Anvard (cradle)
100 miles wide, average above surface 4,732 ft
Geography
Anvard is one of the largest of the Core Islands, focused entirely on its center, where there is a lake and large grain fields and fruit orchards around the great city named for the Island. The outskirts of the island towards the edge revert towards hilly wilderness, but farmsteads and small villages are abundant. Anvard City is built in the remains of a city of the Ancient Race, but rather than reusing parts of the ancient ruins, the Anvardi left them all in place and built upon and among them. Damaging or even changing any part of the ancient ruins is a crime. The ruin rises hundreds of feet in the air and covers many acres of land, and the human city inside is build up on dozens of levels. Internal spaces range from dirty warrens to the great halls of the wealthier Clans.
People and Culture
Anvard society is strictly Clan based. The Clans organize along areas of expertise or influence, such as the Grovan Clan which fills the police and military roles of Anvard, the Llaverac which are usually entertainers, creatives and soothsayers, the Varodi Clan which serves as a bank and secure holding space, and the self-explanatory Magi Clan and Hotelier Clan, The Anvardi people cover the gamut of human shapes, sizes, and colors, in that over millennia the Clans have self-segregated into reinforcing physical types by exclusionary breeding, leading to easily recognizable physical characteristics and styles, such as the short, straight dark hair (and usual mustaches) and grey or red clothes of the Grovan, and the stocky bodies, darker skin, and long blonde hair of the Llaverac (who all present as female to the outside world).
Anvard regards itself as the center of things due to its size and population, and although they welcome visitors with money to spend, their elitism and Clan structure have led to a conservative outlook and attitude towards other Islands. The Culled and Clannless underclass, whose mistreatment by the Clans have caused much fighting and strife between the Islands over the years, still exist as laborers and farmers today.
Local Authority
The city itself is run through some sort of council of Clan leaders, though this process seems opaque to lower Clan members and impenetrable to outsiders. The rules are enforced by Grovan Clan guards wearing the insignia of the Anvard Council.
Language
Low Anvardi, as spoken by the Culled and Clannless and between Clans for everyday use, is a relatively simple-to-learn collection of concepts easily expressed in a few uncomplicated forms. High Anvardi as spoken between Clans and for important business, however, contains a LOT of nuance. Tone, body language, and context combine to express lots of wit and subtlety. This cultural context to language is part of the reason Anvard and other Islands in the early days of first contactkept “talking past each other” - even with magical "translation" the levels of meaning do not come across unless one is fluent in the culture.
Traverton
The Gate opens in a Great Hall in the center of the Avnard City, and in lieu of a proper Traverton visitors and traders are encouraged to get into the city and experience the grandeur of the place. Anything of the highest quality can be found in Anvard - food, goods, culture, scholars, mystics, magi, and a bewildering array of entertainments. A casual visitor will get along fine, although their coin purse will be lighter upon leaving. The Culled and Clanless are generally easy-going and welcoming to travelers. Doing deeper business with the Clans properusually requires some kind of local agent, as outsiders are helpless in the face of the Anvardi’s byzantine way of doing business.