Alrendar

The Northern Gate
Alrendar is a large border city far North of Einbroch, lying just over the border of Schwarzwald and the Northlands. The second largest city in the region and approximately the size of its neighbor Einbroch, Alrendar is strictly a Northlands city though is inhabited by a mix of Schwarzwald natives as well as Northlanders. Thanks to its location at the very southernmost part of the country, Alrendar enjoys fairly mild, though certainly cool weather year-round, similar to that of Hugel and other Northern Schwarzwald locations.

Still, it is not the most hospitable looking of cities, for a number of reasons. Due to its placement in the mountains still made barren from the Juperos Disaster, Alrendar is made almost strictly from the surrounding stone, and surrounded by a massive, twenty-foot high wall. Because of the Northlands' numerous raiding groups, the walls have been designed to withstand extremely strong assaults, and Alrendar is nearly an impregnable fortress.

Because of its border location, Alrendar is perhaps the busiest city in the Northlands. The city is known for its stonemasons, and the city has a close relationship with the factories in Einbroch thanks to this fact. Also a rarity in the world, Alrendar is home to the world's largest amount of runesmiths, with the city drawing both mages from Juno as well as the more industrially-minded from Einbroch and the surrounding area.

Like most cities in the Northlands, Alrendar is self-governed, and the city guard is made up of a volunteer force of citizens. The guard is well-trained, however, and despite the city's lack of modernization patrols along the city wall are armed with powerful rifles thanks to, again, the close proximity of Einbroch.

As one can probably expect, Alrendar is not the warmest place to live, both in climate as well as atmosphere. It is a safe enough city, and has its fair share of sights, and the combination of defensive measures and well-trained guard means the city remains fully in mortal control after the velare invasion.

The velare, already spread thin in spreading throughout much of the world, have left the Northlands in general mostly untouched, and Alrendar's massive protection barricading one of the only clear passages into the region means it's likely such a state will only continue.