Fort 44

Welcome to North March Fort #44

Built about 50 years ago by the Empire Expansion Force.  It follows a very standard plan. The walls are stone 10ft thick by 20ft tall. The towers are 35ft square, with an inside room of about 15x15ft. The gate houses have an inner and outer set of doors with a middle portcullis and murder holes.  The corner towers each have a small ballista mounted on them. Also there is a outer ditch with spikes (not marked on map).  


A-Block near the front gate includes; 3 long halls each able to house 50 troops and a stable with small animal yard.   
Each of the long halls has a front room for living that includes a kitchen and tables, also a back room for washing that includes toilets, baths and laundry. There are 5 midsections each housing a squad of 10 men. There is a basement, with stairs front and back, that holds supplies for the troops (and usually a dozen cats to keep the mice away).  There is no central kitchen or dining hall for the Fort.
B-Block near the back gate is a mirror image. In total the fort can house 300 troops, comfortably.

At the center is a 100ft flagstone square with a well. 

North of the square are the command buildings, including a house for the Captain, a hall for administrative functions and storage of special items, also a long hall for anyone not attached to a fighting squad, like the Fort's wizard. Rooms here are more generous than those for the troops.
South of the square are the work shops for weapons and armor, there is also a stand alone storage house for flammable goods. There is supposed to be a supply of raw materials on hand to replace the equipment of 50 troops.

Although the garrison is listed as 100 men, this is slightly misleading. There are 10 fighting squads, each of 10 men. Plus about 20 support personnel; the Captain & his staff of 3, the Wizard & his apprentice, the weapons smith & armor smith, both with an assistant, the heavy weapons expert & his assistant, the doctor & his assistant, and the stable master. 


Outside Accommodations.
Empire army rules require all active troops live in the fort. However officers may have an outside "off duty" residence also. Discipline of troops not sleeping in their own beds is up to the Commander.  Troops are not allowed to marry until they retire. (they may be married when they join up, but this is unusual) They may have a local girlfriend, but the Empire owes her no widow's compensation. 
Retirement housing is provided near the fort for troops not wishing to return to the homeland. 

Havala Village 2

Village Council.

Any resident of the Havala area over the age of 50 has a seat on the council, a voice and vote. However in practice a council of 12 holds the regular monthly meetings that deal with the basic business of the community. This includes the resolving of disputes in a legal fashion. Capital offences, now fall under Imperial law and require the Fort commander act as judge and the council act as jury.

The 12 councillors are; Miller Munch, Tallina of the Tavern or her husband, Alton Baff the alchemist, old Bob of d’Barrels, Chief Cleric of the Church, farmer Alber the elder, Gevell of the Clothing shop, Mr Writter of the Arena, Mr Sellsin the Banker, Grandma Tina Marina of the Bidgit family, old Smith retired Black Smith, “Sir” Derk of the militia.

Village Militia

Next to the East & West gates are the watch towers, across the road are the village stables & store houses. These are maintained by the militia, a volunteer force of about 20 men. “Sir” Derk is the captain of this guard force, the son of an actual knight. He still holds to much of the old tradition, even though the Empire abolished knighthood.

The militia is responsible for keeping general order in the village and investigating any crimes. Most of the actual investigation is done by Derk’s daughter Anna, who is relentlessly curious.

The Shadow Council

Although there are no real guilds in Havala, there is an unofficial cabal of related business owners, those concerned with entertainment & tourism. Members include; Mr Writter of the Arena, who is partners with the brothers Are & Air. Madam Tallina of the Tavern, who seems to always know what is going on. Mr Baff the alchemist, who owns the bath house – healing hall. Mr Gossling of the Evening Duck Inn and Mr Porkins of the Wild Pig Inn. Also Mr Garry of the Game Shop.

Both the Tavern, especially its upstairs brothel, and Game Shop, with its betting window, draw over half their business from the soldiers at the Fort. By agreement, the Inns do not have musical entertainment, unless a customer starts a sing along. The performers of Are & Air do frequently put on mini shows at the Tavern. While the Arena is host to a Saturday afternoon variety show and a Sunday afternoon sporting event.

