Mar

History

Mar is a medium-sized town in the Solurian Empire, and is located to the southeast of Gosd yet to the northwest of Tibeth. It is a large port for the southern portion of the Solurian Empire, rivaling even the southern city of Grib to the further east. It is thus well known for its importance in shipping from Grib 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.

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 Gosd, 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. Thus, the wall of Mar was built to keep these animals out, and was lit nightly by large amounts of torches to keep the animals and creatures of the forest away. This, sadly, prevented the lumber industry from developing further, and thus Mar turned into a sort of backwater fishing town.

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. 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.

As a sign of the modern times, the torches on the wall of Mar were replaced by large floodlights which lit automatically at night time, symbolically resembling a change of the population’s mind. The job of lighting the wall’s torches was turned into the job of maintenance on the lights, resulting in a much lower injury percentage. To this day, the lights keep odd creatures at bay, a stark change from the old ages of magic to the new and rapidly changing technology of the modern age.