Lord's Crossing

Politics

The city of Lord’s Crossing is a large Shogunate-era city, one of few which persist in the current age. It is the capital of Lord’s Crossing Dominion and the heart of House Tepet... nearly every major post is held by a member of their family. Because House Tepet is so closely allied with the city, the recent losses of their legions to the Bull of the North have cost nearly every citizen a brother, father or a friend. This has cast a pall over the city as they mourn their dead.

Economy

The city of Lord’s Crossing makes a great deal of money from trade, as the rich mining and silk resources of the Dominion join its agricultural surplus here before leaving on caravans heading across the Isle. Shipping by land is expensive, but the value of many local products means merchants are willing to bear the expense. In better times, House Tepet has exploited its control of the trade network for great gains (the Tepet tax on wagon wheels, even attached to wagons, was the opening shot of the first Realm-Guild Trade War, and until a few years ago there were tariffs of 15% on goods attempting to take the cheaper river routes of the Caracal). Many tariffs have been reduced as other Houses bring pressures to bear on the beleaguered Tepets, who are dependent on the flow of trade: in the Realm, the Great Houses are responsible for funding the bulk of infrastructure and government in the territories assigned them, along with maintenance on manses and similar elements, paid for from coffers filled by the Imperial stipend payment. House Tepet retains all of its expenses while its stipend income has been quartered, and without the valuable goods of Lord's Crossing and the Bereavement Subsidy the House might have been bankrupt within a year of the Battle of Futile Blood.

The city's central location has seen development of a criminal element involved in lucrative smuggling. House Tepet has never been able to snuff it out, and privately some Tepets whispered the criminals enjoyed support from a Great House or perhaps even the Throne.

History

Lord’s Crossing’s very name speaks of its important role in the history of the Shogunate. For the daimyo of the Western and Southern Blessed Isle, and the Threshold beyond, the road to the Shogunal throne led through Lord’s Crossing... advancing through the city, either as its allies or its conquerors marked the crossing of a lord from daimyo to Shogun.

The last daimyo of Lord’s Crossing was from Gens Kurosa, which made the transition to a Great House after the Scarlet Empress took the Throne and they declined to oppose her. While the bulk of Kurosa’s military might, as with the rest of the Shogunal Gens, was lost in the Threshold to the Fair Folk, they remained a potent force for many years. The rise of House Tepet from a lesser Gens of Lord's Crossing displaced them, though the two lines has a history of intermarriage that continued until the last Kurosa were adopted into Tepets after the Unbroken Rushes Rebellion devastated their holdings.

Culture

Lord's Crossing is a military town, with a history of service in the Imperial Legions. This and House Tepet's strong influence have meant that military parades were once a regular part of Immaculate festivals and cultural celebrations in the city, though the loss of the local Legions has rendered these displays far less spectacular and less frequent. Tournaments testing skill are popular even amongst the lower classes, with many public parks set aside as fields for sports like Warudi or Kemari. Lord's Crossing is also a major stop on the Blessed Isle's Gateway circuit, though the Scarlet Prefecture and Southern Isle competitions are better regarded by most of those at the highest levels of skill.

One of the largest tournaments held in Lord's Crossing takes place just outside the city's southeastern gate: the Tournament of the Most Righteous Blades, which takes place to mark the end of Calibration. For the past four centuries, the tournament has welcomed combatants from across Creation to test their skill in a series of duels, the eventual victor gifted a ceremonial blade and medallion marking their status as Most Righteous Champion. A victor's martial school will see its dojos filled with new applicants, an economic incentive, while amongst Dynasts the tournament provided a chance for House and personal rivalries to play out at a time when military confrontations were impossible. In the absence of the Empress, as civil war looms, this latter aspect may no longer be seen as necessary.

Geography

Lord’s Crossing is landlocked, with even its local river leading to a small lake rather than the distant oceans, but it is located at a major crossroads of roadway infrastructure, serving as transshipment point for goods moving through the Blessed Isle's interior by land. The city is arranged in a pentagonal shape, with five major roads leaving from it (one at each point):

- East: Cloud Highway to the Towers of Thunder and Juche.

- Southeast: Fire Dragon Road to the Castle of Shattered Peaks and the Caracal River (and Arjuf beyond).

- Southwest: Eagle Highway to the Castle of the Phoenix in Flight and Eagle's Launch.

- Northwest: Farmers' Highway to the Dominion’s richest agricultural lands, a source of much Rice and Silk.

- Northeast: Poet's Highway to the Castle of Morning Mists and the Dominion's most productive mining areas, a source of much Jade and Marble.

The city is circled by walls, with an outer boulevard just behind. At each corner, a highway heads out from the outer side of a fortified gate, and a boulevard heads in through the city, connecting to a plaza at the city center surrounding the Castle of Flying Cranes, a massive fortress and ancestral seat of House Tepet, as well as headquarters of the 9th Imperial Legion.

The city is divided into five districts. Each contains upper and lower class areas, a few small public parks and local markets for food and consumer goods, though some have reputations for providing the best quality in certain areas:

- 1st District: NE. Includes the Artists' Market, known for quality sculpture, and the Temple of Immaculate Observance, a massive edifice dedicated to the Five Dragons.

- 2nd District: SE. Includes the Smiths' Market, known for quality metalwork.

- 3rd District: SW. Includes the Soldiers' Market, where Lord's Crossing’s only slave market is found, as well as the manse-tower known as the House of Tranquil Repose.

- 4th District: W. Includes the Gourmands' Market, known for the quality of its restaurants and teahouses.

- 5th District: NW. Includes the Tailors' Market, known for the quality of its silk garments.

The city retains much of the infrastructure from the time of the Shogunate, including strong walls of plaster-covered metal and amenities such as running water and sewer systems, as well as essence-powered lights on its major boulevards & central plaza. Buildings tend to be high and sturdy, with bases of sky blue glass and plaster upper floors. Throughout, roofs are covered in blue slate tiles.