Constructed on top of the Kivanos Pass, the only safe and guarded trading route through the mountains. A few miles south of the official trading border checks as a ‘stopping point’ where people can trade in black market and heavily taxed goods without having to lose out on money.
A community that thrives on the mountains. Multicultural and loud, this is a constant hub of trade. Raucous celebration rolls over you in waves, market stalls, vendors, peddlers, bards and merchants line the haphazard and winding streets built into the mountainside. You see a couple of half-hearted righteous strutting down the street with their polished armour. One of them moves to kick at a street urchin who is lying in a heap of rags in the gutter. His companion pulls him back as the urchin rises impossibly tall into the shape of a goliath and growls at them. They walk on as the goliath catches your eye and, with a wink, shrinks back down to urchin size and continues sitting in the gutter.
Population: Approximately 3800 but constantly changing; mostly dwarf, but all races can be seen here, even tieflings are welcomed and have a bustling trade.
Import/export: IMPORTS: black market goods, food EXPORTS: black market goods, music, ore, gold, and weaponry.
Language: despite the mix of background, race, and class, the working population speak in mostly common, though there is a trader language known as Norn that is meant to escape the notice of the Righteous.
Religion/s: a wide variety of religions are followed here due to the volume of people passing through, and there are shrines littering the 'Holy District'.
Northpass is governed by a mayor locally elected with only a vague link back to the Republic. Luckdar, a Halfling merchant that runs the trading post in Northpass, bribes the guards handsomely to overlook the illicit trade deals and smuggled goods brought in/out without paying the taxes. The Republic wish to stamp this out but they are benefitting from the deals and may cause an uprising (which they can’t afford). Besides, the area is rich in gold deposits that is being heavily mined for the sake of the Republic.
Giso's Anvil: A cluttered blacksmith's workshop, built around a shrine of Uther. Owned by a thick bearded, jolly old dwarf man called Giso.
The Pilgrim and Wand: A grand adventurer's inn, built around a hewn stone impaled by a sword.
The Theatre of Tosileo: A grand theatre of half-timbered walls, said to be haunted by the ghost of an acrobat.
Scattered shrines in what has been dubbed ‘The Holy District’
The town centres around an outdoor fighting ring and drinking area.