Floating Market Factions

The Toddman

The Toddman is arguably the most feared crimelord in the city. Until recently he was the Boss of the entire Athion sector of the market. The Toddman is rumoured to have connections throughout the Linrodeth, even into the Council. His greatest asset is that his true identity is unknown, and all instructions are passed on via his lieutenants. The Athionic sections of the market are the roughest since its inhabitants are the lowest scum of the whole city. Should they make an effort though, an Athion marketer is indistinguishable from an ordinary citizen.

Skillet

Skillet, once a lieutenant of the Toddman, controls two Athionic sections of the market. These are believed to be have just begun to yield profits after the unexpected coup during the autumn of 142. Skillet has a reputation as a particularly ruthless Boss, although this may be because of the relative newness of his power.

The Cursos

The Cursos are humans from the Conglomerate of the City States. The word ‘Cursos’ roughly translates as ‘survive by running away’’. The Cursos were originally led by the Bordeci but during 138, the Babel and Solistel launched an attack on the Cursos causing a major fire within the market and splitting the Cursos between a faction under the control of the Solistel and an independent group of Cursos.

The Noord

The isolated valleys of the Western Isles are inhabited by a pale and stocky race of mariners known as the Noord. These people have a high regard for independence, and have been known to cause trouble by their disregard for the King’s Laws when they visit the mainland. A large group of Noord used to live in the market, but a large majority of these sailed away upstream in a makeshift longboat during 139, leaving behind a small group of Noord civilians behind. A new boatload of warrior Noord arrived in the market during the summer of 142.

The Solistel

This group of Solistel are very representative of their race, originally from the High Plateau. They work hard to preserve and increase the honour of their tribe, despite their surroundings. Since no-one quite knows what action or comment will be interpreted as an insult to their honour, dealing with the Solistel has always been regarded as a chancy business. The foremost family among the Solistel in the market is the Medunel. The Matriarch, Andenar Medunel, has never granted an audience to anyone outside the tribe. It is known that the Solistel and the Babel have has some form of alliance since the fire in 138.

The Kinjuru

Those Kezriakor exiled by the Empire of the Inner Sea are known as Kinjuru, and they are occasionally find their way as far north as Linrodeth. Lord Sato Shikoku is the ruler of this far flung group of exiles, and his people are highly valued as being scriveners under a sacred oath not to reveal their customer’s business.

The Babel

Although there are many Babel within the floating market to be found under the protection of Lord Sato, there is also a sizeable independent Babel sector under the leadership of the Dingol family who own the ‘Merry Whore’’.

Furrin’ Countries

The Conglomerate of City States is a term for the populous lands on the other side of the Gelt mountains to the south. These states are characterised by the complex and lethal form of politics known as The Game, whereby alliances and war are declared and broken with equal ease in the continual bid for more power. The Game affects everyone from a city ruler to a street urchin who is paid to act as his ‘listener’. Unwary travellers can easily be killed as pawns in a game which they never knew existed.

The isolated valleys of the Western Isles are inhabited by a pale and stocky race of mariners known as the Noord. These people have a high regard for independence, and have been known to cause trouble by their disregard for the King’s Laws when they visit the mainland.

Between the City States and the Inner Sea is the Theocracy of the High Plateau. Their people are tall, with brown skin and a mane of hair which roots down the spine. They also have a nictitating membrane over their whiteless eyes. In this arid upland the Church maintains a strict control over the water supply and the agriculture. The church is an austere and extreme version of the cult of Daleth the Earthmother in Athion.

Between the City States and the Flooded Plains is the Land of the Children of Herne, ruled by the Abeys. This country is set between two mountain ranges, and all trade between the coast and the heartlands goes through it.

East of the land of Herne are the Flooded Plains. This is a vast area of boggy fields worked by the Babel, a small yellowish people who also have a third eyelid and the whiteless eyes. They are a race enslaved to grow food for the Empire of the Inner Sea.

The Empire of the Inner Sea is ruled by the Kinjuru, a semi-aquatic race with dappled green skin and the strange eyes. Their capital is a huge and ornate collection of floating and semi-submerged palaces drifting in the Inner Sea. It is renown as a Court of extreme etiquette, artistry and courtesy, where the business of actually running the Empire is left to an immense and bizarre bureaucracy. The Empire influences or controls all lands surrounding the Inner Sea except one; the Menteshe.

The Menteshe is a hot, windy desert only traversed by the warrior tribes who search for and mine the bedrock, which is sometimes revealed beneath the shifting sands. The valuable metals and minerals which they bring to the coast to trade are much sought after.

To the East of Athion lie the immense and impenetrable Kalkas Mountains, sometimes called the Wall of the World. To the North lies nothing but snow and ice and the Frost-Wyrms.

