Edgewood is a somewhat large city, of about 17,000
permanent residents. Almost 3/4 of the residents are human, with the remaining
4,250 residents being the Elven upper class (roughly 3,000 are high elves, about
250 are the gray elven nobility, and the remaining 1,000 are wood elves who
are more likely to side with the humans in a dispute than with the gray elven
nobles). The humans here tend to live better than in any other part of the empire,
save perhaps Bal'Ishtai (but they are segregated into their own district there).
Councilor Gavin Thellas rules over the city and the surrounding villages with
a relatively light hand (nowhere as oppressive as Councilor Balorei rules Evelinar
or Morn Vale under Councilor Dendaris Ovric). The city watch (armed with clubs,
studded leather armor and extremely loud whistles) patrols the city, maintaining
the peace and promptly beating any law-breakers into a bloody pulp before hauling
them off to jail. They also form the core of the city militia. The militia musters
for training one day of every season, with all able-bodied men required to attend
from sunup to sundown.
For the most part, Edgewood is a tranquil town. Its people are content, well
fed, and relatively prosperous. Most would credit this to Gavin's rulership.
He is a fair ruler, holding to the letter of the law, without giving into some
of the cruelty and prejudices some of his fellows on the Imperial Council (and
the previous Councilor, his own father) heaped upon the human populace. Most
of the people work as hunters, woodsmen, and farmers, though there is a healthy
trade in finely worked wood and leather goods. It is also the main trade point
for the Wood Elven city of Avelias.
Crime is (usually) limited to burglaries and theft. The local constabulary is
quite, while, brutal in their treatment of perpetrators of violent crimes. Many
'accidents' have been known to occur while a convict is held in the city's jail.
Broken arms and legs occur often as the guards report that prisoners slip on
the smooth floors or hit themselves in the feet and legs with their sledges
as they turn big rocks into little rocks.
Punishment for petty larcenies tend to be far lighter, returning of goods and
paying a fine to the city and the owner is what the most first time thieves
have to worry about. Others may have to worry about a night in the stocks, maybe
a public lashing, but only rarely do they have to worry about running afoul
of sadistic jail wardens.
Inns are plentiful, from high class, high priced establishments with virtually
any imaginable amenity (or vice) to places where you're convinced the innkeeps
have to pay their customers to sleep on rat-chewed mats on a cold stone floor
(but at least the roof doesn't leak, much). Taverns and fest halls also vary
in wild degrees, from quiet watering holes for farmers fresh from toiling in
their fields to rowdy bars more renown for their brawls than their ale.
Temples to Am'Dro (The House of the Four Winds), Leuada (Chamber of the Silver
Lady), Fynydd (The Earthen Hall), Aig’en (The Ocean Lord’s Rest)
and Danio (Fire’s Heart) are present, as are shrines to Addoed and Serenon.