City Guide: Miga

 

In 1423, Miga has a population of approximately 192,655 making it the second largest city in the world after Kovstepovi.

Miga stands at the mouth of the River Miga, which leads from Bay of Miga and the Hidden Sea inland via the Passage of Miga, connecting the Hidden Sea to King’s Sea at Povidovija, nearly 1500 km to the east through a series of dams, locks and canals that took over 250 years to construct.

As the largest city in the Hidden Sea Region it is consider the de facto capital, but only in trade, finance and legal matters – culturally the smaller city of Starnje, some 650 kilometers to the north rivals Miga in importance, principally due to the fact that the people of Starnje and of the Hidden Sea in general tend to hold Azanist leanings, while Miga is staunchly Vehirist.

While technically Miga is located in a tropical region, the climate is decidedly mediterranean owning to the prevailing winds which come warm off the Hidden Sea before being trapped in a cooling spiral in the Shining Mountains. While the climate is pleasant, the terrain is hilly and rocky, and agriculture between the Shining Mountains and the Southwall Ridge is challenging. Miga and the many towns and villages that surround it are quite dependent on food supply from the Plains of Odovic to the south and by ship through the Passage of Miga. Their rivals in Starnje reap the limited bounty of the Hidden Sea Region itself and control the flow of agricultural goods from the north with heavy tariffs. In the end, the enormous wealth generated by the Passage of Miga more than compensates for this problem.

Miga itself is built on several major hills that run the length of the long valley carved by the Miga River, and it is sometimes called the City of Six Hills, though the city proper is home to only one of those.

The official language of Miga is technically Krajl Golanicjan, owing to the fact that the obsolete language is still taught at the Trade College of Miga and is still used in the courts and for all state-related legal matters. Perhaps 5% of the population speak Krajl Golanicjan. The de facto language of Miga is Comerta, and essentially everyone in the city speaks it. Most people also speak either Golanicjan, Odovicjan, or both, and owing to the importance of trade through the Passage of Miga, many people can get by in Senecian, Tuloszian and Marcostic (all of which are related to Comerta).

Owing to the nationalistic and speciesist policies of the Imperial Era, dwarves are very common in Miga, representing about twenty percent of the population. That said, the city is highly diverse due to the impact of global trade through the Passage of Miga, and canis, humans, porcine, halflings, rodians and taurans are all common. Notably, the city is also home to relatively large orcish and goblin populations, particularly in Miga’s ‘Gongtown’, the Abutment.


Miga Map


Miga Map

Credit: Miga base map generated using Medieval Fantasy City Generator by watabou.


Landmarks

Following is a list of the major landmarks and locations in Miga as indicated on the map.

1 - Observation Hill

Observation Hill is a steep hill on a point outside the city proper where a lighthouse and several observation posts overlook the entrance to the Bay of Miga.

2 - Fish Wharf

Fish Wharf is a small village outside the city proper, now governed as part of the city itself. Fishing is the primary industry here, and fish is brought in daily through the Fishermans’ Gate to be sold at Six Hills Market shortly after dawn.

3 - Povidovija Trade Alliance

While Povidovija Trade Alliance is headquartered in Povidovija and most of their operations are in the King’s Sea, they maintain an office in Miga for the primary purpose of expanding their visibility into global trade and buffering against risks to their principle operations in the east. Consequently, the offices here are more focused on targeted, speculative trade in less common commodities than on bulk trade of staple and standard goods. The fact that they maintain their offices here outside the city walls, and that they sail from rented berths in Fish Wharf suggests that likely a fair amount of their trade through the Passage of Miga is illicit.

4 - Fisherman’s Gate

So called as it is the gate that separates Fish Wharf from the city proper. The road from this gate services small towns and fishing villages along the coast, connecting eventually to Rasjesa. The gate is closed an hour after sunset and is opened very early, at about 4am, to allow fishermen returning early to get their fish to market.

5 - Limunasad

Limunasad is a charming neighborhood flanked by citrus orchards to the south, where the smell of fish from Fish Wharf is covered by the pleasant scent of citrus flowers.

6 - Imperial Merchant Marine

When the Imperial Merchant Marine were formed in the 8th century, it was principally to deal with Senecian threats in the King’s Sea. Two fleets were formed in Kovstepovi, one in Ovicinje, and two in Povidovija, while a seventh fleet was formed in Miga. The seventh fleet had only five vessels when it was formed, as the real work of the Imperial Merchant Marine was in the King’s Sea. A posting to the seventh fleet came to be considered a posting for the entitled children of Golanicjan lairds. But quickly, the headquarters of the seventh fleet became central to the Imperial Merchant Marine training program, and by leveraging the wealth and influence of noble family ties, and connections to important regional factions such as the Povidovija Trade Alliance and the Kolega Underwriter’s Company, the seventh fleet proved itself in the hearts and minds of the Imperial Merchant Marines – if not on the seas. After the Imperial Era ended, the officers stationed at the headquarters of the seventh fleet in Miga were instrumental in preventing the naval order from being disbanded. By the 15th century, the Imperial Merchant Marine are a global military and trade organization, and the seventh fleet, who patrol much of the Southern Sea from the Hidden Sea, to Marcosta and Jumira, are respected as among the greatest naval forces on Tear.

7 - Six Hills Market

Six Hills Market stands in the valley between Observation Hill, outside the city, and First Hill, inside the city. It is the city’s largest public market, trading in goods from the Hidden Sea region, the Plains of Odovic, the Shining Mountains and exotic goods from around the world coming from the Passage of Miga and the Steps of Dovicik. Of note is the fish market, which brings fresh fish from the Hidden Sea in every morning before dawn. Monks from the Manastir Obrumisti are granted first access to the fish market, thirty minutes before opening each day, and a breakfast of thinly sliced raw, salted fish is called a Monk’s Breakfast throughout the region, and up the entire length of the Passage of Miga.

8 - Naval Docks

These are the primary docks for the city. The Imperial Merchant Marine berth and supply their seventh fleet here and maintain shipyards and drydocks for maintenance. About one quarter of the docks here belong to the Imperial Merchant Marine, with the rest being given over to trade and commercial use.

