Camerford

Founded in 652 LF, Camerford was one of Yondars strongest cities. Many theorise that, had the population and borders of Tiraven not expanded so rapidly, Camerford would be the seat of Yondars royal family.

Such theories also tend to delve deeper into how having Camerford as a central power would have altered the course of much of Yondars history. Would the Denholm family have survived had they been forced to relocate to Camerford instead of Tiraven? After all, the Stryken noble family had already dug their claws deep into the city and it was no secret to the public that the Stryken family despised the Denholm royal bloodline.

Davin Beckwith,
Scholar of the Moonglow Archivists

Founding Date

652 LF

Type

City

Population

Approx. 8400

Location under

Yondar

Camerford stands in central Yondar, just north of the Gallows River. Once, many years ago, Camerford was a central power in Yondar and had a city wide armour that rivalled Tiravens own. During its glory years Camerford was the place everyone wanted to live. As a big city, with large prospects of a lifelong job and a family, it drew in travellers from all over Yondar. Before it’s fall during the Stryken Revolt, it had the largest population of noble families and the wealthiest population.

Governed by a council made of noble families, merchants and commoners alike, Camerford presented itself to the people as the perfect city. The very same council also governed the surrounding area (known as ‘the Fords’), which before the Stryken Revolt included around 20 villages, 10 towns and a couple of smaller cities.

Camerford - Old and New

Made with Medieval Fantasy City Generator and edited by SunlanceXIII. You can toggle the map layers to view a post-seige Camerford (base layer) and a pre-seige Camerford.

Camerford

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Noble House Stryken and Their Legacy

For the most part, council seats would change hands every three or four years. There were a couple of exceptions to this rule - noble families who had accumulated too much power and wealth to be uprooted. One such noble family was House Stryken.

House Stryken were there when the city was constructed. They spent a great deal of their own time and money to help build the city from the ground up - their impatience and desire for more power in Yondar meant that they skipped over establishing a village or a town. To this day, Camerford still honours House Stryken, even though they were stripped of their lands and titles after the Stryken Revolt.

The city would thrive under their rule right up until around 800 AL. The separatists would revolt under the Stryken name; House Stryken would remain steadfast in their denial at stroking the flames of revolution right up until 989 AL when Queen Raelle would eventually besiege the city.

During the siege of 989 AL, Camerford was left isolated. Many of its separatists allies had already been caught and executed. House Stryken was finally running out of the influence they had so desperately hoarded. Still, the people persisted and thought back against Queen Raelle’s forces.

Wanting to make an example of the separatist force, Queen Raelle razed the city. Blood filled the streets - that of Camerford knights and citizens, or of Tiraven’s forces, stained the cobblestone streets for decades. After the siege was over and House Stryken was publicly executed on the streets they had helped to build, the city was set alight. No one knows whether it was on the Queen’s orders or whether it was an accident. Either way, the city blazed for weeks, until finally a storm passed over the region and doused the flames.

“Have you ever been?” Yevelda asks, tapping the charred part of the signpost.

You can barely make out the ‘merford’ carved into the wood. Your eyes follow the path as you take a moment to remember your geography lessons from back at the castle.

“You mean Camerford?” you ask, glancing back at Yevelda. She nods in response. “No. The royal family have never liked the place - King Ronan always used to avoid travelling there whenever he could. My mother went a couple of times. Said if you listened closely, you could still hear the screams of all the people caught up in the siege.”

“Did you believe her?”

You chuckle. Shake your head. A smile tugs at the corners of your lips. “Course not. I think she hated going to Camerford as much as the king did. They’ve still got the old House Stryken coat of arms chiseled into the stone arches at entrances to each district… never bothered to remove them, even after they rebuilt the place.”

Yevelda takes a moment to ponder that. “Seems strange to honour a house that led to your city burning.”