Forest-end

The settlement at Forest-end was founded in the late years of the First Age, by people escaping the escalating war between the supercities. It is located across the Tallstag River from the Northern Forest on the eastern coast of Ayndrinor where it meets the Strait of Dalkaria.

Due to the nature of The Smiting, it is impossible to know where the founders came from or their exact reasoning for leaving their homes. Due to this, the city has its own lore to explain where the founders came from: a supercity in the Northern Forest was engaged in escalating war with other cities, and a group of concerned citizens left to start their own, more peaceful community. They wandered through the forest, escaping agents of the supercities that harried and tried to kill them, before eventually crossing the Tallstag River to safety. They settled down in this safe area and named it Forest-end to commemorate their escape from the forest.
The town was greatly reduced during The Smiting, with the deaths of any remaining original founders or their descendants who had been told of the "before times" - about 50% of the population. Many of the original families had vowed to never bring up the past, focusing instead of forging a new future; this was the only saving grace that allowed the town to survive in any capacity.
In the beginning of the Second Age, many in the town found themselves without any knowledge of the town's history, previous world events, or even about the surrounding area. As various displaced settlers found their way to the town, they were welcomed to fill the void of houses that had suddenly been left abandoned. The town continued to grow, though its prospects for prosperity were limited by the somewhat harsh environment. Slowly but surely, the town continued to grow, and over the course of the Second Age it has become a regional power despite its lack of a port and limited potential for trade power.

Demographics

Over the centuries, waves of new settlers coming to Forest-end has made its population incredibly varied and diverse. There is no predominant race makeup of the city, with humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, gnomes, and huundari all in roughly equal proportion. There are members of other races and cultures in the city, as well as in the countryside surrounding it.
Most people in the city and the area are laborers: farmers, shepherds, foresters, fishers, icebreaker crews, etc. Most people make a small amount of money but are comfortable enough in their lives. There is very little aristocracy to speak of, but the few historical wealthy families tend to hoard their wealth and maintain their lifestyles by running vineyards or managing lucrative business enterprises.

Government

There are two levels of government in Forest-end: the monarch who pays more attention to the politics and policies of the kingdom-now-province, and the Lord Mayor who oversees more mundane details about the city itself. Both are served by a series of advisors and functionaries whose jobs are to handle the bureaucracy and actual functions while the heads make large-scale decisions. The Lord Mayor does answer to the monarch and the former's decisions can be overridden by the latter at any time - though the monarch rarely cares about the minutiae of the city's administration.
The Lord Mayor's position is technically up for renewal every five years, but unless they have really angered the monarch their reappointment is all but a formality. The monarch also appoints all judges in the kingdom, including the handful that oversee courts in the city. These judges also need to be reconfirmed every five years, but their reappointments are also rarely denied.

Defences

The main city of Forest-end outgrew its perimeter walls centuries ago, but they remained in place to safeguard the city's government buildings and other central districts. These walls were largely demolished or heavily damaged in the recent Everyn War, and the new Federation sees little need to reconstruct them. Forest-end is not subject to raids or beast attack like it was in its early centuries, and with the peace that has ostensibly been ushered in they hardly need walls to keep out invading armies.
Even before the war, the neighborhoods and areas outside the older walls were policed and protected by a series of watchtowers spread around at irregular intervals. These towers were all around 20-30 feet tall and had a single ballista mounted on top of each, able to see far enough away to notice invaders or serious activity. Most of these were destroyed in the siege, along with hundreds of civilians that lived in the outskirts and were not able to shelter in the city's more protected interior.

Infrastructure

Though Forest-end boasts much of the expected infrastructure of a city, it is also much more quaint and rustic than one might anticipate. The cold winter limits the paving stones and road surfaces that can be employed here; where most cities have nicely paved roads, Forest-end has many more gravel streets that are heavily bowed toward the middle of the street, allowing moisture to drain off toward the sides. The few roads that are paved tend to be on higher ground and are likewise raked to allow drainage and help prevent ice buildup.
The relative lack of shipping activity in the Tallstag River leaves the water relatively clean for public consumption, though the city has recently installed an arcane treatment plant to remove any toxins or pollution from upstream. Most citizens get their water from the river, via several companies and public markets that bottle it. A few of the southern neighborhoods that are further from the river have wells that supply their water. The river is also a source of industry, as more than a dozen mills line the riverbanks, using the currents to turn their mills or other machinery.
In the winters, the city constructs several large "radiators" in public squares to provide warmth for those who are not able to heat their houses as well. These large copper and other metal devices use relatively little kindling to funnel heat toward a large umbrella that dissipates it for several yards' radius around the furnace. Firewood is also readily available for all, provided by loggers and woodsmen that traverse the Northern Forest throughout the year.