9 - Portage Green

This park, in the center of the city proper and facing the Manastir Obrumisti, is the place where monks of the Servants of Obrum gather to celebrate the beginning or conclusion of the portage of a ship through the Passage of Miga. Prior to the completion of the system of locks and canals through that passage in 352 these portages were frequent, but now they are only performed ritually, twice a year. One such portage begins in Miga, departing on 21 Bucket and usually arriving in Povidovija about 150 days later on or around 10 Fig. The other Portage begins in Povidovija on 21 Basket, usually arriving in Miga about 150 days later on or around 10 Hoe. Thus, each spring in Miga there are two great celebrations in Portage Green; one that is held sometime around 10 Hoe and one that is always held on 21 Bucket. These are not just religious celebrations for the monks, participating in the ritual portages, they are city-wide celebrations honouring the monks contribution to many great works, and celebrating the importance of the Passage of Miga and the peace, justice, wealth, and glory it brings to Miga, Golanicja and all the peoples of Tear.

10 - Manastir Obrumisti

The Monastery of the Servants of Obrum in Miga is one of the three great pilgrimage sites for that Order, with the other two located in Povidovija and Obrum’s Landing. These sites represent the journey of labour that Obrumist monks undertake in their lifelong service of Obrum the Builder, which is spiritually represented as the portaging of a sailing ship through the Passage of Miga. Since the completion of the system of locks and canals through that passage in 352, portaging ships is now only performed as a ritual twice each year (once in each direction), and while the ritual involves hundreds of monks, it is not guaranteed that all those in the Order will have the opportunity to perform this holy labour. Most of the major buildings of Manastir itself are over 1000 years, and in fine condition due to the exemplary quality of their construction. The chapel in the center of the monastery, Obruma Kapela, is said to be over 2000 years old, and is one of the oldest structures on Tear. It houses the Brazier of Peace, an eternal flame said to have been lit by Obrum himself from the first fire he discovered.

11 - Communion Katedrala

The Communion Katedrala is the largest cathedral in Miga, the largest on the Hidden Sea, and belongs to the Communion of the Celestial Host. The Katedrala Square, directly in front of the Katedrala itself, is a frequent site of religious protests and sometimes religious unrest as Azanists from the Hidden Sea region protest a religion that preaches the heretical idea that Tear is a moon, orbiting the creator goddess Vehira, embodied as a planet.

12 - The Hotel Alcinette

The Hotel Alcinette is the city’s finest hotel. The main structure was part of the original Citadela Miga and served as the seat of the city’s Council Chambers before being mostly destroyed during the Orc Conquests. A new Citadel was constructed at the top of the First Hill after the city was liberated in 388, and it was more than a hundred years later before the two towers of the original structure were made sound and incorporated into a new structure. The building served as a garrison throughout much of the Imperial Era, and after the Golanicjan Kingdom fell, it served as a headquarters for the Order of Alcinette before their operations evolved to become too unsavory. In 1301 the Order of Alcinette were pressured to move their regional headquarters out of the city proper and the garrison was transformed into a luxury hotel. Today, the Hotel Alcinette is one of the pre-eminent luxury hotels in the world, serving as a hotel to the world’s most affluent and important travelers, and as a conference center for diplomats and high-ranking officers.

13 - Citadela Obrum

The Citadela Obrum was constructed by the Guild of Obrum to replace the former Citadela Miga which had been all but destroyed during the Orc Conquests. After the liberation of Miga in 388 the construction of a new Citadela was the first major project initiated by the Guild following the completion of the Passage of Miga in 352. The Citadela Obrum stands atop the First Hill in the center of Miga, and is considerably larger and more formidable than the previous Citadel. After its completion in 440, the Citadel became home to the heir apparent to the Golanicjan Crown and remained so until the dissolution of the Kingdom in 1201. In 1202, the Grain Bank of Bulostioi attempt to claim the Citadel as an asset, owed to the Bank for the Crown’s debts, but a group of ‘silent investors’ – probably from the Kolega Underwriter’s Company the Povidovija Trade Alliance among others, prevented this in a bid to empower wealthy families in the city to adopt a new Charter. By 1204, the Citadela Obrum was established as the seat of the new governing Council of Miga. The large keep and many surrounding buildings represent the Council Chambers, the Courts, and the offices of the city and regional officials.

14 - Parks of Obrum and Alcinette

Twin parks flank the sides of the road leading into the main gates of the Citadela Obrum; these are the parks of Obrum and Alcinette, the two patrons of the city of Miga. These large, terraced greens step down from the slopes of First Hill, all the way to the banks of the Miga River affording beautiful views from First Hill across the water to many of the most important edifices of the city including the Grand Library, and the campuses of the Trade College of Miga and the Red College.

15 - The Dovecote

The Fellowship of Feathers operates Miga’s Dovecote, which is built into one of the main towers of the wall surrounding the Citadela Obrum. Official communications are managed from an office inside the walls, while private communications are managed via an office on the outside. The two offices are connected to the central tower, which is filled with birdcages, with messenger birds being sent and received from the top. The interior of the office is highly fortified, with multiple iron gates and doors that can be barred and locked to ensure the Dovecote offices are not a vulnerability in the Cittadella walls.

16 - First Hill

The First Hill is not really the first hill in the city, no matter which direction you come from, though with the Citadela Obrum atop it, and the city’s commercial and business districts beneath it, it is first in importance.

17 - Kolega Underwriter’s Company

The Kolega Underwriter’s Co, the most important banking and insurance company in Golanicja, has its headquarters in an immaculate granite and limestone edifice in Stonehall, in the very center of Miga. Founded in 727 by Ludovic Kolega, the company opened its first office in Stonehall in 758 and began construction on the current building in 766. Work was completed in 772, and they have been here ever since. Virtually every company whose ships sail the Passage of Miga are insured here, and most of the elite in Miga and the Hidden Sea region maintain their accounts here. House Kolega rose power in Miga with the rise of the company, and still hold that power nearly seven centuries later.

18 - Stonehall

Stonehall (often erroneously referred to as Stonehall Road) is named for the corridor-like channel of impressive stone edifices of granite and limestone that line the road all the way from the Granite Gate in the east to Katedrala Square in front of the Communion Katedrala. Most of these buildings were constructed during the Imperial Era, replacing previous structures that had been badly damaged during the Orcish Conquests. By the end of the Imperial Era, Stonehall was known as one of the most important business districts in the world, and wealth and power of the diverse companies that held offices here served as a bulwark against the collapse of the Golanicjan Crown for Miga, and for the entire Hidden Sea Region.

