Korovia - The Free License Fantasy World

Kost
Population: 15,000 (mostly Humans)
Terrain: Sylvan forests, plains & hills.
Economy: Very Strong, universities, good farmland, seaport, trade route.
Military: Very Strong (1600 Paladins) & Militia (400).
Leadership: Lordship

Kost is a relatively new city. It was built shortly after the death of King Zaelean 1400 years ago. The architecture uses mixes of human, dwarven and elvish architecture. It has many towers surrounding the city and the city itself has a hexagonal shape. Inside there are several fortified buildings (owned by paladins) which serve as secondary fortresses. These buildings go deep underground and are built to withstand attacks from the air. The shape of the city and its walls follow the landscape, so there is no exact shape to the city. One good thing about Kost is that its streets are fairly simple. Most of them follow a basic design and don’t get too complicated.

The city is known for its public parks, where bards and other performers often perform and there are outside grills that are a popular place to eat and drink for the wealthier citizens.

Kost is the headquarters for the different paladin orders of Korovia. It is the most law-abiding city in the entire kingdom. The City Guard is made up of mostly Paladins and there is also a fighter school that is known for teaching some of the best warriors in all of Korovia (many Wardens study there).

In addition, Kost has the largest magic school, The University of the Arcane. It used to be called an Academy, but has since increased its dormitory space and started letting in many more students and changed its name to become more prestigious. Its library is considered to be one of the best libraries in Korovia (rivaled only by the Eldritch Academy in Sylvania).

Kost is also a center for lawful good clerics, as its temples are quite famous for their size and architecture. The Temple of Divine Light is the more notorious of these, because it was the unofficial headquarters for the same band of heroes who helped Queen Kasiya gain control of the throne of Korovia. Many of these temples follow a “multi-faith” principle in which they share space with other clerics with a similar ethos.

The area surrounding Kost has very good farmland and rarely has problems with monsters. There is the troll lands farther to the east, but it is very rare that trolls will venture come within ten miles away of Kost, let alone cross the river that runs just north of the city.

There is a trade route that runs south of the troll lands (with many fortified towns on the way) towards Sylvania. It is a well-used road and one of the safest trade routes that go near the troll lands. It takes roughly a week on horse to ride about 200 miles to Sylvania. Many horse caravans travel the route.

There used to be a tunnel (still is technically) that ran underground from Kost to Oraknev. The tunnel was made 12 years ago using magic, but sections of the tunnel are now unstable and have collapsed, and there is also lizard-folk who have taken up residence in the tunnel. Both ends of the tunnel have been collapsed to keep the lizard-folk from raiding the cities.

Because Kost is a major trading port it receives a lot of merchants who are going right through. Thus there is no gate taxes to get inside the city because merchants usually leave the city with their goods anyway. Kost ships goods across the Korovian Sea to Tuirn, Oraknev and Zerburg. It also has riverboats and caravans that go up river to Trollhaven on the way to Sylvania. A lot of food from farms to the south travels north to other cities via Kost.

Lord Wilhelm is the Lordship of Kost. He was once known as “Wilhelm the White Knight”. Twelve years ago he was the leader of the Temple of Divine Light, and helped out the heroes from time to time. The new leader of the temple is Lady Korozo (who also fought beside the heroes and their ilk twelve years ago). Wilhelm is a tough but good-natured paladin who is wise in his years. His white beard is also quite famous and he is popular with the children of Kost (who still call him the White Knight).

Lady Korozo is famous for her daring feat twelve years ago when she magically flew above Kost and chopped off the head of a balor. The heroes cunningly handed her a magical sword, cast fly and numerous protection spells on her, and she dutifully stood her ground against the balor and a small horde of demons that had recently arisen to attack Kost. Her resulting popularity is such that she is actually a bit of a recluse now, avoiding being seen in public due to her famous (and beautiful) face and likewise incredible fame.