Forx (for-iks)
Like most of eastern Ayndrinor, the naturally protected area where Forx sits was empty at the turn of the Second Age. Many scholars speculate the the First Age supercities took up most of this half of the continent, though their exact locations may never be known. When the displaced settlers first started roaming the plains seeking a good place to settle, they came upon an area where two large rivers converged, protected by the Backbone Spires on one side and the highlands on the other.
Since its founding, Forx has been an independent city and has defended itself well against all attempted invasions or attacks. The natural defenses provide a good base for this, and the city's ingenuity and resilience have added to it. Despite a large gnomish population similar to the nearby city-state of Kort, Forx has not developed quite as advanced technology - partially do to a lack of certain critical minerals and metals but also because the city's geographic location meant it never got attacked and never had to defend itself with increasingly complex magics and machines.
Today, Forx is known as a very unique town with a culture found nowhere else in the world. It is a working town primarily, boasting mines, fertile farmland, river fishing, and a trading business with towns downriver. Yet, the city feels as advanced or comfortable as any other. The workers are carefree, and most jobs in the city tend to work only three or four days a week, leaving plenty of time for the workers to engage in a variety of leisure activities. Forx is known for creating several different sports and competitive activities, though for many of these the various teams within Forx are the only participants in the world.
Demographics
The largest racial group within Forx is gnomes, making up around 45% of the population. Humans come in second with around 30%, followed by dwarves at 20%. The remainder of the population are of other racial backgrounds including elves, huundari, firbolgs, goliaths, genasi, and tieflings.
The majority of Forxians work in various labor-intensive industries such as mining, farming, and goods transportation. Hospitality and goods processing are also large industries in the city. While this concentration of laborers would typically indicate relatively low income levels, that is not the case in Forx. Strong guilds have kept minimum wages and worker pay much higher than that of other cities for several centuries now. A good portion of Forxians are also semi-pro athletes in the various sports leagues in the city, and many get a small portion of crowd proceeds for every game or contest in which they take part.
Government
More than any other city in the world, Forx could very well be described as technocratic. Its city council is made up of hardworking individuals who were voted to the council by their coworkers and peers - in elections that occur every three years. While anyone can run for office through a guild, the Forxian culture prefers the best workers and model employees to lead them. This sometimes leads to a breakdown in the bureaucracy needed to run a burgeoning city, but there is a small class of functionaries who try to correct this and keep things running efficiently.
Forx is also home to the Marka of Riverford, the hereditary position that is largely ceremonial and functions as the head of state. It is a remnant of Riverford's past, but the people still adore and admire the royal family and want to keep the tradition alive. The marka (a gender-neutral title that stays the same regardless of holder) still swears in every council member and city judge and must sign off on every new piece of legislation or city policy. Technically they can withhold their signature or refuse to swear in an official, but doing so would threaten the monarchy's continued existence.
Defences
Despite its isolation and the lack of attempted sieges over the centuries - not to mention in recent years - Forx does have a perimeter wall around its central district, where the government buildings and major temples reside alongside the Marka's palace grounds. This wall is more of a formality nowadays than functional barrier, but it was used to protect the majority of the city long ago. As Forx grew to the rivers and beyond, a full perimeter wall around all citizens was no longer possible, and the government did not want sections of wall open at the river.
Today, the areas outside the central district are protected by patrolling Watch units (called Wardens locally), stationed at various garrisons spread throughout the city. These Wardens maintain order and apprehend criminals, as any Watch members do, but they also keep an eye to the highlands for any marauding beasts. Every Warden unit has a sprinter that can make it back to the garrison quickly to alert other areas or call for reinforcements; this is the basis of Forx's defense network.
Infrastructure
Forx is about as advanced as other similar sized cities. It does not quite have the advancement and technology of Kort, but it is slowly getting there. All streets in the city are paved and well maintained, including some that feature rudimentary trolleys. These are not powered by the arcane like those of Kort, but rather by a team of four oxen per cart - which can carry up to fifty people or about 8,000 pounds total. The carts are set into grooves in the road, which are in turn reinforced with a thin layer of steel on the sides and bottom.
Apart from the roads and rudimentary rail system, Forx boasts running water to most of the city, as well as several public fountains and wells. Sitting at the conjunction of two large rivers ensures the city has plenty of fresh water straight from the mountains. Several watermills have been up along these rivers to help power various processing facilities. Part of the city lies on the southern bank of the Mercer River, requiring several bridges to be built and maintained over the centuries. The city also sprawls to the east and northeast, reached by crossing any of a dozen stone bridges. All bridges in the city are tall enough to allow barges from the mountain mines, and the main port area of the city (in the southeast) is kept intentionally clear of any bridges until further downriver where the main road crosses to Bridgington.
The city has a reasonably sized warehouse district that stores a variety of both raw goods the city is waiting to process or ship elsewhere, as well as finished goods ready for consumption or use. About one-fifth of the warehouses are used by the various distillers and brewers of the city to store and/or age their products. The last 200 years have seen a boom in the whiskey industry in Forx, using a type of barley that only grows in the highlands and oak barrels also native to only the nearby highlands. The resulting product has a slightly sweet flavor, similar to some bourbons, and can be enhanced by using dried peat imported from the lowlands to the east. In addition to the warehouse space, this booming whiskey and general alcohol trade also requires several large kilns or roasters to help dry or process certain elements needed in the process.