19 - Guild of Obrum Hall

The Guild of Obrum – perhaps the oldest private company in the world – got its start in a small, coursed-rubble building on a cobblestone road in the center of a town that would become the city of Miga, sometime around the year 100. Merchants in the Hidden Sea region, who would sometimes spend a year portaging a ship carrying furs, gems and other non-perishables along the fragmented waterways between Miga and Povidovija, determined that making the passage sailable would make them rich. They were wrong. It would make their great grandchildren rich, and it would enrich the entire world, but they would work themselves to death and never see their vision realized. Regardless, the Guild of Obrum was founded from a joint union of merchants, masons, labourers and monks of the Servants of Obrum, and together they drew up some agreements for how to share the eventual profits and set to work on what would become the Passage of Miga. Even the very first canal they carved was profitable – who would not pay a fee to have their cargo laden ship sail through a canal in a day rather than having to portage it overland for a month? Every section of the passage of Miga that was added increased the utility of the entire endeavour and increased the profits. The reputation of the Guild grew, more and better workers and engineers were attracted by the promise of contributing the endeavour, but also by the promise of getting rich by doing so. And so it went for over two centuries. Miga continued to grow in power and influence, the Passage of Miga expanded, conquerors came and went, and the Guild of Obrum kept working. The small, coursed-rubble structure on the cobblestone road became the foyer of a grander structure in granite. The road itself was replaced, not just in Miga, but indeed, all the way from Miga to Povidovija, nearly 1500km away. This is only the beginning of the story. The work has continued for over 1300 years and as of 1423, it continues still. The proud but unassuming limestone and granite edifice in the center of Miga that is home to the Guild of Obrum is anchor to a history and legacy that cannot be matched.

20 - 471 Precinct House

In the mid-13th century, the Abutment District in Miga was walled off from the rest of the city and controlled by criminal elements. A goblin named Slavov Lovrovic formed a civil protection group inside the Abutment that claimed affiliation with the Tuloszian orcish militia known as the 471. Eventually ‘Kapetan’ Lovrovic and his 471 unit negotiated a peace that would see the Abutment reopened, and would establish his 471 Detachment as an official part of the City Watch who would be responsible for policing the Abutment District, which would grow to become known as the city’s Gongtown. The 471 Precinct House is not actually in Gongtown but is close to the bridge leading into the district. Gongtown is very overcrowded and is the most densely populated section of Miga with a population estimated to be about 10,000. The 471 Detachment is about 50 officers strong, which is more than twice as high as the city average guard-to-civilian ratio.

21 - House Dabro Estate

The estate of House Dabro is located in the heart of Srebrnigrad, with its main gate opening onto the main east-west street. The grounds of the estate are modest; slightly smaller than those of House Kolega, and the structures are also simple. Everything about the grounds are unassuming, and if you did not know one of the Great Families of Miga lived here, you might not even notice as you passed by.

22 - Srebrnigrad

Srebrnigrad, which is known as the ‘Silver District’ is Comerta is a mostly upper-class district situated between the Granite Gate and the South Gate, beneath Stonehall. This is where most of the city’s company officers and wealthy families live. It is well patrolled by the City Watch and questionable looking people will be stopped and questioned here.

23 - House Kolega Estate

House Kolega is only one of three Great Houses who keep their primary residence in the city proper. The current estate, initially constructed in 740, though considerably expanded since then, is among the most modest. Still, it is exquisite, with a dozen impressive granite buildings decorated in marble, alabaster, and silver, all laid out on a modest, but staggeringly beautiful ground. The heads of the Kolega family reside here, but the larger family spend much of their time visiting their more elaborate residences out of town. The Kolega family managed to avoid becoming too closely entangled with Golanicjan nobility and the Golanicjan crown during the Imperial era, and so were insulated from its collapse. This allowed them to buy up many large estates and castles in the Hidden Sea region and all across Golanicja in the literal fire sale of assets that followed the end of the Imperial Era. Descendents of Ludovic Kolega have holdings and interests everywhere in the continent, and their power and influence in Golanicja is inescapable.

24 - Steel Key Company Office

The Steel Key Company is housed in the barracks and armoury formerly used by the Order of Alcinette during the late Imperial Era. Their operations in Miga are fairly large and broad in scope. They provide over a quarter of the City Watch (about 100 Guards), on contract with the City. They are also contracted to provide training for guards and volunteer militia. They maintain a detective bureau and an investigation division (mostly contracted by organizations or wealthy families), and they provide secure overland transport for individuals and goods, as well as supplemental protection for such transport. There is also a recruitment office, training ground, and a franchise support office for individuals interested in joining, or in starting their own Steel Key Company franchise. In total, there are about 250 Steel Key Company employees here.

25 - The Abutment (Gongtown)

This low section of the city is named for how it abuts the city wall above the river to the east. A large stone fortress here was used for centuries as a barracks for low-ranking sailors living in squalid conditions. During the Orcish Conquests it was first used as a prison where captured orcs and goblins were held, interrogated and tortured prior to execution in the Kolonada Pumpe. Once orcish forces captured the city, the tables were turned. After the city was liberated again, and the Golanicjan Kingdom was formed, orcs, goblins, collaborators and political prisoners were imprisoned there – many of them for decades. During the unrest that followed the collapse of the Kingdom, the prison was stormed by mercenaries hired by families who had questioned the crown, and all the prisoners were released or broke free. The entire district fell into lawlessness for nearly thirty years, with the population beholden to the criminals, gangs and smugglers who could provide them with the means to survive. The bridges were torn down, and the Abutment and the Kolonada were walled off. Eventually, however, groups within the Abutment began to organize, and in the mid-13th century a civil protection group claiming to be aligned with the Tuloszian orcish militia known as the 471 successfully imposed peace on the Abutment, bringing several criminal groups to heel. The goblin leader of this group, Kapetan Slavov Lovrovic petitioned the City Council to have the Abutment reopened. After a couple of years of discussions, and appeals (and a few murders) Kapetan Lovrovic managed to get all sides to agree to terms. The walls were torn down, the bridges were rebuilt, and Kapetan Lovrovic’s remaining enemies accepted exile instead of execution. Kapetan Lovrovic’s unit of the 471 were made a special detachment of the Miga City Watch responsible for keeping the peace in Abutment, and slowly the district began to rebuild.

