the great river can be bridged for almost fifty miles in either direction. The Dorian is navigable by sea-going ships as far as Haven’s South Docks, and its two upper branches support a great deal of river trade. Haven is also situated on the well-traveled east-west trade route known as the Long Road, and thus is of double importance, for this is one of the few places where the Long Road traffic and the sea trade meet. Because of the availability of good communications, Haven is a natural political center and has grown to be a thriving nexus of trade government and manufacturing, with a population of almost 80,000.
There has been a city in the general location of Haven for centuries; the city as it is now got its start as a Namori provincial capital several hundred years ago. Following the ebb of the Namori Empire, the legions and governors retreated towards the imperial heartland, and left the western provinces to fend for themselves; the local nobility and such Namori who elected to remain assumed control over various portions of the region, creating a feudal system that eventually stabilized into the Confederation of the Ten Cities and their duchies, counties, and baronies. The most powerful of these families, the di Cotillion, assumed the title of Dukes of Haven (and the over-lordship of a great portion of the Dorian valley). About 175 years ago, economic necessity and pressure from the growing trade Guilds forced the Duke to grant a charter to the city, which made the city an independent political entity, and freed its slaves. The city is now run by the families who dominate the powerful Guilds. The feudal nobility is declining, and some of the families have been forced into bankruptcy, or into selling off their lands, often to the land-hungry merchants and guildsmen. Despite the wealth and importance of the city Guilds and merchants, however, the influence of the nobility is still a force with which to reckon, both within the city and without.
The present Duke of Haven, Fernando di Cotillion, holds a great deal of influence in the city, and is still the source of many political appointments and other positions determined by patronage. Haven is the center of the ducal court as well as being an important trade center; the city and ducal bureaucracies create a great many jobs for city dwellers. Both city and ducal forces maintain a patrol on the river and the Long Road to protect the all-important trade, particularly during the annual Trade Fairs, in midsummer and midwinter.
Within the city’s walls are a multitude of shops, residences, taverns, warehouses, and, of course, people. There are seven major divisions to the city, six of which are politically coherent areas called boroughs: The Heights (where the majority of the nobility have their homes), The North Corridor and South Corridor (the business districts for the merchants and traders), The Commons (where many of the plain working folks live), The Labyrinth (the thieves’ quarter, and home of the poorest of the poor), and The Outlands (where most of the city’s elves, dwarves and other non-humans choose to live). Trade Island, in the center of the river, though not a political borough, is almost a world unto itself, a year round bazaar and market, and home for many traveling traders on the Long Road.
The city is nominally governed by the Council of Boroughs, a group elected from the six boroughs, who select a Mayor and his Ministers to run the various facets of the city’s administration. In actuality, the power rests in the hands of a few families who are the heads of the largest and wealthiest Guilds, who can usually manage to assure the election of officials they want. The Duke appoints the High Judges, who serve for a term of ten years in the Court of Common Pleas (dealing with civil law), the Court of the Exchequer (the court which enforces taxation), or the Court of the Eagle Standard (the high ducal court dealing with treason). A further court, the Circle Chamber (ruling body of Mages Guild), is formed of the highest ranking mages with ducal sanction to regulate the use of magic in Haven.
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