The city of Southport in Lindomshire is the second busiest sea port in the Kingdom of Evenhold, surpassed only by the harbor in the capital. Situated near the eastern end of the Bay of Lindom, it's an important stop for ships making their way up the Malphigian coast, with vessels often docking to unload goods, take on provisions, or give their restless crews a chance for shore leave.
Until recently the harbor's docked ships and warehouses were the targets of repeated raids by pirates, but increased naval patrols and recently-constructed harbor defenses have curtailed the attacks, pushing the raiders to seek more vulnerable targets farther out to sea. Several well-known members of the Guild of Free Adventurers who took up with the pirates helped lead one of the last great raids against Southport; despite immediately expelling them, the guild became deeply unpopular in the city because of the attack and those wearing adventurer's colors are unwelcome at many local establishments.
Much of Southport lies inside the "Barrel", the common term for the city's circular central district which is ringed by a tall stone wall. Within its gates are the main square, the city's keep and barracks, the offices of the shire lord, numerous shops and businesses, and the homes of the city's nobility and gentry. The poor and the less prosperous yeomanry live just outside the walls in neighborhoods ranging from the modest to the squalid.
