Jakar
A purely capitalistic place, mostly run by the shareholders.
It started small. Its first incarnation was as a meeting place for Blackhall Nomads, especially Goliaths, for social events like holidays or major celestial events. The first established settlement was that of a small crowd of Goliaths, along with a couple of Minotaurs and Orcs, putting up permanent houses instead of tearing down their tents and leaving. (I haven't come up with the grievous injury, yet, but one of them was badly wounded in a fight, probably with one of the other ones, and another needed to stop and heal a broken bone that they got in the same fight--the games got kind of rough) The settlement began to grow slowly as more people would come back for a ceremony, then set up a shelter that would inevitably grow. As the dwellings became more established and the residents got to know each other, some would return to the nomadic lifestyle until it suited them to return. In the -6000s, The Dwarf Tower started to climb up nearby, bringing their Magic Rocks, and Divine Magic with them--and it was only natural when the locals started trading with them. Mostly they wanted food, as dwarvish diets were quite limited before they got to this point in their history, and farming hadn't quite entered their thing, yet, as their cultivation development was underground.)
The resulting society worked on a loose agreement that The Dwarves were their own group and got to stay in their tunnels while the surface-dwellers had their spot. There was some trading of food, of POWs, and even cultures-- Dwarves taught Goliaths a fancy form of magic with Eskaphus and Runes, and a whole branch of Divine Druidism I need to name popped up.
The Humans changed all that when they came up from the southwest, venturing up the mountains like a chain of ants, making friends with everyone and infesting the lands--even the inhospitable mountains along with the minotaurs, orcs, and goliaths.
Humans are small, squishy, breed a lot, and, honestly, they're fucking invasive. At first, the residents fought off the humans, but as factions grew and made friends, it made extricating the shits impossible, and so the tactics shifted.
Human eradication is impossible. Human enslavement? Much easier. Magic or sheer force, tricks and lies, humans were eeeeaaaasy to make work.
Far too quickly, the slave trade was born. People would capture their neighbors and sell them to the mines. Which hadn't been all that odd for people to do that to each other anyway, the few nations that existed were very much in contest with one another, but the humans just made such easy prey.
Capital became labor, and humans being able to outbreed the stouter species, kidnapping and selling one another or one another's children became a common behavior. "Investment" after that was the key. The more ruthless families soon became the oligarchs, constantly building false alliances and contractual agreements to be held up by the other ruling families.
Slaves were kept and bred. Interspecies breedings led to 'experiments'. Half-dwarves in particular were strong and tireless, though tended to be weak to magic, and so were often sold to the natural-side Elves. Creches were often used to raise the children, and many were developmentally stunted. (worked fine for the fuckheads, really bleeaaagghghrghg.)
Jakar has aged and not well. The oligarchs have risen and fallen, and periodically some dramatic shift will move a house line over, but mostly they trade pockets of the slums to cover debts to one another when things are calm. Once it was established, entertainment became the biggest industry of Jakar, marginally outperforming the mine. In addition to the Jakarch Stone Arena, the noble houses have at least two stages each (indoor and outdoor), there are several theaters in the middle-districts. Even the slaves are allowed to see them in their spare time (hhaaaaaaaaa). Shows can be musical, feats of physical prowess, comedy, dramatic, poetry--all kinds of shit. Who and what you'll find depends on which district you look in. Entertainment is a leading tourist draw for many rich peoples around the world, with minstrel shows and plays, and above all, the Arena fights.
Law is held only by monetary exchange and who can enforce it. Everything is punishable by fine, and if you can't make the payment, then you yourself are forfeit to work for it. Contract slavery is a thing and it's not odd for someone to sell themself for a while to get their families out of debt. Murder is loss of body, loss of life, and loss of income.
Hiring someone to murder someone is, in fact, murdering them. The hitman is simply the weapon one is employing to commit the murder.
Jakar is divided is sections with large houses on the outside and smaller houses on the inside. Most property closest to the houses stays the house's. (You can even tell when a family is in trouble, they start selling 'favorite' parts). Some properties are divided amongst the others. The shanty town slave pits in the center of town are considered in percentages, and the Estate holders make that percentage of the money produced by the ones in the pits (they generally work mines and refineries, total is calculated, etc, everyone gets their share, and I HATE THIS PLACE.)
Rather than constantly shuffling their slaves around, the slave quarters are often marked by painted lines on their streets, houses, or whatever other flat clean-ish thing happens to be around in order to let them know where they're to report in the morning. Certain houses are known to be in the 'fuzzy' areas and slaves that have put themselves in bad graces with one of the owning class will end up in the fuzzy area as a punishment or way to get rid of them. There have been deliberate manipulations of this, as well, to "deliver" a desired slave without paying the price for a whole individual. (Wholesale is "better".)
"Industrial" areas are placed in 'stripes' between houses, and are another part of the investment exchanges. These will have been founded, placed, or chosen deliberately by the Heads of House--things like theaters, restaurants, schools, or whatever they think will bring them a good income and accolades amongst the other nobles. They're one of the last things to go when one is selling--unless it was a bad investment, at which point it will be sold off nearly immediately, as it's cheaper to hand off than convert to anything else new.
