An eccentric city and the oldest established in the Highlands departement, and one of the oldest in the country. The metropolis fans out from atop the precarious cliffs of Erise that overlook Auview Island. At the height of its autocratic rule Endcliff was renowned for its hanging vertical farms and advancements in philosophical mathematics. The economic conflict that preceded the Good Revolution nearly hollowed the city. Little is left of the innovative energies of old but the cheapest of arts and the population’s bizarre superstitions. 

Today’s Endcliff has only a reputation for what has been called its “horrendous cultural impact” and a very distinctive, often abrasive, local accent. The negatives of the city’s cultural exports are due to its niche art movements. Sophistication and aesthetic balance have long been lost in their grimy districts, leaving room for all kind of “experimental” scenes that mostly dabble in degrees of shock and self-righteous hedonism. The city was once known as the capital of the theatre. It is believed the peoples’ unusual accent comes from the influence of stage speech and the number of people once employed or descended of those employed in the theatrical arts. 

The city’s crime rate is classified as medium for the country, but the highest for the departement. This is particularly concentrated in the Abattoir district where at least two known criminal organizations keep their quarters and frequently battle each other over perceived slights and business competition. There is a lack of will to deal with this. These organizations have become normalized by time and entrenchment in community institutions. The workforce needed for adequate law enforcement is lacking like all civic services in Endcliff due to the city being nearly financially insolvent. The local governing is held by House Cymbelline. Ever aloof, and some would say they set the eccentricity of the city by their own weird ways. In recent years the Directory has suspended several of the house’s rights over incompetency. 

Growth and development are a rare sight, public services were nearly non-existent until the Good Revolution and the city is overall a greater burden on Directory resources than any other in the Highlands. However the cost of living is low and the employment rate has never had a major drop off. The house maintains minimal public transport in the form of two crossing streetcar lines that, though irregular, work well with the design of the city and face no major criticisms from residents. 

The city is hard to comprehend from any angle. Age and past prestige fostered extreme density with an urban core taking up 70% of the metropolis. There is little room to build and most construction is reparative when it actually happens. The same cobbles that first laid Endcliff’s roads can still be seen in some places through the patches of tar. 

A large population is still maintained, but year over year these rates have decreased due to declining fertility rates. The cause of rising impotence has not yet been found, but it is uniquely high enough to warrant an ongoing case study funded and organized by the Directory. 

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