Tiriene, the First Light

Art Credit: "Lighthouse - Angle 2" by ErikTaberman https://www.deviantart.com/eriktaberman/art/Lighthouse-Angle-2-905635397

Demographics

Since the The Week of the Swelling Sea, Tiriene has been populated almost entirely by soldiers. The Neo Dogma recognizes its defenses as a matter of national security and devotes constant round-the-clock patrols to the area to report on any aberrations or unexpected phenomena. Almost a third of its population are armed, trained guards who protect the fishermen, farmers, and other laborers in the area. Most of them are Human, as it is throughout the Kelic region, but there is also a good representation of Dwarves, Dragonborn, and even Lizardfolk.

Government

Tiriene began its life as a temporary settlement, a military installation called Fort Worthen that was established to stop creatures from the sea that sought to venture further inland. Soon it was discovered that the soil was fertile and the area quickly became occupied by Commonwealth farmers. They brought with them their families, tools, and a desire to create a life for themselves--the building blocks of society. It quickly became a farming society and was supported by a minor military presence sourced from Colum. Troops would rotate from Fort Worthen down to the coast on 19-month cycles, bringing supplies along the way.
In Y.E. 1099, following the events of The Three Crown War, Tiriene became the southern tip of the new Democratic People's Republic of Kelemvor. No longer a member of the Commonwealth, the lighthouse town has become a travelers city for people moving between New Veren and Lyonsbane Keep. Tiriene, since its construction, has been commonly viewed as an extension of The Colum Kingdom. That relationship was deepened by Colum's aid during the war, in no small part due to Cassandra's keen diplomatic skills. Despite that relationship, Tiriene is very much owned and under the conscripts of Kelemvor's religious text, The Dead Scales, and ruled by its monarch. 
Bureaucracy is a poison that can kill slowly, and because of the area's importance, it can never be allowed to be jeopardized by ineffective politicking. Due to this, citizens who call the First Light home have little say in how they are taxed, and how that money is spent. Many are prickly about this lack of representation, and many others understand the importance of their position. Although it is a somewhat tender topic among the Kelic people, there is a general, yet uneasy, agreement to the state of this matter, one that its monarchy hopes to resolve soon.

History

During a particularly long period of spring rain in the year Y.E. 658, an otherworldly fog rolled in from the south and occupied the area's farmlands for days on end, accompanied by a string of disappearances without explanation. Shadows were often seen lingering in the mists and whispers in the distance could be heard, instructing civilians to do strange and grotesque things to themselves and to each other. Then, days later, bloated bodies would wash ashore filled with glittering aquamarine slime and pustules the size of eggs.
By the year 661, reports and incidents had made Fort Worthen the most dangerous place in the Commonwealth. The sitting guard captain at the time, a halfling woman named Tiriene Andjuck reported that she heard similar noises from within the fog and ventured into it. She emerged several days later very much a changed woman. She was often heard muttering to herself in some unknowable language, a language that dug into one's brain and resounded between their ears, even when she could not be heard. Tiriene also became known for her thousand-yard stare, an unblinking gaze that looked through one and far beyond. When she was not working or drawing blueprints, she could be found on one of the cliffs overlooking the beaches below, staring long into the crashing waves just off the coast. She even once said she wished she did not emerge from the fog at all. Regardless, she emerged knowing how to battle it back. She gathered funding from Colum and oversaw the construction of an enormous lighthouse, situated at the southern edge of the settlement. Aside from mundane construction materials, she also requested a special magical focusing crystal that could amplify Abjuration magic. Its construction was officially finished in the fall of 664, and when its light shone brightly for the first time it cut through the mist like a hot blade through butter.
Incidents slowly fell over time and the Fort Worthen went back to normal. As the population slowly hit 25,000 in the year 693, Fort Worthen was phased out and the remaining military forces there were stationed elsewhere in the kingdom. Merchant and Adventurers guilds filled the void left behind and the area was officially renamed to Tiriene, the First Light in the year 702, recognized by King Selmus Auraena. But the lighthouse town was far away and the process of rotating troops to it became more costly as Spirix desertified more of the Commonwealth every year. Eventually, the tower fell into disrepair, an unsightly and crumbling structure that was the shame of the town that had been named after it.

Then, the unthinkable happened. The mysterious mist rose out from the sea and encircled the town once again in the year 1094 Y.E. The Dutycaptain of the Tiriene Guard, a young woman who grew up hearing tall tales of the coast, sent letters to every corner of Terisirae begging for help. The naive girl received dozens of adventurers from every corner of the realm, all there for the reward more than the task of protecting Tiriene's people. Thus began The Week of the Swelling Sea, a dreadful period where all but a handful of Tiriene's people were slaughtered by strange creatures dwelling under the waves in what could only be called an invasion.
Luckily, the invasion was thwarted and the creatures returned to the sea where they surely continued plotting. This cautionary tale, this near miss with oblivion, is the only reason the Neo Dogma needs to continue reinvesting in such a vital defense. It is now the responsibility of all in the Kelic region to contribute to its defenses, and to the protection of all Terisirae.

This entry is narrated by Ashley Moztel

Founding Date

Y.E. 664

Alternative Name(s)

the Light Which Holds Back the Dark

Type

Town

Population

98,000+

Inhabitant Demonym

Kelic

Location under

The Democratic People's Republic of Kelemvor

Owner/Ruler

Ashley Moztel

Owning Organization

Neo Dogma

Related Plots

• Chapter 1: The First Light