Havala Village

 

Havala Village in detail

1. Stables & Storage

2. Wild Pig Inn

3. Evening Duck Inn

4. Tallina’s Tavern & Brothel

5. The Arena – home of Are & Air performance company

6. The Church, with chapter house

7. The Miller’s compound

8. William’s Black Smiths shop

9. Ann & Sisters Brewers shop

10. Trever’s Tanners shop

11. Mr. Potter’s Pottery shop

12. Bob’s Barrel shop

13. Brenda’s Bakery

14. Frell’s Finest Foods

15. Krupt’s carts & wheels

16. Hopman’s Shoe Shop

17. Decker’s Fine Carpentry shop

18. Far & Wide Clothing

19. Timon’s Tack & Saddles

20. Big statue of the gods

21. Pevel’s Paper making shop

22. Marvin the Mason’s shop

23. The Banker

24. Garry’s Game shop

25. Kelly’s Candles

26. Regel’s Barber shop

27. The Animal Doctor

28. Millisa the Midwife

There is a good variety of craft shops with in the village, but usually just one of each. 

 

Haval Creek

Welcome to the Village of Havala

History in Brief.

Up until 50 years ago this area was under the ownership of House Navic, a minor feudal lord. Then the Empire expanded to take control of the area, making it part of the North March. There were 2 battles for control of Havala, the locals lost both. As per usual, the Empire abolished the feudal titles and granted any loyal former nobles a sizable estate of privet property. 

The eldest Navic son, Relmon refused to accept the conquest. He became a rebel, an outlaw. Most acts of banditry in the area are attributed to him or his descendants, who are said to live in the West Woods.  The younger Navic son, Edmon did pledge loyalty and received Nobson hall as his estate. Although he stayed very quiet, his descendants have gotten more involved in local politics. 

The Fort, #44 of the March, was built to house 300 troops, and all the basic military infrastructure. After the 5 years of stabilization, the garrison was reduced to 100 troops and has stayed at that level for most of the time. The current Captain of the Fort is Mettel Sereus. He is a stern old man, who goes by the book. He has served as commander for 7 years now and will be retiring soon. 

Over the past few decades there have been very few events of historical significance. 

Basic Population Data.

There are 70 homes in the village itself, with 30 farms outside the wall, in the crescent area and another 10 farms along the river. For a total of around 600 people. That number does not include the Fort and its retirement row of houses, which adds about 160 more people to the area. 

Most interesting feature.

Under the Navic old castle, deep in the hill is a spring that trickles forth water with healing abilities. In the old days control of the spring gave added power to the local Lord. Today the spring is controlled by the alchemist Alton Baff, who made a deal with the Empire for its exclusive use. 

Alton came to the area about 20 years ago and soon set up shop in a hillside cave. A few years later he had a large bath house built so that people could enjoy the cleansing healing waters. This became a good money making tourist attraction. 

Imperial Policy.

Stability is a major motivational force for the March. The Empire does not care about exerting much control over the locals, so long as the area stays peaceful ( towards the Empire ). In this regard the past 50 years have been rather enjoyable. Taxes are very light and not much demanded of the people. Many of whom found their lives made better with the establishment of the feudal system. A lot of land was simply given to the former peasants. 

Having said that, it should be noted that Havala's official reason to exist is to provide supplies to the Fort. Basic goods like food and wood, leather and wool, are taken in taxation. 

The village may govern its own affairs, using a council of elders, however the Fort commander will have ultimate authority -in the name of the Empire- to act for the common good. He may veto any ruling made by the local council if necessary.  The council may appeal to the Governor if it feels a commander is misusing his authority. 

Other features on the map.

   
The grave yard is located at the foot of Druid's Hill (DraShiTor Dana) ontop of which is a circle of standing stones that are said to have been there for 500 years. Also legend has it there is an ancient burial ground in the caves deep under the hill.

Zelethon Hall; Just west of the village, is a small estate with a very large decorative house. It is owned by a retired adventurer, from a distant land, who arrived to settle down 30 years ago.  Zelethon considers himself wise and well educated, a lover of high culture.  He did travel a lot in his younger days and his house is full of exotic art and trinkets from far and wide.

Nobson Hall; Located on the south road, not far from the old castle is the rather large estate of "young master" Edmon, who is now 62. Naturally the place is run by his descendants. Some of whom are happy to work under the Imperial system. Others long for the old days when their family ruled. 

Retirement Row; Across the road from Nobson Hall is a row of small farms. Land here is given to soldiers who wish to retire in this village, often because they have taken a wife here. Ofcourse most troops prefer to go back to the civilized lands to retire.

  

Town Types 03

Towns Transplanted, Part 3.

1. The city – small 20,000, medium 100,000, large 500,000 pop.

What can be said for towns mostly applies for cities too. Old ones are often walled newer ones not. There will be a standing guard force of a few hundred and a militia of around a thousand. If the city is a capital it will have a royal guard type force that acts independently of the regular military. It may also have an army fort(s) with a standing garrison of a few hundred, able to handle 1-2 thousand.

