Nebugleam

by Dazzlinkat

Qildor was old. The weight of his years ground deep into his bones in a constant ache that only faded after his special morning tea. As he sat in the sun room watching the sun rise over the sea, he finally felt at home.
The last fifty years had been a brutal struggle to grab onto what bits and pieces of the family wealth he could after his brother, Lord Phraan, had finally managed to get himself hunted down and killed by some coin shark. Having to sell off estates and enterprises at savagely low prices just to preserve his own name and rank of Squire had been horrific.

***

Qildor had endured it all with dignity and genius, which was why his sun room was in a marble and ivy manor.
Sure, it was a very new manor on an island estate, but it was his.
Peace flowed through him as the sun rose in majestic colors.
His clever daughters were all married to industrious mercantile spouses and happily pursuing their dreams.
They also had no interest in this island estate, other than as a very minor enterprise to be sold with the price shared between them as their pitiful inheritance.

***

What bothered him most was that none of his daughters wanted his estate even though his rank came with it. And after he had worked so desperately hard to preserve it for at least one of them.
Rusticating on some silly island just to keep a mere Squire's rank was not a part of their dreams. Staying in Tanzia where they were building mercantile empires with their spouses was. Something they had pointed out to him. Often.
Qildor sipped his tea and sighed. He had failed to impress any of his daughters with the value of his rank or the beauty of his island. Maybe if he had had a son, he might have done better.

Nebugleam: Island And Village

Nebugleam is a small tropical island in the Sunset Isles on the planet Danranerth in the Kalea Star System. Until Squire Qildor Nebugleam bought colonization rights to the it, the island did not have a formal name. In order to maintain his position as one of the landed gentry he needed land but his family misfortunes, thanks to his older brother Lord Phraan Nebugleam, left him with limited wealth.
Calling in every old favor and wealth he had left, Qildor managed to get a beautiful marble manor and decorative yet defensible wall built around a lake on the little mesa on the island. He then sought out the best business minded elf he believed would be loyal. He found Dhaunaellie Dewcresent, a fourth born daughter with no hope of attaining a prosperous marriage or even a significant inheritance.
A wise old elf, Qildor quickly made her Seneschal of Nebugleam. Together, they worked hard to bring about the Nebugleam Winery. Every elf they carefully chose to hire had a similar frustration with attaining prominence so these elves would be very industrious at building something new they could call theirs. Finding the right elves took a long time but paid off handsomely.
Nebugleam Sunset, a lime, kiwi, and strawberry blended wine, has become a premium wine, especially since the winery can only make so much of it in a year. Every citizen of Nebugleam gets a share of the profits, though the Squire gets the biggest of course. This was no great fortune but it was steady and ensured that those who worked on Nebugleam were very dedicated.
In his last years, Qildor finally managed to adopt a son to whom he could leave his island. Fislyn was a prankster youth and, with no records of his birth on record, Qildor found it very easy to have such records forged and registered as true documentations.
After Qildor's death, his daughters got to meet their newly adopted and much younger brother. That he was such a prankster who seemed far too eager to unleash his pranks at court appalled them. The family name was just barely credible as it was!
Fislyn, still a very young elf just reaching his adult years, was bought a commission into the Navy and shipped off to the stars to learn some discipline far away from the Tanzian courts.
Seneschal Dewcresent, left in charge, is determined than when young Fislyn returns he will be proud of his estate.

Demographics

Primary Race: Rua'alfar
Adults: 83
Children: 41
Elderly: 14

Government

by Dazzlinkat

Squire Qildor Nebugleam ruled over the village and island he named after himself.

He was very old and set in his ways.

His demands were great but, in return, he saw to it that they were well-paid.

Qildor worked hard to aquire people with good talent and even better loyalty, leading to fewer people than most colonial estates.

