City of Thornmouth

Customs

When someone arrives through the city gates or a ship coming into the bay, they will be passing a checkpoint where they’ll be tallied and checked for contraband; merchants will have their papers stamped to indicate taxes in need of payment, new arrivals will be directed to the Trade and Immigration office, faces will be scanned by tired eyes in search of known criminals. These taxes can be paid at the trade and immigration office where one reports visiting on business. A merchant new to Thornmouth will need to go get their trade license there.

Any individual with an extradimensional container such as a 'bag of holding' will be taken to a cleared area to empty it. However, a guard must recognize such an item by doing more than just glancing inside as well as be dutiful enough to put up with the potential hassle; this means one may get away with a minimal inspection.

Those who do not report their arrival at the office will run into the following difficulties:

• Inability to exchange raw material or foreign money for shards.
• Inability to become a naturalized citizen.
• Inability to run a business, join a guild, gain any licenses or permits, or buy land.

It’s certainly not impossible to make a living in Thornmouth ‘off the books’, but you certainly won’t be getting far in society or business that isn’t conducted in the shadows.

While checkpoints at the borders are generally more strict, the checks at the gates and docks can be fairly lax - especially if you’re a local rather than a new arrival. If you've gotten to know the checkpoint guards they will more than likely wave you through. The guards are primarily looking for contraband and criminals, which doesn't include weapons or drugs. It does include a good deal else, however…

Contraband Includes:

• unlicensed 'feral' dragons (these are not allowed into the city without papers)
• any part of banned game without a valid license and bounty (feral dragons, kirin, unicorn)
• dragon eggs or dragon metal
• stolen goods
• counterfeit currency
• corpses and body parts
• bells made of iron
• iron cargo weighing over 200lbs - iron is also subject to heavy taxation to discourage its importation
• there is an exception made for iron as part of vessels, including weaponry like cannons that are ‘part’ of the craft - their weight will not be counted; however, one must declare their ownership of both and get a permit authorizing both long term anchoring at the docks and the right to fire cannons within Thornmouth waters (ships will be added to records, cannons will be magically tagged)
• black diamonds (associated with Ayrgonth)
• unlicensed blood from a sapient
  
  ...

  Any distributor and even apothecary require a license and must acquire from approved sources - blood is an accepted regent and food, but highly regulated. A vampire in Thornmouth tends to have a notable grocery bill!
• blue glassware
  
  ...

  That seems awfully specific, doesn't it?
• snails
  
  ...

  The city is full of snails and you can treat them as you please, but you can’t bring a snail in. The guards can’t really explain this either, but some swear that bringing a snail into the city is bad luck.

Immigration Office

When first arriving in the city, one will be directed to the docks and the office of Trade and Immigration. It can be found at the north end of the docks where city workers regulate trade and processes new immigrants, recording every coming and going of both goods and people. When applying for citizenship one will be asked a number of simple questions for documentation, including how long they've been in the city, if they could be considered a refugee, if they'd like to exchange any currency, and so forth. They're all relatively basic and gain you papers that serve as an ID. This document is essential for getting a job, running a business, joining a guild, using a bank and more. It is notoriously difficult to gain a replacement; expect a long, long wait in the office. They'll find your records.

Eventually.



The Moon Gates - Click Here To Read More

A major planetary feature, it is no surprise that a ‘nexus of worlds’ would service otherworlders via the gate system. While few gates are stable, those that are tend to see infrastructure built around them. These gates have a customs!

Teleportation

It seems the presence of moon gates on the planet tend to make travel to other realms especially difficult and unpredictable; even doors to ‘pocket’ spaces are subject to interference and a challenge to maintain. A local 'jump' across the city could even bring disastrous results - making trying to transport to another world entirely a dangerous proposition indeed. A world hopper will tend to find the 'network' created by the moon gates entangling and disruptive to their movement. It is for this reason many find themselves essentially trapped here if they can't discover a 'long way' back home. There are experts to assist in such things, however...


Roads

The kingdom is riddled with roads between settlements. Those closer to the capital are better maintained and patrolled, but many smaller exist winding through the forest and across the steppes that are well known for bandit activity. There are major trade routes running through Gadena, Crystal Town, and west of Thornmouth between forest and swamp where a bridge across the strait serves as a major border crossing.

Flight

This an increasingly common form of travel, much to the distress of a kingdom that can't really effectively police such a thing and have concerns about raising the ire of dragons. In pursuit of maintaining neutrality with the dragon kingdom and allowing for ease of travel, the law requires licenses for shuttle services and the ownership of 'feral' dragons. While having them as property is not yet outlawed, this behavior is strongly discouraged by other laws.

A non-sapient dragon requires a license to have at all within the kingdom. They are illegal to breed or sell as pets. In general ‘lesser’ dragons are a very tenuous allowance that are not allowed inside the city proper and must both take off from and land within a designated zone outside the gates. Thornmouth does not want to give the impression of endorsing any kind of dragon being used for servitude or entertainment.

Teleportation

There have been attempts to set up magical systems of transportation, but the initial difficulty combined with the plane interfering with such magic makes it impossible to justify the necessary maintenance - but some businesses do make use of it for entryways or floors; Steeplestone Academy in particular is well known for it. It appears that transport circles involving spacial ‘hops’ sustain far better than magic invoking distant travel (terrestrial or otherwise).



The Canals

The canals were built with the intention of transportation from the docks to the bottom of the hills where the castle was to be erected; the initial canal ran straight and expanded with the city. In time many branches were added, servicing each district as they formed. It now services the transportation of goods and travel throughout the entire city.

Flight

A flying mount requires a license to land in city limits regardless of species. It’s rare for this to actually be checked outside of an incident occurring, however - typically someone will only ask at checkpoints or when boarding an animal.

This same rule applies to anyone who can take the form of the dragon - they do not have to be licensed, but they do have to follow strict guidelines about when and where they take flight. It is advised that most draconic individuals capable of taking another form do so in order to avoid scrutiny or panic. It’s considered socially ‘polite’ if repressive; the large majority of the populace still fears the dragons of the north and with this fear comes a sense of bigotry.

The city also gives out licenses to air farrier services; these are beginning to rise in popularity, bringing the cities and towns of Thornmouth closer together. In cooperation with couriers, they’ve begun to experiment with better ways to distribute personal delivery of parcels and letters, something else rising in demand as rates of literacy have increased. It’s rumored that one farrier service is looking to hire individuals with pets trained to deliver!

An individual with flight or one using a vehicle such as a magic carpet are free to fly within city limits (as long as they’re being safe).

An individual who drops anything while in flight will be given a hefty fee for ‘hazardous littering’.

Ships

The oceanic territories of Thornmouth extend past the bay, but stop somewhere around two hundred miles south where the oceans turn into the 'free seas'; most ships stick to well established trade routes closer to land.

The navy patrols the borders as pirate activity has only been increasing within the free seas.

There is absolutely no infrastructure for ships on the northern border of the black sands and anyone foolish enough to try will not get very far.