History

The specific details of Forest-end's founding and early centuries are lost to time, due to the specific anomalies of The Smiting. What we do know is that a group of settlers or refugees from a First Age supercity left their homes and wandered through the forest looking for a new life. At the southern edge of the forest they found an unclaimed piece of land on the coast, where a river emptied and the land was fertile. Celebrating making it out of the forest - either due to its dangerous beast denizens or perhaps because their home city was located in the forest - they named the place "Forest-end" and that name has stuck to the present era.
The first few centuries of the Second Age were largely spent surviving and trying to grow the city. Groups of refugees who had been wandering the plains of eastern Ayndrinor found the city and joined the settlement. The city grew quite rapidly at the time, despite its harsh winters and challenging environment. As the settlers continued to wander, a nearby town was founded - called Baggerville - and it was not clear whether they would see Forest-end as friend or rival. The first few decades of Baggerville's prosperity was spent in economic competition with Forest-end, but the intermarriage of the two towns' ruling families created an alliance that lasts to this day - and created the Kingdom of Tallstag.
As the young kingdom grew and tried to prosper, it was beset by roving beasts from the forest and various raiding groups from the mountains to the west. Some of these groups came over the mountains, having made the treacherous trek from the western side of the continent. Others came from under the mountains, peoples that thrived in the bowels of Ayndrinor and sought only conquest and enslavement of surface dwellers. The two towns fought off these threats as valiantly as possible, but after decades of facing constant challenges of one type or another, the queen at the time decided to build a series of fortifications on the kingdom's periphery to provide advanced warning and address the attackers before they made it to the civilized areas.
These fortifications proved a good investment, and within two years of their completion Baggerville and Forest-end were deemed completely safe. This only helped the cities flourish, as the population grew and migrants from around the world settled in this area where they did not have to worry as much about the dangers of nature. For several centuries, Forest-end existed in relative harmony, just existing and slowly growing. Then, the wars of the continent reached this far northern outpost. The Dumein Dominion was constantly seeking to expand its territory, and on many occasions they tried to conquer their northern neighbors. The fortifications that were meant to battle small raiding bands proved more than capable of turning back siege forces, and they were soon bolstered with additional troops and augmented fortifications.
Despite the relative peace of most of the Second Age, the monarchs of Forest-end have maintained a relatively well trained peasant militia, defying conventional wisdom of military preparations. Whole generations passed without needing to put their combat training to use, but the occasional invasion or siege would see the citizens mustered and sent to support the border fortifications in their attempts to drive back whatever invaders or siege forces that had been assembled. This over-preparedness came in handy in 1481, when a large army from the Dominion once again came knocking at Tallstag's doors. The border fortifications fell relatively quickly, victims of a lighting raid that took them before reinforcements could arrive. The kingdom focused its efforts on hardening Forest-end, realizing that Baggerville was so poorly prepared it would fall quickly no matter what was done. As many citizens as possible who lived outside the walls were brought inside the fortified perimeter, lodging at various taverns with anyone who had spare space in their houses. The city was able to maintain food stores for months due to their cold climate and cultural proclivity for cold-dried meats and grains. The presence of the river and heavy forest on the north side prevented the attackers from forming a true perimeter around the city, and their navy was not able to break the heavy ice that formed in the Strait of Dalkaria to blockade Forest-end.
For two successive summers, autumns, and winters, the city stood firm resisting the admirable siege assembled at its gates. The Frenders' adaptation to the winter conditions allowed them to function somewhat normally in the cold months, whereas the attacking armies had to retreat and shelter for the winter. This annual reprieve allowed Forest-end to restock and repair what they could, ready for the siege to continue the following spring. The thing that eventually spelled the city's downfall was nothing they could have helped: troops from other fronts in the region were diverted to Forest-end, and the increased attacking force was able to eventually overwhelm the city. But in the process, the Frenders inflicted heavy casualties on the Dominion forces.
In the two years since the war's end, the current king and Lord Mayor have been under heavy scrutiny from the Everyn Federation, though they have mostly been allowed to rule as before the war. The Federation agents monitor the leaders' decisions and study the king's court, ensuring there is no talk of rebellion against the Federation or planning of clandestine operations. Meanwhile, the Peace of Everyn was adopted, and the Federation sent several caravans of gold and artisans to help repair houses and buildings, hoping this would smooth over much of the war's lingering animosity. For many citizens, it did just this, allowing them to resume their normal lives much as they had lived before. But for a small faction of patriots, the wounds of the war are - both literally and metaphorically - still very fresh, and they harbor deep resentment for their new overlords. Rumors abound that several nobles are in league with the "Resistance", and some even claim the king himself favors getting rid of the new arrangement. Of course, these are explained away as nothing more than rumors, but they have only increased the scrutiny and observation of the Federation on those with the reins of power.

Architecture

Most buildings in Forest-end are made of wood, with a few - mainly large inns or the noble houses - having some stone elements as well. The general feeling and vibe is very Norse or German, where most houses have a single large room, with a central fire pit that ventilates through a smoke hole in the ceiling. Most are the sort of timber framed or half-timber houses that are typical of German villages, with various patterns in the external wood. The richer or more social the house owner, the more intricate the pattern. Some even have painted scenes or patterns accompanying the timber designs.

Founding Date

2739 1A

Alternative Name(s)

Frend

Type

City

Population

20,384

Inhabitant Demonym

Frenders

Owning Organization

Kingdom of Tallstag