Sharoban's greatest temple is dedicated to the Guardian Maiden, who sacrificed herself to protect others and in doing so earned a place among the gods. Merida's worship sits at the centre of almost everything that goes on in the liturgical life of the city. Her temple contains shrines to the other Luminal Deities, though these are not as large or well tended as her main altar and their priests are most decidedly lower in the clerical food chain than her priesthood. As she is seen as a protector petitioners approach for all sorts of reasons, soldiers come to be blessed before battles, mothers seek her aid for unborn children; merchants offer tithes for safe transactions especially if there is a caravan involved. It is not unknown for thieves to pray for a safe, uneventful score when they have their eyes on a big prize. Despite the fact that originally Merida was strictly a war goddess, albeit with a protective slant, today she has become an all round defender of the weak regardless of their situation.
In the city's ordinary day to day life this means a number of things. The temple frequently blesses trade caravans to ensure safe journeys with neither men nor beasts harmed. This has become such a frequent request that younger priests are routinely sent to linger by the gates in case a traveller or merchant asks for a blessing as they are leaving the city. It also means that the priests have been present when raiders have attacked close to the gates and done their best to help out, and as there are days when the priests do nothing but stand around watching the flow of people in and out, they have also been able to point out things the guards miss when strange events occur. As a result a strange sort of camaraderie has grown up between the priests and the guards. A lot of this has focused on Brother August, a young cleric who has developed a close working relationship with the east gate's captain after he helped to defuse a situation with a peddler and a possessed marionette.
Elsewhere Merida's priests provide counsel, both to the normal people who ask for guidance in their lives and at a more political level. They are consulted on all sorts of matters, from the right time to grow crops to the healing properties of plants.
Merida's holy days are set about the seasons, each celebrating a particular aspect of her godhood or life. The summer solstice brings the celebration of her birth, Maiden Birth. A small crib with a straw infant is placed in the temple portico and candles are lit. As devotions are said and celebrations enacted the candles are left to burn throughout the day. The climax of the holy day is the ritualistic burning of the straw doll, marking Merida's presence in the world.
In autumn the church celebrates Merida's early life with a tourney of daring feats. This is not necessarily dedicated to combat and it is not uncommon for the contest to take place in the House of Fools to make use of their traps, puzzles and tricks. Over the years teams have emerged, often from the various walks of life across the city and competition is fierce. The team from the Blacksmith's guild won last year, but only because their leader Esfir the Bear, a huge woman, disabled the traps with her hammer wherever possible. Her master, Gerasom Gold Hand was somewhat taken aback by the bill the House presented him with a few days after the competition.
Winter marks the goddess's heroism in the years before she died. Across the continent this holy day takes many forms. In warmer climes there are re-enactments and plays to dramatise the events, whilst in the Jorvin Empire skalds recite long eddas regarding Merida's exploits. Sharoban has used this tradition for a long time, if only because the weather does not permit anything more energetic. The people who can gather in the temple or the keep and listen to the stories. Recently the event began to take on a competitive edge, as bards and minstrels competed to tell the best tales. Last year's champion was a woman, Dominika, whose rendition of Merida and the Golden Apples left the audience weeping with laughter.
The last of the church's great occasions is in late spring, just before the start of the war season. Maiden Fall feels jarring to many people because it occurs as the apple trees blossom and the fields are full of lambs. Life is spreading all around but Maiden Fall marks the date of of Merida's death. A quiet spreads across the city and a military procession winds through the streets as soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers pay their respects to the goddess. This is the most martial of the church's holy days in one sense and it is the only time that weapons are permitted in the temple. At the same time the focus is very much on the fallen goddess and other people who have died in battle (and recently as a consequence of it) and the day is stark and full of mourning. No music plays during this ritual, every person who comes to the temple is left to their own thoughts and conscience. Maiden Fall has led to many soldiers, especially new recruits, leaving the army for other more peaceful occupations.
Next time we'll discuss the ways that the other gods are honoured in the city.
