Edgewood (ej-wud)
Edgewood is a town located in the Kingdom of Havenwood, located 150 miles (241 km) southeast of the capital of Seafair and on the western edge of the Wyrmwood forest.
Demographics
Government
Being a company town, the title of Mayor is largely ceremonial, appointed by the owners of the mill to act as an administrator. Edgewood runs on a yearly budget of nearly 5,000 gold crowns, most of which go into the operation of the mill, general store, and repairs to the infrastructure.
Defences
The Havenwood Lumber Consortium employs a fifty-five-person private police force to deal with labor uprisings, criminal activity, and generally keep the peace as defined by the company. The police force is well-armed, with heavy armor, sturdy swords, and clubs, and operates out of the company's headquarters.
The Consortium also employs a wizard of skill, both to research applications of arcane magic in production and to serve as a magical defense for the town.
Industry & Trade
Edgewood trades almost exclusively in redwood lumber, with all business in the town supporting the mills and their operation. Families in Edgewood maintain small plots for farming, with a family routinely having a single cow, a goat or two, and a number of chickens. The wealthy residents of Uptown likewise have similar, if larger plots.
Infrastructure
A company town, Edgewood has numerous cobblestone streets criss-cross the settlement, leading to and from the mills located on the banks of the Moss River. Single workers are housed in camps, while workers with families are assigned one of 200 two-to-four-bedroom wood-frame cottages. The town is separated into three districts:
- Mill District - The mills and warehouses that are located along and three blocks away from the Moss River.
- Lowtown - Located at the base of the hill south of town, south of the mill. Home to most of the labor camps and cottages that house workers.
- Uptown - Located atop the hill south of the river and home to the mill owners, upper managers, and merchants.
Assets
- The Edgewood Lodge - A two-story, forty-room inn with a full restaurant and bar.
- The Edgewood Theater - A chalet-style theater made from redwood, with unprocessed logs acting as a collonade at the entry.
- The Edgewood Post - A post office located across from the Theater, where citizens can send and receive correspondence and parcels.
- Edgewood School - A primary school for wealthy children, with annual tuition outside what the millworkers can afford.
Guilds and Factions
As a company town, the Havenwood Lumber Consortium is the driving factor in politics, development, and operations. Any attempts by the workers to organize has thus far been met with aggressive efforts to prevent organization, up to and including the death of five labor organizers in the Edgewood Riots of 1503.
History
Edgewood was founded in 1448 as Westwood by the Havenwood Lumber Consortium to house workers for its lumber operations in the nearby Wyrmwood, chosen because of its proximity to the forest. Originally designed with overland travel of logs in mind, the Consortium quickly had to revamp their plans when the size of the redwood logs proved logistically prohibitive to move by cart, instead opting to float them downriver to the mills. Once processed, the lumber would begin the long overland journey to Seafair for sale. In 1465, the first ships came upriver to ease the logistical concerns, flat-bottom sailing skiffs that could traverse the river all the way to the coast, loaded with more lumber than any cart could carry.
Edgewood was renamed in 1472 to avoid confusion with a community on the southwestern edge of the Wyrmwood, with the company opted to utilize the town's sobriquet, opening the town's post office in the same year.
In Greybloom of 1502, the Moss River flooded, cresting at 65 feet (19.81 meters), sweeping away the log decks, most of Lowtown, and significantly damaging the mills. Over one hundred lives were lost in the flood, with an economic loss estimated in the hundreds of thousands of gold crowns. The Consortium rebuilt Lowtown, hiring new workers from elsewhere and repopulating the town within months, with repairs to the mill finished by Deiteral of 1503.
Those who survived the flood attempted to organize the remaining labor force, as well as the incoming workers, to petition the company for better working conditions. This resulted in an armed clash between Consortium-hired mercenaries and labor workers, ending with the death of five of the organizers and the labor force abandoning organization efforts.
Tourism
Edgewood is marked as a destination for merchants interested in trading for lumber or importing goods to the town, as well as the hunters and woodsmen who frequent the Wyrmwood.
Architecture
The town is primarily constructed of redwood timber, with Lowtown designs simple and utilitarian, while Uptown homes are more ornate, with gabled roofs, raw redwood log collonades similar to the theater.
The Havenwood Consortium office is the only building that stands out, its ground floor is made of quarried granite, with reinforced wooden doors.
Geography
Edgewood is located five miles (8 km) west of the Wyrmwood's western border, on the southern bank of the Moss River in the north-central region of the Kingdom of Havenwood. The town is situated on a 150 foot (46 meter) tall hill, overlooking the Moss River Valley to the north.
Founding Date
1448
Alternative Name(s)
Westwood (historic)
Type
Town
Population
772
Inhabitant Demonym
Edger(s)
Location under
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
Related Materials
Comments
Author's Notes
When I was young, I lived across the river from, and went to school in, a small company town known as Scotia. That lumber town served as the inspiration for this article, though the events found in this settlement's history reflect both the Great Flood of 1964 and the Lumber Riot of 1935, the latter of which happened in nearby Eureka.