Southern marches
Geography
The Southern Marches is an area in western Taiga between the south end of the Blue Spire Mountains and the Emerald Reach. It's bounded on the east and west by the Dragon Spine Mountains and the Western Sea. West of the Blue Spires the boundary is White Fall River and east of the Spires it's an east/west line from the southern tip of the Blue Spires to the Dragon Spines. To the south the tree line of the jungle defines the end of the Marches. Landforms
The Marches are broad river valleys dominated by buttes, mesas and plateaus. The river valleys are relatively flat with only gently rolling hills. Along the rivers thick stands of hardwoods are common. In some places the strata of the cliff walls are vibrantly colored.
Waterways
The Mesa Verde River flows out from the Dragon Spines and takes a meandering route westward. It's joined by Cold Creek before entering Lago Agua Azul. Rio Del Oro also feed Lago Agua Azul. The Mesa Verde then continues on through Fallen Leaf Lake and on to Tanners Lake. At Tanners Lake it's joined by Badger Brook flowing out the the Hidden Springs. Rio Roca De Plata exits Tanners and heads to the Western Sea. While the Rio Del Oro is navigable for much of it's length, the Roca De Plata is not as a lack of slope cases the river to spread and shallow. Additionally the plain that the Roca De Plata flows through is characterized by fields of jagged stone just under the topsoil. As the river washed the topsoil away it exposed these fields of rugged stone restricting any vessel traffic to small craft only. Roads
Most of the roads in the Southern marches are the kind of dirt roads formed by wagon and horse traffic. In the steadings the largest main streets are paved with cobblestones and on the side street most of the shops have raised wooden boardwalks. Out away rom the steadings there are sign posts at trail intersections indicating which trails lead where.
Civilization
The people of the Southern Marches have taken advantage of the abundant hardwoods constructing their houses in a frame and clapboard fashion. The Steadings are the hubs of commerce and socialization. Each Steading is a small city serving the needs of the widely scattered ranches. The two main products of the Marches are cattle and lumber. Ranches utilize a large portion of the available river valleys as grazing land for vast herds of cattle.
Commerce
Most of the exports of the Southern Marches is in live cattle and hardwood lumber. Each of the steadings serves as a local collection point for its attendant ranches. Once enough material is gathers for a shipment it's taken by water to Fallen Leaf Lake. Once reaching the Edmund Steading, goods are loaded onto wagon trains and shipped overland to Lake Volstead, specifically, South Bank City. I the case of cattle each of the steadings will hold a cattle drive to lake Volstead. This has the effect of spreading out the herds of cattle so there's sufficient grazing along the way, as each steadings route is slightly different. There's a good deal of trade between the steadings as different areas specialize in different resources with the steadings acting as a clearing house for their surrounding ranches. Imports to the Southern Marches are for the most part goods like Sea Elf glass for glazing. Dwarven forged iron and steel goods. Food stuffs not native to the Southern marches. Government
The government of the Southern Marches is an oligarchy made up of the council of stead holders. Each stead holder has one vote at council. A stead holder is a head of state for his steading and attendant ranchers. Stead holders own the steading and collect rent from the shop keepers established within the steading. The stead holders also take a percentage of the profit from material shipments in recompense for arranging and providing transport. Conversely, almost all the imports to the Marches are bought by the stead holders and resold to the shops at a small mark up. The shop keepers then sell the goods and pay a small transaction tax to the stead holder. In return for tax and tithe, the stead holders provide for upkeep of the steading. They also keep a small body of men at arms to respond to respond to threats to the steading and their attendant ranches. They also have posted bounties for various nuisances in their areas.
Cities
Each of the steadings is a small cities in its own right. They don't have much in the way of permanent population as most of the people in the Southern Marches live on the ranches where they work. Good and services not available on the ranches are usually found in the steadings. Few ranches boast either a barber or a tavern. Also the steadings boast large warehouse for storing trade goods both incoming and outgoing as well as the stocks of the various business in the steading. Another common purpose of the steading is for cross ranch trading as not every ranch produces everything they might need. Steadings are also the most common place to find craftsmen.
