Ruary (the City of Festivals)

Posted on July 25, 2023 in Steel-Realms

Overview: Ruary is a small city compared to the other Merchant Cities. Its stable population is around 20,000 (about the same mount in many “hamlet” communities). Rare hardy grapes on the north side of the river in a valley which catches the sun light and is fed by streams from a lone short peak. Ruard mountain is sacred to Ikribu and Darupet. Pure and cold and used for brewing is the Artesian spring on the mountain named “Pristos”. On the southern side is hops, barley, corn and oats. The major industry is brewing and distilling of mead, wine, and beer – especially beer. When folks speak of northern wine, most of them are shipped out from here, as the aging process and bottling is done in Ruary in traditional manners.

The greatest of the holy place of Scrofa the Boar (of the Wyld Faith), is the artesian Spring of Pristos in Ruary of the North Merchant Cities, on the north side of the Beyne River.

Wheat is mostly brought in from the southern merchant cities – the golden vein of the south. The brewers have been perfecting their craft for thousands of years. There are sacred times, festivals, and such.

PRINZ Family: Alpien

Places

Brothels: The brothels of Ruary are also legendary, and attract many a sailor, merchant, and noble alike.

• Temple to Ezrilus

Ruard’s Anchor

The bridge over the the Beyne River was constructed by the Ducateon. It is a sight to behold. It supports three full lanes of traffic.

Ahead you can see the arched bridge over the Beyne River. Placed in the narrowest span that could be found, it replaced an ancient ferry crossing that Ruary was founded upon. The bridge is a total of 40m from side to side, arched about 20m high in the center. There are massive constructed embankments on both sides that hold each end in place. Getting closer, you can see that although there are guard stations, they are not manned. There seems to be little in the way of security – probably due to the the repeated attempts over thousands of years to affects it – none of which availed themselves. Mount Ruard looms in the distance on the north side, a small mountain just over 1km tall. The smells, sounds, and sights on revelry are unmistakable – and its easy to understand why Ruary is called the City of Festivals.

Important Groups & Individuals

A council made up of the various brew houses rules the city, with the house of Gormont being the oldest and having the greatest privilege.

Multi-Faith: The town’s patron is Ezrilus and Darupet has a strong following as well, in addition to churches for Ikribu and a shrine to the light-bringers in general and almost every other faith has a shrine presence in Ruary. In some unspoken sense, Ruary is a sort-of neutral ground for the faith’s – though no formal relations are conducted between them here.

• The Spring of Pristos is guarded day and night by a Briarwood that surrounds it and is the highest holy place of Scrofa the Boar.

Noble Families

Gormont:

Military Strength and Brotherhoods

Each house provides its own militia to guard its product, and House Gormont is paid a stipend by each to have a naval presence and a formal Merchant City garrison – for protection of the town in general. The Harbormaster Office controls the docks and is allied with the breweries, coopers, and Glassblowers and Bottlers Guild of Ruary– serving as their militia as well.

Home of Baleguard

The Breweries of Ruary

Oh, the breweries of Ruary are legendary. From flat (often called a ‘stoic ale’) to bubbly (carbonated)

Chronicle of the Locale

• Pervasive
• Common
• Uncommon
• Scarce
• Rare

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