Saturday 28 June 2014
Saturday 21 June 2014
On Gods and Creation
Let us pull back a little, away from Sharoban and its troubles and the steppes with their bitter winds and barren soil. Step outside the world for a moment and into the infinite, into the realm of the gods. We will explore a few of the gods here and talk about the various churches that worship them as well as establishing the mythology of the Eclipse War.
The people of the western kingdoms pray to a pantheon of ten deities, referred to as the Luminal Gods, and sometimes acknowledge an eleventh, nameless god referred to as 'the Gatekeeper' on their high days and holidays. The Church as a political entity has grown slowly from the far west, spreading through faith and the sword, the latter being almost inevitable as ideas clash. The position of the Church was secured when the Jorvin Empire accepted its tenets and Emperor Wilhelm bent his knee to the high priests who form the Council of Ten, the leaders of each of the gods' cults who work in unison to make the Church, as a political entity, function.
The Gods of Light
Alchnor the Pure is the god of kings, leaders and rulership. He is depicted as an elderly king usually seated on a throne. His church is diligent in upholding his rule and seeks out the followers of his opponent, Larros everywhere.
Merida the Guardian Maiden was once a warrior in the service of the Arkayan Emperor Marius. Beset by enemies she sacrificed herself to protect him, allowing him to escape an ambush set by his brother which would ultimately lead to the pantheon elevating her to the status of a Guardian Deity. She is set against Baluz the god of pain and cruelty, who slew the original Maiden.
Xella is the Goddess of Nature, dwelling in a flower meadow that is home to a thousand types of insects, birds and other species. Here there is death but it is only the necessary death that nature demands. Xella is seen as a pragmatic goddess as well as a loving one and many of her followers follow nature's example rather than that of mankind. There are frequent clashes between Xella and Alchnor's churches because of this.
At the other side there is the Shadow Pantheon, though only a few worship the dark deities that compose it. These gods are dedicated to everything that is dark and wicked. They delight in all improper things and encourage their followers to do likewise. Unlike the gods of light their worshippers are organised into cults and covens; there is no doubt that what they do, if not wrong, is frowned upon by the authorities.
The Shadow Pantheon
Baluz is craven and sadistic. He delights in slaughter and death, amused by the futility of war and the cries of the dying. His followers are frightening warriors who have no respect for life. Bandit kings, assassins, mercenaries; adventurers, these are his followers, people for whom the number of deaths they cause is more important than the lives they may save. He slaughtered Shayla during the Eclipse War and ruled battles and war unopposed until Merida was raised to the position of goddess.
The Hunter is one of the Chosen, the Shadow Pantheon's equivalent of the Guardian gods and goddesses. His name is lost to time and it is known that he was the first mortal to be promoted to the ranks of godhood. Where Xella is nature in its most beneficent the Hunter is the dark, feral side. He rivals Baluz in sadism and his followers are cruel to the things they kill.
Larros the Broken, a twisted deity at the best of times Larros lays claim not to one cult but two. In the first he takes the form of an authoritarian ruler who rules with a rod of iron and mistreats those he rules. A dark king he rules by fear, rather than trust and breaks his opponents before he will change. The second casts him as a seditious figure, working to overthrow authority by any means possible, whispering that the means justify the ends.
The Eclipse War
It is said that in the beginning the gods, weary from their labour of building the world, sat to rest and watch their new creation. They saw the first dragons hatch from their eggs and take wing. They watched as the world the dragons created rose to great heights but then fell under the encroaching glaciers that heralded the first ice age and how the mightiest of them fell into long slumbers.
They saw the first men take their steps towards becoming what the gods intended them to be.
It was as they watched this that they became aware of someone watching them in return. Looking down they saw their own shadows move, independently. They saw how hideous they were, the very opposites of what the Luminal Gods were. Where one was a defender of the weak, her opposite was a craven killer, where another desired healing, the shadow being was dedicated to sickness of mind, body and spirit. As the gods moved to confront their umbral nemeses the Shadow Pantheon reached towards the world. At their touch the first murder occurred. As their influence spread a forest fire destroyed the great forest leaving a swathe of desert in its wake.
