New Gork

New Gork was founded in late 2323, three years after the Battle for Kanara, at the start of season 3. It's a town of adventurers and is open to all.

Founding
Following the Battle for Kanara, the archipelago became rather less friendly to adventurers, due primarily to Kairosian influence. Thus, late in 2323, simultaneous with Kairos' official outlawing of all adventurers, the SS Guildhall, under the direction of Zendar Goldmane, the head of the Kanaran Adventurers' Guild, set sail for the continent.

Before it had quite made landfall, the ship was hit by one of the continent's infamous storms and dashed upon the rocks of the bay. The survivors, of whom there were many, made their way to shore and set about making the place inhabitable. Although the initial goal was to go to Dragonsreach, a former, failed settlement, and reclaim what was left of it, by the time people were in any shape to make the journey along the coast, the current location seemed to work just fine and no one was in any particular hurry to move.

The settlement was named after the treefolk Gorp, who aided the initial settlers when they came across him following the shipwreck of the Guildhall. They misheard his name as "Gork," however, and the mistake was realized too late to change it, the name having long since entered the common vernacular.

A few weeks after arriving on the continent, a constitutional convention was called, and a government was formed, although it was still minimal at the time.

History
Being on the continent, New Gork has faced countless dangers over the years. Notable among these are the Great Storm of 2324, not even a year after the city's initial founding, the Deathstrider's threat in 2329, and the Seeker's attack in 2345.

Government
New Gork is headed by an elected council with five members. The first councilmembers were Alboba Sawyer, Head of Infrastructure; Bonkvrk(a), Head of Administrative Affairs; Gestalt Redin, Head of Maritime Affairs; Ilmia, facet of the changeling Reign, Head of Defense; and Vernon Dale, Head of International Relations. There is a separate judicial system, originally headed by Auris Sunwolf Oretharos, who was named by the council as the first Chief Justice of New Gork. Law enforcement falls to the Defense Force; the Head of Defense is the de facto captain thereof. The current Head of Defense and Captain of the Defense Force is Dawn, a warforged from the Frontier Forge.

Layout
Over the years, New Gork grew from village to town to city, and now boasts several districts.

Old New Gork
This is the original area of New Gork, home to the town's first tavern (still referred to simply as "the tavern"), the hospital, the courthouse, and the Defense Force headquarters. During the Seeker's attack in 2345, the library here suffered major structural damage, but the Knowledge Temple spearheaded efforts to restore it to its former glory. Old New Gork also has a number of the older houses, some of which have been transformed to other purposes after their original occupants left, others remaining just as they were.

New Gork's original town wall surrounds Old New Gork, shaped similarly to a boat's hull pointed toward the sea. This shape was designed by Alboba Sawyer, New Gork's first Head of Infrastructure, and helped to protect the buildings from strong sea winds.

The Tavern
Although many establishments have been set up in New Gork, if you merely say, "the tavern," most people will know what you're talking about: the first one established in New Gork and which now shares a building with the Adventurers' Guild New Gork headquarters. As adventuring became more acceptable again in the years following the Battle for Kanara and the Adventurers' Guild grew, the Guild pulled off a marvel of modern magic: the headquarters of its branches in each of the three major cities in the archipelago contain an enchanted door through which the New Gork tavern may be accessed. No matter how a person leaves the tavern, they exit into the city whence they came.

Residential District
Located on the eastern side of the city, the residential district holds houses that are, in general, more durable than the ones in Old New Gork. Most of the city's residents have their homes here, but there are residences and inns scattered throughout the city. The primary dueling arena, colloquially known as the "fight pit," was originally constructed outside city walls but now falls within the residential district. Although some frown on this, there are enough who think it a benefit, rather than a detriment, to fill the houses around it.

Industrial District
On the opposite side of Old New Gork from the residential district, to the northwest, the industrial district is where the majority of New Gork's production happens. It's generally noisy, and some of the workshops give off odors relevant to their crafts. Perhaps one of the more notable sites in the industrial district is the airship construction yard, if only for sheer size.

Business District
The business district can be found in the southwest portion of the city, though it blends into the industrial district without clear boundary between them. Any number of shops can be found here, mostly selling smaller, day-to-day goods. Larger goods tend to be purchased from the industrial district, where the bigger workshops can be found. There's a bustling marketplace here where farmers bring their food and foreign traders hawk their wares.

Temple District
The primary temples of New Gork can be found to the north of Old Town. Given the wide variety of beliefs of the city's denizens, the temples were established around common domains, rather than specific deities, and followers of any given tradition may be found in multiple temples.

Outside the City
A long strip of land between the beach and the jungle has been cultivated as farmland, stretching out on either side of the city. A long, empty meadow serves as a buffer between the northernmost fields and the jungle itself. The Dragonpeace Initiative has its primary stables in this no-man's land, housing a sizeable fleet of wyverns as well as two young dragons.

