Great Forks

Great Forks is a wealthy, cosmopolitan city in the Scavenger Lands sometimes known as the City of Temples.

Overview

Geography

Great Forks lies at the confluence of the Yellow River and the Rolling River.[1] The city is laid out in a spiderweb pattern, at the center of which is the Temple District containing the temples of the Three and the city's administrative centers.[2] The fertile plain west of the city is tilled to produce drugs such as qat, or fruit for the brewing of wine and spirits.[3]

It lies conveniently upriver of Nexus and Lookshy, making the rivers the dominant means of travel and trade.[4] It lies just northeast of the shadowland called the Pyrron Ossuary or the Walker's Realm, after its ruling Deathlord, Walker in Darkness.[2]

The city is roughly divided into quarters around the Temple District. To the north are slums, slave barracks, and criminal rookeries;[5] to the west are tanneries, distilleries, and other industries, the fumes from which are carefully directed away from the rest of the city.[2] The east quarter is home to Great Forks' military, and also a sizable number of healers and doctors. The south quarter contains the docks, warehouses, and homes for the laborers who move goods in and out of the city.[6]

Government and Religion

Great Forks is ruled by the Three, a trio of spirits brought to the site of the city's founding: Spinner of Glorious Tales (Talespinner), Weaver of Dreams of Victory (Dreamweaver), and Shield of a Different Day (Dayshield).[7] The seat of Great Fork's government is the Palace of the Three, where temples to each god form a triangle. In the center of the triangle are administrative offices and the Council Hall where the Council of Ministers meet.[3] Each god has three ministers who report to them, and these ministers relay the orders of the Three back to the bureaucracy to be implemented.[8]

Other gods are welcome in Great Forks, and the Temple District is packed with holy sites and shrines, all shilling for worshipers with varying degrees of diginity. Frequent festivals serve both to attract tourists and keep the permanent congregation happy.[5] The Ministry of Worship oversees these cults and sects, mediating disputes and ensuring all the gods get their due portion of prayer.[9] This same ministry oversees the Enforcers, Great Forks' police, which largely consists of spirits and God-Blooded. The law in Great Forks includes prohibitions on "assault on another's will," such as brainwashing by an overly-aggressive god, as well as a ban on comparing the city to Yu-Shan, in case such arrogance somehow gets back to Heaven.[10]

Economy

Great Forks is a tremendous producer of drugs and alcohol, earning the City of Temples another nickname — Decadence. Tobacco, marijuana, qat, opium, wine and cordials are all grown and processed here.[8] Medicinal drugs are just as common, and the average resident would be considered an expert on herbal medicine elsewhere in Creation. Some experts and connoisseurs travel to Great Forks to shop for rarer pleasures directly, and tourists are attracted by the chance to freely indulge as much as by the colorful religious festivals.[4]

Slave labor, mostly sourced from the Hundred Kingdoms, powers much of the city's economy. The drug fields depend heavily on enslaved tenders, many of whom are lightly drugged themselves to remain docile and unable to flee. Slaves do have somewhat more rights in Great Forks than in other areas — they can marry and own property, their families will not be split up, and the price of manumission is set by the government. However, slavery is still slavery: whipping slaves is a common form of discipline, and escape is harshly punished.[10]

The House of Learning is a university located in the Temple District, where some of the finest minds in the Scavenger Lands and beyond meet, work, and study. Great advances in medicine and sorcery have been made here, as well as research into the technology of the First Age, some of which has found its way back to the Realm with impressed Dynasts. Savants and scholars often receive subsidized housing in exchange for teaching and lecturing.[5]

Population

The average citizen in Great Forks likely does not do much manual labor, thanks to the ready supply of slaves. They are highly literate and tend to be proud of their city to the point of being snobbish about it.[11] Spirits and elements reside in the city and often work for the government, though their pay is not in jade. There are also many God-blooded among the population who may be able to work a few charms.[12]

Solar, Lunar, and Abyssal Exalted who come to Great Forks will be escorted directly to the Palace of the Three for an interview with the gods.[13] Assuming they have no hostile intent (and, in the case of Abyssals, consent to be bound by oaths to ensure no duplicity) they are then free to explore the city. The Three regard the Celestial Exalted as potential assets and allies, provided their goals line up with the welfare of the city.[14]

History

Great Forks was founded in RY 278, largely by accident. Three different nations claimed the territory at the confluence of rivers, and each granted it to a different group of refugees owing to the proximity of the Pyrron Ossuary. The gods of each group negotiated with one another while their followers braced for battle, but realized they had more in common than their refugee status. They also realized that together, they had a better chance of holding off the shadowland and its ruler, which at the time was Princess Magnificent with Lips of Coral and Robes of Black Feathers.[7]

The Three drove off Princess Magnificent with a prophetic tale of her destruction, and set about raising a city for their people. They also welcomed other gods and spirits to Great Forks under their protection. The three nations that had previously claimed the land all fell, but Great Forks persevered. In the Realm invasion of RY 301, Great Forks was too far south to be threatened, while they were far north of the Arczeckh Horde in RY 364. It became a charter member of the Confederation of Rivers in RY 557, though its contribution to mutual defense was more financial and logistical.[15]

At the Battle of Mishaka in RY 754, Great Forks did send its army — about 3,000 infantry — to help defeat the army of Thorns. Only about a hundred of those soliders made it back. While they have replenished their army numerically, their most experienced leaders and officers died at Mishaka, and the ones they have now are untested. They must rely on their allies and on the Three to defend them until their soldiers are ready to fight. [2]

References

  1. ↑ Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 81
  2. 1 2 3 4 Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 83
  3. 1 2 Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 84
  4. 1 2 Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 91
  5. 1 2 3 Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 85
  6. ↑ Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 86
  7. 1 2 Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 81-82
  8. 1 2 Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 87
  9. ↑ Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 88
  10. 1 2 Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 90-91
  11. ↑ Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 89-90
  12. ↑ Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 91-92
  13. ↑ Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 89
  14. ↑ Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 92
  15. ↑ Exalted: Compass of Terrestrial Directions Vol. 1: The Scavenger Lands, p. 82-83
This article is issued from Whitewolf. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.