Old Harbour

Written for Prompt 7 (2019 Summer Camp)

Written by David_Ulph

Is always wet in thi' shit'ole, Cap'n, no bugger worf their coin would bother 'arbourin' 'ere. 'Cept us, eh? We'll get sum good bisnis off this 'ere sugar. But the very air be wet, Cap'n, mak' sure the sugar is covered.. 'specially wiff the guards.

---

Old Harbour is an isolated settlement on the very edges of the Great Western Empire and is technically a part of the Faar Isles, though its situation on the Southern Sea makes it largely forgettable for the Losalfar Conclaves.

Demographics

Approximately 3,750 peasantry, with 450 of that number being Guardsmen or other members of the Warrior Class; Approximately 850 nobility, comprising 5 Noble Houses (4 Knightly Houses, 1 Noble Houses), and 8 of that number being various Lawmen; 250 Merchants and Artisans are registered in the City; 150 Clergymen, with 3 of that number being Priests and an unknown number of Paladins.

Old Harbour's roughly 5,000 residents are predominantly human, with a Korg mining contingent of about 200 workers, the largest non-human faction in town. Losalfar draw no special notice, since the island is owned by Slinzir and a part of the Faar Isles, the lands of the last Losalfar Conclaves. The residents react to other visitors, with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

Despite mortality being very high throughout Terralba, especially in such an isolated and exposed place as Old Harbour, there seem to be no orphanages or orphans found in the town. Parentless children under the age of 16 are taken to the Chapel of Saint Vortarius on the hill-rise on the eastern edge of town, where they are never seen again. In truth, the children are sacrificed by the priesthood on full moons and cast into the sea.

Show spoiler

The children are rarely killed in the sea however, as the sacrifice is made to the nearby Aboleth (or child of the Great Old One that gives the Order of Saint Vortarius' communion blood) and instead the offerings are transformed. The experience transforms the children into fanatics dedicated to the Aboleth. They return from the sea as mortals of their race, but when they reach old age, they transform into Sea Spawn and rejoin their master in the dark depths. Some children return having suffered partial transformations, leaving them semi-bestial until their full transformation when they reach old age. These wretches are hidden by the Priesthood until their final change, to keep their secret, though they transform into Skum rather than Sea Spawn.

Government

The rulership of Old Harbour is divided between two factions, though because the land is under Losalfar ownership they are known as Conclaves, known as the Conclave of Traditionalists and the Conclave of Loyalists. As an isolated community, tensions run deep and rise quick, with the Traditionalists wanting to stay on course with the way the society of Krathnar Minor has always gone and the Loyalists wanting a more involved society that integrates with the main islands of the Faar Isles.

Traditionalist Conclave

The Traditionalists are a political union between prominent fishing families, merchants and the 5 Houses all headed by Noble House Reed. Smuggling has long been prominent in the shadows of Old Harbour as a way for the town to make money and the Traditionalists, as realists, believe that without the smugglers there would be no way for the settlement to survive. As such, smugglers pose as the majority of the mercantile class in Old Harbour and rely on their local contacts to move goods without interference from the town guard or the Archduke's agents on the rare occasions they visit the isolated town.

The Traditionalists simply want things to remain the same. If they had their way, the Korgs would go home, the guard would stick to dealing with monsters rather than hassling honest traders, and the Archduke would go back to dreaming of conquests to the South. The more things change, the more this faction resorts to open protest and resistance.

Loyalist Conclave

The Loyalists are the newer incomers to Old Harbour, coming usually from the Faar Isles where the Losalfar Archduke has a tighter control over the mainland Conclaves and so are loyal to the Crown more than the conservative isolationist nobility of Old Harbour. They feel that the town should focus on becoming a useful asset to the Archduke and become a sight of value for the GWE. The Guardsmen, Korgs, and local farmers are generally Loyalists.

The Loyalists are focused on two things: ensuring that the Korgic mine is a success, and clamping down on smuggling. The mine is the most precious commodity in the region for this faction, and its members do everything they can to support it. If word of any smuggling or piratical activity reaches the Loyalists, they are quick to meet the threat.

Thrall's Council

Due to the divided nature of the relatively small town, the Thrallmen of Old Harbour are governed by a Council of both highborn and lowborn significant individuals in the settlement.

