[2.03] The Birth of Rivermarch
Time marches on and the duties piled upon the new rulers of Rivermarch are seemingly endless. Just announcing that you are in control of a kingdom does not cause one to sprout of overnight and the group is swarmed with work from sunup to well past sundown. Decisions like how to lay out the their capital, how to announce and attract new immigrants and settlers, scouts to map out the surrounding lands and establish the borders promised with Varnhold and Drelev are just some of the tasks set before them, a seemingly uphill climb with no peak in sight.
However the group has the support of so many powerful neighbors and organizations that resources are of little concern. Between the gold of Abadar, the lumber from the Gronzi, the iron from the Medyved any decision that the rulers make gets put into place. Where other new cities might just have wooden and grass shanties along dirt roads, the capital of Rivermarch is planned out with resources to spend and future visions quite clear. Grand stone throughways are made, solid stone buildings are constructed and the walls of a mighty castle begin to climb up from the rotten remains of the Stag Lord's keep.
The growth and construction becomes a symbol to the people of how the uncivilized wilderness will be left behind, making way for a new kingdom that will be on par with any River Kingdom, or perhaps even surpass its parent, Brevoy.
It will be years before the castle is completed but the point is that work has started and is proceeding at a very fast rate. The houses are quickly filled by immigrants excited to tap the wealth of the new nation and the new land. Business spring up to support those people and it is a grand day of celebration when Rivermarch's first tavern opens up.
From the religion side the Church of Abadar quickly puts down the ground work for a mighty stone bastion that will be the Bank of Rivermarch. It is squat, utilitarian, and built with walls prepared to withstand siege weaponry as is typical for an Abadar bank as losing the gold from the vault was one of the highest forms of sacrilege in the their church. The church of Pharsma builds a much more modest church but also spends its time preparing a large graveyard and crypt so that the dead can be properly buried and interred to help prevent undead outbreaks common in larger cities.
Trade is established to Varnhold which ends up being mainly foodstuffs like the silvery fish tht are common along the lake next to Varnhold. Varnhold also has copper but the Medyved contract is clear that the ores must go through them. It is a bit discouraging to discover that the Medyved are buying copper from Varnhold and selling it to Rivermarch at a markup but the cheap high quality iron and steel coming out of the Medyved forges are good enough to keep the deal being profitable.
Logging camps are set up all along the edge of the Narlmarch. Early on these prove to be the biggest source of income and new immigrants as the Gronzi send a small army of loggers and their families to begin getting everything set up and the lumber flowing back to Brevoy. As the year goes on a few camps shut down because of poor wood selection, too many issues with the fey, or it just turns out to be too impractical to harvest from that location but a few of the lumber camps take root and expand and it seems likely that in another year the camps would transform into a new town of their own.
Time passes swiftly and in a year's time Rivermarch is a growing town. It only has a few thousand people in it but it is growing like a weed and with the ample resources of a wealthy kingdom behind it, it is well planned and managed. Morale in the capital is electric as it seems like even the lowliest peasant can move to Rivermarch and make it rain gold coins.
Meanwhile scouts have begun mapping out the rest of the region. The original charter had kept the party north of the lake while now they were free to explore all the way down to the Mivon border. Scouts discover several ruins and potential sources of danger and decide wisely not to investigate, leaving it for the experienced adventurers to uncover the secrets and buried treasures of their new kingdom.
In addition the Dark Pipers, the last of the Stag Lord's bandit clans led by evil fey have grown into being a constant threat to Rivermarch over the past year. The Dark Pipers would raid logging camps leaving death and destruction in their wake and then fade away into the Narlmarch woods causing the party to search for weeks in vain without finding any traces of them.
Finally it seems that their headquarters has been discovered and the growing army of Rivermarch has been deployed to pen the bandits into their HQ. Right now it has been a sort of siege like situation where the Dark Piper's core group are trapped in their HQ, a ruined watchtower that has been almost completely overgrown by trees and vines from the Narlmarch. Everyone has settled into a holding pattern as the Dark Pipers refuse to negotiate or surrender while the new army is hesitant to engage the Dark Pipers in tight corridors in their home territory. While none of their generals or advisors express this out loud, it feels like everyone is expecting the rulers to take up their magic and weapons once more to finish off the last remnants of the Stag Lord's minions once and for all.
