The city of Whitefort is the second largest settlement in
Zemet, located at the south-eastern edge of the region near the pass leading into Pretheya. It is also the only other major city in Zemet aside from
Flame's Providence, and one of two large population centres directly controlled by
The Vestaltir.
Whitefort is home to the largest, and only rock salt production industry in Pretheya. Over ninety-nine percent of the continent's salt is produced in Whitefort, and it is exported to every single part of the mainland; as well as in many cases beyond it. This monopoly on production has made it one of the most highly contested cities on the continent, and the unimaginable wealth it generates has allowed it to also become one of the most developed.
Industry
The one and only commodity produced in Whitefort is salt. Legions of labourers work long hours in the flats near the city's edges, scraping salt up from the ground with shovels and collecting it into piles where it is left to dry; before later being packed into carts and taken to the city's warehouses. This industry accounts for the largest proportion of jobs in Whitefort; with around 60% of the city's working population employed in some capacity related to salt production, either as harvesters or helping to move or stock the produce. It is estimated that more than ten thousand people are employed in the city for jobs relating to the production of salt.
By law, Whitefort is the only settlement in
Zemet which is allowed to produce salt. The city was granted a royal monopoly on the production of the commodity several centuries ago, which is strictly enforced by the state military and police. Patrols frequently depart from Whitefort to scan the periphery around the passage to Pretheya for any signs of illegal salt harvesting operations; and any criminals caught working at these are captured and brought back to the city before being immediately executed.
Working Conditions
The work done by salt harvesters is back-breaking labour; considered to be only a small amount better than work at a mine. Harvesting work commonly consists of ten hour days picking up clumps of salt off of the ground either by hand, or if one is lucky then with a shovel, and collecting them into piles where they are left to dry under the sun.
Commonly, this work is so physically intensive and damaging that most workers can only sustain it for around 20 years; with the majority being forced to quit at around 35 years old. The physical health problems caused by work in salt harvesting has contributed to the average life expectancy of men in Whitefort only being around 45 years; five lower than the average in the rest of Pretheya. Other issues include loss of eyesight: The majority of workers suffer moderate to severe damage to their eyes as a result of the constant glare of reflected light from water that pools on the salt.
Economy
The Whitefort economy is based entirely on the sale of salt, and the proceeds from this fund its government operations as well as the establishment of the local guard, and all other critical functions of the city. Whitefort does not grow any of its own food: Instead, it imports grain and other produce from
Grestvyt and Summerlen. In the past, it was also forced to import water from the nearest river at the south-eastern border; but the development of Theos has now rendered city priests capable of desalinating water harvested from local rivers.
The city is one of the busiest hubs of trade on the entire continent; alongside trade giants the likes of
Evergrace in Ressengia. Because it is the only place where salt is sold in significant quantities, merchants are forced to travel from all across the continent to purchase it at Whitefort. Most commonly, traders from Grestvyt, Summerlen, and Landamar will make their way through the Blasted Mountains to buy salt at Whitefort, and will then either sell it at their homes or to another merchant. Then, the merchant they sold it to may take it to Ressengia or Pasdjit, where they can either sell it locally, or give it to the next merchant; and so on and so forth. Through this system of trade routes, salt is ferried by a chain of different merchants all the way to remote provinces such as
Belyria and Asutoa; negating the need for one merchant to make what would otherwise be an almost impossibly long journey.
Imports
In addition to needing to import all of its food elsewhere, a number of other materials and commodities are extremely difficult to obtain locally in Whitefort. Chief among these is wood; which is required for everything ranging from the shafts of tools, to construction scaffolding and torches. Wood thus has to be exported from the south at a great cost; owing to the amount required and the cumbersome nature of transporting it.
City Layout
The architecture of buildings in Whitefort draws from a number of distinct historical periods. The original iteration of the city was one of the most unique settlements ever constructed in
The Grannrormrlen, owing to the fact that it could not be made using Arcana unlike most of their works. This resulted in a unique style of construction where the Wyrms fabricated the materials intended to be used in Whitefort's buildings in Summerlen, and then transported them to Zemet to build the settlement.
