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The Township of Vers is a vibrant community inhabiting the structures of an earlier age. Vers, surrounded on all sides by light woodlands, is nestled close in to the mountains to the west, the city wall running a path some three or so Allerian miles to the foothills of the mountains.
It is in the low foothills of the mountains that a significant portion of the Versian economy is based. Scattered clusters of huts dot the border between the woods and the boggy marshlands that drain the water from these cultivated foothills, the dwellings of the families who make their way in the world by growing rice for the Versian markets.
Towards the ocean, east of Vers, the Woodlands very quickly give way to open grassland and rolling hills, the remnants of alluvial wash that was spread across the Versian Mesa, possibly during some great flood. Here the soil is deeper and richer than any other place in the Versian region, and large stands of fruit bearing trees are tended to supply local markets with fresh produce, as well as providing a great deal of variety for those that brew fruit ferments from the stock that is not pleasing enough to sell at the markets.
The township itself is surrounded on three sides by stone walls, the south face of the town is bordered by shear stone cliffs that mark the drop off point of the Versian mesa down to the lower areas of the Sherian Cosmopolis below. There are limited patrols by the guard along this part of town, but most assume the fifty-meter plunge will deter attackers from select this route of egress. Enclosed within is the bulk of the population; approximately 4000 citizens in all, made up primarily of Humans, Elves, Hobbits, a small number of Dwarves. Those with fae-blood are not tolerated within the town walls, and are prone to being attacked on site. Orcs were tolerated, if only marginally, up until the recent climb in banditry in the province that has seen Orcs turned back from the gates. Dracons, Vysstichi, and Esh’lahier can likewise expect a frosty reception, although the dark elves are tolerated due to their affinity with magic.
To the north of Vers, the woodlands thicken, the smaller trees, shrubs and occasional larger trees giving way to a heartwood of Mighty ancients; tall standing and densely packed, the Vers Heartwood supports a fledgling lumber industry, the old trees fetching a high price at markets to the south, but the problems with transport have so far prevented it from truly taking flight.
At the same time however, these same woods, deep and dark, are known to hide all manner of dangers, some as mundane as the wandering bear, while others spawn legends that spark off shivers in even the most seasoned of woodsmen as the sit around the camp fire at night.
The whole of the Versian region, stretching from the mountains to the Daittern peninsular in the north, down to the cusp of the black river in the south, sits on a vast basalt mesa that angles gently down towards the sea. At the edge of the ocean, the mesa is wholly visible without the shroud of greenery and soil that covers it elsewhere, its face breaking into a twisting series of narrow coves, tiny isolated beaches and cliffs, in places as high as twenty meters. Where Vers stood before the Planar Shift, water running in from the nearby river has begun to form a pool in the vast, cave-dappled pit now in its place.
North of Vers runs the Black river, flowing all the way past the Vorgan mines and on to the Sherian capital, Taralon. A substantial fishing industry exists on the river, a source which the Versians are just starting to utilize with the recent Planar Shift that they have experienced. With the town having been removed from its location by the sea and settled at the edge of the river, the town has constructed a makeshift port along the riverbed that is easily accessible without the use of a horsedrawn crane.
Inside its stonewalls, built and maintained in the face of years of aggression from the orcish assembly, Vers is an old city, even if its populace is not. The buildings owe more to the fallen Daittern Empire than they do to any recent expansion by the Allerian empire. There is often talk outside the walls of the hidden secrets that lie under Vers, and those that would probably know about such things, the mage council, have little to say on the matter. The wiser of the Versian citizens leave the treasure hunting to others, preferring to just let sleeping dogs lie.
While its structures may be old, the culture of Vers is far from it. Alive with colour and entertainment, every night in Vers is festival night, you just have to know where to go and who to talk to. with a significant portion of the economy kept afloat by wealthy tourists who come to see the town and sample its cultural delights, it is no wonder that Versians make no half measures when it comes to courting the fickle nature of the curious traveller.
Vers. Quite a lot more than the travel brochures would have you believe.
(Originally posted by GM Spectre | Edited slightly by Tisiphone)
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