Most of those who lived in the Abutment when it was reopened were orcs and goblins, and they mostly spoke Golonog with a smattering of Imperial Comercja, thus the district soon came to be called ‘Gongtown’ as a short form of ‘Golonog Town’. As one of the first of many such districts that were forming across the continent and in Tulosz with the collapse of Imperial States, this name stuck, and centuries later, many cities have their own Gongtown District.

While the Abutment is no longer a walled-off cesspit of lawlessness, it remains a comparatively poor and dangerous section of town, and it is by far the poorest district within the city walls with many day labourers, underprivileged and persecuted people living here. The former military prison still stands and is operated as slum housing controlled by unscrupulous landlords and dangerous gangs, and while the 471 patrol there, they will not involve themselves in policing anything more than occasion petty crimes unless they have good reason. While some areas of the Abutment have been rebuilt, many areas are filled with tents or makeshift squats or structures, that are typically washed away by seasonal flooding in the spring. While Gongtown is legally part of the city, and people are free to come and go, the 471 always keep guards stationed at the bridge that crosses to the Abutment and will demand identification from anyone deemed slightly suspicious.

26 - Kolonada Pumpe

‘Well Pump Square’ as it is called in Comerta is named for a large cistern and pump in the center of the parade ground that provided fresh water to the former barracks and then the military prison in the Abutment from an underground reservoir at the base of Second Hill. The water source is not longer safe to drink, but the well pump – which is the symbol of Alcinette - remains next to a scaffold that was (and continues to be) used for public executions. The water from the well is still used to wash blood and gore into the river when needed. Because of overcrowding in the Abutment and Gongtown, the southeastern half of the square continually expands with shanties and temporary shelters which are then periodically torn down by the City Watch (or sometimes destroyed by gang conflicts).

27 - The Quire

The Quire is a lower-middle-class district largely inhabited by students of the Trade College of Miga and the Red College. Originally the homes here used to be the homes of the professors and mages of these schools, but as the city expanded and the schools grew in prominence, the professional class turned their former homes into bunkhouses and dormitories and rented them to out to students and travelling scholars. While sleeping four, six, or eight to a room, and sharing washing and dining areas is not what many of the students attending these prestigious schools are accustomed to, it has become an accepted part of the student experience in Miga for those who do not have extended family with accommodation in the city.

28 – The Grand Library of Miga

The northernmost building on the adjoining campuses of the Trade College of Miga and the Red College is the Grand Library of Miga, an imposing granite structure ringed with buttressed towers, and topped with a beautiful copper dome. The Grand Library of Miga is the largest library in Golanicja owing to the emphasis on the study of law, business and finance and the sheer volume of paperwork produced in those fields. The ground floor of the library is open to the public, with citizens of Miga having free access to many books, and residents having rental or deposit access to a subset of those. The upper floors of the different towers of the library are exclusively for members of the various affiliated colleges, and certain other invitees who can peruse, and in some cases check-out, books depending on the specifics of their rank or station. The most secure sections of the library are accessible only to the most elite Magisters of the Red College, to the Chancellor and Provosts of the Trade College, and to certain high ranking civil jurists, judges and politicians or powerful members of the Great Houses or other important organizations.

29 - The Trade College of Miga

The main campus of the Trade College of Miga is comprised of perhaps sixty different buildings located between the campus of the Red College to the west, the Grand Library and The Quire to the north and the Miga River and the Kolonada Pumpe to the south and southeast. The Trade College of Miga specializes in the teaching of law, business, finance and mercantilism. It is an elite school where many of the wealthiest and most privileged families send their children. The region around the Hidden Sea is one of the most affluent and influential regions in the world, and Great Families from Golanicja, Odovic, Marcosta, and places all around the world seek to send their children here as much for the education as for the opportunity to make social and political connections that will secure their continued place in high society.

30 - The Old Bailiff Inn

The Old Bailiff Inn is a large, welcoming inn situated between the campus of the Trade College of Miga and the Red College campus. The Inn is comprised of three adjoining buildings: a tavern, a bunkhouse and a hotel. The tavern is always lively and has continuous live entertainment and regular open-stage hours. Above the tavern are mid-range single, double and quad rooms as well as a couple of suites, which are nice and comfortable, if a bit noisy. The rear building is a former garment warehouse that is now a bunkhouse mostly catering to travelling scholars, solicitors, traders or wizards who can’t afford private rooms. The third building is a small but elegant boutique hotel with a private entrance. This high security building hosts important scholars, wizards, jurists or other affluent or important patrons who are in town for professional reasons, or for business or study but who prefer to avoid the politics of being seen at the Hotel Alcinette.

31 - The Red College Campus

The Miga campus of the Red College is second in size and importance to the main campus in Brinjevi – but a distant second. The fact that it borders and shares many buildings with the Trade College of Miga gives a false impression of its size and importance. While the Red College as a whole focuses mostly on the meta-mystical, it is principally Illusion magic that is taught here.

32 - House Cindric Estate

The Cindric estate was constructed at the base of the King’s Road when the original family matriarch, the famed Magister Marshall Katica Cindric was still working in service of the Crown in Kovstepovi. The estate was original constructed as a retreat but would go on to become the principal residence of her eldest daughter, who would become heir to her titles and lineage. By the end of the Imperial Era, while the Cindric family was established in several major locations across central Golanicja, the most influential branch of the family remained here. The estate is surrounded by iron fencing, largely concealed within rows of flowering hedges. The grounds are separated into several self-contained sections and the grounds are rumoured to be protected by golems.

33 - Lastbell

Lastbell is an upper-class district inhabited largely the jurists, professors, scholars and mages of the Trade College of Miga and the Red College. The prestigious townhomes in this district were the former townhomes of much of the Golanicjan extended nobility during the Imperial Era, and many of them were sold off in the fire sale triggered by the collapse of the crown. Affluent professors from the increasingly prestigious schools but these homes at absurd discounts – often supported by loans from creditors who were endangered by the collapse of the Golanicjan Crown and projected better outcomes from fifty- or hundred-year mortgages than from asset seizure. They were probably right. This is a very affluent neighbourhood, and the residents here a powerful and well-connected. They are also conservative and demanding. They pay very high taxes and expect convenience and security in exchange. The streets here are heavily patrolled and most residences have private security.

