Baronial Cities

This post dedicated to the lovely Loch, who asked for information on a Baronial city that wasn't the capital. Here are four!SantepheneThe Barony's second city, about half the size of the capital, and situated further south, on the coast. Santephene is famous for producing excellent painters and architects. Its town centre is very old (pre Old Capital conquest), and built almost entirely from a white pearlescent stone, quarried locally, and built into long, thin towers that rise ten or fifteen stories above the surrounding buildings - the 'Sainted Needles'. The Needles were originally built as private or familial fortifications (Santephene of old was a city ruled by warring family gangs), but are now mostly owned by wealthy merchants and minor nobility, who purchase and maintain them as status symbols. They are still very beautiful, but also infamous for being extremely annoying to actually live or work in.The painters of Santephene are a school or movement of their own, which, in the…