Difference between revisions of "JesseLowe/WhitePines"

Revision as of 00:35, 3 March 2005

• Back to /HeroesOfAWoodedLand
• Back to /Locations

White Pines is a city of middling size (nothing to compare with great metroplises like Nexus or Great Forks) in the East. It is in that small clump of forest ( Calrushan Wood) directly south of the Gossamer Stockade. It is both on the ground and in the trees, although not nearly as much as Haltan cities are.

Note: I've made use of S. John Ross' Medieval Demographics Made Easy for some ballpark figures. Raw numbers put into the formula are that White Pines is the center of a demographic area with a density of about 15 people per square kilometer (rather low) that stretches about a hundred miles in any direction from White Pines (i.e., about 22167 square kilometers).

History

White Pines grew out of a trade meet at the place of the five white pines near the edge of Calrushan Wood. Here, the forest dwellers of the wood would meet and trade with the nomads and the plains people who surrounded them. Over time, it grew into a town and eventually, the center of local culture. After the Contagion, the area fell under the protection of a powerful spirit, Ancient Spindle, and retained its importance. It is now the local Guild hub and general trading center.

Recently (i.e., since the campaign started), White Pines successfully repelled an assault by a Fair Folk lord named Jawara in a battle that involved four Solar Exalted and quite a few summoned creatures.

Law, Politics, and Economy

Politics: Independent city-state ruled by a council of elders. (Technically, by all adults, but in practice by the four or five most popular adults.)

Economy: Dependent on trade with the Guild, exporting a variety of forest products and such.

Military

About a dragon's worth of militia and a scale's worth of regular infantry (the officers). Fights as four talons.

Religion

Religion: Ancestor cult + careful reverence of local gods.

There are five outposts surrounding the city, each about five miles away. Each outpost is on the edge of the forest and is built around the lower branches of a colossal pine tree and manned by two fangs of militia. They primarily function as border guards and watchposts, and can communicate fairly quickly with White Pines by way of (very carefully tended) signal fires and lanterns atop each tree.

Aside from White Pines itself, there are numerous small villages and settlements, rarely more than five families large, scattered throughout the forest. These are mostly small farming and pastoral communities, and there are about twenty to thirty of them.

A couple notes on White Pine's "law enforcement:"

Peacekeeping duties have, over the last few centuries, devolved from the official Serene Bureau of Right Conduct to being carried out by the clans themselves. The council of elders determines what is unlawful, based on tradition, necessity, and politically expedient. In matters of law enforcement, Clan Keoshian has the most clout. There are no detectives, no forensics, or similar. Actual law enforcement is carried out by patrolling squads of three to four "officers" who usually carry truncheons and have a tendency to get in fights with patrols from other clans.

At present, the Serene Bureau is almost defunct and consists solely of a trio of clerks and a doddering old bureau head who is in quasi-retirement. They do little more than keep records of the troublemakers brought in and make futile efforts to try them. Actual judgement is usually carried out by clan leaders and higher-ups. (Note that White Pines has no concept of trial by jury; they're accustomed to a magisterial system.)

Punishment is almost never imprisoment (that's expensive!), but is instead either corporal, capital, exile, or fines. We can work the details later, if you've got any suggestions. As a rule, minor crimes (or crimes committed by those in protected positions) are punished with fines or short exiles; major crimes, such as assault, rape, and impressive theft are punished by lifetime exile (perpetrators are branded) or mutilation, or both. Murder is usually punished by death or exile, or (if it's getting to be that time) sacrifice to the King of the Wood.

The system works better than might be expected because the clans are (despite their public posturing) tightly entwined and because the community has a strong tradition of justice. It wouldn't take much to topple the apple cart and plunge White Pines into a morass of corruption, though.

White Pines has nothing like a secret police or a military intelligence agency as a whole, though the clans might very well have something.

New Plans:

Each of the following branches answer directly to Kuro Haku. Old Cedar will function as his assistant.

Serene Bureau of Right Conduct ( Malkhous Dachjian)

Police Force - Order of the Eagle's Talon - One dragonblood ( Garsey) and four recruits from the military head up the newly combined force of the patrols from the clans. The plan is to slowly phase in patrols made up of members from the different clans.

Judiciary - Ministry of Illumination - This is made up of three clerks that were previously part of the Bureau. For the most part, there are no trials. If the police bring them in, they must be guilty. In the rare case a trial is needed, Malkhous Dachjian would be the judge. There are no juries or lawyers.

Bureau of the Perfect Strike ( Sanasar Jernazian) - One dragonblood ( Seven Fire Cat) and four recruits from the military. These units will interface heavily with Hotspur's troops as well is with the Bureau of Crystalline Acumen. This allows them to both know the enemy and know our troops and make the most effective recommendations. They will also begin making intense studies of the surrounding areas to better understand the terrain and make determinations as to the best places for battles.

Bureau of Crystalline Acumen ( Ghadam Dachjian) - One dragonblood ( Vanil)and four recruits from the military. This bureau will begin by conducting operations in the surrounding towns to keep a pulse on the size and deployments of their military forces.

Bureaucracy

This is the currently atrophied official machine of government. It's been replaced by a system of patron / client relationships. It should also be noted that the bureaucracy was once quite a bit too large for a city of White Pines' size, this being one of the reasons for its downfall. (If everyone's pushing papers, no one's growing food.)

• Department of City Affairs (Home / Executive Office)
  • Serene Bureau of Right Conduct (Justice Department, headed by Kuro Haku, run by Malkhous Dachjian)
    • Order of the Eagle's Talon (Police Force, headed by ?)
    • Ministry of Illumination (Judiciary and Penal System)
  • Bureau of the Treasury
  • Bureau of Streets and Sewers (Public Works)
• Department of Inevitable Victory (War) (Headed by Vartavar Shabazian)
  • Bureau of the Perfect Strike (Military Intelligence, headed by Kuro Haku, run by Sanasar Jernazian)
  • White Pines Militia
• Department of Merchants and Artificers (Trade) (Headed by Avedis Keoshian?)
  • Bureau of Just and Fair Taxation (Tax Collection)
  • Guild of Clothworkers
  • Guild of Victualers and Lodgemasters
  • Guild of Smiths
  • Guild of Carpenters
  • Guild of ... etc.
• Department of Distant Lands (Foreign Office)
  • Bureau of Crystalline Acumen (Intelligence Service, headed by Kuro Haku, run by Ghadam Dachjian)
  • Bureau of Fortuitious Words (Diplomatic Corps)
• Department of Righteous Propitiation (religion and god-bribing)
  • Temple of Aum Cho
  • Temple of Ancient Spindle and Sidia
  • Temple of Bogdash
  • Guild of Honorable Burial and Reverence (Ancestor worship, undertakers)
  • Priests of the Unconquered Sun (Headed by Si Lu (Formerly by Amara Onya))
  • Appeasers of the Immaculate Order

Major NPCs

• Council of Elders
  • Elder Avedis Keoshian
  • Elder Kohar Aleksanian
  • Elder Vartavar Shabazian
  • Elder Perouz Noubarian
  • Elder Si Lu

• The Clans
  • Clan Keoshian (The populists)
  • Clan Aleksanian (The priests)
  • Clan Shahbazian (The warriors)
  • Clan Noubarian (The merchants)
  • Clan Yaghlian (The ancestor cultists)

Map of White Pines