The walls of Whitefort were constructed out of individual stone bricks owing to the fact that any sort of pre-assembled product was not possible to transport to the wastes; making them a rarity for among other Grannr-era fortifications. Initially, these walls were only built to a height of around twelve feet; which was very low by Grannr standards. This was considered adequate due to the perceived low risk of invasions. Once the settlement fell under the control of the
Ashborn, these walls would be roughly doubled in height; with the additional constructions being done with red-stone brick sourced from Summerlen. These bricks contrast heavily with the grey stone bricks used for the initial construction, both in terms of size and colour, and have become iconic for their unusual appearance; being one of the things most associated with the city other than its production of salt.
Buildings in the city are also made in a number of different architectural styles. For ease of transport, the first buildings made by the city's founders were made of wood harvested from outside of Zemet and brought in along with the stone for the walls. All of these have long since decayed, however, and have since been rebuilt using stone from mines established nearby after the city's founding. The stone used in Whitefort's buildings is quarried from a mine in the east, dug into the edge of the Blasted Mountains.
Whitefort itself sits at the end of one of the longest single-destination roads in all of Pretheya. This road, known as the Saltway, stretches all the way from Whitefort the border of Grestvyt over a distance of several hundred kilometres. It was initially built by labourers during the time of the Grannr as part of a larger project to connect Grestvyt to
Flame's Providence, but the empire fell before the project was completed. The road frequently gets covered in salt blown in by dust storms, and so must be maintained and cleared around once a year; a task which takes several hundred people to achieve. The importance of maintaining the Saltway is paramount due to the immense quantity of goods which travel to and from Whitefort, which without a good road would be rendered impossible. Of more strategic concern is the fact that Whitefort receives most of its supplies from the Saltway; and in the event that it was disrupted for long periods of time (as has happened at various points in history) it could be disastrous for the city's population.
Political Situation
"They say that Whitefort isn't run by The Vestaltir; but rather occupied by Flame's Providence."— Unknown
It is often said that one cannot have too much of a good thing; but the opposite appears to be true in the case of Whitefort. The incredible amount of income the city generates as a result of its salt trade is so high that it has at various points in history threatened to eclipse Flame's Providence in terms of its importance within the Vestaltir. Frequently, in fact, it is argued that the city already has: Whitefort is the primary centre of trade for the Vestaltir and sees vastly more wealth passing through it than the Ashborn's capital does, in addition to being much closer to the rest of the Pretheyan mainland. The latter, in particular, has made it the de-facto diplomatic capital of the Firebird Church; with the majority of infrastructure for the church's postal network being concentrated in Whitefort rather than Flame's Providence. All of these factors, when combined together, have allowed Whitefort to accrue a level of political and economic power great enough to rival that of the capital. The main factor keeping it in check is that
The Alight's palace remains located within
The Solar Spire in Flame's Providence; and the heart of the Firebird Church with it.
This has naturally placed Whitefort at odds with Flame's Providence, and the capital has implemented numerous measures to keep it under control over the years. In the present day, the city of Whitefort has not been allowed to have a governor; and is instead ruled over by a council of twelve priest-elects. The nature of this council requires them to reach a two-thirds majority to implement any kind of policy changes or enact decisions; a margin intentionally set so high in order to kneecap their ability to rule.
On an economic level, the city is subject to enormous taxes of almost 50% of its income. Merchants who do business in the city are required to pay a high yearly fee to register with the state-owned trader's guild in order to do business there; all of the profits from which are sent back to Flame's Providence. Additionally, every transaction that occurs in the city is subject to a variable-rate tariff enforced by the merchants' guild, which is highest on the buying and selling of salt. Finally, although the city guard draw from a pool of local-born recruits, the captain of the guard is an official from Flame's Providence selected by the head of the military; who also resides in the capital.
The immense taxes levied upon the city by the capital have resulted in the people of Whitefort being reduced to an almost comically low standard of living, compared with what would normally be warranted in a city of such importance. Even the city's rich are little better off than in other cities on the mainland in the continent; while the poor commonly struggle to afford food and water, which are at a premium in the city given its remoteness. For these reasons, unrest is perpetually high in Whitefort, and the city has been home to numerous small-scale revolts in the time since its conquest by the Ashborn; though no full-on secessions or revolutions have been attempted as-yet.
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