Dayne-on-the-Loch ("Dane on the Lock")

The sparkling gem of the Wein river valley, home to the University of the Rose and Violet on the Loch and one of the most populated cities in the region. Through civil war, plague, foreign occupation, royal dissolution and reformation the city has ever stood on the banks of Loch Barinham.

Demographics

Dayne-on-the-Loch (and its surroundings) occupies an area of roughly 6.51 squares miles (4166 acres) and has a total population of 250,000 people.
Dayne-on-the-Loch has long attracted immigrants from the many provinces of the Wyneil Empire and even others from further abroad. The city has one of the largest populations of non-humans in the empire, who make up a total of nearly 15% of the population.
The wealth distribution ranges dramatically, with sustenance farmers living in the outlying areas beyond the cities walls and wealthy nobles living in manors in the high district. The rapid growth of the city during the Latizan occupation (and subsequent exodus) left much of the improved infrastructure and housing available to squatters, and in the mid-26th century AE dispersed populations slowly returned to the city to find adequate housing and infrastructure for the newly arrived occupants.

Government

The City is ruled over by Countess Julia Copperbell, the defacto leader of House Copperbell, as well as the 8 members of the Sapphire Council. The Council is comprised of guildsmen, political advisors, a representative of the clergy, and other powerful locals.
The primary administrator of the city is the Provost, a title taken from the Latizan occupiers and currently appointed by the Count/Countess ruling the region. The Provost occupies the Watergate Citadel and handles the roles of city finances, leads law enforcement, is the primary judge and chief administrator of the city (though these roles may be delegated).
The Messor is in charge of agricultural administration for the city, and the management and protection of livestock, grazing areas, harvest and grain stores. They also handle property line disputes and commerce related to produce.
The city's Woodward handles the forest, hunting, and timber rights around the city. They are charged with preventing poaching, managing game populations, timber management. They serve as a defacto warden in the area surrounding the city to prevent banditry and ensure safe passage.
The Constable maintains civil order, oversees the city watch, protects public property, collects fines, and generally enforces the will of the Count/ess.

Defences

The original fortifications of the city were little more than wooden stockade walls and a few ramparts, built in the time of Dayne the Wildcat. Over time, the first city walls were erected around the city that had formed on the western bank around the Watergate Citadel. 
Following the capture and occupation of the city by the Latizan in 2401 AE, the occupiers began to rebuild the city to suit their needs. Work began immediately to turn the city (at the time little more than a fortified palace and its surrounding towns) into a stronghold for Latizan power in the region. A new wall was erected and large bridges were built over the river, linking together the two shores as one city. Gates and towers were constructed, as well as small fortresses at each entrance, and the keep of the Dayne monarchs was transformed into the Watergate Citadel. The new wall stands to this day, with the city pressing up against both sides.

Industry & Trade

Craftsmen, artisans, guildsmen, and freeholders of all trades congregate in Dayne-on-the-Loch, pooling resources, promoting competition, employing laborers, providing trade education, and boosting the local economy. These benefits result from relative independence from farming brought on by the harbor.
Due to the concentration of freeholders, the city contains libraries diplomatic quarters, parks, bath-houses, theatres, and other non-essentials.

Infrastructure

Improvements in the ancient era to the original settlement were made by the Latizan occupiers, and many still remain. An aqueduct is used to keep the water cool and clear by eliminating as much contamination as possible, and to reduce water loss to a minimum. It is flat-sided, made of concrete, and set directly in the ground, hermetically closed with limestone slabs that were sealed with a glaze and covered in a way that allows maintenance work. This water comes from several nearby springs, rather than from the lake itself, and is directed to a rectangular reservoir that feeds the aqueduct. Additionally, the Latizan developed and built sewers and reservoirs in the early city.
Other additions by the occupiers included customs buildings, public warehouses, transportation network buildings, bridges, theatres and great halls, as well as a variety of secular education buildings. These constructions brought vital trade and economic growth to the region at the time.
Following the exodus of Latizan from the region, the new rulership built a variety of structures as well - Public buildings include structures like baths, parks, halls, gardens, market squares, piers, and granaries, all built of hardy materials to ensure the maintenance costs will be low.
Upon the northern shores of Loch Barinham, dozens of docks stretch out into the lake, with shipyards that build the cogs and carracks that ply the wide river.

Assets

Due to its position just south of the Kiverwick River and Mitham River confluence, as well as its position on the Sovereign Highway the city has plenty of food from the surrounding regions, which are thick with farms, grain fields, and rolling vineyards. The river and lake offer trade by boat, and the Kiverwick exists Loch Barinham several miles south and flows directly into the Bay of the Throat, allowing for easy coastal travel.

