Gorgan Fortress
Matten
Gorgan Fortress is a, Human occupied, hillside city on the coast of Wadson Bay, found at the eastern tip of the Sruo Hayden peninsula, on the major continent of Ethae. While the site has been the location of a settlement since at least the Randeris Period, the modern city was established in the early Lakorthian Age by the Republic of Lakorth. The sites' strategic location gives it control over the bay itself, while providing a fortified area to mass troops for an invasion of the, at the time, Umaybbad occupied lands of the peninsula.
Local tradition claims the original settlements from the Randeris, known as Matten, was built by the Wadites, a branch of the near mythical Enoshate people. These legends say the Wadite built Matten when the seas were lower and there was land where the Cony Sea and Codi Sea now are. Wadson bay was a large lake. At the time their village was on the lake's west edge. After Gilgurth, the survivors built Matten on the hillside for protection. They claim is that the city and people remained unchanged throughout the ages until the arrival of the Lakortha. Archeology contradicts some of this, as there is evidence of muliple cultures rising and falling at the site through the ages. Not least of which is the Capedian who colonized the northern region of the peninsula and took control of the town that would become Gorgan Fortress. It is, in fact, they that gave it the modern name of Gorgan.
With the rise of the Umaybbad Orc threat, Lakortha forces took control of Gorgan, building the fortress at the top of its hill, that would give the city its name. The heavy military presence, along with the protection of the Satyricon Range established Gorgan Fortress as a stable foothold onto Sruo Hayden which the Heartlands could push against the orc until they were driven from the peninsula. This established the kingdom of Ajar with the city as its capital.
The city, and Ajar around it, saw relative peace through its lifetime connected to the Heartlands. The Republic of Lakorth declined and eventually the United Kingdoms of Novyum rose. Ajar stayed closely connected to the Heartlands through it all. The United Kingdoms rebuilt the decaying Gorgan Castle at the top of the city and used Gorgan Fortress as a staging point for their war against Umaybbad, but the city largely stayed peaceful, away from the danger. Its citizens grew rich from the troops passing through, to and from the warfront.
Today, Gorgan Fortress is no longer as important as it once was. The Umaybbad are gone, and despite the civil wars of Novyum after the decline of the United Kingdoms, the region stays relatively peaceful. That said, Gorgan Fortress is still the largest port on the Sruo Hayden peninsula, meaning it stays relevant as a trading harbor. Many nations of Novyum look to the cattle herds of Sruo Hayden for beef, while inturn the Sruon of the peninsula rely on Heartland farms for the wheats and barleys that grow poorly in their land. This has continued to keep Gorgan Fortress a wealthy city.
Gorgan Fortress is the center of a sect of an ancient faith of Heh. Heh is the feminization of creation and monotheism. In the faith Aldern itself is believed to be the body of Heh, with Wadson Bay seen as the birth canal of the goddess' body that birthed all life of the world. the Church opposes the faith openly but seem to tolerate it in Gorgan Fortress due to its popularity among the people. While there are practicing members of the faith, most see it as a fun novelty of their history. They celebrate the festivals and rituals of the ancient religion, sometimes remained to appease the Church, but put little belief Heh as a diety.
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