34 - Theatre Row

Across the bridge from the Communion Katedrala, running for several blocks up the gentle slope toward the Red Collage lies Miga’s Theatre Row. While Miga is not considered a major artistic or cultural hub of Golanicja, given its importance as a transportation hub, it still attracts performers from around the globe. While the city does not have a singular, central performance edifice such a grand theatre or an opera house, it does have theatre row – a street with several dozen small theatres, clubs, music halls and other creative venues where shows are performed day and night. None of them are large, and even the most important shows from the Southwall Players or the Brinjevi Academy of Dance play her to intimate crowds, never numbering more than a few of hundred. Some connoisseurs of the arts will swear that there is no better place to see the greatest plays, the most moving orchestral performances or the most epic operas than in a cramped music hall on Miga’s Theatre Row where the performers can sometimes outnumber the audience.

35 - Paper Docks

The city of Miga is sometimes referred to as the ‘center’ of Golanicja because the Passage of Miga makes it the most connected city on the continent, and probably in the world. Because of this pseudo-centrality, Miga served as the location of the central archives for the Golanicjan Crown during the Imperial Era, and all official records were duplicated and stored here. The enormous amount of paperwork coming in by ship, bound for the Library and for the various archive warehouses attached to it led to the docks being referred to as the Paper Docks. After the crown collapsed there was no more need for a centralized national archive, but the docks retained their name. Today, these docks are mostly privately owned by wealthy residents of Lastbell or other extremely affluent families of Miga who own their own private sailing ships or have private trade interests. Occasionally these docks will be leased out to companies or naval militias for special purposes or in an emergency, the City Council has the authority to commandeer them.

36 - Royal Gate

The Royal Road, which begins in front of the Grand Library of Miga, passes through the Royal Gate into Milltown before winding along the coast of the Hidden Sea past Starnje and then inland to Stonehall and on toward Kovstepovi, the former seat of the Golanicjan Crown. The gate is constructed in the form of a triumphal arch, and made of limestone, with many inlaid reliefs and plaques commemorating different battles of the Imperial Era. The gates themselves are enormous iron quadruple gates, engineered to make an almost impenetrable defense. First the outer gates need to be fully opened outward, after which only about 100 people can enter the space between the outer and inner gates. The outer gates then close, allowing the inner gates to be opened into the city. After this cycle is completed, then and only then can latches be released to allow the outer gates to be opened inward where they open flush into the interior walls of the arch itself, allowing a continuous flow of traffic. From this open position, the gates can be closed in a single motion. All of this is arranged by huge iron gears inside the limestone gatehouse, which are turned by oxen, with the entire apparatus including the doors themselves weighing hundreds of tons. The gates have never been tested in wartime.

37 - King’s Carriage Company & Stables

Just outside the Imperial Gate are the stables of the King’s Carriage Company, one of two major carriage companies in the city operating several dozen hansom cabs and carriages for hire in and around the city. King’s cabs and their drivers are fiercely competitive with Kavalir cabs, and drivers have been known to come to blows over fares – even sometimes attacking customers who don’t conform with their strict but cryptic rules for who gets precedence when a cab is hailed. They also stable horses outside the city for reasonable rates.

38 - Milltown

The small village of Milltown, just outside the city walls, is now governed as part of the city itself. The village is named for the dozens of windmills that dot the hills to the west, where wind coming off the Hidden Sea powers mills used primarily to grind grain, but also to grind salt and spices, to power sawmills and stone mills, and to pump groundwater up to aqueducts that run into the city.

39 - Peasant’s Hill

Peasant’s Hill is a gently rising hillside that shapes the final stretch of the flow of the Miga River. The southern slope of Peasant’s Hill is given over to expansive farmlands, some of which are owned by powerful families or large farming collectives, but many of which are privately owned by independent farmers. The food that grows year-round in the expansive flood plains and deltas of the Miga River, north of the city, support much of the food needs of the population.

40 - Second Hill

Second Hill is the highest of the hills in the city. At the flattened top is another affluent neighbourhood, this one outside the city walls, but still heavily patrolled by the City Watch. Its lower slopes, on the edge of the Miga River are more upper-middle-class, but the estates at the top present some of the best views in the city, the sea, and the sunsets over the Bay of Miga.

41 - House Lovrovic Estate

House Lovrovic maintains their family estate outside the city walls on the western slopes and the peak of Second Hill. Portions of the Estate are stepped down to account for steep sections of terrain. The main house is a wide, three-storey limestone villa with two long wings enclosing a large central courtyard with fountains and a pool. The courtyard is open to the west and features sweeping views overlooking the city proper and the Bay of Miga. Rising from the main building is a five-storey tower that represents the highest point in the city. Further down the stepped terrain, beautiful guest houses and outbuildings merge subtlety into a well-maintained natural garden. It is believed that the estate rests atop secret tunnels carved deep into the rock of Second Hill, allowing covert access in and out of the Abutment.

42 - Presavino

Presavino is a small, middle-class district named for the several small wineries that used to be here. Most of those have long since relocated further out to where they moved their vineyards, but many of them still maintain shops or bars that run along the high street separating Presavino from the upper portion of Second Hill.

43 - Hotel Vinarija

The Hotel Vinarija is a nice middle-class option catering to travelers, merchants and lower ranked company or guild officers passing through town. The hotel gets its name from the former winery which houses it, and while there are many single and double rooms and a few suites, two of the four former wine cellars have been converted into bunkhouse dorms, allowing the hotel to offer less expensive lodgings. One of the four wine cellars still serves as such, where grapes cultivated on the remaining grounds here are pressed and barreled for aging. The final cellar serves as a tavern and restaurant serving upper-middle class dining fare. This mix of people from different classes, both residents and travellers, makes for a lively and charming atmosphere.

44 - Third Hill

Third Hill is the smallest of the city’s hills, it is a middle-class district filled with small middle-class townhomes and apartments, and many standard services, tradespersons, and guilds.

