Hartem

Hartem is the smallest port town within the Kingdom of Rustia and the eastern termination of the northern wing of the Vulkan Festland naval routes.

Government

The Ruler of the Fluchmoor County, Count Stien Von Fluchmoor resides in Hartem Castle. 
Fluchmoor County includes the roads and palisaded hamlets and thorps in between he villages of Hartem & Serach and Shwoberied county,  and also the palisaded thorps and hamlets in the tiaga on the way to Lindner county)
Patricianship. Only the members of a small group of families are allowed to exercise many political functions, including promotion within the guard and militia. 
Members of those of these families which qualify must also be free of Corruption, and either have the City Guard Background from within Hartem or have a Stronghold within Hartem if from other Backgrounds. Only those whom meet these requirements are allowed to hold position of Captain or higher in the Militia or City Guard, to vote for city council member or Lord Mayor or qualify for to hold office. Schwarzwälder, Sumpfer, and Dünenhexer are the three families whom are part of the Patricianship.

Defences

The town is perched high on a sheet cliff above the sea. Hartem also has a Keep surrounded with a defensive wall. The town has a road down to a tiny strip of beach sheltered by a small cove one of whose cliffs has the town and its walled keep over-watching it. The cliffs separating Hartem from the sea means most attacks from the sea must go through the docks and then travel up hill on a road with clear line of sight from the keep, meaning except on moonless nights potential raider are spotted with plenty of time to rally a force to meet them, hunker down in

Industry & Trade

Food Trade

Hartem is a net food exporter. It is known for its high quality Hard Apple Ciders, Smoked and Salted Fish, Acorn/Chestnut/Hazelnut Flour baked goods (hard tack for ship provision replenishment), Rose Hip Jellies, a lot of Whale Meat Pemmican, Pickled Eggs, Hard Cheeses, and some Salted Pork and Mutton. Beef is not exported as it is a luxury food eaten on certain Holidays after bulls have left their contribution to the spring calving with the heifers and most are ritually slaughtered for the communal feast, or the harvesting of cattle which has lost milk or reproductive viability. 

Sea Trade

Hartem is the terminal stop of sailing routes which navigate deosil (clockwise) around Vulkan Festland (the Volcanic Mainland). Sailing further being having any cargo confiscated by Myrkicarian Privateers and any valuable passengers taken for ransom. The reason for this is explained in the Great Myrkicar Maritime Treaty. Those same Privateers (which are primarily Demihuman crews, mostly Gnomes, some Halflings, some Half-Orcs and a few Dwarves) bring quite a bit of gold into the local economy as they use Hartem as their northernmost port for restocking. Fishing and Whaling do greatly add to the village's food industry, whaling also is a major resource for oil production, which is a major export. Scrimshawing

Infrastructure

Settlement Endowment: 6
Strongholds Within he Settlement of Hartem

Stronghold Name	Stronghold Owner	Stronghold Type(s) Rank(s)	Stronghold Sphere of Influence(s)	Stronghold Action(s)	Demesne Effect(s) Hex Range	Subclass Training Offered
Hartem Castle	Stein Von Fluchmoor	Castle: Keep 2/Establishment 1	Loyalist/Mercantile		Militias & Posses  / Sumptuary Laws	Fighter: Cavaliers, Monster Hunter, Scout, Sharpshooter / Rogue:  Inquisitive, Scouts
Celestial Observatory Tower	Cordula Von Fluchmoor	Tower 1	Arcane		Celestially Aligned Power	Wizard: Theurgy†, Eldritch Scholar
Saint Peer's Chapel of the Long Suffering Fisherman	Pastor Elend Semper	Temple 1	Holy		Fear no Evil in the Valley of Death	Paladin: Devotion† Cleric: Protection
The Filleted Mermaid	Gustov Auflecken	Establishment 1	Hospitality		I think I heard a Bard say	Bard: Whisper Rogue: Mastermind

