Waynesburg
City of Waynesburg, the largest and most powerful of the free cities of the north.
Demographics
As of 1615 or so:
Human: 40,000
Halfling: 3,000
Dwarves: 2,000
Elves/Half-Elves: 4,000 Gnomes: 1,000 Half-orcs: 2,000
Other: <1,000
Halfling: 3,000
Dwarves: 2,000
Elves/Half-Elves: 4,000 Gnomes: 1,000 Half-orcs: 2,000
Other: <1,000
Government
Council of Elders - 12 representatives selected by various power centers.
Great Council - elected by various means by more popular vote.
These control laws, defense, infrastructure, coinage and so on, but neither is very strong, and both are highly decentralized. Each neighborhood tends to rule itself in the 1610s.
Defences
Walled - a full system of outer walls and towers around the city as a whole. Old walls around the Old City and certain parts of the city as well.
Industry & Trade
Major trade center connecting the north to the rest of the world, as well as the farmland, timber and mineral wealth in the area. Extensive industry.
Infrastructure
Extensive walls, sewers, roads, bridges, industry, docks, etc.
Guilds and Factions
City Council
Merchants Guild
Thieves Guild
The Family (a particular branch of the thieves guild.)
History
Named for Wayne, son of Alain, exile from the Kingdom during the wars of reunification.
Waynesburg was located in a good place, where the river flowed out of a lake, with steep hills to the west and north, and a mixture of good land and defensible hills around the river and lake. Wayne built a fort on the main hill west of the river, then a road down to a landing below the rapids. This road continued, to the high grounds to the south - there, a second fortified village grew up. Both of these settlements started as forts with villages around them. The southern settlement did not grow as quickly as the northern one, where Wayne first built. Trade to the south was not a major factor at the time, and small boats had no trouble reaching the landing by the rapids (which were further north.) Waynesburg was mostly self-sufficient, with fields planted in the low lands south of the city, down to the stream coming in to the south - what would become known as the Gully. The southern village remained small, a fort, a couple manor houses, and a village, with some fields, and a place where boats could land. It was also a good crossing point from the east bank, which had roads running in from Sigmunds Fork, etc. The ferries crossed at that point. It would grow slowly, but surely over time.
Walls: the first fort was a simple wooden palisade built around an area from the top of the hill (where the university and central bazaar now stand) down to the lake and the river. During the wars with the south, parts of this were upgraded - a stone fort at the top of the hill, another at Fort Byron, where the lake and river meet, later, a wooden fort on the south, which became Fort Brian. The town grew first along the river, but later up across the crest of the hill, and down to the west and south, where there were good fields. More forts appeared around the hill, with makeshift walls between - these were adequate for dealing with orcs and the like, but the offshoots of the Kingdom’s civil war (late 11th century) led to the idea of fortifying the whole place. In 1109, Wilfred the Orange claimed the title Duke of the North, in Sigmund’s Fork. Sigmund’s Fork was fortified - he decided to wall in Waynesburg as well.
From 1110-1140, the city devoted itself to building a complete set of walls. They ran around the foot of the hill, leaving a gap beside the river and lake, though this land was cleared and could be easily swept. (There were springs under the hill, which made direct control of the waterfront less necessary.) By the time they were completed, Waynesburg was starting to surpass the size and power of Sigmund’s Fork. The break with the south turned the balance of trade northward - the very acts of building these walls and houses, here and in Sigmund’s Fork, and indeed, down the river, made the trade in lumber, stone and much from the north more important. By 1152, the Duke of the North relocated to Waynesburg. Two years later, the War of the North broke out, and this solidified Waynesburg’s new position.
Several outer settlements had been established in the 1000s: the fort and village on the southern hills; a fort and village on the eastern highlands by the lake; scattered settlements through the hills and fens of the east bank, and a small village on the eastern hills in the south. (Called, even then, East Village). Similar small settlements appeared along the ridge south of the city, and through the lowlands, though this was mostly rural. All of these remained secondary.
