A small river cuts through a long valley forming ponds and other wetlands along the way. At the very end rises into some a large mountain as you have been ascending some ways up now. There we see a middling town. Stone walls surround the area before disappearing into the cliffsides. Looking past the gate you notice similar looking houses, built of stone and rather plain looking save for the arches and other artwork to hold up braziers each hosting a silvery flame. High above the remnants of splintered sky islands is to dense to fly through.
Infobox
The Argent Pyre
Geography
Type Stat Type Town Size Medium Region Drekteichas Politics
Type Stat Government Alignment Lawful Nuetral Ruler Flame Keeper Defense Flamebearer Vanguard Society
Type Stat Population 7453 Races All Temples The Silver Flame Organizations
Type Stat Guilds Order of the Silver Flame Factions Faction 1, Faction 2 Commerce
Type Stat Exports Silver, Platinum, Beads of Force, Silverwork & Silvered Arms, Glacier Ice, Wool & Cheese, Fever-Bark, Sulfur & Volcanic Ash, Everflame Lanterns, Dressed Stone Imports Grain, Lumber, Salt, Iron & Tools, Refining Reagents, Lowland Foods & Spices, Cloth & Dyes, Novices
About The Argent Pyre
Geography
The Wyrm Wall Mountains is where this humble town resides. The Argent Pyre is nestled at the very end of a valley just north of the Islandfall Steppes. A small river runs down the valley. The large mountains rise upwards carved out by ancient glaciers.
Government
The location of the Argent Pyre is only known to Cleoathyia Drekora the Protothera of Drekteichas and her close council. For tax purposes and being on Amazonian land the Order of the Silver Flame are under Amazonian rule. However they have their own form of governing with the head being the Flamekeeper Vizratha. Though under Amazonian rule, the Order is attempting to inhabit a nearby sky island to better commune with the Valkoran Empire.
Defense
The town is well defended by the stone walls surrounding the area. Flamebearers and Pyromancers are the main peace keepers through out the area. Sometimes more powerful creatures come from the Dresallon’s and even Exemplars and Argent Pyromancers might have to be called upon. From the sky they are very well defended by a near impassable array of broken rocks from the Steppes. High ranking sky captains have a special ring made by the order that allows a secret passage to the Pyres secret dock.
Crime
Under the watchful guise of the Flamebearer Vanguard crime is almost entirely mitigated. Any wrong doers are swiftly and covertly dealt with. The mages of the Pyre specially create Beads of Force to safely capture individuals. These are also sold to the Amazonian empire. Apprehended criminals are subject to a trial under the Amazonian Penal code. Most incarcerated individuals are then sent to the Argent Mines. In the mines their wills are bent and then released back into the town with new holy fervor never to commit crime again.
Commerce
As is necessary with any prospering settlement the Pyre needs trade. They send trading boats down filled with precious metals to the capital. In exchange lumber and anything else is then traded back offset by the wealth generated from such highly demanded metal.
The Pyre is the one cold, high, volcanic corner of a hot and wet country, and almost everything it trades comes from that. Its glacier-carved valley, the dormant Mt. Pyrstomat, the mountain pastures above the treeline and the shattered sky islands over the Islandfall Steppes give it goods the lowlands cannot make. The same valley cannot feed 7,000 people, so food, timber and salt have to come up the river. The result is a rich town with expensive bread.
Outsiders never see the town. All trade happens at a trading post where the Pyre’s valley meets the neighbouring valley, at the river fork below the town. Pyre factors meet merchants there, and nobody goes further up. Small, precious cargo can also leave by sky from the Steppes port, out of sight of the river.
Organizations
There is only the Order of the Silver flame. While the surrounding town prospers the main order is holed up within the heart of Mt. Pyrstomat, the Mouth of Fire. Here the holy flame is kept. Here there is only it. And soon the mountain will be rekindled.
