Tarsal Landing

Tarsal Landing is a large port town at the mouth of the Skeld river. It spans the northern and southern banks, with the smaller part in the north governed by Hendrakin Land, whilst the greater part to the south of the river is in the country of Skeld. The image at the head of the article shows a part of the River End district on the southern bank, looking north over the river towards Hendrakin Land and the Limit district.

Government

Tarsal Landing - Town Hall by DMFW with Midjourney

Due to its unusual situation, straddling the Skeld river which marks the boundary between the countries of Skeld in the south and Hendrakin Land in the north, the town does not entirely fall within the borders of either. Although for most practical purposes it is usually considered a part of Skeld, since the majority of its people live on the south bank, the Tarboys and Targirls (as they proudly label themselves) have a stronger affinity to their own town than to the distant aristocrats of Rustriss and in many ways the local government is much more important to their daily lives. The Tarsal Landing Town Hall stands in the Castle Cove district and this is where the town council meets. It is a body of thirty elected representitives from all districts of the city, with the Market Circles and River End districts having the most members due to their greater populations and importance. Elections are held every two years in a rolling "cycle of thirds" by district, which returns to the same electorate only once every six years. The Mayor is elected within the council by the councilors themselves and is subject to re-election after each biannual plebiscite has concluded. No Mayor is allowed to hold the office for more than eight years.

Districts

North of the river, there are two suburbs lying within the borders of Hendrakin Land, the Limit & Timber districts.

Limit District

This is primarily a fishing community which stretches along the river bank and a little way around the eastern coast. It also houses a small military garrison of no more than thirty soldiers, representing a token force acting on behalf of the rulers of Hendrakin Land and mainly there to make the symbolic point that they do not cede jurisdiction to Skeld within their own borders.

Timber District

A district given over to the storage and processing of wood from the forests in Hendrakin Land to the north. It is the site of many carpentry workshops.

The majority of the town's population live south of the river in the five districts of River End, Market Circles, Castle Cove, South Shore and the Metal Quarter.

River End District

Tarsal Landing River End by DMFW with Midjourney

River End occupies the southern bank of the river Skeld, opposite the Timber and Limit districts. In the illustration above, we see the Happy Sailor tavern, looking north over the river to the settlements in Hendrakin Land. Deep water anchorages allow large ships to dock at River End and so the main port facilities stand in this zone.

Tarsal River End - Smith Quay by DMFW with Midjourney

The Smith Quay, the Drumkins Quay and the Lyx Warehouse are three busy trading hubs on the river banks in this district. Smith Quay specialises in the trading of metal work, exporting the products made in the Metal Quarter and importing small quantities of the ores of rare metals used in alloys by the Tarsal metallurgists. Drumkins Quay is owned by the Drumkins family and the ships that load here deliver mainly fruit, vegetables and grain. The Lyx Warehouse is a secured storage facility for high value goods, mainly fine cloth and spirits.

Tarsal River End - Drumkins Quay by DMFW with Midjourney

Tarsal River End - Lyx Warehouse by DMFW with Midjourney

Market Circles District

The Market Circles district is the main trading area, divided into a series of open circular spaces given over to market stalls on two days of the week and surrounded by more permanent shops. This part of town is the most important mercantile district in the country, with the exception only of the captial city of Rustriss, acting as a hub for the agricultural produce of north Skeld. Merchants buy and store grain and a variety of the different leaf and root vegetables that grow well in the farm lands south and west of the city. Produce sold here moves through Tarsal Landing via the port at River End, all the way to the capital, for export to Thressle or across the river into Hendrakin Land.

Tarsal Market Circles - Diameters' Street by DMFW with Midjourney

Diameters' Street is the main throughfare in the Market Circles district, and is depicted in the illustration on the left at a point where it passes through the arc one of the characteristically shaped gateways within the city. There are five separate and roughly equally sized open Circle Markets which touch at their rims. These are called the Rain Circle, the Cloud Circle, the Sun Circle, the Wind Circle and the Fog Circle. Each one has pitches for stall holders that are leased out on a long term basis by the Town Council and they specialise in different types of goods.

