Oldcombe

Oldcombe (/əʊld/ /kuːm/ [Translation Unavailable]) is a subtropical Large City located in Dragondell Dutchy, Hertford Barony, within the Kingdom of Helsteria.

The name Oldcombe is derived from the Sylvin language, as Oldcombe was founded by Bë̋ Yaw̋nḱ 'Daze Eloise' Haw̋chī Gā̄nḱ Bé̄s Way, who was culturaly Sylvin.

Climate

Oldcombe has a yearly average temperature of 24°C (75°F), with its average temperature during the summer being a warm 29°C (84°F) and its average temperature during the winter being a cool 20°C (68°F). Oldcombe receives an average of 140 cm/y (55 in/y) of precipitation, most of which comes in the form of rain during the spring. Oldcombe covers an area of nearly 275 km² (110 mi²), and an average elevation of 4526 m (14849 ft) above sea level.

Overview

Oldcombe was founded durring the early 11th century, by Bë̋ Yaw̋nḱ 'Daze Eloise' Haw̋chī Gā̄nḱ Bé̄s Way. The establishment of Oldcombe was somewhat plagued by a lack of willing colonists, leading to Bë̋ Yaw̋nḱ 'Daze Eloise' Haw̋chī Gā̄nḱ Bé̄s Way electing to pay people to resettle in Oldcombe.

Oldcombe was built using the conventions of Sylvin durring the early 11th century. Naturaly, all settlmentss have their own look to them, and Oldcombe 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.

Oldcombe is is constructed arround a semi-circular narrow baked earthen mainstreet, with smaller strait roads linking the circiles to eachother at varrious points. The city has a defencive wall made from large clay bricks. The wall is constructed to the exact specifications of millitary fortifications, but the nature of its clay brick construction leaves it vulnerable to even outdated siege equipment. That said, the city is well defended against anything short of an army. The brittle defences have not been wellmaintained over the years, and while functional are in dire need of some loving care and perhapse light renovation.

Oldcombe has a very calm atmosphere. People can be seen relaxing, scocilizing, and going about all manner of business other than the daily grind. Men, women, children, all can be seen enjoying life in a laid-back way in the many parks which line Oldcombe’s streets. Yet, deep down, you know this atmosphere is a carefully created illusion. You can see the ocasional seam in their tapestry. You’re not sure what has them doing their best to act so carefree, but act carefree they do.

Civic Infrastructure

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

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

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

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

Oldcombe 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.

Oldcombe 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.

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

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

Oldcombe 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.

Oldcombe 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.

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

Oldcombe has an Arts Academy which provides higher education in many fields including math, language arts, philosophy, engineering, and other such disciplines.

Oldcombe 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. Oldcombe's grid is powered by mana accumulators.

Oldcombe possesses an older civil lighting system consisting of street lamps. In spite of the Galvanic Grid, these lights continue to use their old fule sources to provide nighttime illumination to all city streets.

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

Oldcombe 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.

Oldcombe 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 Oldcombe's natural decorations nor waterways.

Oldcombe 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.

Oldcombe 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.

Oldcombe 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.

Oldcombe is home to a University which provides higher education in a variety of fields, and also serves as a research institute for those same fields.

Cultural Notes

Two or more groups of citizens within Oldcombe hate each other. Their neighbors or the local law have kept things from too-overt violence, but members of the groups will constantly interfere with their rivals and cause whatever misery they can get away with. This hate may spring from recent events, or it may be an inherited spite from old wrongs.

Oldcombe'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.

Due to the actions of local Kami, autumn is long in Oldcombe.

The Ohancanu near Oldcombe are known to be more aggressive than normal.

Oldcombe's citizens partake in a curious ritual relating to their local kami. It takes place in winter and involves drinking to channel Chronomancy energies of tier 3 via oath swearing.

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.

Oldcombe Census Data: Year 2000

24450 of Oldcombe's population work within a Foundational Occupation.

• 1371 work in Agriculture
• 5655 work as Craftsmen
• 1967 work as Merchants
• 3735 work as Service Workers
• 2535 work as General Laborers
• 1021 work as Skilled Laborers
• 3463 work as Civil Servants
• 2062 work in Cottage Industries
• 1353 work as Artists
• 1288 work in Produce Industries

35750 of Oldcombe's population do not work in a formal occupation, but do contribute to the local economy. 4531 (7%) are noncontributers.

Points of Interest

Oldcombe is known for its unusual rock formations.

POI

History

The the a large bag of Elven High Magic, an a large bag imbued with great amounts of Elven High Magic energies was created near Oldcombe by in time immemorial, reportedly some time during the late 2nd century.

History