• Militias & Posses: The populace within this particular Demesne are diligent in their duty as good neighbor and countrymen to seize lawbreaker, rebels, and invaders for justice! In terms of Military Units this Demesne Effect allows Levies which attack Military units hostile to Strongholds or law abiding citizens within the Demesne to appear if there is an inciting incident followed by an appropriate Charisma Skill check in a Settlement, ranging from D6 for moderate offense in a town, and up to 1d12 for a spree of heinous crimes in a major city. These Levies are not under the control, but will disband if commanded by a Stronghold Owner whose Demesne they reside and whose Stronghold Level in the Loyalist Sphere of Influence matches or exceeds the Loyalist Stronghold which generates this Demesne Effect. For situations where there is conflict and role playing with the use Mob, Riot, or Uprising which are of the Militia from pages 156-156 of Book of Beautiful Horrors, and they will seek to apprehend lawbreakers alive for trial. • Sumptuary Laws: Within the Demesne anyone may automatically know which lifestyle expense an individual opts into know how much money a particular individual has by making an Intelligence check DC 5 if undisguised to determine the target's net worth. If the target attempts to disguise their social status or net worth may do so, with their check setting the Intelligence DC. This is open used as a basis of taxing. • Celestially Aligned Power: The Stronghold is meaningfully tied to the heavens and this link means celestial events cause it to become a Place of Power reflecting the events. Most New moons are make the region unstable for arcane magic. Most Full moons are make the region stable for arcane magic. The Mid Winter New moon make the region wild for arcane magic. The Mid Summer Full moon make the region Calm for arcane magic. Certain Constellation alignments about once a decade make the region Chaotic or Serene. These events allow magic item creation appropriate to celestial or alienist objects. Also during the previous events Summoning of either aberrant from the blackness of the heavens, beings from outside the cosmos or celestial beings may be done as a Ritual, with all the associated benefits. • Fear no Evil in the Valley of Death: The Church of Light takes systematic measures that isolate and cure disease within the Demesne to the point it becomes plague proof. Humanoids who've lived in the demesne for at least a season are immune to disease.  Those whom oppose the faith are not protected by the immunity. • I think I heard a Bard say: The populace of the Demesne and those whom spend time there are exposed to the tales, songs, plays and other repositories of knowledge bards abstracted to the Stronghold weave into their works of entertainment. Humanoids who've been the Demesne at least a week and take Short Rests gain the ability to use the bard class feature Jack of All Trades a single time between Short Rests and only for the following Skills: Arcana, History, Nature, Religion. That ability lasts until used or the next Short Rest. This may be renewed with further rests within the Demesne.

Architecture

Buildings within Hartem have sturdy stone masonry for their grounds story with wattle and daub half timber-framed upper stories which overhang the street below be a few feet, topped with fired-clay tile rooftops. The ground floors never have windows, and the windows on the upper floor have heavy double shutters, inside and outside the actual window. The outer shutters are sturdy wood construction with solid panels tilted to make slits to allow sunlight in but block views and stones from below made with dowels and nailless wood joints. The Inner shutters are akin to a stout solid wood double door which can be barred to prevent forced entrance. The masonry and between the wood framework beams of the second story are white ashed with a waterproof whitewash made by adding whale blubber to quick lye before adding the water to activate it. The ceramic roof tiles are gray and come the ubiquitous black clay found through the area. The timbers are made from Red Cedar imported from the village of Serach.

Natural Resources

It has apple, oak and hazelnut orchards around the village's wall far enough away to allow unobstructed shots at close heavy crossbow range whose trees are dispersed radially enough to allow good line of sight for any groups or something the size of a siege engine while providing the additional benefit of allowing grazing of the villages cattle, sheep, and goats within sight of the city's wall towers. The orchard trees have with tended food-bearing thorn bushes (such as roses, blackberries, raspberries) beds around the trunks. Locals partake of the preserved foods listed in the food trade, the fresh equivalents when available (year round for fish), and most people maintain a garden box to satisfy their desire for herbs and fresh produce.

Type

Village

Population

2,209

Inhabitant Demonym

Hartemer