Brigden Ford
Known in ages past as the settlement at the largest and most navigable natural ford of the great Brigden River, the city of Brigden Ford is the largest city in the Kingdom of Eos. The city is known as the commercial and cultural capital of the Kingdom, and a natural central market for all the goods and services provided by the entire realm.
Known locally as the big city of sin and lost souls, expatriates and merchants refer to Brigden Ford as the most stoic and staid city they have ever visited. While it is appreciated for its much-greater degree of safety, the city is known for its relative lack of diverse markets and entertainment options. This has led to an influx of traveling entertainment from outside the Free Realms and the import of more-diverse goods and services, even if they were less than legal.
Demographics
495,500 People
- ~300,000 Humans
- ~75,000 Half-Elves and Elves
- ~50,000 Dwarves
- ~30,000 Halflings
- ~20,000 Gnomes
- ~15,000 Half-Orcs and Orcs
- ~5,000 Other
- Divine King (Church Proper)
- Divine King (One Faith)
- Imperial Cult
- The Old Faith
- Other
Government
The city is ruled by Duke Rickard the Third, a successor to Richtor of Brigden Marches. His family oversees the governance of the city itself, and mostly collects taxes through various levies at the gate and docks, and most-recently, parcel taxes to building and land owners. The City Watch is moderately-equipped and well-trained, they are supported by the Constabulary, a smaller force of trained and educated criminal investigators. In addition, Brigden Ford is home to the most prominent Magisterial Bench with three of the most experienced Magisters in the Kingdom whose legal knowledge and sense of justice is unparalleled in the Free Realms.
In addition to the two locations within the city itself, the three shipping docks play host to the official moneychangers of the Royal Mint, who not only handle the exchange of moneys from around the world into the sanctioned currencies of the realm, but also ensures that weights and measures are being adhered to by those who conduct trade and commerce in the Kingdom of Eos.
Infrastructure
The city of Brigden Ford has two sets of city walls, the outer walls were built in the time of Richtor after he was honoured as the new Duke of the city shortly after the coronation of Elsin the Great, and the inner walls that surround the old city quarter, which now houses the Royal Colleges, the Arcanum Tower, the Grand Church of the Divine King, and the keep of the Duke which has its own fortifications.
There are three bridges that cross the great Brigden River: Old Bridge, New Bridge and Big Bridge.
Big Bridge
The latter of which is the newest and largest bridge, which was started when Euwen was a young man -- his first major project as a Prince of the Blood -- and completed a year before his coronation as King. Designed for marching a column of soldiers with room for standard gauge wagons on either side. The New Bridge is highly fortified with gatehouses that seem more like small keeps on either end, each with a company's worth of heavy crossbowmen of the Royal Host. The bridge has a central support on an artificial island with a large tower that houses two companies of heavy crossbowmen and a company of special Bridge Keepers wielding halberds. This makes up the Brigden Bridge Battalion, a special unit that is not rotated out to standard field operations like other bridge, gatehouse or fortification deployments in the towns and cities of the rest of the Kingdom. Big Bridge created a new economic impact with walking and rolling traffic accessing much more of the entire city in much less time and enabling more productive activity in the formerly-moribund central neighborhoods.
New Bridge
Built was the second bridge to be built, and while it is no longer the newest bridge, the name has stuck in the parlance of the city's culture. The New Bridge was built shortly after the coronation of Elsin the Great and overseen by his great ally, the newly appointed Duke of the City, Lord Richtor of Brigden Marches. A second bridge shifted the focus of the city away from the old industries of smithing, leatherwork, plus general river-shipping and warehousing toward a more general (and less dingy) grand market built in the northern quarters of the city just inside the inner walls. New Bridge is often the site of the holy processions that move from the Grand Church of the Divine King to the Old Temple built shortly after the founding of the city an age ago, thus on holy days it is likely that New Bridge will be quite busy.
Old Bridge
One of the first large scale stone archway bridges, Old Bridge was also one of the first bridges to be wide enough to allow for two standard gauge wagons to cross. This bridge was actually built during the early days of the establishment of the Old Empire of Victor Magnus, and thus it was built with troop deployment and supply in mind. Since that time, Old Bridge has retained its robust fortified gatehouses on either end, as well. Before he was King, Elsin the Great personally funded the construction of wooden walking decks floating on either side of the bridge which greatly increased the carrying capacity of the bridge. Old Bridge has seen better days, and while the wooden walkways are well-maintained, the rest of the bridge is requiring more and more repair work. As a result, the Duke has agreed to reduce the toll on the bridge considerably.
Each bridge has tolls to get across, except during certain holy days and when decreed by the Duke or the King. Each is the cost for one-way crossing.
Old Bridge
- Foot Traffic: 1 cp
- Wagon Traffic: 1 sp
- Foot Traffic: 3 cp
- Wagon Traffic: 2 sp
- Foot Traffic: 5 cp
- Wagon Traffic 3 sp
Alternative Name(s)
The Ford
Type
Large city
Population
495,500
Inhabitant Demonym
Fordians
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
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