Editing WS:Weyrcliff (section)

==LIFE IN WEYRCLIFF==

Weyrcliff has been steadily growing since its founding 400 years ago. Now several hundred-thousand strong, the city-dwellers are beginning to feel the effects of overcrowding. Slums and shanty towns are springing up outside the city walls, and crime is becoming more and more common. Still, Weyrcliff's healthy trade industry and secure location continues to draw new immigrants to the free city.

The plateau lands have been unable to support the entire population of Weyrcliff for more than 250 years. As a result, the city must trade for its food. Most of its exports are finished goods made by the city's craftsmen. Because they are the only true source of income for the city, items crafted in Weyrcliff tend to be of the highest quality. The city has a healthy reserve in a huge vault (the dragon's horde and trade tariffs), but this is only used in times of dire need, and only the governor, treasurer, and city council know the true extent of this wealth.

At the bottom of the mesa's seaward sides are the many docks for visiting merchant ships. A few ramshackle buildings are also scattered among the rocks. This area, known simply as Docktown, is filled with the worst sort of individuals, and is rife with crime. Consequently, most ships only dock to load and unload cargo, weighing anchor in the harbor at night.

Only two ways exist for getting people and cargo up to the mesatop. One is the north road, which is carved into the cliff face, very narrow, and with many hairpin turns. Any wishing to use this road must pass a guardhouse at the bottom and top. The other way to enter this city is more unusual. Huge winches have been constructed (powered by tethered mules and oxen) which lift wooden baskets the size of small cottages directly from the docks up to the top of the cliffs. In windy weather, riding one of these can be quite a harrowing experience!

Weyrcliff proper is a racial and ethnic melting pot bustling with frenzied activity. While most citizens are of Darian or Ambrian background, people of every ethnic group in the Western Shores can be found within the city walls. Dwarves, Halflings, and even some Elves can also be found in all parts of the city. In the city center is the Old Town, where the elite make their homes. This area is walled off from the rest of the city, and noncitizens are only allowed there during daylight hours. At the center of this area is the town hall and other official buildings. Beneath the town hall in the city vault lies the greatest treasure horde in all the Western Shores. Also interred there are the bones of the dragon which delivered the first settlers from the hands of the Darians. Weyrcliff has no official religion, and all the major faiths of other nations are practiced in the city. The Ambrian Church is the most popular. Magic in Weyrcliff is quite common, as the city has no regulations disallowing it.