Guilds and Factions

Major Guilds

The River Merchant's League, a mercantile group that controls and manages all transport along the rivers that lead in and out Loch Barinham.
The Company of Woolers,  oversees all the processes regarding wool manufacture - from the raw baled wool through the final cloth, woven at numerous looms scattered in private homes throughout the city. Unlike many other guilds in Dayne-on-the-Loch, the Woolers primarily coordinate the activities of its members, who do not generally own their own means of production. The woolers primarily create the raw resources derived from wool, whereas the Drapier's deal with linen and silk, as well as post-manufacture production of some wool goods. The relationship between the Woolers and Drapiers is strained due to the near-overlap of many of their official trades.
The Drapier's Guild, a powerful merchant's guild that controls the manufacture of linen and silk in the city. Over the last century, they have absorbed many related craftsmen guilds such as tailors, dyers, ribbon-makers, belt-makers, furriers, mercers, haberdashers, and other textile-related skills. The relationship between the Woolers and Drapiers is strained due to the near-overlap of many of their official trades.
The Parchmentiers, a merchant and craftsmen guild that controls all paper, parchment, and vellum manufacturing. They additionally control the scroll and book trade, scribes offices, and similar businesses. They are the strongest supporters of the arts in the city.
The Cardinal Company, a mercenary free company from the Silver Strand. They maintain a local recruitment and distribution office in the city, primarily administrative, though they are capable of fielding an entire company (approximately 100 lances, with an attending 500 squires, archers and men-at-arms) should the need arise and the coin be good enough.
The Negociants is the major controller of all wine production and manufacture in the region, and does a great deal of importing and exporting of wine from within and without. The largest of the three guilds that deal primarily in alcohol, the Negociants have a long history with the The Octan Faith and present debauchery and piousness in equal measure.
The Blackpowder Guild is a recently chartered guild that deals primarily in the manufacture of blackpowder, which has become a major staple in the wars in the north as well as a valuable commodity abroad. The devices manufactured by this guild are costly and almost entirely manufactured at the behest of the Sovereignty.

Minor Guilds

The Longchamps, a privately funded firefighting service that takes its namesake from a small crustacean that can be found in Loch Barinham.
The Brewer's Guild, one of the three guilds that manufactures and distributes alcohol.
The Frumentier's, one of the three guilds that manufactures and distributes alcohol.
The Everymen, A guild of musicians, instrument makers and singers. Dramatists and Actors often end up in the ranks, having no powerful organization of their own.
The Gutterwardens a specialized force, under the command of the Dayne-on-the-Loch City Guard, whose purpose is to keep the sewer system and the Undercity of Dayne-on-the-Loch secure. Gutterwardens are a sort of armed force, but the bulk of their number is rat catchers, gong rackers, and the titular wardens.

History

Ancient Era

In pre-Sovereignty times, the region was settled by the tribes that would eventually call themselves the Dayne. The Dayne, lead by their Chieftain Dayne the Wildcat, inhabited the lush region between the Kiverwick River and Mitham River, and established the settlement of Dayne-on-the-Loch around 1500 AE (Ancient Era). The region is known as the cultural homeland of the Dayne, who ruled the Kingdom of Dayne in approximately 2100 AE, with the settlement serving as the de facto capital.
Despite its title as the capital of the Kingdom of Dayne, the Dayne rulers rarely spent time in the city, instead maintaining fortified keeps in the surrounding hills. The Kingdom of the Daynes built bridges, traded with other nearby tribes, minted coin and farmed the lands.
In the summer of 2401 AE, the incursion of Latizan forces lead to the region being occupied by the invaders until 2510, serving as a base of operations for the Latizan and falling under the rule of the foreign power for a century. The region assumed significant economic and administrative functions for the Latizan during this period before the collapse of the continental colonies of the Latizan.
The long period of Latizan rule is dramatically reflected in the dominance of Latizan infrastructure in the countryside, in the shape of villas. Villas of this period were working farms and manor houses, not palaces. The survivors of the Dayne aristocracy of the pre-Latizan period, who first adopted Latizan ways eventually constructed their rural palaces, persisted through the period.
Scholars dispute the extent to which the mass of the Dayne, free or enslaved, benefited from the new rulers, but there is no doubt that the region prospered. Commerce was greatly facilitated by a road network and system of river transport that had been expanded and improved under Latizan administration. It is no accident that the capital of the old Kingdom of Dayne, a great inland port on the river route that led north into the continent, flourished due to Latizan trade.
The city was eventually sieged by warlords of the the Heartland Alliance, who captured it in 2497 from its Latizan rulers. The main Latizan forces of the region were engaged in a series of border wars with stretching as far as Sylvale.
The Latizan eventually abandoned the entire region in approximately 2500 AE for a variety of reasons. Rebellions and uprisings from neighboring regions combined with an outbreak of natural disasters weakened the Latizan grip on the region. The fall of the Latizan state culminated in an outbreak of a plague that only affected Latizan, rendering entire regions suddenly desolate of all government and infrastructure. The remaining Dayne aristocracy began divvying the region amongst themselves, but most joined the Heartland Alliance almost immediately.

