Compiling week 22 of the project, comprised of an additional 7 sites, this week political regions of the City-State of Ceannar as shown below:
Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #148
May 28th, 2023
Number: 148
Name: Adehamar Peoples Camp (Little Overlook)
Location: Northeast of Overlook in the Flattop Hills
Population (approx.): 1,200
Brief: As Ceannar and its Peoples grew, so did Overlook. The city became so large that two centuries ago the Elders and Oldest of the Adehamar Peoples decided to build their own camp on an adjacent smaller mesa. The second site, nicknamed Little Overlook, allowed the notables of the Adehamar a place to rest and consult without the bulk of the population looking over their shoulders. Many decisions announced by the Baroness, Eldest Adehamar, are usually agreed upon at the camp and rubber stamped by the Peoples’ Assembly in Overlook.
Geography: The Adehamar Peoples “claim” (claim being a strong word as borders are fluid and families move between Peoples via marriage or acceptance) a large portion the eastern half of Ceannar about the Flattop Hills centered upon Overlook. They tend to avoid the southern coast, along the Sea of Hethichol, east of Airontir Taun (#49) and west of Hamar Inlet. Little Overlook’s architecture and layout resembles Overlook but Is designed for a population one tenth the size of the capital. The outer walls are close to the edge of this smaller mesa, with inner taller and stronger walls forming Adehamar Castle. It is rumored there is a substantial subterranean network connecting the camp to Ceannar Castle.
Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #149
May 29th, 2023
Number: 149
Name: Penin Peoples Tower
Location: In Pearl City, southwest Ceannar along the Pearl Bay
Population (approx.): 340
Brief: Next to the Adehamars, the Penin are the oldest of the Ceannar Peoples and are by most accounts the richest. They have a knack, perhaps magical or mystical, for business, establishing profitable trading enterprises across the region of the four City-States backed by their core wealth from the pearls of Pearl Bay and several mines in the Flattop Hills south of Overlook (#8). With their coin and strategic marriages, Penin has associated itself with three militarily proficient minor families (Ancal, Gond and Ufdan) who protect Penin lands and business interests abroad. The three provide companies that patrol Penin County (a swath of land centered on Pearl City extending about 50 miles in all directions reaching the border with Noldrune in the west and the mid-plains to the east.).
Geography: The central hub of Penin power occupies the tallest limestone karst spire of Pearl City (#9). The bastion, expanded, reinforced and magically protected, features two dozen levels above ground, a citadel at the summit and an unknown number of subterranean levels connected to the other spires of Pearl City by tunnels, with exit points at the harbor and secret escape routes beyond the city walls. The ground levels are mostly businesses of the Penin. Residences comprise the upper levels, the Elders on the topmost and the Penin Eldest, Count Tin-Ha Penin, living in the citadel.
Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #150
May 30th, 2023
Number: 150
Name: Cean Peoples’ First Landing Castle
Location: In East’arbor on the east coast of Ceannar
Population (approx.): 300 of the 3,300 of East’arbor
Brief: Before the rise of the Ta’arnan Empire in the south of Sudeben, the region where Norgorfel and Sudeben met was home to a variety small isolated states. Two millennia ago, the Cean Peoples lived in a land directly across the Sea of Hethichol . At cataclysm occurred (corruption at the core) and a great fleet of the Cean fled west across the waters, barely out-running the tsunamis that followed. Parts of the People were scattered to the north and south. Priests and mages of Air and Water made heroic efforts to save who they could, inevitably at the cost of their lives or their magics. The survivors were thrown ashore on the beaches of the anchorage of what is now East’arbor. The Cean flourished and spread across the peninsula to the west, naming the land Ceannar. In the years that have followed, other Peoples have risen and now rule the City-State, but the Cean remain the eldest. They are the keepers of ancient Cean traditions and history. Unlike minimization of House Noldrune, the Cean Peoples are revered and honored.
