Ardarre

City in Ione

Unlike the other two Ionean provinces Wol’s capital Ornamen does not contain the towering gatehouse providing external access to the province. Instead, the town of Ardarre was built up around the gatehouse in the southwest to provide maintenance and support the few guardsmen who keep watch and operate the gatehouse. Due to the town’s very specific role in Ione, it is one of the smallest towns that appear on most traveler’s maps and is visited by few. Eparchs appointed to this town and not usually too pleased with the assignment given the location and role, however Eadburg Hiltrude, the current Eparch, is taking the role seriously and is looking to expand the town and the role that it provides Ione.

Demographics

Ardarre has a recorded population of 826 individuals all of which are human making it one of the smallest cities in Ione. Following the direction of the Alarch, only the human population of the city is recorded so it is likely that the population may be slightly higher than reported, though given the town's location and role few non-humans reside there.

Government

Ardarre is governed by theocratic rule similar to all settlements within Ione. The municipal government is controlled by an Eparch who is appointed through Cionecic's Divine Selection. The Eparch reports to the provincial representative, the Exarch, who resides in Ornamen as it is the provincial capital of Wol.

History

In 958 the decision was made to extend the stone fortifications that were protecting Sanctum Forest around the entirety of Ione. Construction began in Vane and proceeded south towards the fairly new city of Principa. Designated the military bastion of Ione, Principa was seen as an acceptable location for one of the towering gate houses but the other Southern city, Ornamen, was beginning to develop into a trade city producing significant revenue. Not wanting to disrupt trade or leave the city vulnerable to attack, the decision was made to create Ardarre a few kilometers away to ensure that if attacked residents and traders in Ornamen would be able to escape. Additionally this placed the gatehouse closer to Principa for easier and faster reinforcement if required. Ardarre slowly built up around the towering gatehouse acting as a bit of a bastion city. As the town grew foot soldiers became one of the more common professions to exist in the town, which much of the settlement building up around supporting the miliary. A much smaller barracks than the large one in Principa was eventually created to support the soldiers stationed at Ardarre. Growth has stagnated since it's initial creation without much drawing individuals to the town unless assigned to support the gatehouse.

Points of interest

[Gatehouse of the Southwest] - The towering gatehouse that allows access to southern Irios is located in Ardarre instead of the provincial capital, Ornamen.

Architecture

As this was one of the cities constructed originally from stone, it quickly adopted the gothic architecture seen throughout the marjoity of Ione during the initial construction as both Principa and Ornamen pinoneered the features. During the marble rebuild after the discovery of the rock in Arnsrath majority of the city centre would be overhauled to include all of the gothic features found elsewhere in the rest of Ione. Moving further from the city centre and public spaces into residential areas results in much simpler architecture, though still finely crafted from marble.