Helm Castle

Helm Castle (/hɛlm/ [Translation Unavailable]) is a subtropical City located in Aelwheat Dutchy, Sifate Kingdom, within the Sylvan.

The name Helm Castle is derived from the Sylvin language, as Helm Castle was founded by Thilioril Parham, who was culturaly Sylvin.

Climate

Helm Castle has a yearly average temperature of 18°C (64°F), with its average temperature during the summer being a warm 27°C (80°F) and its average temperature during the winter being a cold 10°C (50°F). Helm Castle receives an average of 146 cm/y (57 in/y) of precipitation, most of which comes in the form of rain during the spring. Helm Castle covers an area of nearly 41 km² (16 mi²), and an average elevation of 2034 m (6673 ft) above sea level.

Overview

Helm Castle was founded durring the early 17th century in early fall of the year 1606, by Thilioril Parham. The establishment of Helm Castle suffered from many setbacks, delays, and obsticles, most notably a group of Helm Castle which required millitary assistance exterminate before the community could finish being built.

Helm Castle was built using the conventions of Sylvin durring the early 17th century. Naturaly, all settlmentss have their own look to them, and Helm Castle is no diffrent. The city's buildings feature delicute timber framework hidden behind layer upon layer of finly ground plaster bleached to an almost glossy white sheen, with green clay tiled roofs and decorative brass-leafed trim. Even the smallest, poorest looking structures appear to be expencive thanks to the extreem elegence of the organic shapes and paterns going into their lofty, spire-y, vagly gothic designs. The more well off folks live in identicle homes, save for even shiner trim and a more whimsical appearance to their structures flowing forms.

Helm Castle is is constructed arround a series of premissive carved bedrock mainstreets which form overlapping circles, with smaller strait roads linking the circiles to eachother at varrious points. The city is the proud owner of a proper castle-style stone wall complete with all of the trimmings. It has towers, a moat, gatehouses, drawbridges, and even merticulationsshortsizeleadershipname.. Astonishigly, the perhapse unnessisarily well built defences are in pristine condishion, as if they had just been finished before you laied eyes upon them.

Helm Castle is not quite well. Something happened here, perhapse recently, perhapse long ago. Whatever it was, it settled into the very soul of the city like a festering wound. The people go about their day well enough, but there’s a tention in the air you can cut with a knife. There’s a patern to the panic. It’s not easy to see, and no one quite agrees on what it is, but the locals know and operate under this pattern. It shapes everything they do, and you feel as if you’ve almost worked it out only for some small detail to devastate your theory every time you try and comprehend it.

Civic Infrastructure

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

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

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

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

Helm 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.

Helm 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.

Helm 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.

Helm 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.

Helm 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.

Helm 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.

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

Helm Castle has an Scientific Academy which provides higher education in the natural sciences.

Helm 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 City. Helm Castle's grid is powered by a boiler and turbine based power plant.

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

Helm 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.

Helm 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 Helm Castle's natural decorations nor waterways.

Helm 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.

Helm 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.

Helm 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

Helm Castle's town hall was built using a different architectural style from the rest of the town. The style used is characterized by dynamic designs and complex architectural plan forms; intended to heighten feelings of motion and sensuality, and frequently based on the oval. It made extensive and extreme use of: Grandeur, Contrast, Curves and twists, Rich surface treatments, Gilded statuary, Bright colors, Vividly painted ceilings, Fragmented or deliberately incomplete elements, Large-scale frescoes, Dramatic central projections on an external facade, the use of plaster, stucco, or marble finishing, Illusory effects such as trompe l’oeil, and pear-shaped domes. While beloved by the nobility, the common folk tended to despise the style due to the massive consumption of resources required for even a small building constructed in this style.

In Helm Castle grains of dust blow into perfectly neat rows.

The Dlurgraven near Helm Castle are known to be more aggressive than normal.

Helm Castle's citizens partake in a curious ritual relating to their local kami. It takes place in summer and involves square dance to channel Summoning energies of tier 2 via speaking in tongues.

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.

Helm Castle Census Data: Year 2000

3611 of Helm Castle's population work within a Foundational Occupation.

• 197 work in Agriculture
• 819 work as Craftsmen
• 300 work as Merchants
• 557 work as Service Workers
• 372 work as General Laborers
• 147 work as Skilled Laborers
• 509 work as Civil Servants
• 321 work in Cottage Industries
• 194 work as Artists
• 195 work in Produce Industries

5792 of Helm Castle's population do not work in a formal occupation, but do contribute to the local economy. 290 (3%) are noncontributers.

Points of Interest

POI

History

In time immemorial, reportedly some time during the early 2nd century a local hero by the name of saved most of the town when a natural disaster struck Helm Castle. Helm Castle created a local delicacy in 's honor which is served at festivals.

History