Seeking to protect their creation the gods drew arms and battle broke out, with light and shadow fighting across the world, plunging the world into an eclipse that lasted for days. Battles raged on and on, the shadow gods conjured weapons of darkness and breathed life into dark followers. Their presence corrupted the spirits of the land and water, even darkening the hearts of many of the dragons, transforming them into monstrous engines of war. For their part the Luminal Gods drew their strength from the occluded star Tamor and called upon the loyal followers they had made to care for the world. In a climactic battle at Orm's Reach the two armies clashed, ripping and tearing at each other in a frenzy. Thorn soldiers from darkened forest spirits tore through the mountain kings, whilst a great dragon, Ember, called the Thrice Cursed*, spewed fire and death across the field. The Goddess of Protection, Shayla fell at the battle, the first of the gods to die, devoured by the dragon. Others followed at other battles, Maylon Wood, The Ashen Heights and Scarlet Reach, and each fracas left scars upon the world.
The War claimed the lives of six deities in total, leaving gaps in the pantheons that would not be filled for centuries. For the Luminal Gods the deities of Protection, Maclan the Just and Elya the Learned perished, whilst within the Shadow Pantheon the Nature goddess Jarria, also known as the Poison Queen died under the blows of Alchnor's mace. The other dark gods to die were Arkan the god of theft and ignorance and Myrr the god of Shadow.
The Western Church teaches that the innate nature of the gods allowed them to overcome their doppelgangers, driving them down into the Dark and sealing them there. It is said that the eleventh god, agreed to stay behind and act as jailer, forsaking his name to ensure that the Shadow Pantheon could not reach the world. Today that name is a closely guarded secret, known only to a select few.
It is not known what the shadow worshipping cults and covens teach their new recruits about the war's end but it is assumed that their doctrines have a different take on the matter.
Next time we will return to Sharoban to discuss the role of the Merida's church in the city.
*It is not known if this the same dragon Ember that ravaged the Jorn Islands five hundred years ago though the beast's three heads suggest that it may be so.
The people of the western kingdoms pray to a pantheon of ten deities, referred to as the Luminal Gods, and sometimes acknowledge an eleventh, nameless god referred to as 'the Gatekeeper' on their high days and holidays. The Church as a political entity has grown slowly from the far west, spreading through faith and the sword, the latter being almost inevitable as ideas clash. The position of the Church was secured when the Jorvin Empire accepted its tenets and Emperor Wilhelm bent his knee to the high priests who form the Council of Ten, the leaders of each of the gods' cults who work in unison to make the Church, as a political entity, function.
The Gods of Light
Alchnor the Pure is the god of kings, leaders and rulership. He is depicted as an elderly king usually seated on a throne. His church is diligent in upholding his rule and seeks out the followers of his opponent, Larros everywhere.
Merida the Guardian Maiden was once a warrior in the service of the Arkayan Emperor Marius. Beset by enemies she sacrificed herself to protect him, allowing him to escape an ambush set by his brother which would ultimately lead to the pantheon elevating her to the status of a Guardian Deity. She is set against Baluz the god of pain and cruelty, who slew the original Maiden.
Xella is the Goddess of Nature, dwelling in a flower meadow that is home to a thousand types of insects, birds and other species. Here there is death but it is only the necessary death that nature demands. Xella is seen as a pragmatic goddess as well as a loving one and many of her followers follow nature's example rather than that of mankind. There are frequent clashes between Xella and Alchnor's churches because of this.
At the other side there is the Shadow Pantheon, though only a few worship the dark deities that compose it. These gods are dedicated to everything that is dark and wicked. They delight in all improper things and encourage their followers to do likewise. Unlike the gods of light their worshippers are organised into cults and covens; there is no doubt that what they do, if not wrong, is frowned upon by the authorities.
The Shadow Pantheon
Baluz is craven and sadistic. He delights in slaughter and death, amused by the futility of war and the cries of the dying. His followers are frightening warriors who have no respect for life. Bandit kings, assassins, mercenaries; adventurers, these are his followers, people for whom the number of deaths they cause is more important than the lives they may save. He slaughtered Shayla during the Eclipse War and ruled battles and war unopposed until Merida was raised to the position of goddess.
