Ladesh

Ladesh is located along the western coast of Denryke.

This is the City Guide to Ladesh. Eventually this document will contain detailed descriptions for each family, man, woman, and child, homeported vessel, building and trade found here. If you need the City History.

This is a work in progress

This partially developed snapshot of the town of Ladesh and is still a work in progress.

A few noteworthy locals (good, bad, weird, or just plain ugly) in this little town:

• Birkesh, Phalls – Descendant of one of the founders. He is a notable wood carver. See City Pre-Founding History
• Feiffs, Daniel – Master-at-arms for the town militia.
• Grimm, Philipp – A distracted and harmless beggar, thinks of himself as a retired monk. He has a perfect & instant memory. Descendant of one of the founders. See City Pre-Founding History.
• Jadejaw, Hermann – Third generation brawlers guild patriarch. At 6’9″ tall and 410lbs this is a BIG guy! When he makes a fist the measure across the knuckles is 7″ alone. He laughs about his last name, saying that no-one’s gotten close enough to really hit him in the jaw to find out if it’s made out of jade.
• Jeevar, Tönges – Town historian and scribe. Lives by the town square.
• Iptsin, Jerll – Patriarch of the divers guild. Descendant of one of the founders. See City Pre-Founding History.
• Mainack, Oswald – Owner of the ‘Great Barrel Inn & Tavern’ and an odd man. He’s blind (wears eye caps of the gifted) and can sense things most seeing people cannot.
• Manasat, Algaad – Patriarch of the Shipwrights. He is the older half-brother to Captain Ulvan Motalan.
• Manglorat, Klanns – Eldest Apothecary in Ladesh. Klaans has a small garden behind his home where he grows many, many herbs. A lean man that only eats plants, fish, insects or dairy, no flesh from the warm blooded.
• Mirkanseta, Dieter – Owner of the ‘Nose Poke Inn’. A lot of the brawlers gather here.
• Medhall, Velten – Local creepy guy, makes anyone uncomfortable when he’s nearby.
• Motalan, Peter – Land & Sea Merchants Guild patriarch. Peter is father to Ulvan & now married to Algaad’s mother.
• Pankway, Willi – Wood and leather craftsman.
• Pitat, David – Thatcher, very outgoing and well liked.
• Samilsan, Luka – Owner of the ‘Young Dagger Tavern’
• Sandirk, Günther – Metal Smythe and Jeweler. Skilled at ‘sturdy’ creations but not so much with fine and delicate pieces. Works in all kinds of metals.
• Sengaar, Maik – Gossipy town trucker, he’s cheap but he’s also often late in his deliveries.
• Shahh, Hin – Governor of Ladesh.
• Sidhanth, Balthasar – Thieves guild patriarch. Many have heard his voice but very few live after having seen his face.
• Sumitti, Pault – Town trucker, friendly enough, very dependable, but quiet.
• Tajank, Hannes – Farmers guild patriarch. A very organized person. He fathered fourteen children, all sons (except for the second oldest [28] and the youngest who died at seven). All of the sons own and operate nearby dairy or crop farms that contribute to feeding the town with some to spare.
• Urthimna, Willi – King of Gong. You do know what gong is, right? Says he gets reports of the occasional glimpse of Ben the Hermit.
• Vollani, Matthis – Somewhat loony and very eccentric inventor. Often talks to himself and is occasionally heard referring to himself as a ‘math wizard.’
• Yashod, Cedrik – Highly respected local merchant, a very wise man. Almost always found in or near the central market.
• Zev, Fedra – Tythe collector for Ladesh.
• Zoar, Benjain – “Ben the Hermit” that has lived in the black swamp (outside the city) for many years.

A few local women of note (good, bad, weird, or just plain ugly) in this little town:

• Manglorat, Kess – Herbal Masseuse. Her father is Klanns Manglorat and their homes are next to each other.
• Shahh, Sheel – Wife of the Governor of Ladesh. A wise and kind woman. She brings balance to her husband. It’s fairly common knowledge that Hin would not have been elected without her.
• Sulumna, Beth – Waitress at the ‘Nose Poke Inn.’ Orphaned grand-daughter of Ben the Hermit
• Tajank, Vali – Bakers Guild Mistress and only sister to the Tajank brothers.
• Vodibill, Kjell – Cloth & Basket Weavers Matriarch.

Storytellers are invited to add some ‘color’ and character to any of these as you feel inspired. Note that these names were generated from www.Namator.com using German Common forenames and East Indian surnames (with a little smoothing by pegwynn).

