====== New Stetven ======

===== Introduction =====

{{:stolen_land:brevoy:newstetven.png?100 |[[f<image NewStetven.gif size="small"]]}}
You can find the [[https://www.cartographersguild.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=87259&d=1473007516 | original of the map]] here.  But be warned - it is a massive file.

New Stetven is the capital city of Brevoy, and one of the largest cities in the North.  You can find a brief description of it [[http://www.pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/New_Stetven | here]].

New Stetven – Metropolis: Pop 32,850:  New Stetven is the largest city in Brevoy and one of the largest in the whole of the northern Avistan.  It is a bustling trade city, acting as a hub for exporting Brevoy's rich supply of grain, fish, timber, and ore to the rest of the northern kingdoms such as Mendev or Numeria, and down the East Sellen River to the River Kingdoms.  It is the capital of Brevoy and is home to The Ruby Fortress (The King’s Palace), The Bulwark of Gorum (massive cathedral to Gorum) and The House of the Gauntlet (an Iomedaen temple). The docks at New Steven are packed with barges and vessels suitable for use on lakes and rivers.  The East Sellen River is navigable for over 1000 miles, passing through many different nations before it finally opens out into the Inner Sea.

Once the stronghold of House Rogarvia, it was left leaderless when they disappeared.  Now King Nikolai Surtova attempts to fill that gap, but his grip is not yet strong.  All of the noble houses have a presence here, although House Lebeda is most prominent.  The rump of House Rogarvia, House Khavortorov (a breakaway Aldori family) and various trade interests all vie for influence here.


===== Area Descriptions =====


The North of the city is dominated by the Ruby Fortress on the top of the largest hill in New Stetven.  It is surrounded by the administrative quarter, and then the estates of the nobles and Aristocrats of New Stetven and Brevoy.   The Southern part of the city is dominated by the Bulwark of Gorum.  Another massive stone building set on a hill – it is impressive, but not as impressive as the Ruby Fortress.  Just to the west of The Bulwark, outside the city walls, set on its own smaller hill is the House of the Gauntlet, New Stetven’s temple to Iomedae.

The Western Docks teem with merchant shipping, trading south along the Sellen River, while the Northern Docks are used by fishermen and local merchants trading within Brevoy.  There is a fee to bring vessels beneath the bridge -  so some goods are transported right the way across the city.   The Lebeda family are the largest single merchant family represented in New Stetven and   control more of the shipping and dockside than any other.  Although other families also own shipping and trading interests here.  You don’t get large ocean going ships here, just the smaller vessels suited to river and lake travel.  Some examples of boats and ships are listed [[pathfinder:off-the-shelf:ships_boats:ships_and_boats|here]].


===== Politics =====

Technically, New Stetven falls under the control of King Noleski Surtova and is rules from the Dragonscale Throne in the Ruby Fortress.  However, both  the City Administration and Civil Guard had been packed with members of House Rogarvia.  Many of these Rogarvians, mainly officers and managers,  disappeared at the same time as the rest of their house.  Those remaining, either kept their heads down and got on with their job or pushed for promotions. King Noleski has replaced many of the missing people, but the city Administration and Guard are still smaller and less powerful than it was.   Just as importantly, King Noleski does not have the same level of control over either The Administration or The New Steven Guard as the Rovarvia had in their time - and this means that other forces come into play.

==== The Issian Nobles: ====  
(Surtova, Lodovka, Garess, Orlovsky, Lebeda, Medvyed) All of the Great Noble Houses have a family ‘Villa’ and other properties  in New Stetven, to maintain their influence and provide a secure base for senior family members.   While the Issian Nobles skirmish, fight and argue among themselves, together they are by far the most influential group in New Stetven.  Surtova, Lebeda and Garess are the most influential.    
  * //Surtova// – The most powerful house in  New Stetven – King Noleski Surtova sits on the Dragonscale Throne and  controls both the Ruby Fortress, the Administration and much of the New Stetven military.  The Surtova  also have a number of merchant houses in the city and control a portion of the docks.
  * //Lebeda// – Based just across the lake in Silverhall, the Lebeda are very influential in New Steven.  They own more merchant houses, in New Stetven, that anyone else and control a significant area of the the docks.  They are the most significant trading house on Lake Reykal and trade down the Sellen into the greater world.
  * //Garess// – Still own a lot of property in New Stetven -  but their trading houses, specialising in metals and ores, are much quieter now that they have lost contact with the Dwarves of Clan Golka.   That said, they are still the third most influential house in New Stetven.

