Yask
A small fishing village on a minor near island that is divided into two halves: the village and the docks. It acts as a halfway point between the mainland and the rest of the Fomaen Islands.
Demographics
The village of Yask is has a fairly small population, primarily made up of humans from the mainland, although there are a few humans of fomaean descent. The villagers are primarily fishermen that primarily fish for subsistence, so they never really build up their wealth. There is also one family of innkeepers and couple of store for supplies and necessity.
Down in the Yaski docks, there are more impermanent people, as sailors come and go. There are people of all sorts that go through the docks, and the few non-humans that live in Yask are likely to be down by the docks, working as innkeepers, shipwrights, or merchants, among other professions. More wealth is accumulated down on the docks, but they never use it in any way against the villagers, instead mostly competing with other businesses on the docks.
Government
The village and the docks are primarily ran separately, although they do collaborate on matters that affect the whole village. The village is led by an elder who chooses their successor as they age to train and replace them. Instead of passing laws, the elder rather is charge of settling disputes between villagers and working with the people of the docks to prevent issues between the peoples.
The docks have a council of guild leaders, each representing a different industry prevalent in the docks. The guild leaders are chosen each year by every business owner registered with the guild. Along with making decisions with the other guild leaders and the village elder that will effect all of Yask, each guild leader is in charge of regulating the business practices of their profession and keeping competition fair to both the customer and other businesses.
Industry & Trade
Up in the village, the primary industry is fishing, with most households having at least one person that goes out near daily to fish for food, or for goods to trade with the merchants on the docks. Some households also have small horticultural gardens to supplement the fish with fruits and vegetables, and will usually share with other villagers when they have a surplus.
In the docks, they primarily work in the hospitality industry, with many inns, taverns, and brothels for sailors to delight in. Along with hospitality, the docks also get a lot of money from shipwrights working on ships that have stopped for a time on long journeys. Merchants also have taken up a large chunk of the docks to trade with sailors and traveling merchants that stop into town, buying rare goods from one part of the world and selling them to travelers from another.
Infrastructure
There is little advanced infrastructure up in the village, but the docks are known for their extensive network of docks connecting various buildings, as well as having building on sturdy stilts that sit in the water alongside those docks. There is also a small shipyard so ships on long journeys can stop for repairs. It is not too large with only one dry dock, so only one ship can be repaired at a time, but many ships have found it a boon.
Districts
Yask is primarily divided into two halves, the village and the docks. The village is made up of people that live in Yask year round and make a living through fishing. They are generally a simple folk content with their lot in life. The docks are where ships passing between the mainland and the rest of the Fomaen Islands come to rest on long trips and trade some of their "exotic" goods. There is a large hospitality industry there, along with merchants to take advantage of the trade and shipwrights to help sailors after long journeys.
Guilds and Factions
There are three main guilds in Yask: the Hospitality Guild, which oversees inns, taverns, and brothels on the docks, with two exceptions; the Merchant Guild, which ensures fair trade between merchants and keeps order in the bazaars on the docks; and the Shipwrights Guild, the oldest guild, and the one that runs the shipyard on Yask. While not a formal guild, many in the docks also call the village of Yask and its elder the "Fisherman Guild", the secret fourth guild.
While these guilds generally work together for the betterment of Yask, there are a couple of sticking points that are often debated about between guild leaders. One of the biggest ones is the owning of the Wetdocks, a tavern near the shipyard. Despite being a tavern, the Shipwrights Guild owns it due to having been the ones found it when first creating the shipyard. Along with the Yask Inn in the village, these are the only inns that the Hospitality Guild does not own and it is constantly trying to bargain ownership away from the shipwrights.
History
Yask was once a fishing post, where fishermen would live for part of the year and journey back to the mainland with salt preserved fish to sell for the rest of it, until the fishermen eventually got tired of moving back and forth and just settled down for the year and the fish themselves. As trade contact opened up between the mainland and the Fomaen Islands though, sailors realized that Yask was a perfect resting point when traveling between the mainland and the rest of the islands. From there, the small docks used by the fishermen were expanded immensely into the Yaski docks today.
Points of interest
Up in the village, there is one major landmarks: the carved obelisk, a gray stone obelisk resting in the center of the village with bizarre occult carvings on it. It has been there since the village was founded and no one knows what it means.
The docks of Yaski are known for their many inns and taverns, but the oldest and most prestigious is the Wetdocks, which is also owned by the Shipwright Guild. This causes the tavern to be in a middle ground between two of the guilds, and means many sailors prefer to stay there over other inns.
Geography
The village of Yask is built up on a small hill that overlooks a nearby beach. This beach is where the docks were built out of until they just over the water. The hill that the village is on is surrounded by a small forest that takes up most of the island that Yask is on.
Climate
Yask has a largely tropical climate, with is being warm and humid most of the year. The main difference in climate throughout the year is an increase in humidity and storms during the summer, to the point where fishing can be difficult, with the villagers often having to stock up on fish and put them in salt barrels in the last weeks of spring.
Natural Resources
The main resources to be found in Yask are the fish of the coast of the island, the original reason for its existence. However, people have found that the wood on the island is fairly good for building houses and docks, although not enough to bother trading it to the merchants that sail through. Another resource that has been known to pop up is lledstone deposits in the forests. Not many know about this, and those that do are not sure why, but some theorize that it has to do with the strange obelisk.
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