Port Nebel
Port Nebel is ancient and constantly pounded by waves. Although other cities boast of their commerce and beauty, Port Nebel prides itself in its knowledge and its nobility.
The ducal palace sits ontop of a mountain overlooking the city and both serves as the home of the reigning Duke of Port Nebel as well as a library. The Ducal Library contains a vast amount of knowledge, and Port Nebel takes great advantage of its location in the middle of Dwilight to gather books and scrolls from all over the continent.
Port Nebel also prides itself on being the center of Dwilight's chivalric tradition. The most sacred area in Port Nebel is the Grove of Honor. It is a quiet area within the city, surrounded by hundreds of trees and lays in the center of a public park. In the grove is a lake of pure water that comes from an underground spring. It is here where all new knights are expected to pray and fast for three days and nights. They are expected to reflect on their sins as well as their weaknesses. It is said that those whose hearts are truly pure and strong with nobility and loyalty will be blessed.
It has also become a tradition that each time a knight loses a unit of troops, he hangs his sword on one of the trees as a sign of respect for the peasants who fought and died for him and his realm. The grove is thus a place of great beauty as the moonlight strikes thousands of steel blades, while the silver lake becomes a mirror enhancing the sight.
At the same time, the mountain on which the ducal palace sits is famed for the rich metals and solid stone produced. Veins of several ores run through the small mountain the city was built on, though chiefly iron and silver. The diversity of ores-and a lot of practive-enables the proud Port Nebelians to produce excellent steel and other alloys. The metal workers and stone-cutters remain a prosperous backbone in Port Nebel. Overall the Port is one of the richest cities in the continent, connecting trade routes from all over Dwilight. Rich groves of trees, huge mountains and productive citizens have helped keep the city strong. Port Nebel's biggest industry remains the swords it has grown famous for. The city of knights has a tradition that all children should have a sword over his bed. When that boy can finally wield it, that is when they are considered adults. Although, originally a tradition within the nobility many of the middle class have adopted it as there own. These beautiful "birth swords", remain Port Nebel's soul and pride.
Port Nebel's location in the center of Dwilight means that it is able to access trade from almost all regions of the world. While, Port Nebel's soul is its swords, its purse is filled by its industry and raw resources. Although it has a fishing industry, the vast majority of its wealth comes from the merchant guilds. The Procelain guilds, the shipyards, the massive metal working complexes, and the high-end papermakers. Port Nebel is internationally renowned for its procelain, glasswork, paper, and its metalwork, but other industries are catching up to such high standards. Cloth and furniture making, are becoming important. While book-copying (achieved with dozens or hundreds of scribes in long, well-lit rooms) is becoming as important as papermaking in the area. Port Nebel profits because the Duke has inculcated a serious work ethic and a pressure to meet international standards of excellence in the whole native population (this is only in the city, the duke doesn't bother trying to educate the lowly rural peasants). Exert tight controls on a city's education system for 20 generations, and such things are possible.
While there is a large fishing industry. Most of this is subsistence, with the city perched on a mountain, wood often has to imported from Nebel and Quebel in order to build boats. While this is profitable when the shipping industry is building a merchant ship, wood is not so common that Port Nebel can waste it building a fishing fleet, and the being perched on a mountain limits agriculture. A few sheep and goats are grazed but in general the city imports most of its food.