Districts
Some districts within Forx have practical names - the southern Crossriver comes to mind - but most are either taken from gnomish words or just fanciful sounding nonsense the gnomes thought was funny. The central market is called The Fork, as the main trade road into town splits into several different roads going to merchant stalls and on to other parts of the city, while the area nearest the main gate is called Rixxi Quarter for no particular reason. The central district that contains the government's buildings and many temples is referred to colloquially as the Gortin Circle - though officially the Central District - after the gnomish word for 'temple'. The quasi district known as Markazure is home to the Marka's Palace, though most Forxians never get to set foot in this ward.
Guilds and Factions
All of the prominent industries have a guild in Forx, and some industries are even segmented into multiple. Where the tavern workers have only one guild, the miners are separated into three: gems, metals, and quarrymen. In total, there are thirty-three guilds in the city, and each of them elects one member to the city council every three years.
History
Like most of the present-day Everyn Federation, the area that now houses Forx was empty and abandoned at the beginning of the Second Age. Roving bands of displaced people searched for spots to set up new towns, focusing on arable land, defensible positions, or access to resources. For the founding group of Forx, the location they found contained all three: arable land between and around two converging rivers; mountains, highlands, and rivers forming natural boundaries and barriers; and mountains for mining nearby.
The early years of Forx were spent building up the city and creating a safe environment where the populace could grow and prosper. Beasts from the highlands were common aggressors, as were other nomadic settler groups. Where the former were killed when they got too close, the latter were just as often welcomed in and made a part of the community. Forx had plenty of opportunity for everyone who wanted to join and become part of the town.
As other towns and cities began to grow, Forxians found themselves interacting and trading with these foreign lands frequently. They also noticed that other nations were beginning to get aggressive and were starting to expand their territory militarily. To combat this, the Marka of Forx sent a group of settlers east down the Mercer River to establish a forward town that could serve as trading post and invasion warning. So, in the year 531 2A, the town of Bridgington was established.
Like Forx, Bridgington was also on arable land near a river and had the highlands for both protection and constant source of worry. It began to grow and prosper at a pace almost matching that of Forx itself, and before long the younger of the two brother cities was thriving. During the continental wars of the tenth century, Bridgington finally served its purpose. Having faced no attacks or invasions in almost 500 years of existence, there suddenly came a host from the neighboring Dumein Dominion bent on conquering the kingdom of Riverford and taking its resources for themselves. The folks of Bridgington were able to alert the Forxians, who in turn sent their smallish river navy to harass the invaders. With strong control of the river and a tight corridor between otherwise untraversable highlands, the aggressors were defeated soundly, forced to retreat back home without any sniff of victory in the west.
Since that time, Riverford has only seen two other invasions, both of which failed just as spectacularly as the first. Forx itself has never had an enemy force at its gates, protected by a bevy of natural barriers and shields. This sense of security and calmness began to permeate Forxian life about 200 years ago, leading to an increase in the value of leisure. Guild workers began to organize into informal sports teams, and several brand new sports and games were invented between 1290 2A and today. While many of these have a competitive lean - to allow rival guilds or even cliques within one guild to engage in friendly competition - Forxians love games and sports just for the fun.
When the Everyn War began, Forx's leaders saw the writing on the wall very early on and brokered a peace deal to join the new Federation on their terms - similar to the southern nation of Brandis. Riverford was allowed to stay mostly autonomous, with the Marka remaining as the provincial head of state, with the only real changes impacting Federation authority to revoke or veto any policies passed by Riverfordian councils. For the most part, the people of Forx have not seen a change in their lives and therefore feel very ambivalent about the Federation.
Tourism
Some people travel to Forx for the natural beauty. The mountains, highlands, and two converging rivers make for a gorgeous area for sightseeing and nature lovers. A few of the mines even have semi-public operation where tourists can travel with miners to see what the operation looks like and explore the beauty of the underground caves.
Others travel to Forx to experience its sports or gaming culture. The novelty for most Ayndrinorians of enjoying several days a week off work while going to sporting events or just playing some games with friends cannot be understated. Even the simple pleasure of watching a unique sport or game can be so marvelous to people accustomed to toil and the banality of life.
Architecture
The buildings of Forx are an eclectic mix of styles, colors, and materials. Having been mostly isolated from the world, Forxians became accustomed to doing whatever pleased them without the influence of any greater culture or meaning. One person would see his neighbor's house painted green with windows on the front and decide to paint his own house bright purple with decorative windows that didn't even belong to specific rooms. To some extent, looking at an average residential block in Forx is akin to seeing a town from a Dr. Seuss book.
The larger buildings of Forx - the government buildings, temple, and the Marka's palace - are very Baroque or Rococo in style, with tons of ornamentation and decorative fixtures. The brick and stone of these buildings are covered by plaster which is painted in pastel colors and adorned with a variety of metals that sometimes complement and sometimes clash with the wall color.
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