Locations of Interest
Inns & Taverns
Shops:
Guilds/Organizations:
Other:
- Argent Mines
- Silvered Goods
- The Cinder Ampitheatre
Trade
Exports
| Good | Why here | Buyers / Destination |
|---|---|---|
| Silver & Platinum | The Argent Mines | Drekteichas capital, then the world market through the Xanthakte river port |
| Beads of Force | Made by the Pyre’s mages | The Amazonian empire |
| Silverwork & silvered arms | The Smithing Pyre and Silvered Goods. Silvered weapons and ammunition are in demand against lycanthropes and fiends, and holy symbols of The Silver Flame spread the faith without inviting visitors | Temples, hunters, militaries |
| Gems | Found in the mines, cut at Argent Gem-erocities | Jewellers in the capitals |
| Glacier ice | The only ice in a jungle country. Packed in straw and sawdust, it survives the trip downstream | The capital and the rich coastal cities, as a luxury |
| Wool, hides & cheese | High pastures above the treeline are the only place in Moltara cool enough for sheep and goats. Cheese keeps milk from spoiling and is worth a lot per pound | Lowland markets |
| Fever-bark | A cloud-forest tree on the Wyrm Wall slopes whose bark eases jungle fevers | Every lowland town. Worth more than silver in a fever season |
| Sulfur & volcanic ash | The vents of Mt. Pyrstomat. Sulfur is used in alchemy, fumigation and medicine. The ash makes concrete set hard | Alchemists, builders |
| Everflame lanterns | Pyromancer-made flames that need no dry fuel. Valuable anywhere nothing dries out | Settlements and lighthouses under the Ventura Skies |
| Dressed stone | The glacier scraped the valley down to hard rock. Stone only travels downstream, which suits the river | Builders in the lowland cities |
Imports
| Good | Why it’s needed | Supplier / Source |
|---|---|---|
| Grain | A glacial valley has little warm, flat farmland | Lowland farms, hauled upriver |
| Lumber & charcoal | No trees above the treeline, and the mines and smelters burn through timber for supports and fuel | The jungle valleys below |
| Salt | Far from the sea; people and herds both need it | Coastal salt pans |
| Iron & tools | Silver ore is not iron ore, and picks wear out | Smiths in the lowland towns |
| Refining reagents | Silver has to be separated from its ore with an alchemical agent the valley cannot produce | A single distant source. A weak point |
| Lowland foods & spices | Fruit, sugar, cacao, spices and rice will not grow at this height. A rich town wants them | The Xanthakte coast and the jungle |
| Cloth & dyes | The town makes its own wool but has no cotton or dye plants | Lowland weavers |
| Novices | The Order wants the faith to spread but not a crowd. Hand-picked recruits are the only people it lets in | Converts vetted by the Order of the Silver Flame |
Trade Routes
| Route | Goods | Method | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Down the valley to the fork | Everything | River boat | 11–16 days | Small river with ponds, so boats are carried around rapids |
| Fork to the Drekteichas capital | Silver, cheese, ice | Keelboat upstream | 10–14 days | Poled and hauled. From there, goods go north overland |
| Fork along the Scar rim to the Dragonspine gap | Silver, stone, sulfur | River boat | 13–16 days | The river turned aside by the Scar’s raised rim |
| Dragonspine gap to the Xanthakte river port | Silver, platinum, gems | Sailing ship | About 14 days | Cargo moves from river boats to sea ships at the gap, which takes 2–5 days |
| Return upstream from the Dragonspine gap | Grain, lumber, salt | Hauled boat | About 70 days, much less under sail | Bulk imports are slow and costly, hence the expensive bread |
| Steppes port | Platinum, Beads of Force, lanterns | Skyship | Fast | Light, valuable cargo only, through the Order’s secret sky dock |
Trade Rhythm
The year runs on Moltara’s two winds. In the north-wind season the river runs fast and the silver flotillas go down. In the south-wind season the wind blows upstream, and boats sail home loaded with grain and lumber instead of being hauled. Most of the town’s year is planned around getting the bread home before the wind turns. The same pattern drove Indian Ocean trade for two thousand years, with ships sailing out on one monsoon and home on the reverse.
Other Notes
- There is an overlook of the town a set of stairs to the left of the temple entrance leads far up the cliffside just behind the waterfall that overlooks the town. Its about a 100 feet up.