The Hunter is one of the Chosen, the Shadow Pantheon's equivalent of the Guardian gods and goddesses. His name is lost to time and it is known that he was the first mortal to be promoted to the ranks of godhood. Where Xella is nature in its most beneficent the Hunter is the dark, feral side. He rivals Baluz in sadism and his followers are cruel to the things they kill.
Larros the Broken, a twisted deity at the best of times Larros lays claim not to one cult but two. In the first he takes the form of an authoritarian ruler who rules with a rod of iron and mistreats those he rules. A dark king he rules by fear, rather than trust and breaks his opponents before he will change. The second casts him as a seditious figure, working to overthrow authority by any means possible, whispering that the means justify the ends.
The Eclipse War
It is said that in the beginning the gods, weary from their labour of building the world, sat to rest and watch their new creation. They saw the first dragons hatch from their eggs and take wing. They watched as the world the dragons created rose to great heights but then fell under the encroaching glaciers that heralded the first ice age and how the mightiest of them fell into long slumbers.
They saw the first men take their steps towards becoming what the gods intended them to be.
It was as they watched this that they became aware of someone watching them in return. Looking down they saw their own shadows move, independently. They saw how hideous they were, the very opposites of what the Luminal Gods were. Where one was a defender of the weak, her opposite was a craven killer, where another desired healing, the shadow being was dedicated to sickness of mind, body and spirit. As the gods moved to confront their umbral nemeses the Shadow Pantheon reached towards the world. At their touch the first murder occurred. As their influence spread a forest fire destroyed the great forest leaving a swathe of desert in its wake.
Seeking to protect their creation the gods drew arms and battle broke out, with light and shadow fighting across the world, plunging the world into an eclipse that lasted for days. Battles raged on and on, the shadow gods conjured weapons of darkness and breathed life into dark followers. Their presence corrupted the spirits of the land and water, even darkening the hearts of many of the dragons, transforming them into monstrous engines of war. For their part the Luminal Gods drew their strength from the occluded star Tamor and called upon the loyal followers they had made to care for the world. In a climactic battle at Orm's Reach the two armies clashed, ripping and tearing at each other in a frenzy. Thorn soldiers from darkened forest spirits tore through the mountain kings, whilst a great dragon, Ember, called the Thrice Cursed*, spewed fire and death across the field. The Goddess of Protection, Shayla fell at the battle, the first of the gods to die, devoured by the dragon. Others followed at other battles, Maylon Wood, The Ashen Heights and Scarlet Reach, and each fracas left scars upon the world.
The War claimed the lives of six deities in total, leaving gaps in the pantheons that would not be filled for centuries. For the Luminal Gods the deities of Protection, Maclan the Just and Elya the Learned perished, whilst within the Shadow Pantheon the Nature goddess Jarria, also known as the Poison Queen died under the blows of Alchnor's mace. The other dark gods to die were Arkan the god of theft and ignorance and Myrr the god of Shadow.
The Western Church teaches that the innate nature of the gods allowed them to overcome their doppelgangers, driving them down into the Dark and sealing them there. It is said that the eleventh god, agreed to stay behind and act as jailer, forsaking his name to ensure that the Shadow Pantheon could not reach the world. Today that name is a closely guarded secret, known only to a select few.
It is not known what the shadow worshipping cults and covens teach their new recruits about the war's end but it is assumed that their doctrines have a different take on the matter.
Next time we will return to Sharoban to discuss the role of the Merida's church in the city.
*It is not known if this the same dragon Ember that ravaged the Jorn Islands five hundred years ago though the beast's three heads suggest that it may be so.
Saturday 14 June 2014
Places in the Shanty Towns
Despite the way the shanty towns are treated by the city, there are people and places among the squalid buildings of interest and importance.
Mother Scarlet lives on the very edge of the northern shanty town. An old, bent woman, she has a reputation for being a witch and a wind caller. Nobody knows where she came from but her small shack, festooned with strings of bones that clatter in the almost constant wind that sweeps down from the north, is well known. For the local people she is a source of medicine and counselling; for people from within the city walls, especially women, she offers another service. Hers is the only place where an unwanted child can be discreetly got rid of, something she does through herbal tinctures and lotions.
