Kenton (Dominaria Supplement)
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|
 | |
| Size | |
| Small City | |
| Power Center | |
| Conventional, Lord Lucien Amaram, Tier 5 | |
| Alignment | |
| Lawful Good | |
| Adult Population | |
| 11,000 | |
| Gold Limit | |
| X | |
| Language & Diversity | |
| Onean, Homogeneous (95% Onean Human, 5% Northman Human) | |
History
The walled river town of Kenton and its vital river ferry are some of the oldest Onean settlements and structures left in the world. The town, as well as Magden's Tower to the north, are relics of Onea as a province of the First Imperium under King John I. Kenton Keep, originally Kenton Abbey, and the old walled hill just upriver were the nucleus of the town and civilization in the area in the 1st Age. Farmland that still radiates out from the town was the heart of the northern Onean tribes, and later northern Onean Province under the Onean Kingdom. The province ran north to Magden's Tower and is a pastoral realm removed from much of the world. Between the elves of Telanir on the north and the King River to the south this land had seen little of war and hardship for hundreds of years leading into the Dragon's War. Imperial Unification during the rise of the Third Imperium affected them very little, and the Lord of Kenton took his Low Seat as part of the High Seat of Carhane.
The Dragon's War swept as far north as Onea after the return of the Wandering One and the Imperium's crushing defeat on the fields of Isen. Kenton south of the river was burned to the ground and a Warlord of the Dragon, Djacobus Ren, led his army in a month-long campaign to cross the river and assault the city. His powerful siege engines, captured form the Imperial barracks in XXXX(now Basillica of St Cuthbert), could lob boulders into the city and made the campaign miserable for the defenders - who lacked such weaponry. But the defenders staunch defense took its toll and a daring sally by the Lord Amaram's son and 50 of Kenton's finest set fire to much of Ren's camp, effectively pulling the attacker's fangs. Ren wintered on the south side of the King's River, and took the assault back up during the bitter months when the river froze. Several bloody battles on the ice turned the war against the people of Kenton, and Ren entered the town. The citizens help up on their two hills and waited for the inevitable.
Fortune saved them that winter, and the will of a Lord who would become Onea's King. On a bitter day in mid-December, the blast of horns and thunder of hooves shattered the early dawn silence. Lord X(now the King) and several hundred knights, alongside knights of the X(order of St. Cuthbert) utterly surprised the besiegers and routed them. Young Rollan Amaram once again distinguished himself and slew Ren during the chaos. Djacobus Ren's head was burned to the skull and now sits atop his armor in the hall of trophys in Kenton Keep. The first addition in more than a century breathed life into a quiet aristocracy, and pulled the people of Kenton and her province into the Onean army for the rest of the war. The people of Kenton fought in companies under Malkieri command and took part in the siege of the Centrality, fighting their way there and then fighting in the hallowed city.
After the war, during the posturing and blustering that would lead to the Treaty of Three Swords, the people of Kenton went back to their homes and rebuilt. The Onean treasury put good gold into relighting the agrarian forge north of the river. New crops and new mills along the river breathed an easy breath back into a war-weary land. Today, the people of Kenton and the surround are the quiet industrious farmers they've always been.
City
Kenton is a large town with a large wall, but without many large buildings; this is a symptom of a frontier town built into city's wall. From the north the long wall of Kenton looms large, if somewhat unkempt. The Amaram's keep the wall and its towers strong but many different stones have been used over their family's rule, and the towers were rebuilt even before their rule. Passing through the small, if stout gates, visitors would then be greeted by a strange sight. The ground slopes gently down form the walls and into the town spreading to the river. The town resembles an enlarged farm or trade village more than the small walled city it is. Wooden buildings, small roads, trees, and a pastoral feel assail the visitor - it is immediately obvious that this city is different. Approached from the river docks or ferry, the two fortified hills dominate the view. Kenton Keep is a sturdy building of imposing stone and the old walled town center looks more like a small legionary fort than part of a town.
Inside the town dirt roads lead from cluster of houses to shops and further in to the market square. Locals do most of their selling out of shops that they own, the market is mostly for outside traders - mostly farmers from along the King's River, men from Onea, or northmen from Malkier. Despite Kenton's closeness to Telanir there are few elf merchants in town. Wood Elves do travel to Kenton, especially during the human's holidays and feasts or during the harvest, but one seeking elves goods would need to travel upriver. The Keep is the Hall and Manor of House Amaram as well as the town's meeting and feasting hall. Lord Amaram holds weekly audiences with his subjects and the farmers from his Seat, and hosts feastdays and weekly chapel service in his halls and parade ground. Lord Amaram is not a kind man, but he is fair - if exacting. His people excuse him his harsh fairness though: he lead them through the war and is a fearless soldier. His son is kinder, and maybe no less a soldier. If the Lucien Amaram is respected, Rollan may one day be loved.
