Eagle’s Launch

Eagle’s Launch is a port city on the western coast of the Blessed Isle, known to many as the ‘Gateway to the West’ for its status as main transhipment point for goods coming from or heading into the Western Ocean. The city is not walled, but local rivers and the ocean have been shaped into a series of canals which thread through the city, serving as moat fortifications and ‘roadways’ for boats.

Launch Quarter – City section including the docks and shipyards of Eagle’s Launch, as well as the facilities formerly forming the headquarters of the Imperial Navy’s Water Fleet. The Water Fleet stripped their facilities and relocated them to Tongma Island several years ago, and while House Sesus assumed ownership claiming right to compensation they have had little chance to develop the fortified facilities into something new.

The civilian port itself is somewhat busy, but incomparable to other major ports such as Arjuf or Vatamu, or even the port at Chanos. The city governor has instituted a doubling of docking fees on all ships not belonging to concerns of House Sesus and its allied patricians… not popular with captains and Western merchants, but the harbour at Eagle’s Launch is deep and naturally sheltered from storms, and the distance to Arjuf’s cheaper market-port is far indeed.

The Launch Quarter is also home to many taverns and brothels, and the homes of sailors and their families. Next to the former Navy station can be found the Temple of Waves Drowning Villainy, local temple to Danaa'd.

Warehouse Quarter – City section directly adjoining the Port Quarter, filled with large warehouses for goods being sent to and from the West. The Quarter is also home to many of the city’s fishermen and their families.

Obelisk Quarter – City section at the center of Eagle’s Launch, home to a massive obelisk of White Jade, surrounded by a public park which is encircled in turn by most of the city’s inns and Dynastic residences (including the Restful Oasis), as well as the Temple Immovable (local temple to Pasiap), the Temple of Yu-Yuan (city god of Eagle’s Launch), and the Temple of Irresistible Conquests (containing small shrines to Creation’s gods of war).

Government Quarter – City section at the northern end of Eagle’s Launch, home to the residences of local patrician families and the offices of the Thousand Scales, including both municipal and prefectural governments. The Orchid Patrician Clan, close allies of House Sesus, have the largest presence in the Quarter: Orchid Coral is prefect of Eagle Prefecture, and his son Orchid Sand is governor of Eagle's Launch. The Quarter is also home to the Temple of All-Consuming Flame, local temple to Hesiesh.

Market Quarter – City section at the southern end of Eagle’s Launch, home to most of the city’s artisans and merchants, as well as its banking houses.

Fortress with Eyes Cast to the Sea – Castle-manse at the southern edge of the city, at the mouth of the Yodo river. Water-aspected, with rings of walls and moats connected to the harbour, river, and canals, surrounding internal buildings and a central bastion containing a lighthouse to guide ships into the harbour. The Fortress is the ancestral home of the Magel branch of House Sesus.

Industrial Quarter – City section at the Eastern end of Eagle’s Launch, home to abattoirs and salt-packing factories as well as a smelter for steel production and many smiths. The Quarter is also home to many of the city’s labourers and their families. It contains the Temple of Sprouting Glories, local temple to Sextes Jylis.

The Quarter is one of few ‘walled’ sections of the city, in that it is surrounded without and peppered within by rows of lilac trees, its canals blooming with sweet-scented water lilies, Sesus-sponsored city gardeners ensuring fragrances to counter the foul stink of the industrial production here.

Library of the Golden Fane - Air aspected manse, archive of history and the battle vs the Anathema. Technically a holding of House Sesus, it is referred to by the House as the ancestral home of the Alon branch, but almost none of its Dynasts reside there… that Branch is concentrated primarily in the distant Imperial City, and by commandment of the Empress the knowledge within the Library requires Immaculate Order guardianship, a cadre of monks patrolling the halls and Immaculates of the Wyld Hunt the most frequent visitors. A small garrison from the 26th Imperial Legion now mans the outer fortifications.

The Library is located on a rocky outcrop to the west of the city, overlooking the point where the Great Coast Road intersects the Broad and Twisting Tail of the Dragon. Midway between the city and Library, along the Eagle Highway, can be found the Temple of Soaring Majesty, local temple to Mela, commissioned by House Sesus with its lower floors dedicated to Immaculate use and its upper floors shaped to form an ideal eyrie for local eagles.