==== New Stetven Aristocracy: ====
The New Stetven Aristocracy is very cosmopolitan -  minor houses of all sorts are represented -  Old Blood, New Blood, Families from abroad or incorporating different races.  While the some of the older aristocrats find it all very //’Modern’// and //‘not quite the thing’//, these newer families keep the Aristocracy alive, vibrant and significant.  Between them they own much of the residential fabric of New Steven – the lodging houses, apartment blocks, and tenements. Many of those households  who were aligned with House Rogarvia (Rogarvian Survivors)  have established themselves as part of the general aristocracy.  Each of these houses will include a small contingent of  House Guards -  all of whom have proper military training.  Even the poorest Aristocratic house owns enough property to provide them with a decent income, the more significant have other interests as well:-
  * House Khavortorov – Mercenaries / Guards
  * House Cartan – Suppliers of magical items and services.
  * House Ventus – Sorcerous Services
  * House Ragoon -  Hoteliers
  * House Flamane – Miltary  Service (as Officers) in the New Stetven military. (Rogarvian Survivor)
  * House leMaistre – Minor Merchants (Originally from Ustalav)
  * House Chamenda – Restauranteurs and Minor Merchants (with some Vudran ancestry)
  * House Golka – there are  a few Dwarves in New Stetven, although they are not as influential as they have been in the past.

[[stolen_land:brevoyinfluence:start#new_stetven_nobility| See this page for more details]]


==== New Stetven Middle Classes: ====
A metropolis full of professionals, merchants and crafters - all worried about their own position and interests.  They come from a range of different backgrounds and there are many competing philosophies -  however, as a whole,  they are cosmopolitan enough to put differences to one side and work together so long as there is a proper return involved.  While they see themselves in competition with each other, the City itself is something that binds them together - and a strong New Stetven is good for everyone.  


====New Stetven Generally ====
The population of this metropolis of the North is impressive -  large enough that if they should ever find their voice you would want to listen.  Fortunately, they are generally settle for grumbling loudly about problems, rather than facing it head on.  However, the New Stetven City Watch and Militia could be a political significant force – if they had a forceful leader.

===== Religion =====
There are four main temples active in New Stetven.  They don’t come into direct conflict all that often, and pretty much cancel each other out.   In most cases their influence is indirect, rather than overt.

==== Gorum ==== 
The Lord in  Iron is represented by the [[https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Bulwark_of_Gorum|Bulwark]], the largest temple to Gorum in all of Brevoy.  However, most of their influence is through their House Priests, embedded through the greater noble houses of Brevoy.  It rarely holds services for the every-day citizens of the city.

==== Iomedae ====
The House of the Gauntlet, overseen by First Sword Knight Anarrow, is mainly concerned with training Clerics and Paladins but also trains Adept/Warriors to serve as Military Chaplains within the local military forces.   The temple only holds one service a week that is open to the public - other temple services are reserved for those in Iomedae’s service. 

==== Abadar ====
Abadar has three banks in the city, serving different parts of the population.  None of the priests have any great influence, individually, however   Abadar’s influence is felt across the city.   Any number of store keepers, traders, merchants and city administrators pay their respects to the Master of the First Vault, and two of the banks are regularly open to anyone in the city.

==== Pharasma ====
The Lady of Graves has many shrines in an around the city, especially in the many graveyards and crypts that a city of this size needs.  However, there are other shrines dedicated to her aspect as the Mother of Souls, as well as a small monastery dedicated to her as The Gray Lady.  She is the favoured deity of the many commoners in the city.


===== Notes =====

__Sword Schools__ in New Stetven -  Most numerous first :

  * General sword schools,  Training warriors and mercenaries, are the most common in New Stetven () it does not train people for duelling.
  * Modern Duelling and Light Blade sword schools, are popular with many of the noble houses represented in New Stetven. There is a single sword school offering specialist classes to Magi and other casters.
  * Rondolero schools are popular with aristocrats of Taldan descent. 
  * There are no known Aldori sword schools.