A noticeable difference between a town and a city is the number of distinctly different districts. A town tends to have one market area, with all the shops near it and everything else is mixed residential. There may be a fancy street for the wealthy and a beggars ally for the poor, but they are not entire neighborhoods. In a city the social classes segregate more clearly, sometimes even using walls. In many cities there are multiple market squares or rows, each specializing in a field of crafts or services.

The size of ancient cities.

Memphis in lower Egypt, 1000bc was about 100,000 pop.

In Greece 400bc, Athens was 150,000. Corinth was 90,000.

Jerusalem in 400bc had 40,000 pop.

Babylon in 600bc was 125,000

Syracuse on the island of Sicily in 400bc had 300,000

Alexandria in Egypt, 100ad had some 250,000 by 600ad it was at 94,000

Arles in south of France, 400ad had 75,000

Xi’an was capital of China in 100bc, it had 400,000. In 800ad it had 800,000.

Nanjing, China in 100ad had 78,000

Byzantium in 300ad had some 300,000, its high was 500ad with 1,000,000 pop

Paris in 1100ad had 50,000 by 1300ad it had 225,000

Angkor, the Khmer capital in 900ad had some 90,000

Nara the old capital of Japan in 800ad had 100,000

Seville in Spain, 500ad had 20,000 by 900ad had 40,000

Venice in Italy in 1000ad had 60,000 by 1300ad it had 100,000

London in 200ad had 45,000 by 1000ad it was down to 10,000. 

By 1300ad it was 70,000.

Rome; 600bc 80,000. 400bc 150,000. 100bc 400,000. 100ad 1,000,000. 400ad 800,000. By 600ad it fell to 90,000 and would drop to 50,000 in 800ad then to 15,000 in 1300ad.

City Selfcenteredness.

A city is kind of a world unto itself. The surrounding countryside is often treated as if it did not even exist. Although the reality is that a city needs to import lots of resources. It draws from a sizable area by domination. The perception is that the city is all and can do all. Why, because so much money and power is concentrated in the city, especially if it is the capital of a kingdom.

As a game setting the city is very complicated. There are numerous factions with in it, providing for an endless amount of intrigue. Generally the factions do not fight each other but have infighting as individuals seek to dominate their own group, then exert influence on the leadership of the town. For players not involved in politics, the city is a wide open setting for adventure. There is very little practical way to enforce the law, so long as you don’t draw too much attention to yourself.

A transplanted city will sooner of later realize the basic problem, that there is not enough agricultural land to support the population. New farms must be built, quickly. Which brings about the second issue, skilled labor. There is likely a shortage of experienced farmers. The likely result of these factors is; 1. a grab for grain and other food supplies by the wealthy and 2. a program of land development with the wealthy somehow owning the new farms.

More so than the smaller communities, a city is likely to establish colony villages outside the transplant zone, sooner than later. These will be fortified and may act as a front line vs the unknown world. There are three ways settlement may happen; privately owned, according to the feudal style, publicly owned with a group of share holders, or state owned with an emphasis on the villages as military outposts.

Town Types 02

Towns Transplanted, Part 2.

1. The town – small 2000, medium 4000, large 8000 pop.

The amount of defenses depends on the time period, with towns taken from more recent years being less likely to have walls, because cannons made them almost useless. Most towns have a small full time guard force around 100 men, and a militia (citizen soldiers) that can be called up in emergencies. There is not usually a separate police force. Craft specialists not found in villages make their living here. Towns are almost always located next to rivers.

Here we have a fortified large village or small town.

2. Castle Towns – these are the well fortified settlements that include a castle, which often serves as regional capital in addition to private residence. The lord of the castle commands all the guards, there is usually no division between castle and town forces.

            Here we have a very well fortified medium size castle town.

3. Fort Towns – these are heavily fortified military settlements, built as state projects rather than private ones. Usually they are on the border, very far from home, so a lot of self sufficiency is planned into them. Most of the population are soldiers, with a small number of civilian craftsmen also in residence.

Here we have a Renaissance age fort town built to control the river and its valley. 

Reasons for the existence of towns.

This is an important consideration because the transplant event may destroy the reason the town had for existing. Many towns started life as castle-villages, located at a strategic geographic place, that allowed them to function as trade center and to exert military power over an area. Other towns often grew up from villages dedicated to resource exploitation, which had secondary benefits going for them. In most cases the nearby area provides a lot, but not all, the food a town needs. More than villages, towns depend on trade. This will be a serious issue in the game.

