"Outpost One, Furahnzata, is an unusual place. It is part of Zinato but isn't built around rivers and forests. The people live in tents as if it were the Orthlands and they tend fields as if it were Grara. And yet... it feels like neither.
A Warmward Journey
When the
Harani took her first voyage, she carried her crew upwind into the warm
summer wind. One of the first islands encountered by the crew was eventually selected by
Zinato to be the location of the first outpost - later colony - that would be constructed off of
Breharan.
The location for Outpost 1 - the original designation of Furahnzata - was chosen in part because of its location in the path of the
summer wind. The year-long investigation into the climate of the skyisland concluded that only one
wind covers it leaving its climate warm all year round.
Thinking Ahead
Even before the launch of the
Harani,
Darapur was a fast-growing city. While food insecurity was not a major issue in 8EX when the first talks of establishing a colony began, it became one of the driving forces for establishing a settlement on another island. The available information showed that if
Darapur continued to grow at the rate it had been that there would not be enough food within fifteen to twenty years. The study took into account the growth and demands of their trading partners as well.
With the decision made, the one-year study of the potential locations began and a site was selected. With the fervor of exploration gripping the population, it was not difficult to find people willing to relocate to the colony. In 10EX, the colony had its first permanent inhabitants.
Life at the First Colony
"In many ways, life at Furahnzata reminds me of my own childhood spent among the fields. Without all the noise of the city, I have the space to hear my own thoughts."
The rapidly growing population of
Darapur had some negative impacts but it also was a boon when finding prospective colonists for a farming outpost. Many of the new arrivals in the city who had not yet established deep connections had experience working the land in rural regions and were also caught up in the fervor of exploration. Some learned that city life is not what they expected or what they wanted. Others who were born into city life wanted to try something new.
These colonists found themselves on an open land of permanent summer with nothing but their personal effects, a large pile of textiles, and a supply of seeds. From the textiles grew the city of tents, from the seeds grew fields of crops all year round, and from the colonists grew a true community. With almost no direct guidance from the
Darapur Council, the community changed in whichever ways they decided suited them best.
The colony has grown greatly in the decades since the founders took their first steps onto the island of summer. It was not long before they decided they had grown beyond the ability to know, care for, and make decisions as best they could for everyone and chose to break the settlement into smaller communities spread along the island. The
Drifter heritage of the inhabitants led many to frequently move between the different tent clusters and maintain friendships and familial relations, in turn maintaining the kindness afforded by small communities.
Relations with Breharan
The strongest ties for Furahnzata are those to their homeland of
Zinato. The year-round shipments of food are traded at the
skyport of
Darapur for whatever they need and desire. Winter on
Breharan is an especially profitable time for the colonists as they can sell a fresh harvest to those surviving on preserves and heavily salted meats.
As the bountiful harvests of the isle of summer outpaced the stomachs of their homeland, the people of
Furahnzata began to trade with
Burim as well. Much like
Zinato,
Burim is located on the summerward side of
Breharan, making short flights for
skyships - and quick ones too with the
summer wind filling their sails on the way back.
Comments