Q is for: Queenstown

As the capital, Queenstown is perhaps the jewel of the Old Crown, though in recent decades that jewel has become more tarnished and dull.

The settlement itself has been called Kingstown and Queenstown as it passed between heirs to the suldaanate. Following the disappearance of the last heir on the night before she became suldaana, her eventual successor among the nobles, the Lady Raethmoor of the time, proclaimed it should forever be Queenstown in memory of the missing young woman.

The city is home to tens of thousands of people from every race that calls the Old Crown home, as well as a few foreigners, and it’s said that every walk of life has a place here.
The power behind the city is the Lord or Lady Protector, who rules in the absence of the royal heir. This position has been held by the Raethmoor family for centuries, since the creation of the title. About them circles the Royal Court of the nobles, always eager to please and curry favour with the throne. Officially, the Senate is the second power of the Old Crown, but much of that is concentrated among the families of the Court anyway.
The Senate is made up of nobles, the high priests of the various Ascended worshipped in the central temple, as well as increasing numbers of wealthier merchants of the Guilds. Since hereditary membership of the Senate is bought and sold, these merchants have replaced several Noble Households as they have fallen on hard times, and several have even been able to acquire the previous incumbents’ titles.

The wards of Queenstown are:

Palace and Guild – built upon the original walled settlement, home to the old palace, many of the guildhalls as well as the Senate and central militia barracks. The barracks itself only houses the Suldaana’s Own and the Lord Protector’s militia forces, as well as acting as central headquarters for the Wardens. Other militia may train here but are not quartered here.

The Markets – dominated by the Grand Souq, the Redmarkets, Greymarkets, the covered Merchant’s Pavilion and the Arcades, the district is home to most of the markets and commercial activity on the city.

Dockside/Portside – the hub of Queenstown harbour, the docks includes warehouses for much of the transport and shipping of goods by boat, as well as many of the brewhouses for the city. The ruby beer brewed here is generally hailed as salty by foreigners.

Temples – this precinct centres upon the old Great Temple, a large stone building that holds smaller shrines to many of the Ascended Host. In the surroundings are smaller temples, the Garden of Forgotten Gods, great schools of learning, several companionship houses, orderhouses for various Taruqah and much of the green spaces in the city.

Noble Estates – the rest of the green spaces are found in the sprawling estates of the Nobles Households. Stables, grand gardens, small militia barracks and opulent mansions are found here, along with any smaller holdings for various high ranking servants and exiled, disinherited family members, or those few not recognised as real heirs under the law.

Outwall – the stretch of Outwall reaches far out into the countryside surrounding Queenstown. Home to the poorest and most unlawful of the city’s folk, by land this is nevertheless the first sight travellers see of the city. The Broken Circle has a strong presence here, replacing the Wardens in enforcing the law, though not necessarily the law of the land.
Landmarks include the Rookery, Scabbers’ Den, the Ring, Blackspot Tavern, the Cairns and the Riverwitch Bridge.