DAM is a small town in the middle of the floodplains of the valley of the dancing moonlight . It's located in the middle between the rivers Vela and Yssi. To protect itself against the frequent floods, the inhabitants of Dam have built a circular dam around it.
The village of Dam is small enough and it has plenty of food and water to sustain itself. So most families are self sufficient, and take up an extra trade to supply the rest of the village, and to try and gain some surplus wealth. There is no government. But there is the council of the three sisters that founded the city. In an unofficial way they run the city.
Dam has a large dyke encircling the entire town. Not for military purposes, but to keep out the frequent minor floods. On top of the dyke a strong, tall wall is built out of lime and rocks to defend the town against the occasional extreme floodwaves. The central hall is built on an even higher plateau, with an additional dyke and wall.
When a floodwave is coming, all gates close, the water outlets are shut, and all inhabitants take shelter in the central hall.
In the surrounding area, some small hills are built with half-circular walls along the waterways for people to take shelter if they are too late to enter the city. The walls are easily climbable in case of an emergency.
The region is rich in food. Water and peat. It has natural river deposits of iron and silver. Wood is gathered from the forest nearby, and some of the people have started a small quarry to look for coal.
Professions: Farming the wetlands, Milling flour, Prospecting for silver, Blacksmithing, Gathering food, Peat collecting, Trading, Medicine making, Tavern
| Exports: | Imports: |
|---|
| Rice | Wood |
| Silver | Fruit |
| Shallowboats | Iron |
| Fish | Meat |
| Peat | Coals |
| Tools and weapons | Furs |
| Jewellry | Gems and minerals |
| Medicine | Amaranthite |
| Luxury goods |
Major exports are highlighted.
The village is surrounded by a circular dam that encloses the whole village. To reach the village during high waters they dug shallow channels, lined it with poles. And built special rafts to be able to move in or out of the city in case of emergency.
Later in history they will build watermilld to ground wheat and flour.
The village of Dam has an inner circle (dam). Home to the 3 sister's hall. And and outer circle, with some scattered houses.
The three families: van Dam, van Dike, van Ditch
The three sisters started building their first dwellings closer to the river Yssi, and further up north, near the forest. However, after a few weeks the first flood came and nearly swept away their home. So they tried again on the slightly higher ground between the bends of the rivers further south. They floated wood from the river down to the bend in the Yssi, and carried it from there up to the new location. They first built a circular dam around their settlement. Before further raising their house. They built a central building big enough for all 3 families. There were enough birds, waterberries and wild rice and grains to feed themselves, and they collected nuts from the forest.
The central hall in the inner dam.
The rows of poles painted with black and red tops that line the shallow ditches.
The base of buildings are built with rocks in lime to fend off any water. The rest is built with wood and straw. Simple slanted roofs to let the snow fall off.
Valley of the Dancing Moonlight
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