Members on the Council

Members aspiring Council

• Sirra Eda Reed, head of the Traditionalists

• Margarte Copperlocks, Korgic Mine Overseer

• Syre Anders Salmon, noble puppet of the Order

• Syre Crescius Salt, Knight

• Syre Glover Thrall, Knight

• Erundil Graylock, Captain of the Guard

• Syre Gilderoy Primewater, richest man in town

• Skerrin Wavechaser, Head Priest of the local Temple

Defences

An ancient, crumbling stretch of wall surrounds the north-western boundary of Old Harbour built when the settlement was still known as Thrall's Port. The wall is badly worn from centuries of wind and rain and has a single town gate secured by a handful of elderly Guardsmen good for little more than idle gossip and sharp eyes.

During the late Third Age, a Company of 328 guardsmen upheld law in the town, led by an imposing Captain who pledges the Company's allegiance to the Loyalist Conclave. The guardsmen are clad in studded leather armour and thick woollen cape marked with the sigil of House Reed (Ironically the head nobility of the Traditionalist Conclave). They are armed with crude clubs.

Old Harbour is also militarily defended by the 5 Houses which inhabit the town. Each House by Imperial Law must provide one Knight to the Imperial Legions for 40 days a year as well as a third of the levy they are expected to raise during war-time. There are 4 Knightly Houses that produce 1 Knight and a handful of loyal lowborn, and 1 Noble House that produce 1-3 Knights, dozens of Personal Guard and a levy of around 112 lowborn. This provides 5-7 heavy knights and around 122 lowborn militia to the defence of Old Harbour during siege. An unknown number of the 150 Clergymen in Old Harbour are also Paladins of Saint Vortarius.

Industry & Trade

More folk in town work in the fishing industry than any other, and it has been the backbone of Old Harbour since the days it was known as Thrall's Port. The wealthier families own their own boats, while lowborn hire out to work as deckhands. The work is difficult and dangerous, especially with the Devils of the Deep that plague Terralba's waters, but a smart or lucky deckhand can save money for several years and eventually buy their own boat. That promise of earned prosperity is important to the townsfolk, and they see newcomers as a threat to it.

Very rarely do ships other than fishing vessels dock in Old Harbour, with those that do reach the piers will be merchants aiming to sell wares to the impoverished locals and buy fish that is a delicacy across the rest of the Elgerlia continent. Sometimes, a royal ship pledged to the Archduke will reach the town, only when the Bailiff's on the mainland remember or bother to take the island's due taxes. It is because of this detached and neglected nature of the tax-collectors on Old Harbour that smuggling is common in the backwater port as pirates and nobles seek to evade these taxes on the way between the southern continent of Sanaros and the Faar Isles and supply a bustling black market. Some fishing boats meet ships at sea to load and unload illegal goods, while other cartels conduct business at isolated points along the shore near town.

The mine outside town is a new development with the increased numbers of Korgs arriving at the docks to find a living. Despite the scepticism of the locals, the Copperlocks Mine has started to yield silver in growing quantities and the Korgs are convinced that the nearby cliffs are rich with gold and gemstones. If the mine takes off, Old Harbour could transform into a sprawling trade centre and point on the maps of the Olawa Straight overnight.

Agriculture is a very minor industry in Old Harbour, with a couple boggy farms scattering the outskirts of the settlement. When there is a crop yield, or time for livestock slaughter, the Chapel will take the meals and distribute the food to the poorest in the town who have a diet of almost completely fish. One soggy and decrepit windmill sags in the wind between the farmlands to convert the barley into various foodstuffs.

Guilds and Factions

Other than the Traditionalists and the Loyalists, there is one remaining faction with some power and aspirations in Old Harbour; The Order of Saint Vortarius. This town is the only true place of religious significance the Order has established on the Faar Isles, and is thriving due to no other religious involvement from the other faiths spread throughout the GWE. The Order are extremely opportunistic in the politics of Old Harbour, seeking to uncover the Houses' connections to smuggling and slavery, while also manipulating the populace against the Korgic mining operation since they believe in the Elder Faith and are pagans in the eyes of the Priesthood.

Alternative Name(s)

Thrall's Port (Original Name), Sheep Isle (What's written on most cartographic maps)

Type

Town

Population

Approx. 5,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Thrallmen