Squire Qildor did eventually adopt a son, a young elf of awkward parentage named Fislyn. It only took minor bribes for Qildor to forge genuine birth records for Fislyn, who he promptly send off to school on Hook Island.
During his second year, Fislyn had to rush home as Qildor grew ill. Sadly, Quildor died and left his new estate to Fislyn. Qildor's three daughters were rather pleased with their modest inheritance of what little fortune Qildor had left.
They were not at all pleased with their young prankish brother and were horrified at the thought of him attending court. After much debate, they sent him off to join the Imperial Navy, leaving Senschal Dewcresent in charge.

by Dazzlinkat

by Dazzlinkat

Running most things is Seneschal Dhaunaellie Dewcresent.
She is a very brilliant and very mercantile sort of star elf.
A fourth born daughter, she it too far removed from any hopes of attaining much from her family, making her very devoted to Nebugleam.
It was her genius that built up the Nebugleam winery.
With her careful management, Nebugleam Sunset just might become a top tier wine.
Dhaunaellie also represents Squire Fislyn in the Courts while he is away with the Navy.

Marshall Thaiten Oakseer is a nunnehi elf. He was a privateer amongst the stars until things turned bad. To keep from being hung for the crimes of his former ship, he has decided to remain here and make a new life for himself.
Thaiten is dedicated to protecting Nebugleam from pirates and whalers, who often take over small ports should they spot whales in an area. Nearly half the people on Nebugleam serve as guards.
His guards are also the fishers of Nebugleam, patroling the waters for trouble while they fish. All of them were hired because of their passion for fishing and their loyalty to Nebugleam is strong, as is their respect for Thaiten.

by Dazzlinkat

Defences

Nebugleam's most natural defense is that it is on an island. When trouble arrives, everyone takes shelter in the marble manor which is defended by three ballista on the roof.

Industry & Trade

Nebugleam's only export is Nebugleam Sunset, a kiwi, strawberry, and lime wine.

Infrastructure

The Village of Nebugleam consists of: Nebugleam Manor, a two story building of marble covered with kiwi ivy, a winery, a blacksmith, a carpenter, a general store, a small inn, and a small port capable of mooring on merchantman class sailing ship and half a dozen small fishing boats. There are 31 residential buidlings.
There are wood lined trails about the island.
The winery is provisioned by kiwi fields and lime orchards as well as a grand strawberry field.
Recently, Marshall Oakseer has ordered the building of two cumaru tree watchtowers at the north and south ends of the island to warn of incoming ships.

History

Nebugleam was built by Squire Qildor Nebugleam about twenty years ago when the region opened up for colonization.
After his death, it was inherited by his adopted son Fislyn Nebugleam who currently serves in the Navy.
The very capable Seneschal Dewcresent has built the winery into an enterprise that not only maintains the island, but is slowly building a modest profit for Fislyn's retirement.
Marshall Oakseer, after a bad incident with whalers in port recently, has taken a strong dislike to all whalers in general. He is determined to make the island as defensible as he can. He has started training every citizen of Nebugleam in weaponry whether they intend to become a member of the Guard or not.

Points of interest

In addition to the winery and farms all on a tropical island, there is a small lake completey surrounded by very tall marble walls. These walls are sturdy build beneath their beauty. This is a park open to all Nebugleam citizens and select visitors.

Architecture

The manor and its garden/defensive walls are the only structures made of marble. Large buildings are wood-framed with ivy walls while residences are living mahogany trees grown together.

Geography

The island has a great marble mesa on which the lake rests. The water in it drains down until is comes out of a cave. This cave is the mouth of a small river that flows to the sea in a meandering path.
The golden beachs are bordered by a mahogany and cumaru forest where wild pigs once roamed freely but are now domesticated and tended by swineherders.
The interior of the island is farms and orchards with strips of the mahogany and cumaru forest between them. These, in their turn, surround the mesa.
On the mesa, the village surrounds the manor.

Natural Resources

Precious hardwoods of mahogany and cumaru are harvested only at need and always replanted.
The lime trees, strawberries, and kiwi native to the island have all been transplanted into carefully tended orchards.
A marble quarry exists but was only used to build the manor and its walls. It has since been filled in to make a swimming hole. Swimming in the lake is prohibited as the lake is the main source of fresh water for the entire island.

Don't forget that you can click on the blue compass on the left to access the Table of Contents at any time!

Want to read all of the Toy Soldier Saga fiction, even before the rest of the world does?Subscribe now!

Current Squire of Nebugleam

Farms on the mesa slopes.

by DangThachHoang

Nebugleam Kiwi fields.

by Fruchthandel_Magazin

Nebugleam Limes.

by brandog

Nebugleam Strawberries.

by music4life