Lakesvale
Lakesvale began its life nearly a century after the The War of the Undying as a small collection of fishing villages near the delta of what would one day become the Esmer River. These small fishing settlements were governed by two feuding families who fought for control over fishing rights. Eventually, as these settlements grew, they came under the jurisdiction of the Morkney Council, and they coalesced into a single town. As the hatreds of the two families simmered, a number of bridges between the delta's numerous small islands of land, and the town grew into what it is today.
Both families have made a distinct impact upon the town's architecture and history. The historic feud stretching back centuries has even affected the town's architecture. Where one might see the houses of one neighborhood built with red tiles and bricks or the roofs of houses salvaged from the overturned hulls of ships, another neighborhood might be made of tall manors of blue tiles and church-like arches and stained-glass windows depicting historic battles between both families. Either style of building was influenced simply by the hatred of the other's style.
However, though the two family's rivalries are still present, their feuds are nowhere near as vicious, bloody, and spiteful as they were in prior centuries. While most outside of Lakesvale see the historic rivalry of the Streamwheedle and Helmsworth families as silly and pointless, to the residents of Lakesvale, it is a distinct part of their history to be celebrated. Today, their rivalries are openly displayed as a form of tradition in annual town fishing competitions, festivals, and boating races through the town's famously tight canals. Despite this, some of the older generations of the Streamwheedle or Helmsworth families still hold a special hatred in their hearts for their counterparts, and will even refuse to do business with them.
The Streamwheedle Family. Headed by the elder family matriarch, Mrs. Tarla Streamwheedle, the Streamwheedle family are stubborn traditionalists who have always been in the business of salmon fishing and have dominated the upstream territories of the Esmer River for generations. Loyalists to the Streamwheedle family line would boast that they know the seasons and cycles of salmon reproduction like the back of their hand, or the wood of a rowboat. Though they specialize in salmon, they are also in the wider business of river fishing. The Streamwheedle family is also responsible for the great number of waterwheels across Lakesvale which power the town's granaries and irrigation networks.
The Helmsworth Family. Headed by Mr. Eddard Helmsworth, the family's elder patriarch, the Helmsworth family is just as stubborn as their Streamwheedle counterparts. They are fierce and skilled sailors and have always been in the business of open-sea fishing. Specializing in cod and other exotic fish. They have dominated the open seas around the Whip of Fire, and many of their family line have worked for Port Morkney as maritime traders. The Helmsworth family controls Lakesvale's docks and seaworthy trading vessels.
Comments