Geography: First Landing Castle in East’arbor (#117) is home to the Elders and Eldest of the Cean. Their County covers over 5,000 square-miles, bordering Adehamar County to the west. The Cean are now a pastoral people, most preferring the quiet life of farm and field, but some still hew to the traditions of the sea and make their home in East’arbor, Ceannar’s premiere harbor. Here the Cean mix with other Peoples and Kin of the neighboring City-States and beyond. Every few years an expedition of young adventurous souls returns across the Sea of Hethichol to search for long lost family or relics of their abandoned homeland.
Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #151
May 31st, 2023
Number: 151
Name: Harroe Peoples Palace
Location: On the slopes of the Tuton Maug Spur in northeastern Ceannar
Population (approx.): 1,100
Brief: The peoples of Ceannar reacted in many ways to the defeat of their armed forces at the swords of the Ta’arnan Legions. Some fled, some resisted, some accepted their new Ta’arnan overlords and some went all in and became of the Empire in every aspect but bloodline. The Harroe Peoples, a lesser group of Cean, welcomed and celebrated the conquest, built churches to honor the dozen Ta’arnan masks of the Six and brought Ta’arnan blood into their families by marriage whenever possible. The Harroe flourished for a time, eventually being granted control of most of western Ceannar from the Lesser Staplefish bay south to Pearl Bay. Then the revolution came and succeeded and again, five centuries ago, the Harroe found themselves on the outside looking in. Their lands shrank, lost to rising Peoples like the Penin to the south and others to the east. Harroe County became a region of misfits, reprobates and people who long for a Ta’arnan reconquest that will never occur. The County seat, the “Peoples’ Palace,” like Surecliff (#46) to the west, retains the style of the Empire draped about lesser shoulders. The Eldest, Count Ingar Harroe, and his Elder circle, plot openly and scheme quietly, cultivating relationships with nearby criminal elements such as the pirates of Buccaneer’s Arc (#12) or those found in the back alleys of Surecliff. The Harroe hope to someday reclaim their “ancestral lands” to the south especially the mineral and material wealth of Orchard Hills (#14) and the mines near Firewalker Ridge (#47).
Geography: The County seat, the Harroe Peoples Palace, sprawls over a hill on the north slopes of the Tuton Maug Spur with a view of Staplefish Bay on a clear day. The palace was built in the Ta’arnan style at the height of the conquest, featuring six spires of the Gods about a central keep, but has fallen into disrepair as fast as Harroe’s fortunes declined. The surrounding town, once featuring an elegant grid of white washed buildings with roofs tiled in the six colors of the Gods, is now gray and muddy, overgrown in places and overcrowded in others.
Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #152
June 1st, 2023
Number: 152
Name: Etalier Peoples Campus
Location: The “Center of Magical Gravity” of Ceannar, east of Overlook.
Population (approx.): 2,240
Brief: After the Cean landing on these foreign shores, the various component Peoples slowly made their way inland seeking shelter, food and water. But not the Eldest of the Etalier, she woke one morning and drawing upon her not inconsiderable magical skills she started running westward, her people struggling to keep up. About 460 miles later, she stopped, declaring, “This is the center. This is our place. Begin here.” And so, the Etalier People stopped, founded the Campus, and expanded through the center of Ceannar. After the rebellion and the foundation of the City-State, Etalier County was formalized, a roughly square section of Ceannar west of the Flattop Hills and containing the magical sites of The Bubbling Flats (#80) and the Gnarlwylde (#81). The Etalier specialize in magical studies, training magicians to serve the City-State and the Arcane Guild, carefully balancing their longtime allegiance to both groups. They eagerly bring new members into the Etalier People by arranging, bribing, begging, borrowing (and as rumor has it, stealing) from families whose youngsters show magical potential. Eldest Jasta “the Center” Etalier currently rules and can usually be found stalking the Campus, surprising professors and their students and rumor has it, taking afternoon strolls on the Wyrdwood Torus (#84) with the Old Man.