Tarsal Market Circles - Cloud Circle by DMFW with Midjourney

Tarsal Market Circles - Rain Circle by DMFW with Midjourney

The Sun and Rain Circles, sell food and drink of various kinds, whilst the Cloud Circle sells cloth, both as simple bolts of wool and hemp, and dyed and tailored into clothes of many kinds and styles. The Wind Circle sells pottery and haberdashery, whilst the Fog Circle is dedicated to metal working and to farming equipment. The Market Circle stalls deal in retailing twice a week on the two consecutive midweek market days. On other days the land is cleared. The permanent buildings on the outside of the Circles are a mixture of shops, centres for larger scale mercantile import and export businesses and insurance and banking houses. In the streets radiating out from the Circles there are a number of inns, including the one shown on the right which is not far from the Wind Circle and is called the Wind Vane Inn, because of the prominent feature surmounting the turret of the building. The Wind Vane Inn is one of the oldest taverns in Tarsal Landing and is often used by farmers bringing produce to the markets when they are staying in town. It has a reputation for decent rooms at a fair price and for serving good food and drink.

Tarsal Landing Wind Vane Inn by DMFW with Midjourney

Castle Cove District

Tarsal Landing Castle Cove by DMFW with Midjourney

The Castle Cove district lies on the south side of the Skeld estuary, where a shallow bay provides an outlet for a small tidal creek. Tarsal Castle, which gives its name to the region, stands on a rocky spur of ground that provides the best spot for a fortification not far from the river mouth and also guarding the eastern shoreline. The castle is garrisoned with two hundred and fifty Skeld Protectorate Troopers. In the illustration, we can see part of the castle on the left, the Crafty Pike inn and some of the fishermen's houses. Castle Cove is also the site of the Tarsal Landing Town Hall, shown earlier in the section of this article concerning town governance.

The Metal Quarter

Tarsal Landing - Metallurgists' Union Building by DMFW with Midjourney

West and south of the Market Circles district, is a region occupied by a number of craftsmen specialising in metal working of various kinds. Tarsal Landing is particularly known for the skill of the workers in these trades. They smelt and refine copper and tin from local mines but also use ores and rare metals that are imported via Smiths Quay in the River End district to make a wide range of alloys. Almost all practitioners belong to an organisation known as the Metallurgists' Union which aims to foster co-operation in the development of the science and technology of metal working, propogating new ideas and techniques through lectures and in experiments conducted at the grand Metallurgists' Union Building.

South Shore District

Tarsal Landing South Beach by DMFW with Midjourney

Beyond Castle Cove, the South Shore district runs down the eastern coast until the South Beach which stands at the edge of town. There is some fishing here but also a small tourist trade in the summer for wealthy pilgrims based on the beauty of the coast and the golden sandy beaches, which were popularised as a centre of healing when the Sisters of Serenity built their Ocean Meditation Chapel here. The large building on the right in the image of South Beach above is the "Voice of the Waves", a luxurious inn which caters to the visitors who come enjoy the sea air and visit the Ocean Meditation Chapel, shown below.

Tarsal - Ocean Meditation Chapel by DMFW with Midjourney

Assets

Tarsal Landing is a wealthy town and its warehouses are well stocked with the goods that flow through the port.

Climate

Tarsal Landing has a temporate climate and the presence of the sea tends to moderate temperatures, making it somewhat warmer in winter and cooler in summer than equivalent lattitudes inland. Rainfall is highest in winter and above average since the prevailing winds are from the east.

Natural Resources

The town is blessed with a number of natural assets that have helped it to grow to become the most important regional centre in north east Skeld. The river provides sufficient deep water anchorages to facilitate trade to the south and north. Rich seams of copper and tin, in the rocky lands not far to the south, provide the raw materials for a sophisticated metal working community to thrive. The area to the east and south is fertile farming land, growing grain and a wide variety of root and leaf vegetables which make their way to the markets in the town.