OVERVIEW
“The Cross” is the rough jewel of the Imperium, a walled city which guards the northern frontier of the Empire.  Located on the edge of the Hardlands, it is the last civilization before travelers head to the passes in the Alps or make the perilous journey towards Castille.  It is the primary staging and supply area for Imperial military operations in the Pass Wars, and thus it is a major recruiting and troop assembly area, the point of origin for all military supply and troop columns, and a primary port for both military vessels carrying men and materials, and merchantmen.  The city has a distinct military feel, and is filled with armorers, blacksmiths, bowyer/fletchers, weapon makers, stables and saddlers, siege engineers and uniform tailors.  Boasting 25,000 permanent residents, this number is inflated by another 5,000-10,000 on any given day, due to arriving ships, fresh troops waiting for assembly, and the presence of trade ships and caravans.

Eldred’s Cross is a major trade outpost with Castille, both as a port for merchantmen, and as a departure point/destination for trade caravans.  Nowhere else in the Empire will one find so many Castillians mixing with Imperial subjects, and as a result most residents are bilingual.

Situated as it is on the frontier, the denizens of The Cross are no strangers to monsters and attack… the city has high walls for a reason.  Travelers outside the city are almost immediately subject to ambush by trolls (the Hardlands are infested with them) and are well-advised to travel in large, heavily-armed groups.  Enterprising hunters venture into the wastes to hunt these trolls as well as other strange beasts, and it is not unusual to find armor, clothing and household adornments fashioned from the hides and claws of these creatures.  The Hardlands Trolls appear to have no organization, but on occasion they will mass in large numbers to assault the city, scrambling bare-handed up the rough walls in hopes of dropping into the streets to feast on human flesh.  The soldiers of the Guard are veterans of much combat, and are well-educated in handling Trolls.

As it is a frontier city with an abundance of traders and travelers, and so many soldiers (many who will not be coming back from the wars), The Cross caters to its population by claiming the largest concentration of brothels and taverns of any city in either the Imperium or Castille.  Any pleasure can be obtained for a price, be it flesh, gaming, drink or substance, poison or potion.  All services are available, including those with a darker nature (the Facci are quite strong in The Cross…)  It is a city of living-for-the-moment, and its residents provide the goods and services to promote that philosophy.  The Watch has its hands full with brawlers and drunkards, especially when ships are in port, and the revelry during the last days before a military column heads north is reason enough to call out the entire force to stand ready.

This is not to say that the city is a lawless free-for-all…quite the contrary.  There is order and law, and the governor enforces both with an iron fist

HISTORY
Since recorded history began, Eldred’s Cross has been a port.  Once known only as North Cross Port, it was the Eldred family who (many centuries ago) began bringing order and structure and development to what had been a cluster of shacks and a dock.

It was always a crossroads, a point where the roads to the southern Empire, the western provinces of Seville, and the rich lands of Fertilium met.  As those lands grew and prospered, so did The Cross, and its importance as a port truly flourished during the glory days of agriculture-rich Fertilium.
 
As Fertilium withered into a wasteland, The Cross changed from the primary origin of food shipments into a staging area for Church troops headed into Seville to fight the war with the Heretics of the Blessed Virgin.  Its reputation for being a military city and staging area was born.  After centuries of that bloody conflict came to an end, The Cross stood as a sentinel, watching the battered realm now known as Castille, looking for signs of heresy.  When civil war broke out between the Empire and Castille, Eldred’s Cross was back on a full-time war footing.  Troops, supplies and siege engines moved west, warships sailed from her docks, and the streets were once again filled with soldiers.  It was during the civil war that Lord Klaus Eldred (serving as an Imperial general) led his forces against Torregidor and actually took the foreign capital.  He held it against Castillian attack for two full years before being ordered by the Emperor to withdraw and return the city to Castille, as peace accords were signed.  His valor, and the fact that Torregidor was never taken from him by force, resulted in the Eldred’s Triumph Arch being erected in his honor near the east gate of the city.

