Overview
The towered city of Hessinon stands above the rolling plains and gentle cane fields to the east of Vaunephasauk. It is perhaps unique in Silverthorne for a city of its size in that it is completely lacking in walls. The brightly painted towers with their external spiraling stairs, which are entered through the roof seem to prove quite sufficient deterent in and of themselves to most attacking forces.
The people here keep many of their shops in stalls laid out in rings along paved and grassed gardens spread throughout the city and dwell within the towers themselves. The courts of the city also contain several intricate fountains and gentle waterways which help convey goods. The waterways often pass under the towers, and provide openings to winch systems to move heavy cargo up to the heights inside.
It is not terribly uncommon for Guthrie travelers to stop near the town to compose their stories and sell cheap goods. Sylvani do likewise, though they are careful to stay well clear of the mages guild representatives who always give them an evil eye. The Sylvani and Guthrie alike are probably attracted to the city by its open, joyous nature, and overlook the planning and long years of dedicated service that went into its creation.
My family has lived in Hessinon for nearly a thousand years. We have helped to build towers, and inhabit them, we have watched the grandprocession happen fifty times. Now there is a wonder, watching all the noble families, all those many twin sons and daughters move from city to city, each stepping into a new seat of power every twenty years. No other land has a procession like ours, and no other land has such good and generous rulers.
You see, the current Baron, Young James Kibilan, and his brother Tobias just arrived last this year. They will be taking wives soon, probably from a house in Ishania. And soon they will be raising twin children as well. Always twins in this great land, always. Means there is always a ruler to fall back on if the beasties or the intrigues get one. Not that we have much intrigue I don’t think. They all look far too honest for such things. Well educated too, know more books by heart than I can name, and I’m a scribner.
Well I’ld best get back to work, have to complete this listing of the peasants in outlying village 2B for Thane Honeras Renkulan. He likes to keep close track of the birth and deaths in his lands, census every five years that man. Twice as often as necessary, but it is a good thing. Keeps us busy in the shops.
-Unknown Scribe
The Dinner
During my brief stay in Hessinon I was invited to dinner with the Baroness and her family, and such a family they have! She has two sets of twins, all of which are married and have children of their own. A small family dinner has become quite an affair in its own right. They live in the central tower of Hessinon, and its flat roof keeps the two Griffons that the family is proud to call their own. Both of Baroness Valeria Xexicaoltic’s sons ride with great skill and daring, and both have served in numerous campaigns from high above the ground.
I was regailed with stories of such deeds, and even offered a chance to see the ground from above myself, which would have been a marvelous experience I am sure, but I politely declined. Alas, our dinner was interrupted by the call of state duty. The representative from house Jakoric, a man by the name of Kirklin Yemms had a complaint to lodge over mistreatment of several of his house members by members of a local mages guild chapter. Then a second wave of intruders arrived, headed by the local magistrate, a very imposing and stern man, Harkinin Skress, who the baroness’s daughter informed me was stationed here as punishment for allowing a criminal to go free.
The mutual dislike of DeVris and Jakoric representatives here was backed up by house Toevass, and all three houses were pressing for action, but the baroness was reluctant, as the guild is quite powerful in this region. She spoke calmly, and told the agitated parties that everything would be taken care of, and before you know it, they were all bowing and leaving like they had never been upset in the first place. Amazing woman, really.
I also happened to meet the baroness’s three thanes at dinner that evening, saving me a trip to their estates. Her hand to the south is Thane Irdi Pwanzi. He is a burly hulking man, still bearing the tattoos of his years at sea. According to local legend, when he was younger he taught several princes of the realm the finer points of nautical etiquette. Over a tankard of ale and the edge of a cutlass if you believe everything you hear.
To the east lay the lands of Owyen Llysdaon who is renowned locally for his excellent singing voice, and his marvelous stories. I can vouch for the latter, as it was he who informed me of thane Irdi’s many sea exploits, over that illustrious man’s outbursts and gaffaws.
The last of baroness Valeria’s thanes is a young woman by the name of Raeyissa Falconbridge. Some claim a distant link to the founder of the kingdom for her family, but she has long said it is merely coincidence. She is easily recognized for the birthmark upon her neck of a magnificent bird in flight, so vivid it could almost be a tattoo. She is generally quite cheery, given the long daggers she goes nowhere without, and was happy to speak to me, though I am but a lowly servant of house Toevass. All good things must come to an end though, and I bid my hosts farewell at the close of a marvelous evening, feeling much the better for having met them.