Post-Latizan Ancient Era

Sometime after 2660 AE, the Disciples Rozali and Violeta (commonly referred to as "Rose & Violet") came to Dayne-on-the-Loch. As the legend goes, they remained to study the works of the Latizan in the area and advance their understanding of the secrets of the Ars. Around 2680 AE, the two Disciples found themselves engaged with the surrounding community of Dayne-on-the-Loch as it began to grow and change. Lords of the Heartland Alliance began petitioning the two Disciples to share with them the secrets of sorcery, as the stories of the Mage-priests and Emperors of Onera had reached the Heartlands.
Initially refusing any entry (often with violence), the two Disciples kept to themselves and advanced their unknown studies until sometime in the last decade of the 27th century AE. Appearing in the city of Dayne-on-the-loch, the two made an announcement that was meant to be carried throughout the Heartlands: They would take on 100 students exactly one year hence, and an additional 100 students each following year. Prospective students would have to bring some knowledge of their own, and if found satisfactory, the students would be given access to the island to begin their studies.
While it's not certain how many came from around the Heartlands to petition access to the towers, but it is known that word spread further than the boundaries of The Weinlands. who eventually became precursors to the first faculty of the The University of Rose and Violet on the Loch. Those rejected by the university often remained in Dayne.
Over the next few centuries, power accumulated in the hands of several houses of Dayne aristocracy, especially those that begin to adopt the early Octani faith that spread through the region. In 2997 AE, the Assembly of Tonos declares King Riven the Pious of Wyneil as selected by the Eight to rule the collective Heartland Alliance, and the region became absorbed in the larger Weinland Empire after King Natan III@ of House Casteret swore fielty to King Riven II at the Moot of Kings.

Dark Era

Modern Era

Upon the death of Anders Copperbell of House Copperbell in 937 ME, the question of which of his twin sons would receive his seat as the head of Barinham County fell to The Sovereign of the time, Orson III Hargreave . As there was a question as to which of the two brothers was the "eldest" of the siblings, Orson III split Barinham county into Swarester County and Bridgeton County, appointing one of each twin son to the two new Counties. The oldest of her three siblings by nearly a decade, Julia was raised by her parents to understand the complexities of running a province and juggling the rising power of the Guilds with the invested authority of nobility. As a young girl, she attended audiences with her father and mother where she met the heads of the merchant's Guilds of Dayne-on-the-Loch, her father's bannermen, and the common folk of Swarester County. At the time of the birth of her brother, Ferrant Copperbell, Julia was already eight years old and had begun her education. An apt student, Julia received private tutors from the The University of Rose and Violet on the Loch who educated her in the fundamentals of statecraft, military organization, and complexities of economic relations between the freeholders of Dayne-on-the-loch and Sovereign vassals of the nobility.
Ferrant, though the eldest son, proved a slow student over the years and Julia flourished to become a young woman of immense intelligence and grace. While the traditional lines of succession within House Copperbell were patriarchal, to many it became clear over the following years that the best of the Copperbell line resided within Julia. the birth of her sister, Sabina Copperbell seemed to seal the idea that the new master of Darthill Bastion and head of House Copperbell would be the beautiful and intelligent Julia.
After the untimely and tragic death of Count Morelet Copperbell and the Countess Sedania Copperbell in a cart accident along the Sovereign Highway on route to Weinwyr in 974 ME, there was an unexpected vacuum of power in Swarester County - In the event of the ruling Count's death, their firstborn son would normally ascend to the throne, and if too young, the Countess would take the role of Regent in the meantime. However, with the Count and Countess both dead, there was a gap in the rule of ascension. Many of the House Copperbell bannermen supported the placement of the eldest daughter of the Count and Countess, Julia as the head of the household and new Countess of the region. However, some factions within House Copperbell felt that the two counties should be combined back into one and placed under the guidance of Count Martin Copperbell.

Geography

Dayne-on-the-Loch is situated on the northern short of Loch Barinham, and straddles the Kiverwick River where it feeds into the lake, about 10 miles south of the Mitham River confluence. To the East is Swarester Forest, and to the west is Golant's Grove. The Sovereign Highway crosses the Kiverwick in the city, meaning much traffic through the region passes through Dayne-on-the-loch.
The city is situated in a stretch of arable flatland punctuated by rolling green hills, with a breach of marshland to the southwest on the very edge of the county's borders. The western bank of the city is generally higher than the east, which rolls downward to the farmlands to the east.

"Waves change, she remains."

Founding Date

1500 AE

Founders

• Dayne the Wildcat

Alternative Name(s)

The City of Colors, Old Dayne

Type

Large city

Population

250,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Daynoch

Location under

Swarester County

Included Locations

• Bowedcross

Owner/Ruler

Countess Julia Copperbell

Ruling/Owning Rank

Count

Owning Organization

House Copperbell

Related Tradition (Primary)

• Rosaviole

Inner Wards

Bowedcross
Castle Ward


Brightdocks
College Ward
Foreter's Ford
Cattleford
Sun's Crossing
Haunted Crown
Cabbageheath
Stonepole
The Ladies
Golden Way
Old Orchard
Sun's Crossing

Outer Wards

The Mire
Ashfair
Shortchurch
Cherryside