Chaem
Chaem is modestly sized town situated in Tyldamin on the northern bank of the Kynfesdal river. Despite its relatively small size, it's one of the most prominent towns of Tyldamin due to the presence of the Natural Society and their facilities. Approximately a fifth of the town's population are Natural Society members and many more work as staff for their facilities. The town also functions as a market center for the surrounding area, a stopping point for those travelling north from Medloth, and has some reknown in industries such as fabrics and the making of paper and parchment.
History
The town appears to have had its first settlers somewhere between the years 600 and 700. For the first couple hundred years of its existence it seems to have been a very small market town, certainly less prominent than the town situated by the great bridge of the Kynfesdal. Due to its locations just at the foothills of the Tolach Naelath mountains however, it was surrounded by a fairly diverse set of ecosystems. This led the Natural Society to choose it as the location for their new facilities in the tenth century and caused the town to rapidly soar in both size and prominence.The rise of Chaem
Although the town had always been fairly prosperous in an agricultural sense, being a market town with lots to offer in grain, fruits, and preserves, the coming of the Natural Society added a lot of animal husbandry as well as demand for paper and parchment. Located as they were beside the Kynfesdal river, the population of Chaem rose to the occasion and — together with some tradesmen newly immigrated from other towns — they set up a paper mill and a parchmenter. Like many paper makers in Tyldamin, Chaem specialises in both papers made from fabrics and straw-based papers. The town attracted more visitors as people came to visit Natural Society members and facilities. As the town grew, it also gained popularity as a stopping point for folk travelling north from Medloth.A Town of Paper and Visitors
As paper making and printing techniques improved, the publishing company Tree and Leaf was established in Chaem — which by now is well known throughout Tyldamin. At first dedicated to publishing research articles and reference materials for the Natural Society, they have since expanded to other nonfiction materials. Both articles and materials for other Societies as texts more on the memoir, biographical and logistical sides of the Societies are published by them. The relatively recent barley blight has caused problems for the paper making industry in both Chaem and all of western Dlynaeth, as the availability of straw has decreased. This has increased competition and some strife amongst all those who wish to get something published - everyone clamoring that their work is of true importance and deserves both to be published and at a certain number of copies. Everyone else is simply upset about the risen cost of paper and there is some talk of perhaps increasing lumber activities to create more wood-pulp paper instead. Despite these difficulties the town continues to prosper, bringing in visitors - some of a studious capacity, whereas others come to enjoy the markets, the river and the Arboretum on the opposite bank of the Kynfesdal.Uphill and Downhill
Almost the entirety of Chaem is situated on the northern bank of the Kynfesdal river. The only exception to this is the Arboretum which winds along the southern bank, but contains no more building than a few sheds. One enters Chaem from the north or the west and the main road runs between these two entrances. The other two major streets in the town run from the western side to the Branch, one going straight through the two and the other following the riverbank (halfway down this street lies Tyr's Tavern). The vast majority of Branch buildings are located on the eastern side of Chaem, uphill from the town entrances. This is also the side on which the paper mill is located, as the water runs faster there. Consequently everything related to the Natural Society, papermaking and publishing is referred as "uphill" and matters more related to trade and travel are known as "downhill". {Hopefully a map here in the future}"It's a surprisingly pretty town, for all that it's so obsessed with a single subject. Certainly it cannot be called a bustling place, but it has charm and the residents appear quite happy with it."
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