Arabelle

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Region/City Proposal

Arabelle (Fresia) / East Arabelle (Hakan/smaller)

History

• Arabelle region (and city) is in a larger area known as "The Pinch" which covers the border between Fresia, Hakan, and Ulan.
• It used to be just one larger city, Arabelle and was solely Fresian. At the end of the Fourth Interregnum, part of it (East Arabelle) was effectively awarded to Hakan for their support to Dakt.
  • What led to the split: That part of the city was already really gnomish. Through some political trickery and indirect pressure on Hakan, those neighborhoods were taxed pretty heavily to fund Fresian troops during the war, creating a lot of displeasure among the gnomes who wished to keep their support with Hakan.
  • Relations between Arabelle and East Arabelle are better than ever, though-- the establishment of East Arabelle dramatically increased Hakan trade in the area, as Gnomes avoided trade in this region due to the punishing taxation. The increased contact with the outside since then has greatly benefited the entire region.
    • This development has not been met kindly by the natives of the Ulan, who have come to see the growth of the settlements as an encroachment on their domain; every year Alexandrian trappers, gatherers, and lumberjacks penetrate deeper into the forest and in greater numbers.
    • In recent years, raids around the periphery have become more common - including the recent destruction of an ancient but isolated Gnomish monastic library - leading to a high demand for Alexandrian mercenaries.
• The region and city gained its name as the locals believe Mythrian Arabelle's family/relatives hailed from there.
  • This is all entwined in Fresia's (quite passionately held) claim that Tragidore is from central/southern Fresia. Since Sterros was from central Fresia, and he eventually was the ward of Mythrian from Tragidore, everyone in these parts believe the Tragidore holy site is (wherever people say it is in Fresia).
  • Many people claimed lineage to the Arabelle family in this region (rightly or opportunistically) and they renamed the town to reflect that supposed heritage. All the locals believe that heritage to be true as there are no local teachings otherwise.
  • The temple in the city is reasonably well-visited by Fresians because it claims to have two of Mythrian's saddles. The greater church doesn't recognize them as religious relics even though priests claim that divination has shown the preserved saddles to have been used by Mythrian at some point.
• There are honorific gravesites here for Tedor and Lucanna (Mythrian's parents, killed in the razing of Tragidore), which receive many offerings, collected and used to maintain the local church.
  • Down the hill from the gravesites is a location known as Vendetta Wall. Bards tell of many different stories of who made the wall, but anyone taking an Oath of Vendetta before this wall, and contributing a blood sacrifice in the form of 1 hit point, will see their name and their target's name become etched in the stone. The taker then receives a +1 profane bonus on all rolls when facing the target of the vendetta in combat. Whichever of the two dies first will magically have their name crossed-through.
  • Near those gravesites and Wall is a dueling ground, where many local vendettas have been played-out.

Location

Roughly in this area:

Politics / Government

• TODO: Need to figure out how the local duchy is structured on Fresian side
  • Most holdings are held by some manner of hereditary Duke, Arch-Duke, or Prince. There are various combination of titles and ranks, depending on electoral-status, electoral eligibility, etc. Additionally, there are several cities - most of the urban centers, in fact - that are essentially self governing, in the fact they elect local mayors. As the primary engines of what passes for commerce out that way, they pay for this privilege by virtue of substantially higher tax burdens, often a source of strife - illicit and direct.

• TODO: Need to figure out how the local area is governed on Hakan side
  • Gnomes almost universally run the most participatory forms of government on the planet, on account of being fiercely liberty loving and generally opinionated. Small and medium towns often have what amounts to straight-up direct democracy, while at the highest level what passes for the gnomish state is something akin to a parliamentary democracy. But, considering the size of Hakan and the generally autonomous outlook of gnomish settlements, Hakan is as much a mindset as a nation -> essentially ungovernable except in times of crisis, when all gnomekind comes together like no other. Unlike other races, in times of crisis a gnome need never fear betrayal or double dealing except from the most vile of gnomish outcasts. Even in good times, violent crimes against gnomes are rare.

• TODO: Need to figure out tribes/powerbrokers/etc in the Ulan areas
  • Pretty much uncharted, other than religion, and that only sketchily. I imagine that, while there are probably no "cites" as we might know them, there are probably one or two shared settlements that function as centers of trade and interaction from otherwise quarrelsome barbarian types deeper in the interior, probably unknown to the people of the mainland. One or more of them might even have religious significance, in order to further enforce the idea of not settling blood feuds and shit there.

Economy

• TODO: Figure out economy
  • I would imagine trade features heavily, possibly fur and hides from the interior. There is a LOT more forest in Fresia than is evident in that map, and so one would expect some sort of timber industry, and maybe even some woodworking industry of some level or the other. On the Gnomish side, Gnomes have all kinds of exotic wares, and as the city is on a major river at the border, one can imagine it being the primary gateway of trade to the rest of Hakan. I also notice there's not a great deal of rugged mountains and other stuff, so probably little in the way of metal working, meaning metal goods are probably highly prized here and especially in the Ulan interior. I can also imagine the Dwarves, who dominate trade in precious metals, might have a small outpost selling silver to the Ulan barbarians, because that place is lousy with lycanthropes and so silver is especially prized there. Depending on the size of the trade, there might also be some contingent of Boat Halflings there, acting as the ferrymen up and down the river in much the same way as the Wydmoor halflings. Depending on the size of the town, there's good reason to have small but significant numbers of most of the goodly races, although it's probably a little too cold for Lizardfolk to live comfortably.

Needless to say, the holy men of the Ulan are almost always Favored Souls, with a small minority of Druids and literally zero clerics.