During the uneasy peace between the Empire and Castille, The Cross once more served as a watchdog, ever-ready to respond to hostility.  As tempers cooled and relations improved, the city shifted into that of a trade port with her neighbors, bringing in the much-prized Castillian steel and beef, and exporting hardwoods, grains, wine and precious stones.  As the menace in the Grimme became apparent and Hax fell, The Cross returned to its military nature, assembling and sending forth first Crusaders, and then the men and equipment needed to fight the Pass Wars.  To this day it remains a crossroads, and military people world-wide keep a warm place in their hearts for this rough but sharp-edged place.

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
This is an old city, and the stone foundations of the architecture reflect its fortress nature.  More modern architecture of dark beams and white & yellow plaster have risen on the stones.  Since living outside the walls is an invitation to destruction, as the populations has grown the construction has gone upwards.  There are few buildings shorter than three stories, and many as high as five or six, with steeply-pitched roofs of shingles, tile or copper plates.  Stone towers are still popular, and these climb even higher.  The walls average 30’, are topped with heavy battlements and interspersed with reinforced structures, towers and small keeps.  There are three gates, all heavily fortified and well-defended.

Due to a premium on space and the height of the buildings, streets are generally narrow and almost always in shade.  In many places, upper floors have been built out over the streets, and at times windows are so close to one another across the lanes below that people can shake hands with their neighbor across the way.  Streets are all cobbled, and most of the city has lamp-posts, fueled by lamp oil, and attended by Lampners in the employ of the city.  Such close conditions would breed filth and disease in most cities, but Eldred’s Cross has two blessings which defy this;  The first is a near-constant breeze from the Inner Sea which keeps the air fresh and blows away the smoke from hundreds of chimneys, cooking fires and forges.  The second is a subterranean sewer system so well-designed and constructed that it is the envy of the Imperium.  Waste is carried to sea, and most citizens enjoy the comforts of clean, indoor privies.  Some of the better locations, and all the noble residences, are also served by plumbing from artesian wells, drawing water up into the building, an advancement to rival the Capital.  Most citizens, however, do not have this level of sophisticated plumbing and must rely on public fountains, wells and the services of water-carriers.

The city does have its waste problems (as well as a hefty rat population) and trash is regularly swept into the sea.  This trash dumping and the fact that the sewers empty into the waterways make the harbors filthy and completely unfit for swimming or fishing (though some unscrupulous fishermen still haul in a bounty from the polluted waters, packing the sickly fish in barrels of salt and selling it to the army or those not in-the-know.)  The city smells of salt and the sea.

During the day the streets are crowded… vendors, citizens going about their business, trade wagons and carts moving goods, laborers off-loading ships and hauling their wares to other destinations, animals of all sorts, bodies of troops marching to the staging area and barracks, criers, beggars, sailors, couriers, shoppers, children, peddlers, noblemen, carriages, horsemen, drovers, watchmen, pickpockets… all this humanity packed tightly together.  At night most citizens are home, and the streets are occupied by lampners, street-sweepers, watchmen, drunks, rowdy youths, a few die-hard peddlers, prostitutes and cutthroats.

Citizenship is granted to those who own property (which entitles them to pay annual taxes, but allows them to avoid the gate entry fee.)  It also gives them preference at certain shops [jewelry shops and restaurants] and for certain services [doctors, craftsmen and builders.]  Citizenship is demonstrated by showing a lacquered wooden chit with their name and the city crest burned into it… an object frequently counterfeited, and available almost everywhere for 10gp.  For non-residents, the toll to enter the city is 1cp per head.  Merchants bringing in livestock and goods pay more, the actual amount determined by a Tariff Collector at each gate (all of whom can be…negotiated with.)  Inbound Castillian caravans are required to pay substantially more… an iniquity which is absolutely balanced by the tariffs imposed upon Imperial merchants entering Torregidor.  Annual city taxes are based on property value and income, again a very arbitrary amount decided by those who can be bought, and the nobles manage to pay nothing at all (though they must send tribute to both the House of Eldred and the Emperor.)  Renting a slip space in the harbor (if one is even available) costs 10gp per day.  A simple anchorage in the harbor costs 1 gp/day.  Regardless of whether a civilian or merchant has paid for a slip, the government reserves the right (and exercises it) to “bump” the vessel from its berth and force it into anchorage, in order to allow a military vessel to enter and off-load at the docks.  No refunds are given.