45 - Sandbag

Sandbag is a recent expansion of lower-middle-class residences and apartments, mostly for workers who ply their trades in Southside, and can afford to move out of Starodrvo, but cannot afford to live on the Third Hill. For many years, this area was prone to flooding as run off from the steep slopes of Last Hill made a bit of a wetland at the bend in the river, but the construction of a new bridge in 1399 and 1400 enabled engineers to control the runoff from Last Hill, build a levee, and drain the wetland. This was fully financed by House Noronha, whose lands were jeopardized by the settling terrain, and may have collapsed if not for the draining, piling, and stepping of the land. This makes House Noronha the landlords of the entire neighborhood. The area still floods, but not badly, and the occasional flooding in Sandbag is deemed by most to be less inconvenient than the occasional stabbing in Starodrvo.

46 - House Noronha Estate

The House Noronha Estate is made up of several large tracts of land on the steep hillside of Last Hill, overlooking Sandbag. After decades of planning and bargaining with the City Council for exclusive rights to develop any land they restored in Sandbag, they finally reached an agreement that would give them five years of exclusive rights to purchase and develop property if they restored it. Documents in hand, they suddenly began buying up dilapidate shacks in a flooded marshland for more than fair prices, all while pouring millions into a massive earthworks and engineering project which was begun in 1394 and completed in 1403. They drained the wetland at the base of the hillside and progressively stacked up retaining walls reinforced with piles to build a stepped terrain leading down from the top of the hill to the edge of the Sandbag district, most of which they now owned. After draining, stabilizing and reclaiming the land, they began building furiously, and renting the newly constructed properties out to low- and middle-income tenants and families. This made them incredibly rich and also earned them a place on the Miga City Council. In 1423, the House Noronha Estate is a walled compound atop Last Hill with several opulent structures inside the perimeter, all guarded by a private security force.

47 - Last Hill

The Last Hill is not the last hill along the Miga River by any stretch, but it is the last hill considered to be part of Miga. More than three kilometers outside the city proper, the City Watch is not well equipped to manage security here, and the middle-class residents independently pool their funds to hire additional private security – typically provided by the Steel Key Company. House Noronha also controls organized crime outside the city, and the more affluent members of their organization maintain residences here, so petty crime is not tolerated.

48 - The Stone Road

The Stone Road is so named for the high quality of the fitted stones that make up the surface of this road which runs largely alongside the Passage of Miga all the way to Obrum’s Landing and beyond to Povidovija, 1500km to the east. Sections of this road were originally used for portaging ships, and having uneven stones was a problem for the ‘block carts’ the ships would be rolled overland on. Part of the project to construct the Passage of Miga involved extending this extremely carefully fitted and flat stone road down the entire length of the Passage. This effort aided considerably in the transport of hundreds of large machines and construction engines that were used to build the Passage of Miga itself. A thousand years later the Stone Road is still in excellent condition, making it surely the best maintained and smoothest road in all of Golanicja. The Stone Road enters the city proper through the Granite Gate, where it runs into the center of the city, through Stonehall, ending at the Katedrala Square in front of the Communion Katedrala.

49 - Sofija’s Walk

Sofija’s Walk is a small side road, south of the Stone Road, which passes through the town (it’s really just a street) of the same name. The street is beautiful and picturesque, as by whatever fortunate coincidence the residents here got quite wealthy with their apiaries and vineyards and specialty crops and invested wisely in the construction of a quaint little high street that attracts a wealthy clientele for weekend brunches, private lunches, weddings and anniversaries, and relaxing afternoons at the bathhouse.

50 - Grey Goats Hostel

The Grey Goats Hostel stands at the point of the last major junction in the Stone Road before the urban area thins out and gives way to open rural land. While the holdings and operational area of the Grey Goats are not always obvious, this is probably their southernmost outpost, as the lands they patrol are considered to be almost entirely to the north of Miga. Likely they maintain this outpost for its access to the Passage of Miga, and for diplomatic and regional relations. The hostel is a small structure with a recruiting office, quarters for half a dozen, a small stable yard and a small storehouse. The permanent staff here consist of a station head, a quartermaster and a couple of long retired Grey Goats, any other members found here are picking up, dropping off, or passing through.

51 - Starodrvo

Starodrvo is a poor, rough and tumble district of day workers, travelling tradespersons and traders established centuries ago outside the city where lumber brought in from various logging camps along the Passage of Miga came to be processed at many mills that used to operate here. Since before the Imperial Era, the mills faded in importance and Starodrvo became just a dangerous district outside the walls. As the city continued to expand, Starodrvo eventually became part of it again, and with the development of industry and trade houses in Southside, the former mill town became a residential neighbourhood of flophouses, bunkhouses, and dormitories.

52 - Southside

Southside is a neighborhood of middle-class and lower-middle-class day workers and tradespersons who work in the various shops, trade halls, guild halls and labour yards that run the length of the Stone Road between the Granite Gate and where it forks off into the rural areas beyond the Grey Goats Hostel. It’s quite a thriving and lively neighbourhood, which gets poorer the further you get from the city wall. Southside is usually only dangerous at night when criminal activity spills over from Starodrvo.

53 - The Tradehouse Inn

The Tradehouse is a large, popular and reasonably priced inn located on the Stone Road just below Southside. As the name implies, the Tradehouse Inn primarily caters to travelling merchants and traders who are coming in and out of the city to engage with the globally significant trade routes in the Passage of Miga.

54 - House Bolgiu Estate

The Estate of House Bolgiu is situated on the edge of the small upper-middle-class Sokol neighbourhood, though anyone in House Bolgiu will say it’s in Southside. The rear of the Estate overlooks the river, and openings in the seawall visible from the opposite side of the river suggest there are hidden docks beneath their estate – though no one has ever seen boats moving in or out of there. City records show only pilings for piers constructed to support the grounds over mudflats at the bend in the river. The grounds and buildings of the Estate are well secured, but unassuming, and the family frequently host dinner parties, feasts, birthday celebrations and all kinds of events on the Estate, often inviting friends, neighbors, managers and workers of the different companies they are affiliated with.

55 - Sokol

Sokol is a small, upper-middle-class district on a point overlooking the Miga River. It is named for the small falcons often seen hovering over the valley between Second Hill and Third Hill, across the water. The neighbourhood is somewhat isolated by Mason Street to the south, where several stone masons keep their yards, and by the Estate of House Bolgiu to the east. This keeps the area quiet at night, and largely ignored by criminal types.