The 12th century brought many people to the city. Large quarries were dug along the ridge directly south of the city walls, and quarrymen began to settle in that area. Same on the east bank. The waterfronts became more important, as they used barges to drag stones around. The areas in the south grew; the areas along the portage road grew. Farmers and herdsmen spread across the gully and the plateau. With the completion of the wall, several of these places remained - “South River Quarter” began to grow, as a somewhat lawless place outside the walls. At the same time, other areas grew - the southern village, now called Peters Town, after the duke, grew, and started to build its own fortifications. (Many migrants from Sigmund’s Fork came and settled here, along with the duke's shift from Sigmund's Fork.) Also, in this period, and the early 13th century, several powerful magnates - nobles, foreigners, and so on, built villas and castles on the hills west of the town - this became a source of great trouble, as it allowed the creation of private armies and fiefs right against the city walls.
These places filled up in a hurry in the late 12th century, as wars broke out in the south, and Peter and Geoffrey start trying to reclaim the north. Refugees filled the city - inside and outside. Many of them settled in the quarrymen’s village, south river - laying out streets giving them mostly southern names. The growth of this area also led to a serious effort to bypass the rapids - various schemes were tried, but mainly, a large canal was built from the bottom of the South River Quarter to the calmer waters just south of the rapids. This was completed in the early 1300s, and allowed uninterrupted river traffic from the lake to the ocean.
These outlying areas sometimes had ideas about being towns of their own - but the central authorities set out to make sure they were all under one rule. The southern governors began this, in the mid century, and it continued when they were removed. They began to build an outer set of walls in the late 13th century, as much to bring the outlying areas in, as to keep anyone out. They were sure to incorporate the villas and strongholds on the hills, and they worked to contain the agricultural ares to the west and south.
This was a chaotic period, as the kingdom’s power waned - the governors built the walls (1250 on), but were kicked out in 1275; the new government (which took a long while to settle on) continued to build the walls. The Heights first - then the eastern shore; then around South End (as it was called now) and East Village. Work continued for a century, though, especially on the outside walls around Peterborough. This was all very useful in those difficult time. But it was also a profitable time - the city grew rich, and ambitious. As the 15th century began, other plans were hatched - bridges across the river; a more ambitious series of canals. The eastern bank was incorporated into the city, walled - bridges were proposed and built, from 1300 on. Bridges were quickly built to Demarast and Devon’s islands, but the middle span remained a problem - a variety of temporary bridges were used until they could sink pilings and towers able to allow a full sized stone bridge across the main channel of the river. A similar process occurred in the south, starting later, but both were finished by the ed fo the century. This is when Southbridge and Northbridge started to be called those things.
The canal was expanded westward, across the Gully, in this period as well. This was both to help carry stone and material to the walls being built on the western outskirts of town, and to bring farm goods to the river. However, this period also saw the rapid growth of population int he Gully - the wars in the south and east. Plus the increased trade, led to a very fast expansion - Waynesburg became a boom town in the 14th century. The City filled up, South River Quarter filled up, Southbridge filled up, and people settled across the Gully, Peterborough, and so on.
1400s - crusades, wars of religion; orcs invade in 1411, causing great devastation. Gold discovered in the north, though this took a long time to develop. 1440 = reformation part 1; 50s = part 2 and wars.
Ca 1500 - a new canal was dug to link north and south. The old one started to fall into disuse. Much of it ended up being incorporated into a sewage system, which was built in bursts: 13th century in the City; 14th in South River Quarter and some parts of the Gully, as well as the outlying areas; 1400s in the Gully, often connected to the former canals, which were filled in and cities rebuilt on top of them. (The Gully got burned over and over: orc wars, accidents, internal wars, and at least twice during the wars of religion.)
SRQ built 1150-1250
Outer walls ca 1250
Bridges - Northbridge 1300; completed 1400
Southbridge 1400
Canal = South River Canal, ca 1275-1300; Full 1300s.
New Canal ca 1500
New Bridge - 1500s
Architecture
Stone houses in the old city particular. Wooden in Peterborough.
Geography
Built on either side of the Greatflood River, just below Lake Byron. The northern parts of the town are on hills, overlooking the river, in some areas very steep. Surrounded by ridges of hills, around the river valley. The town contains some lower areas (the Gully and the Fens, for instance), which are lo places between the hills.
Natural Resources
Water mainly and connection to the rest of the world, via the river. But the surrounding hinterlands contain many resources: timber, farmland, mining in the hills, and so on.
RUINED SETTLEMENT
Parts of it are: The Gully was completely destroyed during the Troubles of the 1590s. Much of the Adventurer's Quarter was ruined as well in this period.
Founding Date
919
Type
Large city
Population
50,000
Related Ethnicities
Inhabitant Demonym
Waynesburgers
Location under
Included Locations
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
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