This flies in the face of the orthodoxy handed down by the Church, which holds every life sacred whether born or not and hunts abortionists down. The Cult of Merida is less strict about the issue, but the other strands of the Church hold the act of abortion as something that only aids the Shadow Gods and therefore something that should be stamped out.
At present it is a mystery as to how Mother Scarlet has not been discovered and killed, frankly. Whilst her services are not widely advertised outside the shanty town even she has been surprised by the way her business has been ignored. There are rumours that a priest of Alchnor the Lord of Purity may be on his way east however and that could swing unwelcome light onto her practice.
The Smugglers operate from the eastern gate, though they have groups in all the towns and even within the city. Led by Markov the Gaunt they have become adept at spotting likely marks and exploiting them. Once stolen the goods are taken to a safe house near the central market, and stored in the cellar prior to being sold on the black market. Perhaps predictably this has led to the Roof Runners becoming aware of them and a number of shipments into the city have been disrupted as a consequence.
So far Markov has been able to deflect investigations into the smugglers' activities but knows that it is only a matter of time before something goes wrong. Unknown to his followers, he is also making secret plans to head south if the heat gets too much, hoping the presence of a dragon will mean he is not followed.
The southern shanty town is the home of a small, discreet still that brews a number of heady concoctions. Deprived of traditional brewing and distilling ingredients the brothers who run the still, Asha and Morr, use local alternatives, including moss, fern and nettle. The result will definitely get you drunk but you may regret the taste of the brew. Their whisky, which is sold in some of the inns in Sharoban itself, has a reputation for being a dangerous thing to drink. At least one person has gone blind from it and the brothers have had to fend off angry relatives on numerous occasions.
The still takes the form of a large shack just beyond the shanty town's official edge. The current version, the fourth, is a large, squat building with woven wicker walls. The brothers chose the design after the third, a stone outhouse, exploded. They reason wicker won't hurt as much as stone if this one goes the same way...
Anastasiy comes from a tribe that ranges in the eastern reaches of the steppes. A group of horsemen and raiders, their territory begins at the far edge of the Red Vein Mountains and extends as far as the Dyrkan Ridge, where the Witch Lands begin. His presence in the shanty town is something of a mystery, as is his tendency to hide whenever eastern caravans come to Sharoban, especially if his kinsmen travel with them.
In truth Anastasiy was a prince among his people until he went against the marriage his family has arranged with a young enchantress of the Witch Lands. In an overly dramatic act he waited until the betrothal feast to let his feelings be known - smashing the betrothal cup to the ground and daring to draw his sabre in his father's presence. Exiled and disgraced he fled west and found sanctuary in the shanty towns. He is still working out what he wants to do with his life, and for the moment he is just trying to keep his head down and stay hidden.
The Shrine: tucked away within the western shanty town the shrine takes the form of a man with antlers. Most people do not know what it is, assuming it to be a work of art that has somehow made its way there. In truth it is a statue of the Hunter, a Chosen god of the shadow pantheon. A small group of hunters and trackers venerate it, asking for assistance with their kills. In return they offer blood and meat to the god. Rarely, they offer the life of a man they have hunted.
Next time we'll look at the gods in more detail and explore how the two pantheons came into existence.
Mother Scarlet lives on the very edge of the northern shanty town. An old, bent woman, she has a reputation for being a witch and a wind caller. Nobody knows where she came from but her small shack, festooned with strings of bones that clatter in the almost constant wind that sweeps down from the north, is well known. For the local people she is a source of medicine and counselling; for people from within the city walls, especially women, she offers another service. Hers is the only place where an unwanted child can be discreetly got rid of, something she does through herbal tinctures and lotions.
This flies in the face of the orthodoxy handed down by the Church, which holds every life sacred whether born or not and hunts abortionists down. The Cult of Merida is less strict about the issue, but the other strands of the Church hold the act of abortion as something that only aids the Shadow Gods and therefore something that should be stamped out.
At present it is a mystery as to how Mother Scarlet has not been discovered and killed, frankly. Whilst her services are not widely advertised outside the shanty town even she has been surprised by the way her business has been ignored. There are rumours that a priest of Alchnor the Lord of Purity may be on his way east however and that could swing unwelcome light onto her practice.