56 - Children of the Sun Temple

The Children of the Sun Temple is a small temple to Azane run by an Azanist cult who have ties to the Circle of Azane, but who are not officially affiliated with that faction. Most of those who worship here some only to pray and to light candles to Azane and the Siblings because it is the closest and most easily accessible place of worship for them – the Katedrala in the city is far, many outside the walls may not have papers, and everything inside the walls is expensive. At the same time, the priests here espouse a radical Azanist philosophy – denying the existence of Vehira as a creator goddess, and even as a planet. The radicality of this doctrine is not relevant to the majority of worshippers here who have never seen, and never will see Vehira, and so these problematic ideologies continue to gain a foothold in Miga, and in the Hidden Sea Region more broadly.

57 - Kavalir Carriage Co & Stables

The Kavalir Carriage Company maintains stables for visitors to leave their horses, as well as operating a carriage and cab company in and around the city. They are in fierce competition with the King’s Carriage Company, and while they benefit from better positioning toward a larger clientele, their customers tend to be less wealthy than those of the King’s Carriage company, so generally speaking, Kavalir Carriages rates are slightly cheaper, and their carriages less comfortable and less well maintained than those of their competitors.

58 - Odovician Retinue Trading Post

The Odovician Retinue’s market and trading post outside the walls of Miga is more than just a public market and an agricultural exchange; it is the most important propaganda hub for the faction, and possibly for the collective economic power of the city states of Odovic. The Odovician Retinue brokers trade agreements with city states around the world from their humble market and adjoining warehouses and offices here. These deals bring billions of silver worth of foodstuffs into Miga and through the Passage of Miga, and enrich virtually every city south of Miga. As a side effect, the public market here offers prices on many staple foods, such as grains, legumes, tubers, and livestock that cannot be beat anywhere on Tear, and individual families and small businesses love the Odovician Retinue for it. The stocks for individual consumers may vary wildly based on regional and even global demands, but for those looking for a deal, you can’t find better prices than from a global trade organization that is overstocked and needs to clear out warehouse space.

59 - Seed Corner

Seed Corner is a major farmers’ market at the junction of the Stone Road and Sofija’s Walk. Most of the daily stock is provided and buffered by the Odovician Retinue, and many of the vendors who deal in staples here are middlemen and speculators trying to optimize the chaotic flow of goods coming from their trading post. Prices for things like grain, rice and dried beans are incrementally higher here than at the trading post, but availability is more reliable, and purchases can be made in small quantities. Fresh food: such as fruits, vegetables and fresh meat and fish come from the local farms. Here, day workers can come to get jobs working the fields, and shoppers can stop to buy their daily groceries. The market is busiest around sunset, when lower and middle-class workers leaving the city walk back past it to Southside, Starodrvo, and Sandbag.

60 - Order of Alcinette Office

During the late Imperial Era, the Order of Alcinette maintained a barracks in Stonehall, in a much more prestigious building near the Granite Gate. In their heyday, they were a company of mercenaries and privateers who specialized in kidnapping, ransom, and prisoner recovery – in a time of clear animosity and open war between nation states, such an unsavory business was necessary. With the end of the Imperial Era, the Order’s business model largely collapsed, and they transitioned to a new business model. Now, the Order of Alcinette helps cities offload the costs of keeping criminals or debtors imprisoned for a nominal fee, and then presses them into hard labour – usually contracting that labour back to the same city state to build infrastructure. The Order of Alcinette has earned a reputation for unscrupulousness and cruelty, and they are feared and detested by the public. By the early 15th century, they had moved their offices, barracks, secure facilities and holding cells outside the city proper.

61 - Knights Vanquishers’ Hall

The Knights Vanquishers’ Hall is outside the walls of the city proper, close to Seed Corner. Here, large signs and a crier advertise contracts – many of which are focused on countering threats to merchants taking goods overland into or out of the city from inland areas of the southeastern portion of the Hidden Sea. These merchants often put up large bounties, but the Knight’s Vanquisher’s demand a large cut for connecting them to adventurer’s willing to do the work because the work never dries up, and there are plenty of desperate people living in or passing through Starodrvo who will take their chances. The arrangement is so unfair that sometimes people try to cut out the middlemen out and approach the merchants directly. This just leads to more contracts being offered on so-called ‘scabs’ who the Knight’s Vanquisher’s claim are undercutting their legally protected business.

62 - Granite Gate

The Granite Gate is the westernmost gate into the city proper where the Stone Road enters the city into the Stonehall district. The Granite Gate is a fine structure an imposing and austere structure of clean columns and lintels that reflects the precision craftsmanship of the Stone Road itself. The gate remains open unusually late, due to the number of people who live outside the city proper. It is closed to vehicles an hour after sunset, and to foot traffic an hour before midnight. A person door set into the main gate allows passage throughout the night for those with the appropriate papers.

63 - South Road Stables

The South Road stables offer stabling services for horses and other working animals. They are not as conveniently located as their competitors, so their rates are a little better.

64 - South Gate

The South Gate is the southernmost gate into the city proper. It is a plain limestone gatehouse built into the wall, with heavy wooden gates reinforced with iron. The South Gate is closed an hour after sunset and opened about 30 minutes before first dawn. The South Gate leads to the South Road, which runs 850km south to Pozicjese.

Governance

The Chartering Council of Miga is the governing body of the City State of Miga, controlling a very large area of land, approximately 400km in radius. The city also jointly owns and controls the Passage of Miga in a partnership with the cities of Obrum’s Landing, Povidovija, the Guild of Obrum and the Servants of Obrum.

House Bolgiu - porcine

The porcine Bolgius take pride in their blue-collar roots. They are visible, accessible and down-to-earth, and their reputation for being ‘people of the people’ suits them well politically. The family itself is enormous, with as many as sixty or seventy Bolgius over three generations living on their estate in Southside. Openly, family is split largely into two main professions; legal and industrial, but behind closed doors, their real business is criminal. They have strong ties to the Trade College of Miga, and many of the family have gone to school there. They represent many important regional families and businesses in political and legal matters, and have many development contracts that tie them both to city politics, but also to the Order of Alcinette – but this is not much spoken of. The full extent of the criminal enterprises of the extended House Bolgiu is not known, but they have holdings all along the Passage of Miga and across the King’s Sea to Tulosz. While they certainly have criminal operations in Miga itself, they keep their noses clean here to protect the foundations of their power, with most of their overt criminal activity happening elsewhere.