The main docks are located on the beach directly south of the city. Port authority duties are contracted to Fool's Gold, a combination mercenary company and private investigating firm that dates back nearly to the city's founding.

Constructs
Shortly after New Gork's founding, adventurers discovered a nearby entrance to the abandoned underground City of Lights. Although its sapient inhabitants are long gone, the city is still home to many large, ant-like constructs that maintain the city's infrastructure. Danara Willanora, the Head of the New Gork Forge, used these as a basis to create a fleet of helper constructs for New Gork.

New Gork's helper constructs are quadrupedal and have two arms. Each one is specialized to a certain task and can follow logical instructions, though they aren't sapient. They can communicate telepathically with each other and with special relays set up throughout the city, allowing them to collaborate on tasks without direct supervision.

Flag
A number of flags were designed for the city when it was just starting and although only one was chosen as the official flag, any of them might still be seen about the city. The official flag displays a green tree, representing the treant Gorp (misheard as Gork by those who first spoke with him), for whom the town is named, over a yellow circle, representing a beach, with the field behind split horizontally, the lower half blue, to represent the sea, and the upper half black, to represent the stormy sky. It's been said that the black also represents the difficulties the city has faced, while the tree represents the city's strength and the gold, its good fortune and continued prosperity even in the face of challenges. One of the suggested flags shows a deep orange background with a black triangle pointing inward from the left side, a thinner red triangle within it. This flag represents the people of New Gork pushing forward through the dark challenges of the continent to the golden rewards beyond. Another suggested design consists of three horizontal stripes of white, black, and green, from top to bottom, with three small white triangles over the central black stripe. The green represents the jungle, the black, the dangers of the continent, and the white, the light of hope given by adventurers in ensuring the safety of the city. The final suggested design has a heavy black X across it, sectioning the flag into four triangles. The left and right triangles are white, the upper is green, and the lower is blue. The black X represents crossed swords; a willingness to fight, to defend, to survive. The color also represents the dangers of the continent, as well as (in accordance with traditional heraldry) wisdom, constancy, and prudence. The white represents a light of hope; not only will the people of New Gork survive on the deadly continent, but make a true home there and prosper. It's also said to represent truth, sincerity, peace, innocence, and purity, while the shape of the triangles represent forward movement and progress. The blue represents the sea, as well as loyalty, truth, and strength, and the green represents the jungle, as well as abundance, joy, and hope.

Neighbors and Relations
The people of New Gork have encountered a number of beings and societies on the previously supposed "uninhabited" continent. They have established official diplomatic relations with a nameless kingdom of merfolk off the coast, and previously had similar relations with Dorocuil, a nation of undead elves, until that city's abrupt disappearance. New Gork has one satellite settlement, Livbringaren, located a short distance into the jungle. Other groups have been encountered, although no formal relations have been established.

Dorocuil
Main article: Dorocuil

Only a few hours' journey into the jungle, one could find the city of Dorocuil, situated on an island in the center of a large river. The city's inhabitants were all undead, though they were amicable to New Gork's presence and friendly relations were established in 2323. At some point before 2344, the start of season 4, it vanished without a trace, an event not altogether unheard of for the continent.

Fey
Various fey have been encountered. Pixies have been known to prank travelers, but may often be appeased with simple gifts. It's warned that a particular fey living in a field of blue "magiscribe" flowers should be avoided.

Frontier Forge
Main article: Warforged

The Frontier Forge is currently the only known place of origin for warforged. It lies a short journey into the jungle from New Gork and is on neutral terms with the settlement, but will prove hostile to intruders. The Forge is currently under the command of the warforged Shortstop Trace.

Grung
A race of frog-people called grung have been encountered on multiple occasions in the jungle. When first encountered, they attempted to press the adventurers who came across them into slavery. The encounter turned violent and relations remain hostile.

Livbringaren
Main article: Livbringaren

Previously inhabited by the entity known as the deathstrider, Livbringaren is a reclaimed pre-Cataclysm town and satellite settlement of New Gork. A road has been established between Livbringaren and New Gork, with regular caravans traveling along it. While the road makes traveling faster and more convenient, it doesn't make it any safer, and the caravans are guarded to protect them from jungle creatures.

Merfolk Kingdom
Main article: Merfolk Kingdom

The merfolk kingdom was initially encountered while trying to salvage supplies from the wreckage of the Guildhall. They are somewhat secretive and the precise location of their city is unknown. After fulfilling a few requests of their king in a show of goodwill, friendly relations were established, and their king gifted New Gork with an enchanted fountain. The waters of this fountain will glow when the king wishes to contact the people of New Gork and a brief spoken message will begin when approached, generally including a summons for adventurers and a short description of the task.

Octobuds
The octobuds are a particular species of octopi that are capable of controlling corpses. The level of their independent sapience is uncertain, but while piloting a corpse, they are able to access that creature's brain to some extent and are distinctly intelligent. They are neutral towards New Gork.