The Smugglers operate from the eastern gate, though they have groups in all the towns and even within the city. Led by Markov the Gaunt they have become adept at spotting likely marks and exploiting them. Once stolen the goods are taken to a safe house near the central market, and stored in the cellar prior to being sold on the black market. Perhaps predictably this has led to the Roof Runners becoming aware of them and a number of shipments into the city have been disrupted as a consequence.
So far Markov has been able to deflect investigations into the smugglers' activities but knows that it is only a matter of time before something goes wrong. Unknown to his followers, he is also making secret plans to head south if the heat gets too much, hoping the presence of a dragon will mean he is not followed.
The southern shanty town is the home of a small, discreet still that brews a number of heady concoctions. Deprived of traditional brewing and distilling ingredients the brothers who run the still, Asha and Morr, use local alternatives, including moss, fern and nettle. The result will definitely get you drunk but you may regret the taste of the brew. Their whisky, which is sold in some of the inns in Sharoban itself, has a reputation for being a dangerous thing to drink. At least one person has gone blind from it and the brothers have had to fend off angry relatives on numerous occasions.
The still takes the form of a large shack just beyond the shanty town's official edge. The current version, the fourth, is a large, squat building with woven wicker walls. The brothers chose the design after the third, a stone outhouse, exploded. They reason wicker won't hurt as much as stone if this one goes the same way...
Anastasiy comes from a tribe that ranges in the eastern reaches of the steppes. A group of horsemen and raiders, their territory begins at the far edge of the Red Vein Mountains and extends as far as the Dyrkan Ridge, where the Witch Lands begin. His presence in the shanty town is something of a mystery, as is his tendency to hide whenever eastern caravans come to Sharoban, especially if his kinsmen travel with them.
In truth Anastasiy was a prince among his people until he went against the marriage his family has arranged with a young enchantress of the Witch Lands. In an overly dramatic act he waited until the betrothal feast to let his feelings be known - smashing the betrothal cup to the ground and daring to draw his sabre in his father's presence. Exiled and disgraced he fled west and found sanctuary in the shanty towns. He is still working out what he wants to do with his life, and for the moment he is just trying to keep his head down and stay hidden.
The Shrine: tucked away within the western shanty town the shrine takes the form of a man with antlers. Most people do not know what it is, assuming it to be a work of art that has somehow made its way there. In truth it is a statue of the Hunter, a Chosen god of the shadow pantheon. A small group of hunters and trackers venerate it, asking for assistance with their kills. In return they offer blood and meat to the god. Rarely, they offer the life of a man they have hunted.
Next time we'll look at the gods in more detail and explore how the two pantheons came into existence.
Saturday 7 June 2014
Outside the Walls: the Shanty Town
Outside the austere walls that surround Sharoban small buildings sprout up in clumps and shanty towns. Centred on the gates for the most part, they are shabby and dilapidated creations. The people who live there exist in squalor, it is truly the last place anyone in Sharoban wishes to end up. The little settlements are often no more than fur tents held in shape by frames of young saplings or bones.
The guards and Wind Strikers work hard to make sure the shanty towns do not get too close to the walls, fearing that they will be used as a way for enemies to attack the city. It is common for buildings that encroach too closely to the city to be destroyed and when danger arises the common strategy is to usher the people into the city and fire the shanty towns. Despite this there is a growing acceptance at the heights of Sharoban's society that this is a temporary solution and that the city is going to have to expand if only because every year the shanties get larger and it becomes more of a chore to house all the people within the walls during sieges. The overcrowding the current system causes has led to riots in the past and the Council have started to explore the possibility of constructing a third wall. So far they are struggling to find a good supply of stone, their emissary to the Red Vein Mountains has not returned and is believed to have been devoured by the giant tribes he went to entreat.