A map of Linrodeth Catacombs

Nyskilde in 141

A report by Councillor Matthew Dixon, Emissary to Nyskilde

Background

Nyskilde is a small city about 200 miles to the north of Linrodeth. The trip normally takes about twenty days, allowing for time to shelter in little bays and inlets while the storms of the sea rage outside. Nyskilde is built on the shores of a circular bay and is surrounded by stone cliffs. The City’s defences are impressive even by comparison with his majesty’s castle in Linrodeth.

People

The society is very male dominated with age having considerable influence. The Jarl of Nyskilde (the equivalent of Lord Courtney) is Jarl Gudmund Thorkeleson. Other important citizens are Harond Garlok, Guildmaster of the Guild of Merchant Adventurers; Sten Bargeld, head of the Furriers’ Guild; Kertald Grine, Marshall of the City Watch; and Stella Kimble, leader of the Weavers’ Guild. Of these, only the latter, Stella Kimble is a woman. All of the civic leaders wish to maintain good relations with Linrodeth (but see below!), but in general have only limited horizons. It seems that Nyskilde keeps to itself in almost all matters.

Progress

Following Alderman Baldwin Under­wood’s excellent handling of relations with Nyskilde, I found that little needed to be done. Indeed the only progress that can be reported is that a new trading agreement between the Weavers of Linrodeth and the Weavers of Nyskilde has been concluded.

Problems

During my stay in Nyskilde, it came to my attention that the envoy’s residence in Nyskilde is in need of urgent maintenance. I therefore humbly re­quest that the budget for this Emissary be increased next year to prevent much larger expenditures in the future. In addition, the Merchants of Nyskilde are very parochial and may take offense at the slightest pretext. As an example, the Merchant Adventurers’ guild of Nyskilde seems to be bent on a course of ex­cluding all access to Nyskilde’s trade markets except when conducted by their guild. It is my belief that the guild charters of the guilds in Linrodeth grant us the right to trade (in the relevant goods of course!) wherever we wish and so we should resist this as much as possible. It is also worth pointing out that if the worst came to the worst (for example if the City States attacked Athion) that the City of Nyskilde would act in any interest (including that of his Majesty’s) other than their own.

Remains of a Writ

Athion

The country of Athion lies on the western edge of a great continent. The country nominally covers both halves of a great escarpment, roughly aligned north/south, that splits the country. In practise the lands above the escarpment have significant independence from the those below. The capital city is Linrodeth, but the city with the greatest population is Salvoyn to the south of Linrodeth.

Athion is a fertile country whose prosperity owes much to its agriculture as to the trading along the sea routes. The country was formed five generations ago, by right of conquest, out of three smaller kingdoms which can existed there previously.

There are as many religions in Athion as there is diversity of opinion. No officially approved religion exists, but some are large due to popular appeal (e.g., the earth goddess, the healer god), some powerful due to their strong organisation, others are rich by patronage and some are influential because they are so useful.

Despite the feudal government of the country, status within this society is very mobile. Neither the war nor the plague were particularly fussy about their victims, leaving in their wake many more posts than good people to fill them. This is particularly true in Linrodeth where a good craft and a comfortable profit have always been respected, and money speaks louder than an impoverished title. Although there are always the diehards….

Ghostmoons

Ghostmoons is one of the five main feast days occurring in the Athion year. It marks the onset of the winter snows, and the end of travelling and of war until the spring re-melting. It is a day for remembering the dead; graves and shrines are decorated, and many tales are told of ancient heroes and lost treasure.

For the dead, burial and cremation are both common, possibly reflecting the lasting popularity of the Earth Goddess Daleth, and the Fire Goddess Brynette. In the City of Linrodeth it is rare for a family to have a nearby burial ground, so ancestors are usually honoured with a house shrine (with or without ancestral ashes). Burial rites vary greatly between religions; the Hahnites are noted for their enormously elaborate ceremonies, the Dalethians for their spartan practicality, and the Torians for their twilight dirges.

An odd device is found in ceremonies and on shrines of many denominations. This complex labyrinth is known as the Path of the Dead and is popularly supposed to represent the journey that the soul must undertake after death. What is found at the centre (Judgement, Healing, Rebirth or Eternal Rest) again depends on one’s beliefs. Souls attempting to take a short-cut are doomed to be trapped in Limbo forever. It is believed that on Ghostmoons, it is these souls that return to the world. These ghosts are felt as an area of intense cold or seen as a pale flicker. Although often disturbing and sometimes frightening to meet, ghosts rarely have enough energy to disturb the material world, and there are no reliable accounts of them ever harming a living person.