Most trades & guilds in Ladesh are organized around a patriarch. All members are ‘in’ for life. A common theme is to see a particular scarring or tattoo on the left upper arm below the shoulder. Since this is an equatorial region, extremes of cold do not effect the attire here. It is rare to see a local with their shoulders covered, it’s a sign of belonging. Some of the most commonly seen guilds are the lumpers (rope makers, ships handlers, and longshoreman), divers, fishermen, brawlers, chefs, clothiers, thieves, herdsman, and farmers.

A Few Trade & Guild Markings
Trade/Guild	Leader	Mark Description	Membership
bakers	Vali Tajank	tattoo of a Kringle (pretzel shaped pastry)	80
boxers	Hermann Jadejaw	tattoo of a fist knuckles first	80
chefs		tattoo of crossed 4 tinned fork & knife	40
clothiers		scar of a thimble covering a spindle	25
divers	Jerll Iptsin	tattoo of a blue hand, fingertips together and pointed downward	110
farmers	Hannes Tajank	tattoo of a sheaf of wheat	250
fishermen		tattoo of a hooked fish	200
herdsman		scar in the shape of a shepherds crook	250
lumpers		scar in the shape of a rope fouled gaffe	210
merchants	Peter Motalan	scar of three equidistant round balls	140
shipwrights	Algaad Manasat	tattoo of a merchant ship at full sail	180
thieves	Balthasar Varkin	tattoo of a red handled dagger	unknown
more to come…

Ladesh has four home ported ships. Two are Skipp class vessels and the other two are Tusax class. All were build locally.

1. The ‘Cunning Lyre’ is a Skipp class with a deck length of 40′ with a 12′ beam, 4′ draft and a tonnage of 40 tons. Crew compliment is normally 9 men and a cargo capacity of 13 tons.
2. The ‘Honor Found’ is a Skipp class with a deck length of 45′ with a 15′ beam, 5′ draft and a tonnage of 45 tons. Crew compliment is normally 9 men and a cargo capacity of 15 tons.
3. The ‘Following Wind’ is a Tusax class with a deck length of 65′ with a 22′ beam, 7 foot draft and a tonnage of 75 tons. Crew compliment is normally 24 men and a cargo capacity of 12 tons.
4. The ‘Noble Heart’ is a Tusax class with a deck length of 68′ with a 24′ beam, 8 foot draft and a tonnage of 79 tons. Crew compliment is normally 26 men and a cargo capacity of 14 tons.

The Building List should answer the following questions.

1. What trades are present?
2. In what buildings?
3. Who are the people that work and/or live in that building?
4. Where is the building and how large is it?
5. Does it have one, two or three stories?

Descriptions are formatted as follows:

• Building@Grid, Width x Depth in Meters (Width x Depth in Feet) – Building tile or name Who lives here and some details about each person.

Example:

• 1@Z18, 8m x 4m (26.25′ x 13.12′) – Quarry Workshop shared by master mason Malmury (m/56) and Journeyman Alever (m/51); Several apprentices work here with the master mason; Kew (m/35) son of Malmury, Myrddin (m/16) son of Agnaar (14@S19), Gurthin (m/15) son of Grinde (76@J20), Foyse (f/15) daughter of Pedder (73@H18) and Kone (m/13) son of Iker (20@O18). The children of Alever apprentice here also; Nenne (m/32), Aleydis (f/31) and Talek (m/29).

. . . after the building list . . .

Other City Details

1. Is a tribute/protection money owed? Do ‘they’ owe ‘us’ or is it the other way around? For the protection that Pheaham Fortress offers, Ladesh pays a small stipend twice per year and maintains a draft of four percent of the able-bodied, adult population in the Denryke army.
2. How much of the population is devoted to making food & other consumables? About 65% (60% is average) of the local population. There are several dozen farms located east of town and a several large gardens and roof gardens within the town walls.
3. How many ‘locals’ are there vs. passers by? There are about 612 buildings here and about 1,532 locals, men, women and children. Add about 10% to 20% of the population as passers by. That would mean 150 to 300 people are passing through at any given time.
4. What is the level of criminal activity? Except for thievery, there are few crimes committed by the locals. Thieves are most active and the typical targets are the travelers and visitors. For these crimes it seems that most have no desire to be staked out in the black swamp until the tide comes in. Perhaps six or so other crimes happen per year.
5. What fortifications are in place? Sturdy, 18′ high, stone masonry walls, six to eight feet thick, there are twenty-two stone watch towers. Each tower stands approximately 75 feet tall. The stone for all of the city’s walls and buildings was quarried from the foot of the Blades Edge Mountains. These stones have a mottled/cloudy dark gray color. City fortifications were completed in MV238.