Ucahhen (o̅o̅ kə hĕn)
Ucahhen is a large town that serves as the capital for Klarland. It is home to a mixed population as is most of Klarland, as well as to the castle currently occupied by Cyneburg Sattler.
Demographics
Government
Under the tyrants of the house of Baasch, Ucahhen was a veritable fortress under the control of the military. When Adelais Schräder this was abolished, and a representative system was put in place. The town was divided into seven districts with each district electing a minister to the parliament. The ministers each serve for six years, and amongst themselves choose one member to be the prime minister for a year. The prime minister is responsible for the enforcing of laws and leading the parliament who make what laws are necessary. There is also a governor appointed by the king, who functions as a de facto head of the judiciary and represents the king’s interests. While the king can veto laws, he (or she) deems unnecessary or contrary to the interests of the kingdom, this seldom happens. The parliament meets once a month at the beginning of each month and stays in session as long as necessary, usually only a day or two. The prime minister can call emergency sessions at any time, though seldom exercises this power.
Defences
As mentioned under infrastructure the town has an impressive wall around the vast majority of it. The wall was built by Sigibert Baasch when he conquered the land. It has six gates, two on the river, and one at each f the cardinal directions. Each gate is flanked by large towers standing thirty feet tall, and twenty feet wide. The walls are twenty feet high and ten feet thick, and complete with battlements, crenelations, and machicolations. The first floor of each tower contains a small arsenal of crossbows and hundreds of bolts. Most of these defenses have been in place since the time of Sigibert Baasch with only minor upgrades by the rulers since.
Industry & Trade
Like Klarland for which it’s the governmental seat, Ucahhen doesn’t have an industry yet. There are plenty of craftsmen who moved to the town with the fall of the Baasch rulers. However, the town doesn’t have a single industry that sets it apart, or that it is known for. Most trade is conducted between the citizens of the town, or with other towns or outlying communities. Cyneburg is trying to change this by encouraging trade with Klarland’s neighbors. However, he realizes that in order for the trade to be successful Ucahhen needs to produce something that is either unavailable elsewhere, or of better quality than can be produced elsewhere. He has yet to come up with something to build an industry around, though he as well as the churches of Azu, Mudutu, and Kauppa are looking for that something. On the advice of a druid friend, Cyneburg is encouraging the planting of trees around the town. While there will be no benefit in the near future, and later years the trees will have grown suitably to provide much needed timber for the region. Also, as the trees he encourages are primarily oaks, the groves will provide perfect places for swine to forage.
Infrastructure
Uccahen has sturdy walls, which circle the majority of the town, though it has begun to outgrow them. The walls are ten feet thick and twenty feet high with thirty-foot towers ever two hundred yards. At either end where the Nahe flows in are large gates that can be closed to bar traffic. Likewise, there are gates at each of the cardinal compass points, ie. North, south, east, and west. The roads are all cobbled with the exception of some back alleys and the cobbles are maintained by a guild that is responsible for keeping the streets paved and clean. The town also has a sewer system started during the reign of Adaleis Schräder and completed during the rein of Hildegard Sattler. The sewers run under all the major streets and empty into several ditches containing captive gelatinous cubes. The same guild that is responsible for maintaining the streets is also responsible for maintaining the sewers. Numerous docks and waterwheels line the Nahe river where it flows through the town, and Cyneburg Sattler is financing the construction of a shipyard to facilitate trade up and down river.
Districts
The city is divided into seven districts, though the districts are somewhat arbitrary in their borders. They were first established under general Æthelwine von Niwith to more effectively keep order. They were kept in place by Adelais Schräder when she implemented her parliamentary system of government. They roughly consist of a civic/financial district, a wealthy residential area, a guildhouse district, a marketplace, a tenement district a waterfront district and a warehouse district. Though these names describe the majority of buildings in each district they are by no means as monolithic as they sound with buildings and businesses that ostensibly “belong” in one district often being found in another.
