Blackwyke

Blackwyke (/blackwyke/ [Translation Unavailable]) is a subtropical Town located in Chrukz̄ok Hold, Rodan Kingdom, within the Sylvanian Empire.

The name Blackwyke is derived from the Sylvin language, as Blackwyke was founded by Trêd Drummond, who was culturaly Sylvin.

Climate

Blackwyke has a yearly average temperature of 31°C (87°F), with its average temperature during the summer being a blistering 36°C (96°F) and its average temperature during the winter being a warm 27°C (80°F). Blackwyke receives an average of 83 cm/y (32 in/y) of precipitation, most of which comes in the form of rain during the spring. Blackwyke covers an area of nearly 5 km² (2 mi²), and an average elevation of 12670 m (-1381 ft) above sea level.

Overview

Blackwyke was founded durring the early 13th century in spring of the year 1213, by Trêd Drummond. The establishment of the new community went well, though many minor issues had to be solved as time went on. This was enough to delay construction and push back the formal opening ceramony, leading to some embarisment for Trêd Drummond.

Blackwyke was built using the conventions of Sylvin durring the early 13th century. Naturaly, all settlmentss have their own look to them, and Blackwyke is no diffrent. The town's buildings feature plaster covered brickwork used to form structures with an emphasis on symmetry, proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts. Orderly arrangements of columns, pilasters and lintels, as well as the use of semicircular arches, hemispherical domes, niches and aediculae can be found everywhere such that only size of building and yard can be used to measure the general prosparity of a given building's owners due to a general wealthy feeling the style gives off.

Blackwyke is buildings are arranged arround a network of broad flagstone streets which form a grid, where each square verries in size given the proximity of the paralell streets forming each section. The ocasional smaller square has been used to construct a park, plaza, and other communal structures. The town rests behind the absurdity that is a thick, timber braced, wall made of clay bricks. While visualy impressive and certainly an astetic, Blackwyke's wall provides no actual defence against siege equipment due to the choice of its cosntruction materials. Even nonexperts can tell the town is trying to impress rather than defend with its walls, towers, and gatehouses. Though admittedly, they do look nice... To primitive tribals who have never seen fortifications before. The political statment focused walls have not been wellmaintained over the years, and while functional are in dire need of some loving care and perhapse light renovation.

Looking around Blackwyke you immediately realise that the locals are looking back at you. All of them. Everywhere you look somone is staring back at you analytically, looking over every inch of you, your gear, and your companions. As you get close to people, their hands move closer to their belt knife, or dagger. You may want to watch where you go and what you say...

Civic Infrastructure

Blackwyke has an Office of Civil Groundskeeping, which works to enforce local ordinances relating to the construction and upkeep up of all plant life, water features, and other natural decorations within Blackwyke. They are also responsible for the maintenance of these features. Notably, the OCG is not responsible for Blackwyke's parks.

Blackwyke has an Office of Civil Vicary, which is responsible for providing a livelyhood for all officialy recognised religious figures within Blackwyke.

Blackwyke has a Gravedigger's Guild, which is responsible for collecting the dead and laying them to rest according to all applicable laws and religious customs.

Blackwyke has a Highwayman's Guild, which is tasked with maintaining the roads and highways leading into town as well as keeping them safe for travelers.

Blackwyke has a monistary of an order of Civil Monks, who provide divine-related services to the general public and maintain Blackwyke's public wards, blessings, and other arcane systems.

Blackwyke possesses an older civil lighting system consisting of street lamps. These lights provide nighttime illumination to most city streets.

Blackwyke has a Parks and Recreation Department, which is responsible for the construction, management, and usage rights for all of its parks and parklands. They are not to be confused with the Office of Civil Groundskeeping as they do not hold authority over nor responsibility for Blackwyke's natural decorations nor waterways.

Blackwyke has a public schooling program overseen by the Hall of Sages who has the responsibility of ensuring access to affordable high-quality education in all basic classes (Reading, Writing, Mathmatics, General Sciences, General Arcana, and Social Education) is made available to all citizens.

Blackwyke has a public septic system, which allows its citizens to have indoor bathrooms. The septic system is overseen by the League of Sewerkeepers, who posses the legal authority to enforce all laws relating to the septic system, and are also tasked with its maintenance and upkeep.

Cultural Notes

Blackwyke's locals despise outsiders. For some “outsiders” may be natives of foreign lands, while others might have a grudge against anyone from outside the community. These locals have an active loathing, and the outsiders allowed to trade or interact with them do so at a heavy disadvantage.

Blackwyke's mayor's house was built using a different architectural style from the rest of the town. The style used is admittedly strange and non-linear style rooted in defiance of symmetrical shapes. It championed the creation of buildings with a unique visual appearance. the structural norms of classic buildings and deforms or moves away from elementary architectural principles. By including non-linear designs processed into its buildings and favoring fragmentation, this style expressed a form of controlled chaos. Its buildings appear out-of-the-ordinary, draw the eye in immediately and sometimes create a feeling of strangeness. These distorted shapes and structure are not reserved to the building’s outer facade, they destabilize interior elements too, favoring minimalism and play on people’s perceptions by injecting a futuristic touch.

In Blackwyke all of the cats speak in a dead language.

The Phase Spider near Blackwyke are known to be quite timid.

Blackwyke's citizens partake in a curious ritual relating to their local kami. It takes place in autumn and involves embarking on a group pilgrimage to channel Transmutation energies of tier 1 via moments of science.

Economy

The following information was obtained via the Imperial Census Bureau as part of the Eyom Economic Outreach Program. It differs from Standard Imperial censuses in that many of Tom's citizens, regardless of culture, work in more than one occupation or hold more than a single job. The Imperial Census Bureau has ruled that a job is a job, hence, the intigers within the data presented here can count an individual more than once.

Blackwyke Census Data: Year 2000

419 of Blackwyke's population work within a Foundational Occupation.

• 25 work in Agriculture
• 89 work as Craftsmen
• 32 work as Merchants
• 70 work as Service Workers
• 44 work as General Laborers
• 15 work as Skilled Laborers
• 62 work as Civil Servants
• 38 work in Cottage Industries
• 21 work as Artists
• 23 work in Produce Industries

884 of Blackwyke's population do not work in a formal occupation, but do contribute to the local economy. 68 (5%) are noncontributers.

Points of Interest

Blackwyke makes use of canals for some of its streets. Locals often fish in the canals.

POI

History

The the a tunic of Augury, an a tunic imbued with notable amounts of Augury energies was created near Blackwyke by in time immemorial, reportedly some time during the late 2nd century.

History