Demographically these little settlements are mostly comprised of the native peoples of the steppe, rather than incomers from the west or east. Many of them are exiles from the various tribes and petty kingdoms that dot the steppe. A minority are not human, but they exist on the edges; rare enough to be seen as freaks and oddities by the others (who already have a chip on their shoulder, resenting the way that the city caters to outsiders better than locals). As a result of this, coupled with the attitude the city takes to the shanty towns, a good deal of resentment has grown up towards the city and even the most benevolent of visitors is likely to be received with a cold shoulder. Official visitors make sure they have bodyguards, sometimes members of the guards, or very occasionally the best students from the House of Fools.
The other side of this resentment manifests itself in a series of acts of 'mischief', minor sabotage to the walls, the gates and sometimes carts of goods waiting to enter the city, though theft rather than vandalism is more common in the latter situation. The stolen goods make their way onto the black market, smuggled in through the gates by the runners for various gangs.
Obviously this has had a negative affect in the relationship with the guards and raids are common. As the people in the shanties are not considered part of the city, little thought is given to their rights. Whilst there are orders to avoid killing them, nobody is likely to lose sleep over an accidental death and its only if a guardsman seems a bit stab happy that anything will be said. Certainly there is no legal case to answer in these situations, at least part of the shanty towners frustration comes from the lack of justice.
So why do they stay? For most it links back to the problem of exile. Unless they leave the steppes, Sharoban is only the place they can go. None of the other tribes will accept them, places like the Red Vein Mountains or Black Barrow are approached with caution and desperation whilst the presence of the dragon Bright Wing in the Blasted Lands to the south is a discouragement to say the least. Effectively, the city is the only place that they could make a life for themselves and they cling in the hope of getting inside the walls and turning their lives around.
Next we'll look at some of the locations in the shanties.
The guards and Wind Strikers work hard to make sure the shanty towns do not get too close to the walls, fearing that they will be used as a way for enemies to attack the city. It is common for buildings that encroach too closely to the city to be destroyed and when danger arises the common strategy is to usher the people into the city and fire the shanty towns. Despite this there is a growing acceptance at the heights of Sharoban's society that this is a temporary solution and that the city is going to have to expand if only because every year the shanties get larger and it becomes more of a chore to house all the people within the walls during sieges. The overcrowding the current system causes has led to riots in the past and the Council have started to explore the possibility of constructing a third wall. So far they are struggling to find a good supply of stone, their emissary to the Red Vein Mountains has not returned and is believed to have been devoured by the giant tribes he went to entreat.
Demographically these little settlements are mostly comprised of the native peoples of the steppe, rather than incomers from the west or east. Many of them are exiles from the various tribes and petty kingdoms that dot the steppe. A minority are not human, but they exist on the edges; rare enough to be seen as freaks and oddities by the others (who already have a chip on their shoulder, resenting the way that the city caters to outsiders better than locals). As a result of this, coupled with the attitude the city takes to the shanty towns, a good deal of resentment has grown up towards the city and even the most benevolent of visitors is likely to be received with a cold shoulder. Official visitors make sure they have bodyguards, sometimes members of the guards, or very occasionally the best students from the House of Fools.
The other side of this resentment manifests itself in a series of acts of 'mischief', minor sabotage to the walls, the gates and sometimes carts of goods waiting to enter the city, though theft rather than vandalism is more common in the latter situation. The stolen goods make their way onto the black market, smuggled in through the gates by the runners for various gangs.
Obviously this has had a negative affect in the relationship with the guards and raids are common. As the people in the shanties are not considered part of the city, little thought is given to their rights. Whilst there are orders to avoid killing them, nobody is likely to lose sleep over an accidental death and its only if a guardsman seems a bit stab happy that anything will be said. Certainly there is no legal case to answer in these situations, at least part of the shanty towners frustration comes from the lack of justice.
So why do they stay? For most it links back to the problem of exile. Unless they leave the steppes, Sharoban is only the place they can go. None of the other tribes will accept them, places like the Red Vein Mountains or Black Barrow are approached with caution and desperation whilst the presence of the dragon Bright Wing in the Blasted Lands to the south is a discouragement to say the least. Effectively, the city is the only place that they could make a life for themselves and they cling in the hope of getting inside the walls and turning their lives around.
Next we'll look at some of the locations in the shanties.
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