Helmn

Falkenau - the de facto imperial capital of Vardessy - is rightly held as the first among the great cities of the Crownlands. But if that is the case, then the second is the city of Helmn. While Falkenau was the capital of Talhoff, Helmn was the capital of Mittengen, and these two lands, joined by personal union, formed the nucleus from which the Vardessian Empire grew.

While Falkenau sits on the banks of the Vardess River, amidst its floodplains, Helmn is further inland, resting in the hillier uplands. It is the second largest city in the Crownlands, and a powerhouse in its own right, boasting several influential guilds and establishing itself as a wealthy trade center.

Some sights in Helmn include:

• The Helmn Basilica serves as the city's town hall and center of community. Facing a busy market square, it is where representatives of the guilds and other officials meet to conduct business regarding governance of the city, as well as where the people gather for official ceremonies on holidays. A large balcony faces the square, reserved for the Emperor to make announcements to the gathered crowd on his visits.
  
• Just across the square from the Basilica is the Great Market Hall. Originally, it served as Helmn's town hall, but as the city grew more populous and influential, it became clear that a larger structure was needed for assemblies, and the Basilica was constructed in its stead. Now the original building serves as an indoor marketplace, and on market days it is packed wall to wall with stalls and merchants hawking their wares.
• One notable guild in Helmn is the local chapter of the League of Three Crowns. While Helmn is not a port city and does not have access to the Sea of Bartel, the League's influence is still far-reaching enough to establish a branch here, managing shipping and trade along the roads. Other trading companies in Helmn regard the League as an unpredictable foreign presence, but they still bring in respectable wealth - much to the envy of some other guilds.
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  Helmn sits over a natural hot spring, and the Grand Baths of Helmn are considered one of the city's wonders. This sprawling complex of bathhouses is used by all walks of life, from everyday people to the noble elite, and even the Emperor has a private bathhouse set aside as part of his estate in the city. Plenty of clandestine deals go on here, with corrupt nobles taking full advantage of the privacy the Baths provide them with - to say nothing of the security of knowing they can conduct such business while their partners are unarmed.
• The College of Fencing and Swordplay is one of Vardessy's most renowned academies of the fighting arts. The Helmn fencing style is practiced throughout the Empire, and many treatises on fencing technique come from here. Anyone looking to train in combat would find a worthy teacher here - assuming they can win their favor, of course.
• The center of religious life in Helmn is the Abbey of the Veil, a monastery devoted to Marseah. The monks enjoy a high position of power in the city's affairs, and the Abbot, Gunther Kolbe, is a member of the town council. When the Emperor is not around, he is in effect the most powerful person in Helmn, and has multiple influential guilds and officials at his back, though he knows better than to get in the Emperor's way. The Abbey is named for its possession of one of the holiest relics in Marseah's cult - a veil said to have been wrought from a sunbeam, which can render its wearer invisible.
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  Helmn is built over a total of six hills, each of which is considered a separate district. Some of them are quite steep, with stairs and ramps cut into the earth to help the people navigate. There are some quarters of the city that horses cannot move between, necessitating the Guild of Porters to carry loads up the hills from the roads below. At night, the cramped streets, sharp turns, and high vantage points amidst the valleys can prove dangerous, as muggers can exploit the terrain to set up ambushes.
• The Maiden's Fountain, located on the Wilkenstorf Hill, is one of Helmn's most iconic landmarks. Depicting a young woman decanting water from a golden jug, it commemorates a legend that, long ago, a knight from Helmn encountered a naiad in the woods and won her favor by slaying a dragon. In return, he was given her golden jug, which he returned to the city and installed at a place of honor. According to local lore, one who drinks from the fountain will be gifted with supernatural luck.
• One of the more notorious denizens of Helmn is Nicodemus von Eyers, a wizard regarded as somewhat of a local celebrity, and also a local nuisance. He lives in a tower on the edge of Essert Hill to conduct his experiments - and he has been driven further and further away from the center of town, by order of the city council over the years, because his experiments kept going haywire and causing a commotion. He is always looking for those who are willing to help with his research and provide him with knowledge and ingredients for his spells, but his magic has a habit of going wrong.
  
• The Boar and Barrel is a tavern in Helmn located in a poorer part of the city. While not the most famous establishment in town, it is a favorite recommendation of locals who know where to look. Not only does its clientele form a tight-knit community, with several patrons knowing each other well, it boasts a ring where wrestling contests are held every week for the amusement of guests.
• Helmn's Elven Quarter is located on Griesau Hill, the least densely settled of the Six Hills of Helmn; for this reason, it still possesses a substantial amount of green space, and the elves tend to the trees to maintain communication with the natural world. There was once a great forest outside of Helmn where many elves lived; it has since dwindled as the city expanded, forcing the elves to assimilate, but the memories of the elders trace back generations, and they know much ancient lore (the fact that they are in communion with the spirits of their ancestors doesn't hurt, of course). The Elven Quarter is a tightly-knit, self-sufficient community in its own right; although within the walls of Helmn, they are largely left to govern themselves.
• An open secret in Helmn is the existence of the Catacombs. The city was built on porous rock, and a vast system of tunnels and chambers exists beneath the surface, some of them predating even the founding of the city itself. In ancient times, the Catacombs protected the people in times of siege, but they have grown with the construction and demolition of new buildings, and many smuggling rings and thieves' guilds make their homes here. Some rumors even speak of tunnels that extend as far as Falkenau and Thayngen, and some of stranger denizens yet...