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Maquistry Cape
City Info:
| Affiliation: | Imperium |
| Government: | Mayor Office, Corporate Committee |
| Population: | Large (Over 20,000) |
At a Glance:
The second most important port in the Imperium, Maquistry Cape has long served as a major hub of trade, manufacturing, and shipbuilding. Indeed, Maquistry tends to outproduce even Bouillabaisse Harbor in most important metrics. Despite this, it is a much smaller city, with a much smaller population than Bouillabaisse, only recently outgrowing the city walls that once defined its limits.
Ruthlessly policed at the behest of the local industrial concerns, Maquistry Cape is many times safer for the average beast than Bouillabaisse, while at the same time seen as further away from the control of the ministries and Amarone. Vagrancy, begging, and petty criminal acts are ruthlessly prohibited, but the city government and its corporate overlords likewise work tirelessly to push out organized crime and other potential threats to the local economy, and generally leave the common beast alone.
The culture is one of hard work and dedication, with the promise that it might one day pay off. This dream isn’t accomplished by all, but those who survive in the mercantile, sometimes cutthroat environment of the city find it is one of the better places in the Imperium to live, and it has seen continued growth since the early 1730s.
Important Details:
The Guidance Committee: Made up of representatives from the largest corporations operating in the city, the Guidance Committee is the real ruling body of Maquistry Cape. Formed as a compromise with the city government following the Vertoll Disaster of 1734, the Committee was initially concerned with implementing safety regulations and providing relief to the injured. Over time, and especially after the collapse of the Ministry of Commerce in 1735, following then-Minister Vito S. Furotazzi’s departure with a great deal of the Ministry’s gold, the committee gradually came to overpower the very office which created it, transitioning from a body of communication, to recommendation, to eventually oversight.
Meeting every month or on emergency basis to direct the activity of the local mayor’s office, whose staff are selected based on its recommendation, the Committee maintains a pretense of legality and respectability, and generally rules with a velvet glove. Concerned firstly with stability, and only there-after profit, it found allies in the Imperial military during the civil war, whereupon the city works were expertly directed for the benefit of the war effort, and the city itself never fell under rebel control. Some wager this move more than anything else bought its continued survival, even after the fall of the Brudenell government, then considered a close ally of the Committee.
The SDS Corporation: In some ways a vestige of the old regime, the Special Dispositional Services Corporation has a storied history that begins in the shipyards of Bully Harbor, far from the cape. Nevertheless, as SDS was aligned with Minister of War Willard Brudenell, it grew to become an entity of national significance, ultimately penetrating the security and mercenary business of Maquistry Cape. Increasingly deployed as law enforcement in the years leading up to the civil war, and then eventually even as front-line combatants on Vulpinsulan soil, the SDS Corporation was largely dissolved in the Imperium following the Amelie coup of 1754.
Today, Maquistry Cape is one of the few Imperial locations the corporation continues to operate in, offering both private security and investigative services. The corporation even retains its place on the Guidance Committee, though it no longer commands the influence it once did.
Notable Locations:
Northside: The northernmost reaches of the city extend beyond its old walls and include most of the local tourist traps and small businesses. Initially hampered by the years of struggle and war that filled the late 1740s, Northside has since seen a full recovery. Kept safe and clean by the local authorities, offerings include libraries and museums funded by philanthropist elites, a smattering of restaurants ranging from the low to high end, and even a casino, one of the largest outside of Bouillabaisse.
Port Maquistry: Stretching most of the length of the city, from the city walls in the north to the shipyards in the south, the harbor facilities of Maquistry Cape take in more traffic than anywhere else in Vulpinsula save for Bully Harbor, and so the docks are surrounded by warehouses and industry dedicated to various imports, exports, and shipping utilities. Security presence is heavy, including a dedicated troop of marines from the local navy base, which doubles as an office for the Ministry of War.
The Marketplace: Centered in the city, a large square and its surrounding streets function as Maquistry Cape’s primary marketplace, surrounded by the offices of major corporations and the city government. As with the port, security tends to be tight, though thievery isn’t unknown. Much money trades hands in the market, and beasts come from all around to try and sell their wares, or purchase items brought in from afar.
The Rows: Consistent growth led the Guidance Committee to fund the planning and development of additional residential space, to reduce growing discontent and allow additional workers to be brought in. East of the old city walls lies most of the newly built structures, set up in a neatly arranged grid of streets feeding back into the market or nearby industrial operations. Much of the working population lives in this area.
The Vertoll Chemical Works: Constructed in the mid 1730s, the Vertoll Chemical Works was the first major chemical plant created by a private concern in the Imperium, following the development of numerous substances during the Maelstrom war of 1732-1733. Built in the southeast of the city, the facilities gained national notoriety after an accident in in Dismembre of 1734, during an inspection tour of prospective investors. The resulting series of explosions killed several dozen and left hundreds wounded from the blast, resulting fires, and falling debris. Among the dead were Edward and Rosaline Brudenell, the parents of future Minister of War Willard Brudenell, who would set about his quest for wealth and power by dismantling the Vertoll corporation in a series of aggressive legal actions.
Rebuilt in the years following Brudenell’s takeover, the works somehow survived the chaos of the civil war, remaining the single largest chemical plant in the Imperium, producing industrial vitriol for application both within the city and elsewhere. As with many corporate entities in the city, the Works grounds are heavily policed by private security, and at times of potential threat even receives guards from the marine barracks. No one wants a repeat of the 1734 disaster.
The Imperial Shipyards: Facing the bay itself, the shipyards of Maquistry Cape are operated by a mixture of government-owned and private entities. Of these, the Number 2 yard, owned by the Ministry of War, is to date the largest drydock in the Imperium, having once launched the titanic Tarquin Superbus, or Tarquin Supership, in Humidor of 1737. Damaged in the fighting of the civil war (1748-1753), the yards mostly remained under the control of the Brudenell government during the fighting, though rarely utilized during that time, with the city itself under siege for most of the conflict.
As the yards span much of the southern side of Maquistry Cape, stretching out beyond the proper limits of the city, the surrounding dwellings and businesses tend to represent the seedier side of Maquistry, with the local marine garrison and security guards largely keeping to the east by the shipyard grounds. As long as schedules are met, and disruptions are minimal, the authorities are largely content to leave the populace to their own devices.
