Okement Castle

Okement Castle (/okement/ [Translation Unavailable]) is a subtropical Large City located in Wyvernsilver Dutchy, Ivbea Kingdom, within the Sylvan.

The name Okement Castle is derived from the Sylvin language, as Okement Castle was founded by Hiwnes Bulcock, who was culturaly Sylvin.

Climate

Okement Castle has a yearly average temperature of 19°C (66°F), with its average temperature during the summer being a warm 27°C (80°F) and its average temperature during the winter being a cool 11°C (51°F). Okement Castle receives an average of 137 cm/y (53 in/y) of precipitation, most of which comes in the form of rain during the spring. Okement Castle covers an area of nearly 76 km² (30 mi²), and an average elevation of 4602 m (15098 ft) above sea level.

Overview

Okement Castle was founded durring the early 11th century, by Hiwnes Bulcock. The establishment of Okement Castle was somewhat plagued by a lack of willing colonists, leading to Hiwnes Bulcock electing to pay people to resettle in Okement Castle.

Okement Castle was built using the conventions of Sylvin durring the early 11th century. Naturaly, all settlmentss have their own look to them, and Okement Castle is no diffrent. The city'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.

Okement Castle is buildings are arranged arround a network of spacious packed earth 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 city is defended by arcane means. It's hard to spot at first, but there's a tell tell shimmer in the air arround Okement Castle, and you can spot the ocasional warding glyph carved into a rock or tree all arround town. These mystical defences are ancient, unknowable, and unassailable by current means... Assuming everything is in working order. Otherwise, the wards are little more than a deathtrap. Okement Castle's Relic of the World That Was are in an unremarkable state. To some, this is the ideal sate for defences to be in. In need of absoutly nothing, and ready to serve the city as needed.

A look around Okement Castle gives you a feeling of distrust and paranoia. Also greed. The locals seem to be very much into scholastic pursuits, based on the hushed, murmured conversations you hear at least. Everyone in Okement Castle acts like they have discovered something wondrous, and are worried they will endure some horrible fate so another can take what they’ve discovered for themselves.

Civic Infrastructure

Okement Castle possesses a Aethary Link for its accademic, government, and financial institutions. Public Aethary access is available through one or more of these intitutions.

Okement Castle has an animal control department which works to enforce local ordinances relating to the control, impoundment, and disposition of animals.

Okement Castle 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 Okement Castle. They are also responsible for the maintenance of these features. Notably, the OCG is not responsible for Okement Castle's parks.

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

Okement Castle has a government-funded child care program, overseen by the local Department of Nursemaids, which is responsible for providing childcare to working-class citizens according to local ordinances.

Okement Castle 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.

Okement Castle has a Guild of Nurses, which is tasked with caring for the elderly and infirm in accordance with local ordinances, religious values, and customs.

Okement Castle has a Department of Firefighters, which is responsible for organizing fire fighting efforts during a fire and enforcing local ordinances relating to fire safety.

Okement Castle 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.

Okement Castle has a Hall of Slayers, which is tasked with maintaining the roads and highways leading into town as well as keeping them safe for travelers.

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

Okement Castle has an Administrative Academy which trains individuals in the administrative arts.

Okement Castle possesses a Galvanic Power Grid, which brings galvanic current to most if not all buildings in town, and permits a great many consumer goods to function within the Large City. Okement Castle's grid is powered by an arcane means.

Okement Castle's old civil lighting system was converted to Galvanic Lamps recently, and expanded to provide nighttime illumination to all city streets.

Okement Castle has a first rate hospital which caters to anyone in need of long term medical care.

Okement Castle has a library, which keeps a large collection of books, scrolls, and archives all manner of physical items. While not open to the public, the librarians and scholars employed by the library will assist anyone with their research needs, and wealthy individuals can purchase membership to access the library's materials themselves. In spite of being generally closed to the public, the library has a room with several Aether Linked devices available to the public during business hours.

Okement Castle 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 Okement Castle's natural decorations nor waterways.

Okement Castle has a Guild of Roadworkers, who are responsible for maintaining the roadways and public paths within town. They also have the duty of enforcing all civil laws relating to the roadways.

Okement Castle 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.

Okement Castle 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

Okement Castle's town hall was built using a different architectural style from the rest of the town. The style used is known for its fluid and florid elaborate style, comprising ornate, asymmetric designs and pastel shades. It is often considered to be a playful, light style, which made exuberant use of curves and emphasized subtle asymmetry in the general shape of its structures. Walls, ceilings and moldings are decorated with numerous interlacing of curves and counter-curves based on the shapes of ‘C’ and ‘S’, along with shell forms and other naturalistic shapes.

In Okement Castle it is impossible to directly or indirectly lie.

The Marsupial, Kangaroo near Okement Castle are known to be a mutant strain of the creature.

Okement Castle'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 Illusion energies of tier 3 via singing.

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.

Okement Castle Census Data: Year 2000

6837 of Okement Castle's population work within a Foundational Occupation.

• 397 work in Agriculture
• 1517 work as Craftsmen
• 575 work as Merchants
• 1002 work as Service Workers
• 695 work as General Laborers
• 283 work as Skilled Laborers
• 1010 work as Civil Servants
• 622 work in Cottage Industries
• 387 work as Artists
• 349 work in Produce Industries

10387 of Okement Castle's population do not work in a formal occupation, but do contribute to the local economy. 906 (5%) are noncontributers.

Points of Interest

While private tutelage of worthy apprentices can be had even in most remote villages, Okement Castle is home to a proper school dedicated to teaching magic. Such schools are usually small, with no more than a few dozen pupils, most of whom will fail for lack of talent or discipline. The instructors are rarely first-rate, usually serving only for the pay and status, but sometimes a genius sorcerer will find a reason to observe likely apprentices here. Given the unfortunate accident potential of the school, it’s probably isolated or well-fortified.

Due to a magical anomaly, Okement Castle is directly accessible from a nearby river, despite the lack of a physical connection between the town's pond and the river.

POI

History

In time immemorial, reportedly some time during the early 2nd century the Kami ended a drought plaguing Okement Castle. One of Okement Castle's local festivals commemorates this miracle.

History