Falkeame

Falkeame is a small, fortified town located within the Aqirli Rei de Reikarii (Imperial Realm of Raykara). The personal domain of Reyjad Solgal (JayRed1), it was at first under the jurisdiction of Bel Amir, former leader of the Imperial Watch. Falkeame was (prior to its disbandment) the primary headquarters for the Imperial Watch, an organization dedicated to evicting squatters, demolishing ruins, and improving infrastructure across the lands it operates in. Located in north-west Nieden, it lies just south of the Ekkest Mountain Range. Apart from being a hub for Watch activity, Falkeame was used as a direct launching and defensive point for the Watch during squatter wars. After the disbandment of the Imperial Watch, Falkeame shifted away from its primary use as a military hub. Upon opening its gates to merchants, Falkeame saw a flood of Reykarii and Rulagii traders open stores within the town, as it sits nearly halfway between the route used by traders travelling from the merchanting towns of Raykara to the Varmerion trade ports along the Phagosian Sea.

Falkeame is one of the oldest towns in Rathnir, having being founded on November 30th, 2022 by _Comrade_Bear_. Therefore, it dates back to Rathnir's first era, known as the "Towny Period" (2020 September 25th - 30th). It has gone by many names since; such as it's original, Ekona, as well as Ekoreanna, Arrertarium, Falkenhayn (refounded by Vymo), and other names lost to time.

History
Before being repurposed as a Watch facility, Falkeame's previous history is a near mystery. Once handed over to Reyjad Solgal, he discovered the area lay partially in ruin with an exposed series of underground passageways and corridors. The castle itself remained mostly intact, but the grounds and surrounding walls required serious work. For an unknown period of time, Falkenhayn remained unclaimed and exposed to the wilderness. However, with the founding of the Watch, a dedicated facility was needed. The leader of the Watch, Bel Amir, tasked a Watch member, Reyjad Solgal, with reclaiming Falkenhayn and retrofitting it for the Watch's use. Alongside this, Solgal was granted the title of Watch General and personal ownership of the claim. From there, the reconstruction of Falkeame began. There is not a lot of information about Falkeame's time as Falkenhayn, but a few details about the history of Ekona are known, notably that is was one of the first settlements in all of Rathnir and one of the three domains of the early Republic of Raykara.

Before Reyjad began to reclaim the area, a name change was agreed upon. Both Bel Amir and Reyjad came to the consensus that Falkenhayn should be renamed to Falkeame, partly because of linguistic issues. Utilising Watch resources, Reyjad almost single-handedly rebuilt much of Falkeame. After the stables and blacksmith were patched up, the barracks building was built. From there, the interior of the castle were redesigned. Reyjad was also designated a personal quarter within the castle, and then work began on landscaping the courtyard areas.

Religious Practices
The theological tendencies of Falkeame prior to to its resettlement under Escharian oversight are unclear, however it is probable that it still followed Soleannen to some extent due to its location in the heartlands of the Soleannen faithful. Regardless, when Falkeame was resettled by the at the time recently converted Reyjad Solgal, Falkeame fell under the Soleannen Mandate. Because of its limited size, Falkeame does not have the capacity to maintain an operational Soleannen church. Instead, visiting merchants join the limited number of permanent citizens in Falkeame in their daily walk to the monastery at Baunei-av-Kapuno, singing Soleannen hymns along the way. During the colder months when the procession leaves Falkeame before the sun has risen, a long stream of glowing orange torches can be seen climbing Mt Rulagmo from Falkeame's battlements.

Due to the lack of a church, the pond in the heart of Falkeame was rechristened under the patronage of the Soleannen deity, Sylene. The pond's waters flow right into the walkways that span across Falkeame. It is claimed that no matter how many times people and merchants tread along the path, displacing its dirt and gravel, the waters that follow the paths are never dirty, and always remain crystal-clear; to the point that the water is in fact drinkable. According to Rulagii superstition, the water contains faint healing properties as a sign from Sylene herself.

Cultural Diversity
Because of its importance as a trade outpost, Falkeame only maintains a small permanent population. Instead, a large part of its population is made up of passing merchants. The permanent population of Falkeame is made up almost entirely of Reykarii (c.60%) and Rulagii (c.40%) Niedene. Even still, most of these people are either descendants of or are settlers who have moved to Falkeame to make a living as shop owners.

The bulk of merchants who take up temporary residency in Falkeame are still Niedene, however often come from further afield. Gentarii, Asterii and particularly Thadii and Vasterii traders are all known to frequently visit Falkeame for short durations of time. With them come locally sourced goods which are traded with native Reykarii and Rulagii. In essence, trade has led to Falkeame becoming a melting pot for all different Niedene subgroups to interact.