Geography: The Etalier Campus can be found in the center of Ceannar, just south of the main highway that leads to Overlook (#8). It is a sprawling array of ornate buildings of magical construction housing class rooms, laboratories, dormitories, performance halls, cafeterias, testing arenas and Etalier Spire, the towering home to the Eldest and her Elders. The entire site is enclosed in a circle comprised of a thick stone wall. The wall houses the leaves of a great transparent dome which can rise from the walls to enclose the entire campus at a moment’s notice.
Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #153
June 2nd, 2023
Number: 153
Name: Voski Peoples Port at Whitestone Cliffs
Location: North coast of Ceannar on Staplefish Bay
Population (approx.): 2,150
Brief: Three of Ceannar’s Peoples, the Cean, Voski and Inari, competed in a usually friendly fashion to rule the waves on the far side of the Sea of Hethichol and led the exodus to the west. The Cean landed at the east at East’arbor (#117). The Inari continued south and west on the Sea, arriving at their future home west of Airontir Taun (#49). The Voski sailed north and west into Staplefish Bay eventually spotting the great Whitestone Cliffs along the north shore of Ceannar. Scouts spotted a natural harbor neatly concealed and easily overlooked behind a white stone breakwater. The Eldest of the Voski declared it suitable and her People made landfall. The port of the Voski, named variously as Whitestone Harbor, Port Voski or Whitestone Cliffs, stretches along the beach and climbs the cliffs to spread across the plains to the south. Voski County became part of the great pastoral breadbasket of central Ceannar while the Voski fleets fished the bay and traded with the other ports of the region.
Geography: Port Voski features an unusual architectural style. Almost all of buildings are built as circular stone towers closely resembling lighthouses for at the top, they have an ornate deck, pergola or gazebo at the top. Families gather on their rooftops each day at sunrise and sunset to honor the winds and the waters that are a large part of Voski culture and life. The citadel of the Elders rises from the center of the harbor at sea level to 200 meters to above the top of the adjacent cliffs so the rulers of the town and County might see in all directions, across sea and land.
Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #154
June 3rd, 2023
Number: 154
Name: Other Peoples and Elders of note in Ceannar
Location: Varies, see below
Population (approx.): Varies, see below
Brief:
Inari Peoples – Third (along with Cean and Voski) of the great seafaring Peoples of Ceannar. They’ve made a home for themselves along the south coast of the City-State establishing close relations with the Penin, supplying the latter with naval vessels and skilled crews to protect their interests vs. Noldrune and local pirates. The Inari are also patiently building ties with the Elves of Airontir Taun (#49) through the embassy at Elfmeet (#116) sharing a love of sailing on the quiet waters of the Airontir Copa.
Trave Peoples – Nicknamed the “Builders,” the Trave have for centuries been instrumental in building the infrastructure of the City-State after the arrival and then repairing the damage done during the Ta’arnan occupation and subsequent rebellion. Closely associated with the Builders (and related) Guilds of the Collegium, Trave Guildmasters, members and apprentices can be found at projects across the land. Trave scholars frequently explore ancient ruins (assisted by adventurers) and visit with the elder Kin such as local Dwarves and Elves to expand their already impressive skillset.
Sogra Peoples – Founders and proprietors of Sogra’s Bookbinders (#44), the Sogra Peoples have been elevated for their skills and contributions to the crafts of the City-State. Their Eldest is a minor noble in the court of Trave County.
Geography:
Inari County – Southern Ceannar bordered by the Penin (west), Trave and Etalier (north), Airontir (east) and the Sea of Hethichol (south). The Eldest of the Inari resides in a castle overlooking their largest town of Southport (population: 2,250 port and castle) along the Sea of Hethichol.
Trave County – Central Ceannar bordered by the Penin (west), Harroe and Voski (north), Etalier (east) and Inari (south). The Eldest of the Trave, their “Master Builder,” lives on a large walled estate on the outskirts of the County capital, Reston, (population: 2,710 estate and town) along the west-east Trave-built highway running across the City-State.
Sogra Manor – Northwest corner of Trave County against the Tuton Maug Spur. Eldest Sogra lives in the village of Taiga (population: 750).
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