JEWEL GLEAMING BRIGHT: WHAT'S AFOOT IN THE CITY OF BERDUSK IN 1499 DR

JEWEL GLEAMING BRIGHT
What’s Afoot In the city of Berdusk in 1499 DR

Berdusk, the Jewel of the Vale (Sunset Vale, in this case), has always been an important trading city, as it stands where the River Chionthar and the Uldoon Trail meet. Those interested in factions know it’s home to Twilight Hall, the only central “base” for the Harpers.

What Strikes The Eye

Berdusk has grown over the last century—a lot. More than a third of the city on the north bank of the Chionthar now lies outside the walls, mainly to the east, and there’s a sizeable unwalled sprawl south of the river that’s now neighborhoods where several thousand folk live, not just (as it was in the mid-1300s DR) a cluster of paddocks, inns, wagonworks, and a tavern or two.

This southbank part of the city is locally known as “Windown” (“Wind Down,” with “wind” pronounced like the moving air, and not the action of winding string or thread around something), and is primarily brick ground floors with timber-and-stucco above, and tile roofs. Buildings in the older part of the city, across the river, are increasingly being reroofed in tile (or for the grandest buildings, slate) as their cedar shingles wear out. Streets in Windown are mud and gravel save for the major caravan roads, but streets in “Old Berdusk,” north of the river, are now cobbled throughout. Cellars are rare in Windown, but common in the older, walled part of the city north of Shondaleir Street (the continuation within the walls of the riverfront road linking the paddocks and upriver mills).

Local Trade

As well as a transshipment point and a base for several trading costers, Berdusk remains a Harper stronghold, and under their protection generations of artisans have flourished, making the city a thriving center of skilled carpentry, smithing, and crafting. Throughout the 1400s DR, Berdusk has exported a lot of everyday-useful furniture, tools, housewares (pottery, hinges, locks and hasps, pots and pans, and cutlery), and draperies, as well as “fripperies” such as decorative statuettes, stylish lanterns, and small wall paintings (landscapes, dragons flying over castles, and portraits of “types” of folk such as The Stern Old Smith and The Simpering Courtesan are popular). Berduskan crafters make and sell a steady stream of well-made...

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