Gothiel

Gothiel is the holy city of the Church of Elbereth. The settlement is relatively new - the temple was a baronial keep, later a bandit fortress and for a few years a stronghold of the Church's martial wing before the city was built up around it. The symbol of the city is an eight pointed silver star on a dark blue background, surrounded by a wreath of green leaves.

At the heart of Gothiel is the Temple-Fortress of Elbereth on top of a crag, surrounded on three sides by the river Windrush. This crag connects via a neck of high land to a range of hills, and settlement has grown out across this neck of land and down into the river valley over the past few years. There is a local saying that there's no such thing as a level street in west Gothiel, just that some have less of a slope than others.

As a result of its relative newness, most of the town is still built of wood. The Temple-Fortress and the city government offices down the grand processional that leads away from it are stone, but most shops and houses are built from the local chestnut and oak woods. There are parks, gardens and plenty of open spaces either for the city to grow into, or where the land is a little too steep for foundations, and given the local populace's religious bent, plenty of room to look up at the open sky.

Life in Gothiel is generally pretty good. The streets are kept safe by the City Watch, the Council are actively interested in the welfare of their citizens, and if trouble does break loose, the church has a fair number of military members to "deal" with it. Not that this happens often, as powerful rites cast on the city make it physically unpleasant for evil creatures to linger there though one side effect of this is that the worshippers of Dunatis, the evil god of pain have set up a small enclave of their own, as they find it appealing. The locals discovered that trying to chase them out of town didn't work, as they liked the "being hit with sticks" part of the process, so they have mostly been left in peace.

There is nothing much in the way of high society, most of the nobles consider it rather a primitive place, but equally there is no real poverty, with the church providing for those who fall on hard times. For the most part the people tend to be craftsmen and the city is particularly proud of its carpentry and wood-carving, merchants and artists, who are actively encouraged by the church. A large number of elves live in or near the city, and there's a small but visible dwarven populace - mainly smiths and stonemasons.

The Temple-Fortress itself is an impressive building, forbidding grey stone on the outside, the inside has been re-worked in marble and silver, centred around the high altar, in a huge, high-pillared hall whose ceiling magically displays the night sky above and the movement of the stars.

Gothiel folk love any excuse for a party, though by comparison with the delights of Halgar these are pretty rustic affairs, typically involving a bonfire in the market square, dancing and large amounts of food and ale. The locals claim there's more, and better, ale brewed in Gothiel than anywhere else in the Empire.

The area around the city is considered part of the Gothiel "territory", and contains a number of small villages, mostly arable farming in the river valleys, and sheep up in the hills. Not all of these are exclusively ‘Elberethian’ in nature, but many are - or at least have decided it's wise to claim to follow the Church whose troops patrol the area and dispose of bandits and suchlike with ruthless efficiency.