Arnsrath

City in Ione

Arnsrath is the second largest city in the Meidem province after the provincial capital of Principa and lies very close to the border with Wol. Arnsrath is home to the [Basin Quarry], the only large scale mining operation in Ione which produces most of the marble used in the sculptures and construction projects throughout the nation.

Demographics

Arnsrath has a recorded population of 1,345 individuals all of which are human. 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. While uncommon, it is possible to see other races working in the quarry or learning about Ionean sculpting or constructions while in Arnsrath.

Government

Arnsrath is governed by theocratic rule similar to all settlements within Ione and 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 Principa as it is the provincial capital of Meidem.

Industry & Trade

Arnsrath produces a very large quantity of extremely high grade, fairly pure marble that is used in the majority of construction projects throughout Ione, which provides the nation with it's signature, gleaming white, buildings. A large portion of Arnsrath's population work to support the extraction or processing of this marble, but logisitical roles such as planning transport or managing the large groups of stonemasons are also fairly abundent. Aside from construction, Arnsrath also produces numerous high quality marble sculptures with many apprentice artisans coming to the location to gain experience before returning as a journeyman under a master usually located in Fortuna.

History

Originally a small farming hamlet that was rarely included on maps, Arnsrath was fairly unknown to most of Ione until a farmer discovered large veins of marble while attempting to expand his farm southwards. Shortly after the discovery a significant number of individuals moved into Arnsrath to work at extracting the marble and using it to update the old and crumbling infrastructure of the nation leading to the pure white buildings that make up the majority of the buildings in Ione’s major cities. Individuals came from all across the nation to begin work and many families transitioned their livelihoods to the upstart settlement. Due to the heavy and immediate influx of people, many of the initial structures of Arnsrath were closer to tents than actual buildings. As the first clean chunks of marble were extracted from the quarry they were used to create the first permanent buildings throughout Arnsrath. The buildings needed to be erected quickly to house the more permanent residents that had arrived leading to many of them lacking the distinct gothic stylings that had taken over most of Ione's stone structures long before the founding of Arnsrath. This has persisted even into present day leaving Arnsrath looking much simpler than many other settlements. After much of the reconstruction of major buildings throughout the major Ione settlements were completed, the excess marble led to a renaissance of Ionean artwork and sculptures during the beginning of the Second Era with pieces such as the Ravens Fel monument completed in 1349 highlighting the beginning of the increase in output of Ionean sculptures. The city lost a sizable portion of its population during the construction of Newbridge in 2002 as Stonemasons were required to cut the large granite and marble bricks for the bridge crossing the Jhio River. Once the construction was complete about half of the population that left Arnsrath returned, with the other half opting to stay in Newbridge.

Points of interest

[Basin Quarry] - Basin Quarry is the primary driver behind the growth of Arnsrath as the extraction of marble has been used for construction throughout the entire nation.

Architecture

The architecture of Arnsrath differs from much of the rest of Ione due to the speed at which the buildings needed to be constructed. The settlement was built from the first marble extracted to house many of the workers and as a result few buildings contain the gothic features seen in other settlements, such as pointed arches, rib vaults, or detailed columns. Structures found at the city centre often lack gothic features which is where they are most commonly seen in other Ionean settlements.