Hinterlands of Cothon-Gadeed

A city cannot sustain itself without hinterlands of farms, ranches, vineyards, and all the agricultures that supply a population with food--at least, not without a harbor by which to import such grains and other foodstuffs. While Cothon serves as the harbor for Gadeed, and their connection is ensured by the Long Walls, nevertheless, it were better for Cothon-Gadeed if they were supplied by their own farms, and perhaps even had surplus to export, rather than import everything.
Thus, it is that cities have "hinterlands", the lands often surrounding the city, peopled by unwalled villages, watched over by small high towers, and cultivated for produce and domesticated meats. Hinterlands are not always directly adjacent to their cities, but are instead legally or traditionally part of the city's purview--Al Agadrein being an example, connected mainly by sea but also by road to Cothon, but separated by the Tel al Safina and the lands of the Attines.
There are several hinterlands associated with Cothon-Gadeed and supplying the Dual-Cities with the usufruct of their land. Not all are listed here--many individual holdings are too small to count out--but those likely of greatest interest to the Chronicles as they stand now will be described in short:


Gunayna (the Gardens)
Three villages directly south of Gadeed, along the Gana River, with one at the confluence with the Hadiqat and one at the confluence with the Turma. Each village is held as a different iqta' by an iqtadar appointed by the Souffets during the Lunar New Year festivities (Feasts of Investiture). They are considered choice iqtas as the farmland along the banks of the Gana is, according to its name (the Garden River) exceptionally fertile.
The villages are named after the rivers: northmost is Gana, then Hadiqat, then Turma. They lie near enough to Gadeed that the garrisons of that city can march quickly to their defense, and so they have not been ravaged by the Red Cloud in the way that Al Zaytun recently was. Nevertheless, Turma especially, though also the other villages, suffer occasional raids from Kzinti warbands.


Al Zaytun (the Olives)
A rich land further up the Gana river, where it flows down from the southern hills and bends west to where it flows into the delta just west of Gadeed and Cothon. Al Zaytun lies to the southeast of both Gadeed and Gunayna and runs up along both banks of the smallish lake Qutnay.
Al Zaytun might have been a good site for a city, but it has always been overshadowed by Tsurr at first, and Gadeed later, and so though it has been inhabited and defended with fortifications for years, the people there have always looked to the northern cities for their protection. The hills are fertile and excellent soil for olives and other vines for wine or hops, and orchards grew thick around the shores of Qutnay. It was a rich land, divided into two iqtas and defended by the towers thereof.
Unfortunately, Al Zaytun has recently been totally ravaged by the Kzinti forces of the Red Cloud, the vines cut, the orchards torched, the towers thrown down, the populace slaughtered. This all happened in surprise, before soldiers of the Souffets could advance from Gadeed, and the Red Cloud's horde was able to slip away without being forced to battle. It will be some years before this rich land is properly developed again--and no doubt there will be clamoring for better fortifications!


Al Agadrein (the Two Towers)
Northeast from Cothon along the coast, separated from the Dual-Cities by the Attine Spire and the Tel al Safina, Al Agadrein is connected by road to Cothon, but is better reached by a short sailing along the coast. Nestled in a broad valley down through which tumbles a sweet stream, the interior of the valley is fertile for farming, while the headlands above provide decent land for ranching and orcharding. The main economic activity of Al Agadrein, however, is fishing--a goodly fleet of fishing feluccas sets forth from the estuary and beach every day, while merchant galleys haul the fresh catch overnight to the fish markets of Cothon to the southwest.
Al Agadrein was named for the two towers that stand, one one either side of the valley. Though ostensibly a single community, there have been traditions of feuds between the iqtadars of the rival towers for many years now. Only rarely has this come to bloodshed between partisans of the opposing iqtadars, but what is common are acrimonious lawsuits carried to the Court of the Moon--and sometimes of the Sword--in Cothon. These are usually disputes over water rights, weir rights, or accusations of hma-rustling and -thieving.


Saahil al Shamaliy (the North Shores)
Closer to Cothon than Al Agadrein, but still upon the same northeastern coast, this iqta' is actually fairly minor at the moment. But it looms large in the current Chronicles as the iqtadar of Sesel, Voice of the Survivors of the Tel, and a somewhat-recently minted citizen of Gadeed, who had once been a barbarian. Set in a small inlet cut into the headland, Sesel has successfully applied to the Souffets for the right to build a small tower for the defense of his iqta', and he has developed land for both ranching and for orchards.
This iqta' stands in the midst of land that was obviously once similarly inhabited--there are ancient fence-lines running along the headlands, and old ruins heaped here and there, and there are also several abandoned Klackon spires (minor compared to the Attines' Spire). As Cothon-Gadeed grows in strength, so the Cities have rewarded a strong partisan of their own with this new-won land, and allowed him to begin developing it anew. Hopefully it lasts longer than its predecessors, which lie ruined or swallowed up in the lands around.

Type

Village