Burrow
The town of Burrow came into existence long ago as a crossing point for tribes fleeing the lands of giants to the west. Many refugees came through this town before the river became too large and impassable, and the flood dried up. Since then, the townsfolk make a clean living scavenging debris washed up along the river and harvesting lumber from nearby woods. The town is well known for its large cemetery and monuments, marking those who died in the crossing from the giants’ realms, and is a site for pilgrimages for many of the Confederacy’s tribes.
Government
The government of Burrow is one of the few elected positions in the Sypi Confederacy. The mayors of the town are independent of outside authority, simply representing their interests to the larger council of the Sypi Confederacy. The majority of the work done in the city is done by appointees of the mayor and their close friends and associates, with law enforcement handled by an appointed Captain of the Guard. Mayors are elected every three years, though more often than not, a person retains the position for life, simply because unless a mayor is deemed woefully incompetent, it is considered rude to attempt to oust them.
Defences
The town walls of Burrow are the most formidable outside of Wofslar itself in the whole of the Sypi Confederacy. They are over thirty feet in height and constantly patrolled and watched by the town guard. The River Watch occasionally also contributes volunteers to watch the walls and assist when there are rumors of giants about in the region or following a large wave of refugees from across the river. The Wall extends along the Sypi River itself, protecting from any waterborne threats, while still allowing the citizenry to gather water for washing or drinking. The walls are guarded by thirty full time guards and their captain, but a militia of around four hundred people could be assembled in a situation of dire need.
Industry & Trade
The primary industry of Burrow revolves around the trade of artifacts from the giant side of the river and supporting those seeking to bury their dead in the community. While most of the tribes of the Confederacy have their own burial rituals, those without a tribe or seeking a higher profile burial often travel to Burrow to make arrangements. Coffin makers, sculptors, painters, and all those who memorialize the dead operate shops in the town, and make a tidy business, with people coming from as far as Losana to make arrangements from the artisans here. Similarly, the town pays a considerable number of its citizens to maintain the graves and mausoleums outside of the town, in addition to posting a watch to prevent looting.
Infrastructure
The town of Burrow possesses well maintain streets and sewers, helping to dispose of wastes. The efficiency of these systems is envied by many larger towns and communities outside of the Sypi Confederacy when people from those regions deign to visit. The roads are kept paved, including the one which goes up to nearby Burrow Keep and the River Watch garrison there. The town's walls are the most formidable in the Confederacy, designed to keep even giants at bay. Unfortunately, after the Zombie Incident of 1019 and the following Sypi Civil War, much of the town was destroyed in the fighting. The progress of rebuilding has been slow, and there are still a handful of parts of town that remain in ruins and abandoned, although the walls are fully restored.
The most preeminent work of the town is the large graveyard that surrounds it. Many of the graves and monuments are to those who served in the River Watch or fell escaping the giants. Memorials and burial sites abound surrounding the entire town wall. The siege of Burrow during the civil war added to these graves, and many of those who fell in the fighting were interred here themselves, often in the very places they fell during the battle. The graveyard continues to be well maintained by the surprisingly large numbers of tenders and craftsmen employed by the town.
Assets
The town of Burrow hosts a small marketplace, usually trading in the trinkets that have been brought across the Sypi River by refugees. The marketplace itself has a single inn for travelers, most of whom are visiting the final resting places of lost loved ones and friends. A handful of magic items can be found at local shops, and the area attracts wizards and other magic wielders interested in history and communing with those who have departed. Many fortune telling and magic item shops have popped up here as these individuals seek finances to support their research or hobbies.
Guilds and Factions
There are two prominent factions that have emerged for contention for power in the town of Burrow, the Watchers and the Guards. The Watchers are those who believe that the gravest threat to the town are the giants, and that there should be ever closer ties with the River Watch, perhaps even going to so far as to allow the River Watch full administrative control of the community. On the other side of the equation are the Guards, who simply want the way of life in Burrow to continue, and often blame the River Watch for the high casualties suffered in the civil war, claiming that an earlier Watch intervention could have saved many lives from the Sihka and their allies.
Founding Date
295 AF
Type
Town
Population
3,100
Inhabitant Demonym
Burrowan
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
Comments