Upwold
Overview - "The Silver Chase"
The quick-growing silver birch woods on the eastern borders of Upwold are the source of a deal of income. Charcoal-burners live there, turning wood into easily transportable fuel for smith and hearth alike. The bark of those trees is used in the tanning industry, to cure the hides of the cattle that graze on the river pastures. It's one of the few areas where anything other than beer is drunk - a drink made of the sap of the birch trees that warms their hearts in the cold winter nights but brings strange dreams. The people who live up here have closer links to the Navarr than many in the Marches, and more need for Beaters than most.
Through the dark heart of those woods are paths no Marcher treads. From these secret ways come the painted Feni - uncivillised raiders, thieves, and rustlers who raid and steal from isolated settlements. To the north-west, cousins to these forests decay into the marshes that form the southern border of Kallavesa in Wintermark.
Recent History
Minor Features
Ashill
Soot hangs in the air here from the charcoal burning; pure fuel for the cities of the League and the forges of Wintermark. There’s magic here too, the magic of Landskeepers who make the pollarded beeches grow, and the pigs thrive fat.
Stockland
A sprawling town known for its sheep and cattle markets. It’s where you take your stock if you’re a Household from the west of Upwold, and where you stay for an evening’s raucous drinking before heading back to your home. Stockland ale is exported around the Empire -- not because it’s particularly good, but it is recognisable, and can bring a lump to the throat of the homesick Marcher.
King’s Stoke
A pre-Imperial tower stands here, said to be the place where the rebels held back the King of Dawn in the March of secession, though if every family who claims an ancestor fought there is right, it must have been an easy victory...
The Woldstone
An old dolmen said to be the first planted by Marcher Landskeepers when they claimed Upwold for their own.
The Eastern Guard
Great crenelated walls and brooding towers look down from Eastern Guard onto the northern forest of Miaren. Built early in the history of the Marches in Birchland, the garrison was initially charged both with remaining vigilant against Dawnish aggression, and with maintaining readiness for attacks from the Vallornspawn of the deep woods. Since Miaren was cleansed in the early days of the Empire, and since the people of Dawn are now an allied nation, the castle has become more open - it is a popular stopping place for merchants travelling through the central Empire. Still, the dour Marchers ensure it maintains battle readiness at all times, for one never knows when an attack may come from an unexpected direction.
Sutton Stone Quarries
The Sutton Stone Quarries is a Bourse position which produces white granite.
Regions
Ashbrook
Birchland
The thick birch woods of Birchland are a source of valuable timber. There are also extensive stands of beggarwood in Birchland, producing excellent quality Beggar's Lye, which support a thriving tanning and leatherworking industry.
Keywords: Forest
The Heath
There are few settlements on the Heath's rolling grasslands - the soil is not exceptionally fertile and the farms here tend to focus on raising goats and sheep rather than growing crops. The most significant location here are probably the Sutton Stone Quarries.
Stock March
Tower March
The thick woods of Tower March have been cut back around the town of King's Stoke, but remain thick and vital in the rest of the region. The forests are a rich source of dragonbone.
Keywords: Forest
OOC Notes
- All the regions of Upwold are under Imperial control.
- The fortification of Eastern Guard is a rank one fortification.