House Cindric - dwarf

House Cindric rose to power during the Imperial Era when Katica Cindric, a gifted wizard and warrior rose in prominence in the armies of King Gaelan during his campaigns in eastern Ayodesh. Multiply decorated for her contributions in the battles to take both Sanek’s Gate and Argenta, she was given a noble title and returned to Golanicja as a hero. She later served as the first Magister Martial in the Granite Battalion, where she advocated (unsuccessfully) for the formation of a centralized magical university in Golanicja. Katica Cindric’s children and grandchildren would go on to hold important positions in the Western Metal and Gem Company, which ultimately would protect the family’s holdings from being seized with the eventual dissolution of the Golanicjan crown. With the end of the Imperial Era, several branches of the Cindric family used their protected position and their influence to establish themselves on councils in several major cities across Golanicja, including Miga. In the mid-13th century, when discussions about forming a united Golanicjan Magical University began anew, several members of the Cindric family in Miga held seats on the Council and held prominent positions in what was then the Mage’s College of Miga. They petitioned hard in favor of uniting the Golanicjan Colleges, but disagreements with the Astronomical Society of Dumi made it effectively impossible to unite the magical colleges of the entire continent. Instead, the Mage’s College of Miga joined the Red College upon its founding in 1264, and members of House Cindric have held high positions within the Red College both in Miga and Brinjevi ever since.

House Dabro - canis

House Dabro are the most discrete of all of Miga’s Great Houses. They are well diversified, and many of their family and extended family hold middle ranking positions in factions across the city and the region. This soft power is such an accepted concept in Miga that a ‘dabro’ is a slang term for ‘your boss’s boss’, or for ‘the person who actually makes the decision, but is not who you are talking to’. For example, you may hear a disgruntled labourer say, ‘he deducted it from my pay, but I told the dabro and now he’s in trouble’. Similarly, you may hear a frustrated customer demand of a clerk, ‘I’d like to speak to the dabro’. More often than not the ‘dabro’ in question is actually a Dabro.

House Kolega - dwarf

House Kolega rose to prominence with the rise of the Kolega Underwriter’s Company in the first half of the 8th century when Ludovic Kolega founded an insurance company to support shipping and transport during the Imperial Era. It was a time of terrible turmoil and losses for Golanicjan shipping, but it was also turning point – good timing, good investment and smart policies allowed the Kolega Underwriter’s Company to profit, expand and diversify into the general banking sector. With the rise and fall of the Golanicjan Crown, the Kolega Underwriter’s Co. was clever enough to avoid compromising entanglements and after the Imperial Era, the Kolega family was perfectly positioned to establish political control in Miga. In those days, many suspected that the wealthy and influential Kolega’s would seek to make themselves kings – perhaps over a new, more modest kingdom centered on the Hidden Sea. But the Kolegas had no interest in ruling, and instead put their wealth an influence behind the movement that would establish Miga, and other nearby major cities, as chartered cities with their own independent laws and constitutions. This movement was successful, and the Kolega’s were one of the original founding families of the Chartered City State of Miga – their signatures first, large, and central on the constituting documents for the city. Seven hundred years later, the Kolega family still sit on the City Council, they remain at the helm of the bank and insurance company that bears their name, and they are connected to almost every important thing that ever happens in one of the most important cities in the world.

House Lovrovic - Goblinn

The goblin Lovrovic family rose to power in the mid-13th century after Kapetan Slavov Lovrovic formed a detachment of the orcish 471 militia and took control of Abutment – largely by eliminating the organized criminal element in the district under the auspices of engaging in legal practices of organized civil protection and self-policing (in fact, it was closer to a reign of terror backed by a foreign militia). Regardless of the legality or morality of the events that pacified the Abutment, Lovrovic’s 471 Detachment was made an official arm of the City Watch and the Abutment was reopened and officially recognized as part of the city. This also gave Lovrovic a lot of political power, and he campaigned to have his family granted a seat on the Miga City Council. The goblin concept of family is quite different from that of most humanoids, and it is extremely rare for goblins to ascend into higher level politics. Ultimately the support and popularity Lovrovic had from the Abutment made it difficult for the existing Council to deny his request – especially when they considered that denying him a seat might end up in him ousting one of them from their existing seat by political (or more direct) means.

Despite the apprehensions of the City Council, creating House Lovrovic turned out to be an excellent choice, as in the few years before his death Lovrovic continued his hard work to improve the conditions in the Abutment. With the help of his 471 Detachment the district stabilized and became recognized as Miga’s ‘Gongtown’, with Lovrovic serving as a kind of spiritual mayor. By the time Lovrovic died in 1268 he had sired some thirty children through an unknown number of mates and had named a lineage from his first born (first acknowledged) daughter down to her eldest son and his eldest daughter. In this context, his direct lineage agreed to formally recognize their unions and the lineage of their offspring in order to protect their hereditary power – a truly exceptional approach for goblins. Over the course of a couple of centuries there were several internal ‘coups’ and many changes of leadership made in ‘the goblin style’ but in every case, these coups were supported by documents claiming rightful heredity, so while the Lovrovics don’t exactly play by the same rules of hereditary succession as other Great Houses, they at least pretend to after-the-fact, and clearly maintain a keen interest in protecting the family’s established power, making them a stabilizing force in Migan politics.

House Noronha - human

The human Noronha family have broad investments in land development and construction in Miga and across the Hidden Sea Region. They do not normally engage in large scale projects or bid on large contracts, and their interests are more in small projects that they can turn around quickly. While they are capable of entirely self-financing, they are also skilled speculators, and will buy, sell and trade property and use loans to free up their own finances for speculative deals when the projected returns are more favorable than the terms of their loans. They also use their high volume, high liquidity business to launder money and hide profits. They are known to be corrupt and untrustworthy, and you do not want to be in their debt. For a century, they expanded their holdings one plot of land at a time, but it was only in 1399 that they made the uncharacteristically large investment in infrastructure and public works that saw the Sandbag District in Miga drained and piled and connected to Starodrvo with a new bridge across the Miga River. Their investment in this land gave them exclusive development rights to construct housing there for five years – a task they were uniquely suited to exploit at scale. Within five years, almost ever single building in Sandbag was bought up, torn down and rebuilt, leaving them the de facto landlords of the entire district, and positioning them to petition for, and win, a new seat on the City Council.