The Southern Marches is an area in western Taiga between the south end of the Blue Spire Mountains and the Emerald Reach. It's bounded on the east and west by the Dragon Spine Mountains and the Western Sea. West of the Blue Spires the boundary is White Fall River and east of the Spires it's an east/west line from the southern tip of the Blue Spires to the Dragon Spines. To the south the tree line of the jungle defines the end of the Marches. Landforms
The Marches are broad river valleys dominated by buttes, mesas and plateaus. The river valleys are relatively flat with only gently rolling hills. Along the rivers thick stands of hardwoods are common. In some places the strata of the cliff walls are vibrantly colored.
Waterways
The Mesa Verde River flows out from the Dragon Spines and takes a meandering route westward. It's joined by Cold Creek before entering Lago Agua Azul. Rio Del Oro also feed Lago Agua Azul. The Mesa Verde then continues on through Fallen Leaf Lake and on to Tanners Lake. At Tanners Lake it's joined by Badger Brook flowing out the the Hidden Springs. Rio Roca De Plata exits Tanners and heads to the Western Sea. While the Rio Del Oro is navigable for much of it's length, the Roca De Plata is not as a lack of slope cases the river to spread and shallow. Additionally the plain that the Roca De Plata flows through is characterized by fields of jagged stone just under the topsoil. As the river washed the topsoil away it exposed these fields of rugged stone restricting any vessel traffic to small craft only. Roads
Most of the roads in the Southern marches are the kind of dirt roads formed by wagon and horse traffic. In the steadings the largest main streets are paved with cobblestones and on the side street most of the shops have raised wooden boardwalks. Out away rom the steadings there are sign posts at trail intersections indicating which trails lead where.
Civilization
The people of the Southern Marches have taken advantage of the abundant hardwoods constructing their houses in a frame and clapboard fashion. The Steadings are the hubs of commerce and socialization. Each Steading is a small city serving the needs of the widely scattered ranches. The two main products of the Marches are cattle and lumber. Ranches utilize a large portion of the available river valleys as grazing land for vast herds of cattle.
Commerce
Most of the exports of the Southern Marches is in live cattle and hardwood lumber. Each of the steadings serves as a local collection point for its attendant ranches. Once enough material is gathers for a shipment it's taken by water to Fallen Leaf Lake. Once reaching the Edmund Steading, goods are loaded onto wagon trains and shipped overland to Lake Volstead, specifically, South Bank City. I the case of cattle each of the steadings will hold a cattle drive to lake Volstead. This has the effect of spreading out the herds of cattle so there's sufficient grazing along the way, as each steadings route is slightly different. There's a good deal of trade between the steadings as different areas specialize in different resources with the steadings acting as a clearing house for their surrounding ranches. Imports to the Southern Marches are for the most part goods like Sea Elf glass for glazing. Dwarven forged iron and steel goods. Food stuffs not native to the Southern marches. Government
The government of the Southern Marches is an oligarchy made up of the council of stead holders. Each stead holder has one vote at council. A stead holder is a head of state for his steading and attendant ranchers. Stead holders own the steading and collect rent from the shop keepers established within the steading. The stead holders also take a percentage of the profit from material shipments in recompense for arranging and providing transport. Conversely, almost all the imports to the Marches are bought by the stead holders and resold to the shops at a small mark up. The shop keepers then sell the goods and pay a small transaction tax to the stead holder. In return for tax and tithe, the stead holders provide for upkeep of the steading. They also keep a small body of men at arms to respond to respond to threats to the steading and their attendant ranches. They also have posted bounties for various nuisances in their areas.
Cities
Each of the steadings is a small cities in its own right. They don't have much in the way of permanent population as most of the people in the Southern Marches live on the ranches where they work. Good and services not available on the ranches are usually found in the steadings. Few ranches boast either a barber or a tavern. Also the steadings boast large warehouse for storing trade goods both incoming and outgoing as well as the stocks of the various business in the steading. Another common purpose of the steading is for cross ranch trading as not every ranch produces everything they might need. Steadings are also the most common place to find craftsmen.
Comments