Linrodeth

Linrodeth is the second-largest port and the capital of the Kingdom of Athion.

Linrodeth's wealth is based upon its vigorous Trade Guilds, which over the years created an unusually literate and articulate citizenry of craftsmen and shopkeepers. These Guilds men and women are permitted a limited form of self-rule, in return for a suitable tax, under the watchful scrutiny of the nearby Citadel.

The port and docks below the bridge over the River Ishtan are the lifeblood of the city and increasingly, the city is coming to rely on its seafaring traders and merchant navy to increase its prosperity.

For administrative purposes, the city is divided into 21 wards. At Midwinter the householders of each ward elect 12 councillors and an Alderman to represent their ward on the city council. These representatives must be guildmembers as well as householders and, because politics is an expensive and time-consuming business, most are actively sponsored by their guilds. The city guilds are granted a monopoly on their trade, and many citizens are members of one. The city has many popular markets as well as the shops.

Once elected the ward representatives take their place on the Court of Common Council which sits in the Witanmoot at the heart of the city. Here they are drawn into the complex and chaotic political arena, riven as it is with factionalism, feuding, intrigue, bribery and occasional reforms. To everyone's surprise, most problems get sorted out eventually. Interested citizens can catch up on the latest news about their councillors in The latest issue of The Chronicle.

Linrodeth is blessed with several major temples, and many countless minor cults. The major religions include: Hahn (law and justice), Torus (healing), Daleth (earth and growth), Esprayenna (sea and self-reliance) and Brynette (fire and construction). Of these religions, the Wellhouses of Daleth and the Smithies of Brynette are most likely to be found in rural villages.

Also resident in the city are the students of the Bards' College. The college is a squat, rambling structure in the easternmost corner of the city, which is rumoured to pre-date the city itself. It produces very few bards, but many musicians, poets and scholars of all types. Their entertainments, and occasional serious work, are the source of much vexation for their neighbours.

On the north shore of the River Ishtan are the civilian shipbuilding yards and stinking tanneries. To the west, 3 miles further down the estuary, lies the military harbour of Kingsport where the Fleet is based.

Because of the strict guild monopoly in Linrodeth, many immigrants and paupers are reduced to begging and often end up in the river slum known as the Floating Market. It has some advantages. If they can find something floating to live on there is no rent. If they can find customers for their trade there are no guild laws and no poll tax. The edges of the market do receive a number of customers; the boats close to the bridge and the embankment sell more exotic items as well as strange and wonderful meals. The latter areas have even become a favourite stop for the pleasure boats of the rich young nobles from the Citadel.

Linrodeth Sheriffs

139 Kennet Maxil, Paston Courtney

140 Kennet Maxil, Samantha Cox

141 Alan Griffiths, Samantha Cox

142 Alan Griffiths, Beatrice Perignon

143 Beatrice Perignon, Matthew Dixon

144 Beatrice Perignon, Matthew Dixon

145 Matthew Dixon, Alan Griffiths

146 Alison Shefford, Ann Tasker

147 Aralan Derwent, Ann Tasker,
Alison Shefford (appointed third Sheriff as from Arvinoth)

148 Alison Shefford

149 Alison Shefford, Jenny Davy

150 Jenny Davy, Miranda Andrews

151 Nicholas Bowden, Jenny Davy

152 Jenny Davy, Nicholas Bowden

153 Jenny Davy, Nicholas Bowden

154 Mary Hastings, Olivia Warin

155 Nicholas Bowden, Olivia Warin

156 Nicholas Bowden, Olivia Warin

157 Mary Hastings, Nicholas Bowden

No Lordship or Sheriff elections held in 144 due to the Great Fire, Incumbents remained in post.

No Lordship or Sheriff elections held in 148 due to the Invasion, Alison Shefford remained in post.

Lords of the City

136 Raphael Fitz-Simmons

137 Raphael Fitz-Simmons

138 Raphael Fitz-Simmons

139 Raphael Fitz-Simmons

140 Paston Courtney

141 Paston Courtney

142 Samantha Cox

143 Samantha Cox

144 Samantha Cox

145 Beatrice Perignon

146 Matthew Dixon

147 Matthew Dixon

148 Ann Tasker

149 Ann Tasker

150 Ann Tasker

151 Miranda Andrews

152 Miranda Andrews

153 Miranda Andrews

154 Jenny Davy

155 Jenny Davy

156 Jenny Davy

157 Olivia Warin

No Lordship or Sheriff elections held in 144 due to the Great Fire, Incumbents remained in post.

Ann Tasker became Lady of the City in 148 following the invasion by Princess Selina.

No election for Lord of the City was held during 149 and Ann Tasker remained in post.