Assets
The city itself has little in the way of assets itself. Taxes are light and most of what revenue is collected is paid out to maintain the infrastructure. The guilds of which there is ten currently (shoemakers, furriers, maidservents, tailors, barbers, jewelers, pastrycooks, masons, and carpenters) have managed to accumulate some tidy nest eggs since Adelais Schräder allowed them to form. Most of the city’s assets are in the form of infrastructure, and enough provisioning to last a few bad harvests, or one protracted siege.
Guilds and Factions
As mentioned, there are currently ten guilds active in Ucahhen, those being the barbers, carpenters, furriers, jewelers, maidservents, masons, pastrycooks, road maintenance, shoemakers, and tailors. While memberships in the guilds is small as yet, they anticipate more members joining as the town grows. In addition, the clothiers, dyers, greengrocers, laundresses, and porters are looking to unite into guilds. Some are closer than others to accomplishing this.
There is really only one political faction in Ucahhen or Klarland for that matter, that is the few who felt things were better under the reign of the Baasch family and miss the order and stability they brought. Members of the church of Asmodeus are very active in this faction, and though they have no plans for rebellion or a coup, they are looking for a person or cause to rally around.
There is really only one political faction in Ucahhen or Klarland for that matter, that is the few who felt things were better under the reign of the Baasch family and miss the order and stability they brought. Members of the church of Asmodeus are very active in this faction, and though they have no plans for rebellion or a coup, they are looking for a person or cause to rally around.
History
Ucahhen was formed in 520, when an enterprising merchant built an inn and tavern along the shores of the Nahe river, to take advantage of the many farmers of the area who periodically gathered along the shores of the river to trade. Before long a smith and a cobbler had set up shop, and many of the farmers built small homes to spend overnight on market days. Ucahhen was named for the owner of the inn, the Vengeful Goose, which still stands and is owned by the descendants of Ucahhen.
In 556 the warlord, Sigibert Baasch, chose Ucahhen as his capital because of its size and central location in his conquered territories. He turned the sleepy village into a fortified town, building a keep, as well as town walls and towers as well as barracks for his soldiers. He also imported many craftsmen and entertainers to keep his troops well fed and happy, consequently under him the village grew into a small town. The town continued to grow under Wassa Baasch who increased the size of the army, and thus required more services for the troops.
Under the brief reign of Amalbert Baasch the town population declined as many of the citizens snuck away to avoid the ill rule of the decadent dandy. Most of these people came back however, after Adelais Schräder liberated the kingdom from the Baaschs. Under the paladin the army of Baasch was disbanded with most of the officers banished from the kingdom. Those who weren’t banished were required to find new occupations or leave of their own free will. A few of these soldiers, after extensive testing by Adelais formed the body of the town watch.
Adelais encouraged more craftsmen and tradesmen to migrate to the city, by paying a bounty for certain skills, and by allowing the formation of guilds, something the Baaschs forbid. The town continued to grow under Hildegard Sattler who continued her predecessor’s practice of paying bounties for needed skills and allowing craftsmen and traders to form guilds. Under Hildegard the town nearly doubled in size from a population of just over 1000, to well over 2000.
Under the reign of Cyneburg Sattler the town continued to grow to its current population of 3546 people. However, while he has ceased to pay bounties for craftsmen, as the town has attracted plenty the population now is such the new craftsmen and tradesmen are migrating in, as well as new people setting up farms and ranches. It is likely that before the end of Cyneburg’s reign the town will have grown into a proper city. Cyneburg is already preparing for this eventuality by building new and better walls around the town. His project has required him to import quite a few laborers, many of whom are planning to stay if they can find work after the walls are built, a project that is expected to take five years to complete.
In 556 the warlord, Sigibert Baasch, chose Ucahhen as his capital because of its size and central location in his conquered territories. He turned the sleepy village into a fortified town, building a keep, as well as town walls and towers as well as barracks for his soldiers. He also imported many craftsmen and entertainers to keep his troops well fed and happy, consequently under him the village grew into a small town. The town continued to grow under Wassa Baasch who increased the size of the army, and thus required more services for the troops.
