Magnimar

Magnimar, the City of Monuments, is a mostly human city-state situated on the Lost Coast. A relatively young city (a couple of hundred years old) it nonetheless has its own traditions.

Description
The city is dominated by Thasellonian ruins, the most impressive being the bridge known as the Irespan. The end of the bridge is all that remains, but it's proportions are enormous, as is the mystery of where it once led. The bridge is situated three hundred feet above the water, and is more than a hundred feet wide.

Magnimar is divided into three main areas -- near the Irespan is the well-to-do capital district filled with the aristocrats and the wealthy. Down a cliffface (300 feet) to the shore is the monuments district, which is populated by the common folk. Under the Irespan, is the shadow district, which has not felt a drop of rain or a glimpse of sunlight in thousands of years. It is populated by criminals and the lowest of the the low.

Notables
Several aristocratic families call Magnimar their home, including the Foxgloves, the Scarnettis, the Deverins, the Kaijitsus and others. Many of these families have country homes in or near Sandpoint.

Politics
Magnimar is ruled by two official political bodies: the Council of Ushers and the Office of the Lord-Mayor. This two-tiered system was established at the city's founding to ensure that no single person ever had too much control. Despite the idealist intentions of the city's founders, over the last century both offices have become more power-hungry and less effective at representing the needs of the city-state's citizens

The Council of Ushers serves as the legislature of Magnimar and currently contains 117 members. Of these, many are nobles whose families have held seats for generations, back to the time when the Council was but fifteen members large. With many more seats now that there are noble families, dozens of seats are filled with scheming merchants and greedy power-seekers, as well as a frustrated number of genuinely altruistic activists and honest merchants all vying to have their personal causes (many of which are entirely self-serving) heard and passed into law. The Council meets in austere Usher's Hall in Capital District.

In theory restricted by the council of Ushers the Lord-Mayor is by far the most powerful person in Magnimar. This immense power normally result in a corruption and the current Lord-Mayor, Haldmeer Grobaras, is no exception. Many of Magnimar's political matters are determined not by who is right or at least most persuasive but who brings the Lord-Mayor the most lavish and impressive gift (bribe). While in theory the Lord-Mayor must uphold the mandates of the Council of Ushers Grobaras has frequently ignored them when they have not been to his liking.

When legal arbitration is needed above and beyond what the city guard themselves can handle, the legal system of Magnimar calls upon the Justice Court. This body of thirteen Justices is the highest court in the city state and rules on disagreements as well as the guilt or innocent of those accused of particularly heinous crimes. The Court meets in the Pediment Building also serves as a prison for the city's most hardened criminals, located in a dungeon deep beneath the building called "the Hells."

Holdings
Magnimar has begun to slowly expand her sphere of influence to encompass many nearby settlements and communities. These communities tend to be healthier than those of Magnimar's main rival Korvosa.
 * Galduria
 * Nybor
 * Ravenmoor
 * Sandpoint
 * Turtleback Ferry
 * Wartle
 * Wolf's Ear