It started small. Its first incarnation was as a meeting place for Blackhall Nomads, especially Goliaths, for social events like holidays or major celestial events. The first established settlement was that of a small crowd of Goliaths, along with a couple of Minotaurs and Orcs, putting up permanent houses instead of tearing down their tents and leaving. (I haven't come up with the grievous injury, yet, but one of them was badly wounded in a fight, probably with one of the other ones, and another needed to stop and heal a broken bone that they got in the same fight--the games got kind of rough) The settlement began to grow slowly as more people would come back for a ceremony, then set up a shelter that would inevitably grow. As the dwellings became more established and the residents got to know each other, some would return to the nomadic lifestyle until it suited them to return. In the -6000s, The Dwarf Tower started to climb up nearby, bringing their Magic Rocks, and Divine Magic with them--and it was only natural when the locals started trading with them. Mostly they wanted food, as dwarvish diets were quite limited before they got to this point in their history, and farming hadn't quite entered their thing, yet, as their cultivation development was underground.)
The resulting society worked on a loose agreement that The Dwarves were their own group and got to stay in their tunnels while the surface-dwellers had their spot. There was some trading of food, of POWs, and even cultures-- Dwarves taught Goliaths a fancy form of magic with Eskaphus and Runes, and a whole branch of Divine Druidism I need to name popped up.
The Humans changed all that when they came up from the southwest, venturing up the mountains like a chain of ants, making friends with everyone and infesting the lands--even the inhospitable mountains along with the minotaurs, orcs, and goliaths.
Humans are small, squishy, breed a lot, and, honestly, they're fucking invasive. At first, the residents fought off the humans, but as factions grew and made friends, it made extricating the shits impossible, and so the tactics shifted.
Human eradication is impossible. Human enslavement? Much easier. Magic or sheer force, tricks and lies, humans were eeeeaaaasy to make work.
Far too quickly, the slave trade was born. People would capture their neighbors and sell them to the mines. Which hadn't been all that odd for people to do that to each other anyway, the few nations that existed were very much in contest with one another, but the humans just made such easy prey.
Capital became labor, and humans being able to outbreed the stouter species, kidnapping and selling one another or one another's children became a common behavior. "Investment" after that was the key. The more ruthless families soon became the oligarchs, constantly building false alliances and contractual agreements to be held up by the other ruling families.
Slaves were kept and bred. Interspecies breedings led to 'experiments'. Half-dwarves in particular were strong and tireless, though tended to be weak to magic, and so were often sold to the natural-side Elves. Creches were often used to raise the children, and many were developmentally stunted. (worked fine for the fuckheads, really bleeaaagghghrghg.)
Jakar has aged and not well. The oligarchs have risen and fallen, and periodically some dramatic shift will move a house line over, but mostly they trade pockets of the slums to cover debts to one another when things are calm. Once it was established, entertainment became the biggest industry of Jakar, marginally outperforming the mine. In addition to the Jakarch Stone Arena, the noble houses have at least two stages each (indoor and outdoor), there are several theaters in the middle-districts. Even the slaves are allowed to see them in their spare time (hhaaaaaaaaa). Shows can be musical, feats of physical prowess, comedy, dramatic, poetry--all kinds of shit. Who and what you'll find depends on which district you look in. Entertainment is a leading tourist draw for many rich peoples around the world, with minstrel shows and plays, and above all, the Arena fights.
Law is held only by monetary exchange and who can enforce it. Everything is punishable by fine, and if you can't make the payment, then you yourself are forfeit to work for it. Contract slavery is a thing and it's not odd for someone to sell themself for a while to get their families out of debt. Murder is loss of body, loss of life, and loss of income.
Hiring someone to murder someone is, in fact, murdering them. The hitman is simply the weapon one is employing to commit the murder.
Jakar is divided is sections with large houses on the outside and smaller houses on the inside. Most property closest to the houses stays the house's. (You can even tell when a family is in trouble, they start selling 'favorite' parts). Some properties are divided amongst the others. The shanty town slave pits in the center of town are considered in percentages, and the Estate holders make that percentage of the money produced by the ones in the pits (they generally work mines and refineries, total is calculated, etc, everyone gets their share, and I HATE THIS PLACE.)
Rather than constantly shuffling their slaves around, the slave quarters are often marked by painted lines on their streets, houses, or whatever other flat clean-ish thing happens to be around in order to let them know where they're to report in the morning. Certain houses are known to be in the 'fuzzy' areas and slaves that have put themselves in bad graces with one of the owning class will end up in the fuzzy area as a punishment or way to get rid of them. There have been deliberate manipulations of this, as well, to "deliver" a desired slave without paying the price for a whole individual. (Wholesale is "better".)
"Industrial" areas are placed in 'stripes' between houses, and are another part of the investment exchanges. These will have been founded, placed, or chosen deliberately by the Heads of House--things like theaters, restaurants, schools, or whatever they think will bring them a good income and accolades amongst the other nobles. They're one of the last things to go when one is selling--unless it was a bad investment, at which point it will be sold off nearly immediately, as it's cheaper to hand off than convert to anything else new.
Defences
Location, really, no one wants this place. Soldiers are not a dishonorable station for middle class to have, the 'lower' nobles of the families, so joining the military isn't unheard of for them.
Industry & Trade
Jakar is rich with mined minerals, refined metals, rich dyes, arts and crafts, tourism, and just about everything except farming. The Dwarf mines are always ready to trade for slaves, and most everyone else is ready to trade for the metals the dwarves offer and they refine.
Infrastructure
Mostly stone. Lots of carved out hovels and cemented stone slabs.
Assets
The mines are nearby, and the living capital is plentiful (gag)
Guilds and Factions
I don't know how many families there are, but the families are the primary dividing factor. Most of them aren't actually family, anymore, but eh
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