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| Kôhp
Nyr Kôhpitol Royale |
Bridgeville
Majin Dûcton |
Aarunvale
Hilldale Forestvale |
Fyr Kôhpitol
Kôl Bhyd Outpost |
Aarûnvale
The land: Perhaps
the most metropolitan of Stephen’s smaller towns, Aarûnvale rests
just on the edge of the Great Forest, which dominates the southern border
of the kingdom. It is medium sized town of perhaps three thousand
inhabitants, but whose composition is rather unusual. Being so directly
upon the kingdom’s border and upon the much-traveled Pilgrim’s Way, Aarûnvale
has become the home a good-sized fortress of the Royal Guard, housing perhaps
five hundred, including servants, pages, and the average foot-soldier.
Pre-existing the fortress, the town has the usual array of farms.
In addition to these, the stability of the fortress and the traffic of
the Pilgrim’s Way has attracted a great deal of merchants such ilk: shops,
inns and taverns abound in a once-sleepy settlement.
The lord: Duke Ricard
Beirk is an intelligent and charismatic general of the King’s army, newly
granted this duchy, as the former duke was slain in the traitorous Battle
of Seven. Duke Beirk is aware, and wary of the strange mix that has suddenly
infused Aarûnvale: the travelling merchants and established farming
community grate against each other often, with the Royal Guard often caught
in the middle. The town’s proximity to the Great Forest allows for
a great deal of elfin visitors as well, who are typically distrusted by
the humans of Stephen. The duke is not above the occasional flex
of brutal military muscle to maintain order: public executions and even
torture has been known to take place after major disputes. Nevertheless,
Duke Beirk realizes that this tense melange is very lucrative, and thus
tends to rule with a good deal of laissez-faire so long as the people are
content and the taxes arrive.
The people: In its
strategic location, Aarûnvale has become a small but thriving community
of a mixture of humans and elves, merchants, travelers, pilgrims and simple
farmers and craftsmen. These diverse peoples often strain at the
friction between them, but are beginning to learn how to get on.
The air in Aarûnvale, lazy and simple only a generation ago, is now
bustling and filled energy, particularly in the bazaar that takes place
in the center of town every morning.
Hilldale
The land: Tucked far away
across the Dale Prairies, near the banks of the River Sern and a day's
walk north of the Great Forest, the town of Hilldale scrapes out a living.
Removed so far from the commerce and trade of the Pilgrim's Way and without
any real goods to export, Hilldale is a great non-entity in the politics
and geography of Stephen. What does render Hilldale remarkable
is the proximity of both the Great Forest and the halfling tribes who inhabit
that hills that dominate the landscape north of town. Thus, there
is often an extraordinary mixture of magical, nomadic elves emerging from
the forest and strange psionically-endowed halflings descending from the
hills. (The Jumeaus, as most of the halflings who live near
Hilldale call themselves, are oddly enough very talented with the Way of
psionics. This, of course, renders them even mre shunned and misunderstood,
but they seem happy to remain mostly where they are, in their comfortable
burrows and dens, crafting simple but elegant jewelry and making an honest
living.)
The lord: Duchess
Ariel Novam is a lax ruler, almost to the point of irresponsibility at
times. Hilldale has not standing militia, certainly not a watch.
Government of any kind is spamodic and often ineffectual. Duchess
Novam is far more interested in pursuing her own interests: psionics and
magic, especially those of the demi-human guests of Hilldale. Fortunately,
no one in Xerxes' court often takes much notice of Novam or her duchy.
The people:
In a word, most people of Hilldale are one thing: poor. The land
is fertile enough to support them and pay their taxes, but no real trade
is done in Hilldale save with the elves and halflings, which is sporadic
and light. Mot villagers do not particularly notice their povertry;
they are provincial, simple and uneducated to the core - almost naive.
They are childlike in their acceptance of the elves and halflings and share
their duchess' fascination more often than not.
Forestvale
The land: Very aptly
named, Forestvale lies almost totally surrounded by forest: the Golden
Forest to the north and east, and the Great Forest to the south and west.
The population has chopped and burned enough land to plant a few crops,
but for the most part the villagers of Forestvale are hunters, trappers,
lumberjacks and woodcraftsmen.
The lord: Duke Aleun
Foray, like many of his subjects, is an expert hunter and trapper, sensitive
to and proud of the forest that surrounds and supports his duchy.
More than any other noble of Stephen, Duke Foray sees many of his subjects
as something of his equal. So far removed from the heart of the kingdom,
and especially the court in Kôhp, social rank has less to do personal
worth in Aleun's eyes than one's ability to hunt, carve and act honestly.
However, his subjects know to never anger Duke Foray: his temper is legendary
and his grudges are immortal. Poaching on the Duke's land is not
punishable by death in Forestvale: the Duke simply spends the next few
days hunting you.
The people: The people
of Forestvale are simple in the their ways, but fiercly proud of the hunting,
trapping and carving skills. Furs and goods from this town and valued
highly throughout Stephen, and even further abroad in Iovia and Kyrst.