The size of some ancient towns.

The typical Greek city state was about 6000 pop. 10,000 was considered the ideal number.

Thebes in Greace had some 8000 in 1300bc, while Thebes in Egypt at the same time had 80,000.

Eridu in Mesopotamia, 3700bc, had some 7000.

Athems in 700bc had about 7000 but by 400bc it was up to 15,000

In England of 1066ad, London had 10,000 pop, Winchester 6000pop, York 5000, Lincoln had 4000.

In 1166ad when the University was founded at Oxford, the town had about 3500 pop.

Most medieval towns were less than a square mile in size.

A Square Mile is 5280 ft x 5280 ft. or 640 acres ( 1609 m x 1609 m )

As a game setting, the town offers some advantages in terms of work force and available goods. There simply is a lot more stuff in a town than in a village. From the characters point of view there is likely to be a lot more freedom, unless they are already involved in town politics. A lot will depend on the personality of the town’s leader, how tyrannical he is. The state of emergency could easily result in tight martial law, with the confiscation of all essential goods and conscription of useful people. Alternately the town may try to function as normal, with the leader wanting to avoid panic.

In terms of disadvantages to a town, we are dealing with resource supply. It is harder to feed a town than a village and much harder to feed a city. The more modern a town is the more interconnected it is, at lest with the surrounding villages. 

Side Note:

Which brings up a point of geography.  If the town takes up the central square mile of a 10 mile across area, there may well be villages / suburbs with in the zone, say 3 miles down the road. For the game we may say the powers that transplanted towns did some editing of the surrounding land so that only the one town was taken. Or we may allow towns with satellite villages. Or we may consider two villages in the same zone. 

Town Types 01

Towns Transplanted, Part 1.

1. The village – small 200, medium 400, large 800 pop.

Often with no defenses and no standing guard force. Some were fortifies with walls, but most used location as protection, with only a few easy ways in / out. Most had extensive agricultural land around them. Depending on the culture and time period, some or all the men will have basic fighting skills. Only villages seriously worried about attacks will support a standing force, usually 10-30 men.
 

2A. The castle – usually with less than 50 pop living in it.

Most are guards and servants of the owner’s family. Some times a few skilled craftsmen or priests will also be in residence. Of course the castle can house a lot more people for short periods. A lot depends on the culture and time period.

Here we have a well fortified medieval castle - village.
Below is a Celtic hill-fort village with a castle at its center.

2B. The manor house – is a variant on the castle, with more people and comfort, but less defenses. We usually find them in the Renaissance. But a Roman villa is basically one too.
Here we have a linear undefended village and a manor house with basic defenses, not able to stand up to an army but good to protect from small raids.

2C. The fort – unlike the above, this represents a state military installation. It will usually be built to house 500-1000 troops, but will only have a garrison of 100 men, unless a war is going on. It will usually have workshops and storehouses.

Here we have a Roman fort, a big one this size may be considered a town more than a village. 

In Play.

As a game setting this small scale starting location, has some advantages and disadvantages, in terms of game play. It will not have a lot of industry or man power, however it will be very self sufficient. Most villages could supply all the essentials from the nearby area and needed trade only for luxury goods. However resource access may be a problem, assuming food, water and wood are at hand, what about iron and other minerals?

The GM should detail the village and castle, with basic info on who is who. The characters will know just about everything if it is their home. Nothing says they must be from the location, some or all of them could have been visiting when the transplant event happened. In terms of character activity, in a small place they will quickly be the big fish. If they prove capable of accomplishing tasks, they will likely be given more authority to set goals. However the established leader(s) will not usually surrender their power easily.

At extreme ends of organization / militarization we have; 1. A small peaceful village, never troubled by war in generations, that is run by an unofficial council of elders, who are basically democratic. Here the characters have a lot of freedom to do what they like. 2. A fort on the edge of the Empire, fully garrisoned and recently involved in war, ruled by a lord-commander who also holds absolute power over the local village that supplies food for the fort. Here the characters are confined by the military system, but also supported by it.

You can guess that the paths taken by these two communities will be very different. So would the play style of the game centered on one or the other. The village may simply struggle to survive and keep on with life as it has been. Maybe hiding or seeking aid from whom ever they can if the dangers and difficulties seem too great. The fort on the other hand, will likely behave as if still part of the empire, seeing any neighbor as an ally- to be controlled or enemy – to be eliminated. Its actions will depend a lot on the commander's personality, but will likely be planned tactical maneuvers.