Once a small fishing village facing the Splitmaw Strait, Cliffsunder was nestled in the western Fencrest Foothills beneath the high, winding Helefir River. Its early inhabitants eked out a living from the sea and the river, their modest homes built from driftwood, clay, and local stone. The high cliffs above the village offered both protection and a constant reminder of the precariousness of life at the foot of the rocky heights. Narrow stairways carved into the cliff face connected the village to the bluff tops, a passage both perilous and essential for trade with the scattered foothill settlements. It was here, amidst the spray of the Shifting Blue, that Cliffsunder first attracted attention for the natural bounty of its surroundings.
The discovery of vast deposits of white marble and precious stones transformed the village into a bustling town. Upper Cliffsunder became a city of gleaming domed roofs and white-terraced estates, with colonnades and balconies overlooking the bustling ports below. Streets were paved in polished marble, and elaborate fountains adorned city squares where merchants and nobles gathered. Quarrying operations sprawled across the surrounding hillsides, many owned by the ruling Helefir family, and the once-modest cottages of the lowland village were overshadowed by elegant marble mansions rising on the cliffs above. Seeking political power, the Helefirs used their wealth to establish themselves as the "Port-Lords" of the city, and ruled the region for hundreds of years.
The city’s maritime prominence grew with the construction of the Grandport, the largest dock in Cliffsunder. A marvel of engineering, the dock stretched along the shoreline with multiple quays, fortified warehouses, and raised platforms for shipbuilding. Skilled mariners maneuvered massive cargo ships and sleek merchant vessels with ease, and the sound of hammers and saws echoed day and night from the dockyard. The Grandport was not just a hub of trade; it was the heart of Cliffsunder’s economic power, attracting sea captains, merchants, and nobles who sought to stake their fortunes in the bustling markets of west Commona.
Nearby, the Whiteharbour Academy rose from the cliffside, a multidisciplinary school famed for its teachings in wizardry, natural sciences, and history. Towering spires overlooked the water, and students often tested magical experiments on floating platforms in the harbor, their work drawing scholars and adventurers from across the region. Despite the opulence above, the lower city remained a stark contrast, a tangle of narrow alleys, rotting docks, and haphazardly built shanties.
Poorer residents lived in cramped, dilapidated structures, many clinging to the cliffs themselves, with precarious walkways linking their homes. Crime thrived in these shadowed streets, from smuggling and petty theft to organized gangs that controlled stretches of the lower harbor. The contrast between upper and lower Cliffsunder was made painfully visible by the abrupt drop from marble terraces to rotting timber, a literal and symbolic divide between wealth and destitution.
Cliffsunder was estimated by census-takers to have a population of over 100,000 residents, making it by far the most populous city in the Fencrests and one of the largest in the Common League. While it was Human-majority like the rest of Commona, all sorts of Mortalkind could be found there, with a sizeable Halfling and Gnome underclass, as well as a disproportionate amount of Elven Crossborn due to its associations with Ardhon Miniel.