Under the brief reign of Amalbert Baasch the town population declined as many of the citizens snuck away to avoid the ill rule of the decadent dandy. Most of these people came back however, after Adelais Schräder liberated the kingdom from the Baaschs. Under the paladin the army of Baasch was disbanded with most of the officers banished from the kingdom. Those who weren’t banished were required to find new occupations or leave of their own free will. A few of these soldiers, after extensive testing by Adelais formed the body of the town watch.
Adelais encouraged more craftsmen and tradesmen to migrate to the city, by paying a bounty for certain skills, and by allowing the formation of guilds, something the Baaschs forbid. The town continued to grow under Hildegard Sattler who continued her predecessor’s practice of paying bounties for needed skills and allowing craftsmen and traders to form guilds. Under Hildegard the town nearly doubled in size from a population of just over 1000, to well over 2000.
Under the reign of Cyneburg Sattler the town continued to grow to its current population of 3546 people. However, while he has ceased to pay bounties for craftsmen, as the town has attracted plenty the population now is such the new craftsmen and tradesmen are migrating in, as well as new people setting up farms and ranches. It is likely that before the end of Cyneburg’s reign the town will have grown into a proper city. Cyneburg is already preparing for this eventuality by building new and better walls around the town. His project has required him to import quite a few laborers, many of whom are planning to stay if they can find work after the walls are built, a project that is expected to take five years to complete.
Architecture
The majority of the buildings in the town are of wattle and daub construction painted regularly with whitewash. Reeds (for wattle) and clay and manure (for daub) are in abundance in the region. Stones less so, and while they could be imported from the Tagbåf mountains at great expense or cut from a local quarry, these stones were generally reserved for the castle and walls of the town. Timber also is rare often needing to be imported from Tatidär or harvested at great risk from the Verbergen forest. Consequently, stone is reserved for foundations (and often floors) and timber for beams. The roofs are generally made of thatch though often sealed with clay from the river and are peaked to shed water from the frequent winter rainstorms that the region is prone too. Recently a couple of enterprising craftsmen have begun making fired-clay shingles. While the process is slow and labor intensive and consequently the shingles quite expensive as of yet, they are gaining in popularity as fresh thatch is becoming harder to find locally.
Geography
The first building, the Vengeful Goose Inn was built on a bluff overlooking the Nahe river, and even had docks for those coming via the river. The land is relatively smooth with gentle slopes and small rises, but mostly flat grassland. The occasional stands of trees are long gone, being harvested for building materials. The Nahe river flows deep and swift in the location, having encountered a number of limestone hills in the area. In order to ensure that the river water remains clean and suitable for drinking and cooking, Adelais, Hildegard and Cyneburg have all forbidden dumping in the river.
Natural Resources
As mentioned, the small stands of trees that once dotted this area are long gone, however groves of oaks are being planted under the watchful eyes of Gamaliss a druid friend of Cyneburgs. While the trees are yet too small to be of any use, Gamaliss estimates that in ten years they’ll produce plenty of acorns for swine to forage, and in fifty years will be ready to harvest for lumber. The fields around the town produce plenty of wheat, barley, and millet, along with cotton and flax. Not to mention most farmers grow one or two types of spice for trade, and have a small orchard, vineyard or berry patch. Most farmers also have a few pigs, a couple of goats or a cow, and some chickens. Cattle are the most commonly grazed livestock though most ranches are further away from the town. The hills near the river are limestone, which is harvested for a number of uses, and a quarry of gneiss is located about a half mile from the walls of the town which has provided much of the material for building the castle, and town walls. River stones are often used for the foundation and flooring of many houses. Much river clay accumulates along this stretch and is harvested for multiple uses. The river is flush with fish; however, Hildegard instituted a licensing plan to ensure they would not be over fished, and Cyneburg has forbidden dumping in the river.
Type
Large town
Population
3546
Included Locations
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
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