Bryn Shander
A merchant democracy on the edge of the world.
Bryn Shander is the political capital of Ten-Towns and the trading centre of Icewind Dale. It is largest and youngest of the towns, having only truly become a major settlement under the Alagonid Empire. The town is situated atop a large standing hill, giving those in the town a clear view down to Maer Dualdon and on a good day on can see the reflection of Lac Dinneshere. It forms a natural gateway to its fellow towns of the dale, as well as their lifeline to the larger markets to the south. It sits at the crossroads of Ten Trail leading to Norvissen, and the Eastway. It is by far the wealthiest community in the region, and experienced less emigration under Nalemonic rule than other settlements in Ten-Towns.
Politics and Economy
Birthplace of Speakership
Bryn Shander is origin of the Speakership system in Ten-Towns. It adopted the system under the Alagonid Empire due to its history as a trading town mostly populated by merchants, reviving a democratic variation of the Kingdom-era position of "Lords-Speaker". The system has spread and is now the model for the rest of Ten-Towns, with a standard 10-year speakership elected by all residents of age in the town.
Bryn Shander's long history of representative government has made it the seat of the Council of Speakers, and consequently the capital of Ten-Towns. Bryn Shander is seen as neutral ground between the settlements on Maer Dualdon and those in the eastern lakes of Lac Dinneshere and Redwaters.
For every voice, a vote. No privilege to distinguish between them but the gold they find by their own hands and the alliances they build by blood and by deal. A free haven, for every one of us to come and trade and build the North together.
A Merchant-Town
Bryn Shander is a town of traders and artisans. It has few natural resources of its own, and imports the vast majority of its food and lumber from the other towns. There were at one point small Icegrain farms, but these were ill-adapted to the rocky hills around the town. The constant influx of raw resources before the Everlasting Rime led artisans to congregate in the town to ply their trades and sell goods to traders that bring local-made and southern goods to the rest of the Ten Towns.
Bryn Shander's wealth originates from its position at the crossroads of the Eastway and Ten Trail. These roads made Bryn Shander the first of the Ten-Towns that travellers from the south would reach, making its markets a convenient intermediary point for the traders from the other Ten Towns to hawk wares to southern merchants without relying on those traders visiting each town.
There are a wide range of trade guilds and factions in Bryn Shander, including guilds for merchants smithing, scrimshaw, masons, bakers, saddlers, jewelers and others. These guilds often exercise some authority in the rest of Ten-Towns, the majority of which lack the population and artisanal industries to sustain their own guilds.
The Walls of Bryn Shander
Bryn Shander's strategic geographic situation has made it a necessary stop for invading armies from the south or for those trying to travel between Maer Dualdon and the eastern lakes. Consequently, a massive wall was built around the town in the Alagonid period at the town grew.
The Wall forms a 30 foot high circle about the height of the wind lashed hill. The construction of the wall began in the 930s MA during the time of Alagondar the Great. It has three sets of 15-foot-high hinged wooden gates, dubbed the North Gate, the East Gate, and the Southwest Gate. These gates can be barred from the inside with heavy, iron-banded hardwood beams. The walls require regular maintenance from the cities remaining engineers.
History
Bryn Shander's orgins are as a halfway house for this preparing to make the long and dangerous trek across the Worldspine Mountains during and before the Kingdom period. It started as little more than a camp a short way down Ten Trail.
During the Alagonid Empire, overland trade between Ten-Towns and the new Alagonid holdings in the Northlands and beyond radically expanded. In only a few short decades, Bryn Shander expanded from little more than a small camp to a massive city. Alagondar the Great, recognizing the potential value in the town, ordered the construction of a massive wall about the town around 830 MA to defend the approach to Ten Towns. He also appointed the first Speaker of Ten-Towns to represent the interests of the merchants of Bryn Shander to the Crown.
Bryn Shander's population decreased dramatically during the War of Two Dragons, and had fallen to barely 3000 by the Occupation of Icewind Dale. While Nalemonic rule has still enabled trade, the loss of the region's status as a political centre led to a large southward migration from Ten-Towns to the Northlands.
Contents
General Information
Nalemonic Empire
Nalemonic Pantheon
Cult of Auril
Reghed
Silverpine dwarfs
Naldi
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