Trade & Commerce
Due to its geographic positioning, Falkeame is one of the most isolated towns within north-west Nieden. Therefore, Falkeame has been reliant on passing merchants to generate the towns income. Because of its location away from any other settlement, Falkeame quickly assumed its role as a trade outpost used by traders to rest as they traverse the route between the larger northern towns in Raykara such as Raykara city and Nikephoros down to the big coastal exporting hubs of Ekesttori, Drasil and Belkadan. Limited housing in Falkeame led many permanent residents of Falkeame to rent out rooms to traders at low prices, effectively setting up hostels; which earned the townsfolk a reputation for hospitality. Additionally, a constant influx of traders also presented an opportunity for the town to set up their own market stalls, where they could buy and sell goods to travellers.

Because of Falkeame's relative isolation, alternative methods of transport instead of roads have been employed by merchants to traverse the landscape around the town. This led to a steady growth in the use of the river flowing outside of Falkeame's front gate, where barges can embark/disembark cargo headed to or coming from further down the river, which flows through Belkadan and eventually on to the Phagosian Sea. However, the narrowness of the river and tiny width of a man-made canal downstream means that only the tiniest barges can traverse all the way up to Falkeame.

Despite their reputations for clan-based politics and seclusion from other Niedene subgroups, Rulagii and Thadii traders often frequent Falkeame when looking for a market to sell goods. The Rulagii in particular rely on Falkeame to deposit goods, as they only leave their mountain homes in short waves to sell their goods before they return to the hills. Falkeame's proximity to Mt. Rulagmo and Ekkest Mountain Range means that it is in an ideal position to host Rulagii traders.

Falkeame Watch Citizenship
As a part of the Watch, Falkeame required special permission to be accessed. The main requirement was that only Watch members could enter, with little exception. To be trusted in the claim, one of two things must occur. Either a squatter war was being prepared/declared, in which participating Watch members were granted access to the claim; or specific Watch members were performing roles such as resource restocking. Citizenship was limited to Reyjad and Falkeame's first immigrant and former owner, BaconBowl2035.

During a squatter campaign, Watch members were allowed access to all areas of the main castle except for the storage room and personal quarters. They were primarily stationed in the barracks and courtyard areas for rallies. Within the barracks was accommodation for up to a dozen soldiers, with a storage, sleeping and PVP area. Watch members could be granted access to Falkeame's stables to use the horses during times of war.

There is also a clause that allowed military personnel to be stationed in Falkeame. For example, the Varmerion regiment of the Escharian Army was based in Falkeame before its disbandment.

Griefing of Falkeame
During early redevelopment, Falkeame faced a series of griefing attacks which ranged in severity. Because funding for Falkeame was still being organised, the claim boundaries hadn't fully expanded to beyond the walls, which enabled griefers to attack. Early assaults were mostly trespassing and attacks over the walls, but this was quickly remedied by terraforming the area outside the walls, making unauthorised access more difficult. Another, more targeted attack, was against the main entrance to Falkeame. Once more, funding was to blame for claims not covering the entrance fully, which enabled the damage. This caused a series of repeated offences against the main staircase and entrance, in which they'd need to be replaced each time. The legacy of the griefs can still be seen today, as the front entrance of Falkeame was partly remodelled to conceal the damage. After a set of signs warning against griefs was destroyed during another attack, the Watch took a stance and managed to locate the name of the griefer. With the exposure of the griefer, further attacks against Falkeame were halted.

Road Griefs
Similarly in manner to previous griefing attacks, the road leading out of Falkeame faced many of the same issues. A series of attacks against the road disrupted infrastructure and forced the Watch to subsidise resources from Falkeame to fix it. After a short investigation, it was discovered that a griefer had been repeatedly using an abandoned house built into the underside of the hill on which the road ran on top of as an entrance to the redstone beneath it, which had steadily been stolen. After repairing the road, the house was demolished and disguised to hide its entrance. In the event of future incidents, a concealed entry is used for maintenance access.

Brothar Incident
On August 5th 2022, a sudden development involving squatters occurred just outside of Falkeame. Rather suddenly, a huge new squatter town named Brothar had been created just outside of Falkeame. Owned by Bertilowitz, a squatter who was already on the Watch radar, plans were immediately formulated to launch an attack from Falkeame to destroy the settlement. This came rather contrary to Watch protocol, as usually a period of negotiation would occur beforehand. However, since Bertilowitz had been a burden to the Watch before, and with rampant Watch member support, the decision to open a war campaign began.

As resources and equipment began being directed towards Falkeame for the upcoming war, the Watch attempted to establish communication with Brothar and Bertilowitz. It was discovered that Brothar had no interest in joining Escharia at the time, instead favouring independence with the adoption of its own flag, which flew from atop a tower. This defiance only invigorated Watch members to begin the campaign. But just as Watch members were gearing themselves up and organising battlegroups, a diplomatic breakthrough was made with Bertilowitz. With the threat of war quite literally at his doorstep, Bertilowitz agreed to disband the claim and was offered citizenship in Escharia. Watch members who aided in the destruction of Brothar were paid a portion of the claim's resources. Meanwhile, a portion of its resources were stored in Falkeame. Due to its size, Brothar remained mostly intact until the formation of the Kingdom of Creed. In total, the incident lasted around two weeks.

Other, unrelated settlements have also come and gone since the Brothar Incident, leaving the area as a strewn-about wasteland of ruined structures.