Jamble-Upon-Glen

A frontier town beset by dangerous beasts and enchantments. The gateway to Alfheim for many would-be hunters, loggers, and explorers.

Demographics

The residents of Jamble-Upon-Glen are humans (37%), halflings (18%), orcs (10%), dwarves (7%), gnomes (5%) and Elves or half-elves (3%). The most commonly spoken language is Marchionese. The town has relatively few children or elderly people, mainly tough or enterprising folk who are here to make their fortune on the edge of the Forest.

Government

There is a town mayor, elected haphazardly every five to ten years. However, the real power in town is an unofficial council of old-timers, the people who have had the grit to live here longer than anyone else. The actual makeup varies from generation to generation, but usually includes the town doctor, an innkeeper, a few merchants, a guard captain, and a priest. Between them, they have access to a lot of resources and information, able to call on favors in desperate times. The mayor might order a curfew because of the mist serpent sightings, but if the old-timers don't take it seriously, nobody will.
Jamble-Upon-Glen is within the claimed territory of two duchies: Kenbrook and Matinicus. They send tax collectors every few years, but this is an unpopular and dangerous posting.

Defences

When the Elves decide to react to the growth of mortal industry, or when logging disturbs the life cycle of some fierce and hungry beasts, all the townsfolk (including people from more isolated outposts and camps) seek shelter within the walls of Jamble-Upon-Glen. With so many hardened frontier folk, there's no real need for a standing army, but several guards are employed by the mayor's office to break up fights and organize an impromptu militia.

Industry & Trade

The town imports cold iron and processed goods, and exports lumber and strange organic curiosities to the more civilized lands.

Infrastructure

Jamble-Upon-Glen could not exist without its sturdy stone wall. Unfortunately, the population has been steadily increasing and many residents live outside the fortifications, building their homes in the clearing. There is a town square where traders with no permanent shop can buy and sell goods, and overlooking it is the clock tower on the temple of Sheela Peryroyl. Outside the walls are two of the largest employers: the lumberyard, where logs are sawed into planks, and the charcoal kilns, where the workers consume large quantities of strong tea to stay awake tending the slow fires. Inside the walls, the streets are paved, but outside the best you can hope for is mulch to keep the mud off your boots.

Architecture

Log cabins and stockades outside the walls, rough bricks and wrought iron inside. The temple of Sheela Peryroyl is the tallest building in town, followed by the large warehouse and shop of Carvenex & Sons Trading Company.

Geography

Jamble-Upon-Glen is settled at the base of a hill, surrounded by trees. They go out each year and cut back the encroaching wilderness, but it returns in force every time. There's a small river nearby that flows out of Alfheim, so it's not always safe to drink - some rotting beast might float down the stream, or lurking Elves set traps on the bank. It can be a beautiful place to live, in the fall when the mountainous trees in the distance turn red and yellow, or in the winter when the field is covered in snow, and there's less work to be done. Scouts and neighboring camps report that one ridge deep in the Forest seems to extend toward Jamble-Upon-Glen every year, like a snake below the surface of the earth... or perhaps a root from some truly colossal tree.

Natural Resources

The most abundant natural resource is plain and simple wood, but there are several magical or special types that may be worthy of mention. In order of how far out into the Forest they are found, these include: Poison Ash (toxic on skin contact), Flamecrown (leaves are incredibly flammable, wood is inflammable), Darkwood (as strong as oak but one tenth as heavy), and of course the awful Toothy Olivillo (used to make ~~~, but the cost in lives is high).

Founding Date

18920

Type

Trade post

Population

3200

Location under

Disjoined Duchies