Greycross

City in Ione

Greycross sits at the center of the province of Meidem and connects a large portion of the province to Fortuna. Aside from providing a small portion of plants for food and a main route throughout Ione, Greycross also possesses the Serene Gardens of Ione, a massive set of sprawling gardens that are used to produce many decorative flowers for the celebrations and useful herbs, spices, and specialized plants for medicines, alchemical brewing and cooking. Unsurprisingly, Greycross produces the largest number of alchemists and druids who gain most of their experience working within the Gardens.

Demographics

Greycross has a recorded population of 970 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.

Government

Greycross 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 Principa as it is the provincial capital of Meidem.

Industry & Trade

Greycross is the smallest of the farming settlements in Ione and produces some grains, fruits and vegetables, but primarily dyes, fibre plants, spices, and specialized alchemical components. General plants are farmed throughout the adjacent hamlets and stored in communal storage areas within Greycross while specialized plants are grown in the Serene Gardens under the watchful eye of the garden management. Some processing of these plants, such as those used in alchemy is done in Greycross itself, while dye components and fibre for tools and cloth is often shipped to other settlements, mainly Fortuna.

History

Greycross was founded in 1168 with a goal similar to that of Kronbruck and Ravenstadt in that it would be primarily a farming settlement that would expand out into hamlets that would tend the fields and use Greycross proper as storage and distribution. Initial growth did head in that direction, though it was deviated from that course rather quickly. Unlike it's two sister cities, Greycross was founded after a significant trade presence had developed which meant the introduction of new goods and process, one of which were exotic plants and animals. Alarach [Somerhild Spicer] indcated that she would like Greycross to begin learning about these various plants to see what Ione could begin producing for itself, and provided support for constructing the base of what would eventually become the Serene Gardens. Certain plants such as woad, weld, madder, all of which are common in the creation of dyes were of particular interest and were the first to be grown. Much of this woad and weld would be used for the Ionean standards and armours while the rest would be sold to traders through Ornamen. The town attracted individuals that were more in tune with nature and overtime much of the town would spend significant amount of time in the Serene Gardens generating some of the nations best alchemists and druids. Some very hard to cultivate plants and fungus, most notably the Blue Blessing, have started to be grown in the settlement. The success seen with the growth of these rare plants had many Alarchs invest heavily in the town. By the Second Era a small guild-like organization had been founded to manage the Serene Gardens and ensure that the methods used to grow the specialized plants were well kept secrets. General use and food crops had since been moved to the surrounding hamlets, and while Greycross still acted as storage and distribution, it's output was significantly lower than the other farming settlements. The marble overhaul of the settlement followed much of the same processes as other settlements, with the exception of the Serene Gardens which took many, many years to complete as the flora kept there needed to be slowly transported to the new marble wings of the gardens.

Points of interest

[The Serene Gardens of Ione] - Part outdoor garden, part indoor greenhouse, the serene gardens grow many different types of exotic plants required by alchemists and magic users.

Architecture

Greycross is 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.