Finhaven
Type: Historic City | Population: Small | Region: Chrysanthia
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Empire. The locals claim their city predates the Empire itself, which is technically true but irritates House Neuros. Finhaven was ancient when Chrysanth was a fishing village, and its residents have never let anyone forget it.
"When your great-great-grandmother's great-great-grandmother built her house, Finhaven was already complaining about how things used to be better."
— Yevgenia Blackwell, Imperial Historian
Overview
Finhaven’s defining characteristic is its age, and its residents’ acute awareness of that age. The city has been continuously inhabited since before the Chrysian Empire existed, maintaining records and traditions that predate every other institution in the region. This gives Finhaven a unique perspective on Imperial authority: technically respectful, practically smug.
Key Features: - Continuous habitation predating the Empire - Archives containing irreplaceable historical records - Architecture spanning multiple ages and styles - Preservation traditions enforced with religious intensity - A quiet but persistent sense of superiority
Population: Small by Imperial standards. Finhaven grows slowly and deliberately, if at all.
Notable Locations
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The Lantern Archive
Function: Historical Repository | Access: Scholars with credentials One of the oldest continuously maintained archives in existence. Contains records that predate the Empire, the Chrysian Era, and Finhaven itself. The archivists are protective of the oldest records, ship’s logs from the Age of Sail. They narrowly avoided House Neuros moving them to the Great Library five centuries ago, but only with the backing of House Canae.
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The Founding Log
Function: Historical Monument | Access: Public Legends state that the wooden palisade around the city was built by using timber salvaged from the Weir, one of the largest ships from the Age of Sail to come ashore on what would later be Chrysanthia. Local belief is that, through its many repairs and expansions over the millenia, this log still remains from the original palisade. Sea Dwarf historians have verified this, but many others remain skeptical.
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The Old Quarter
Function: Residential/Historical | Access: Public (respectfully) The first dwellings in Finhaven were built with timber from the Weir, and while none of those buildings still stand, the old quarter retains the architectural style of those first days of the end of the Age of Sail. New construction and renovations are tightly regulated, and two separate preservation societies consult on the smallest of architectural changes.
Districts
The Old Quarter
Temple Row
The New Quarter
» “New” meaning anything built in the last thousand years » Commercial and residential development (carefully regulated)
Harbor District
» Fishing and coastal trade » Traditional methods preferred
Governance
Power Structure
Elder Mayor: Cressida Thornwell (Independent, technically) Elected from among the city’s established families. House affiliations exist but take second place to Finhaven identity.
Other Notable Figures: - Chief Archivist Pellan Inksworth (House Canae) — The Lantern Archive - Preservation Council Chair Millicent Stone — Preservation Authority - Harbormaster Jonas Pike — Traditional Fishing Collective
Finhaven governs itself through a council system that predates Imperial administration. They adopted Imperial forms when required but filled them with their own traditions. The Empire has learned to work with this arrangement; arguments about proper procedure with Finhaven citizens can last for generations.
Visitor Information
Getting There
- By Road: The old routes from Solanth
- By Sea: Traditional coastal approach
- By Airship: Service available for traditional airships that can approach by sea
Accommodation
Traditional inns operating in buildings older than most family trees. Modern amenities have been carefully integrated to avoid disturbing historical character.
Things to Know
- Preservation rules are strictly enforced (and numerous)
- Local guides are recommended (and passionate)
- “Modern” here means anything less than 500 years old
- Comparing Finhaven unfavorably to Chrysanth is unwise
- The locals take their history personally