Mar

Overview

History

Mar is a medium-sized town in the Solurian Empire, and is located to the southwest of Alwasy yet to the northwest of Gosd. It is a large port for the southern portion of the Solurian Empire, rivaling even the city of Solentse to the further southeast than Gosd. It is thus well known for its importance in shipping from Solentse to Sol as it provides an easy, on-the-way refueling and supply gathering point. The port extends the full length of the northern side of the town, allowing for multiple ships to be docked at once. The city is also known for its fancy houses, often describes as ‘more extravagant Solurian homes’ due to the resemblance they might have to houses in the city of Sol. In this, it shares many similarities with Solentse.

The town of Mar developed mainly due to the need for connections between the southern towns, cities, and villages in the Solurian empire. Thus, a large amount of translators reside in Mar, allowing for multiple types of trade vehicles to stop by, hire a translator, get their business done, and be on their way.

Before the Solurian Civil War of 1717 and the upheaval that followed, Mar was settled by people moving further south from Alwasy, looking to establish a competitive market for lumbering and woodworking. Unfortunately, the woods were wild and untamed, resulting in large amounts of wild animal attacks and a decline in workers willing to risk their lives. Eventually, enough settlers had gathered that this became little to no problem, and the forests were eaten away rapidly, leaving a large empty swath of land to the south.

This changed when a convoy of ships from the Solurian Trading Company and the West Merchant Guild stopped by the harbor in need of food and supplies. Due to the shrewd nature of the governor at the time, a simple trade pact was arranged as payment for the supplies. This pact quickly developed into a full-on trade agreement, and resulted in a rapid spike of population, trade, and wealth in Mar. Trade rapidly turned away from the lumber business at this time, leaving small clumps of forest to survive the ages. As time went on, the agreement turned into a near-monopoly on goods going in and out of Mar, resulting in huge wealth gains by the two trade companies. Eventually, they had practically complete control over the town and its population. By the time the Solurian Civil War of 1717 came around, the growing town of Mar was firmly on the side of the Solurian Trading Company and the West Merchant Guild, and was instrumental in recruitment and payment of fees by the two companies. After the war ended and the monopoly these two companies had on Mar was disbanded, trade flowed freely from the south, through Mar, to the north and Sol.

Mar’s citizens currently enjoy an intense, yet friendly, rivalry with the large town of Solentse, to the further south of Gosd. Ships and travelers are often given small knick-knacks when passing from one town to the other, often to be handed off for a small cash fee. This promotes trade between the two, and also provides a count of how many people go from one small city to the other, often to be tallied at the end of the year.