Exploring the Halls of Arden Vul: Gosterwick

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Gosterwick (Vetucaster)

The closest safe haven for adventurers exploring the Halls of Arden Vul is the small town of Gosterwick, which has rapidly grown up at the foot of an ancient fortress, the Azure Keep. Lying only a few miles west of the Long Falls, Gosterwick and the Azure Keep occupy an advantageous site atop and around a semi-circular, granite ridge. Until recently, the Keep was a ruin, and the site of Gosterwick was inhabited only by a handful of husbandmen and their families. Twenty-five years ago, however, the mysterious Green Lady arrived at the Azure Keep with her companions, a sept of the Knights of the Azure Shield. Lady Alexia Basileon and the knights claimed the tower as their own and began to restore it, swiftly making it their base of operations in Burdock’s Valley.

Now known as the Azure Keep, it takes its name partly from the name of the knights’ order, and partly from the azure-blue tiles that define the Keep’s roof. In addition to the keep proper, the Knights sponsored the restoration of other buildings in two baileys located atop the ridgeline, including a grand fortified residence for Lady Alexia, stables, dwellings for craftsmen, a well, and stout walls. Only a few years later came the news that Lady Alexia was building a new town at the foot of the keep; this town, formally named Vetucaster in Archontean, but known to most by its Thorcin name of Gosterwick, also profited from an ambitious, and swift, building program.

Currently some 2,200 souls dwell in Gosterwick, including representatives of several of the Factors, a local chapter of the Benevolent Brotherhood, and numerous traders and craftspeople. Lady Alexia is actively recruiting merchants, factors, workers, and retired adventurers to her thriving community.

Population

Gosterwick has 2,211 inhabitants, of whom 40% are Archontean, 40% are Thorcin, 15% are Wiskin, and 5% are demi-human (primarily halflings and imperial goblins).

Government

Unlike Newmarket, a free town whose elites elect their own mayor, Gosterwick is governed by a thesmothete appointed by Lady Alexia. Currently, the thesmothete is Eusebia Phokas. As Eusebia’s jurisdiction extends only over the town proper, the Azure Keep is governed separately, by Sept Commander Horatius Gesellion. Of course, true authority over both town and keep lies with Lady Alexia Basileon, who dwells in the Residence lying on the ridge just north of the Keep.

  • The Thesmothete: Eusebia Phokas holds the executive power in Gosterwick, as she supervises the other imperial agencies from her town house. She is aided in her bureaucratic work by three proedroi, and seven chartoularii. Eusebia is a capable and experienced administrator, and only kicks decisions up to Lady Alexia when they concern unusual problems.
  • Imperial Bureaucracy: As an imperial town, albeit one started quasi-illegally by a renegade aristocrat, Gosterwick possesses the three familiar agencies of all imperial communities, namely the House of Sight, the House of Coins, and the Private House. In a brazen break with authority, Lady Alexia has simply appointed her own candidates to run the three bureaucratic offices, granting each of them the title of logothete regardless of their previous postings or experience.
    • The House of Coins, responsible for general taxation and public expenditures, is the largest of the three in Gosterwick; Lady Alexia has conferred its administration to an old friend, Theron Glesteon.
    • The Private House, which traditionally administers the estates and possessions of the imperial family in a given jurisdiction, is significantly smaller than usual in Gosterwick, since as of yet the emperor has claimed no territory here for his own. Its logothete is Aedelwine the Fair.
    • The House of Sight, responsible for postal service, diplomacy, and imperial intelligence-gathering, is also small in Gosterwick; indeed, its logothete, Audun Yellow-Eyes, has not yet been recognized in his office by his alleged superiors in Narsileon.


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