The people of Kenton very much go with the flow of life in this quiet part of the north. The flow of life in the town follows the seasons: people trade daily at the docks and seasonally in the main market. Grains, vegetables, meat, some fish, dairy, and un-worked leather and wood flow into Kenton regularly. One harvest of grain, two of vegetables and tubers, and the fall cattle drive are the focal points around which market life revolves. Smaller crops, as well as sheep, fish, and unfinished material flow in year round. Kenton takes all of this in and either ships it downriver or across the ferry and south to Carhane. Kenton produces farm goods in bulk, and does it well.
Of special note are the raucous and locally renowned feast days of the Kentonese. Much worship is given to Obad-Hai for the harvest, and Pelor for the Sun and his protection, but Olidammara has an energetic faith in these lands. Every feast day across the Pantheonic Calendar is celebrated. In years of lesser harvests or hardship the feasts are not so well stocked, but House Amaram has always purchased extra ales and spirits in these tough times; the feasts must go well after all. Every feast day the doors of Kenton Keep are thrown wide and the Amaram's large pavilions are erected outside on the parade ground. The main hall of what was once Kenton Abbey becomes the focal point for the feasting. On high feast days meats, ales and steaming vegetables sit alongside local breads; on the lower days vast cauldrons of stew and piles of bread accompany the ale. The large cellar built under the wood floor of the main hall opens as well, in the dark lower level debaucherous revelry will go long into the night... The parade ground outside the Keep is given over to dancing and revelry as well, though much more conventional. For this revelry, the laughing God Olidammara seems to bless Kenton and her district: it has been more than a generation since true famine struck the area. What impact his blessing had on the War, few can say.
Locations
Kenton Keep: The stout Keep dominates the town from atop its carefully built up hill. It is the only structure in the town that one can see from the short hills to the north. Despite its frequent use for revelry the original builder's eye to fortification means the Keep is yet formidable. There are four approaches true, but these are narrow and built into cuts in the hill. A thin line of spears can easily hold a large mass at bay, and defilade fire can rake the attackers from atop the difficult embankments. The interior of the Keep is very simple. The main hall, once a chapel, takes up much of the ground level. Here weekly petitioners can speak with Lord Lucien Amaram. Storage and cooking rooms run along the side and the ancient sacristies behind the back wall contain meeting halls and the stairs to the upper level. The upper level contains House Amaram's formal audience hall and well appointed living quarters. Below the main hall is the lower hall, once a chapel for the lesser gods. Flanking this surprisingly large room are more storage and a narrow stone stair, magically cut into the bedrock in ages past, down into the crypts. The dead of House Amaram lie in state there, as do the ages-dead bodies of houses long passed into legend.
Kenton Market: This open square has been cleared of trees and is trampled to near stone. Large fairs and busy markets fill the space four times a year. Farmers usually will not bring bulk goods to market outside of their season, as this is like to incite anger among the other farmers. The Kentonese still tell each other stories about the year when an argument over customers turned into a massive brawl between cattle farmers and the fall grain farmers.
Rollan's Ferry: Rollan Amaram is a local hero after his daring assault on and later victory over Djacobus Ren. The people have taken to calling the ferry after him and tradesmen have taken the name far. The king has even decided to capitalize on Rollan's fame and build a statue before the ferry on the highway. This statue will bear a modern Onean shield though, not a relief of Amaram's crest.
Oldtown: The wealthiest Oneans living in Kenton have their manors on this old fortified hill. The Amarams have a manor here, overlooking the river. Half of the families here are wealthy local tradesmen or powerful guildsmen from other parts of the country, while the other half are old local money. The old money crowd in old town are generally a stabilizing force in Kenton. These families own large tracts of land or villages outside the town and owe fealty to House Amaram.
Brotherhood of Pelor Warehouses: The Brotherhood of Pelor maintains a storehouse and barracks in the dock area of Kenton. This is an out of the way post, but is important as their northmost Cormyri outpost. The Brotherhood doesn't operate much further north across the Westlands, giving professional distance to the Morivanian Orders. The Brotherhood's most recent use of the post was before the Dragon's War, when they sent 450 knights and 1,000 foot through Kenton to reinforce the Knights of St. Cuthbert at Magden's Tower against a Wood Elf show of force. During the Dragon's War, House Amaram claimed the stores to arm the Kentonese, but the Brotherhood agreed after the war that the theft was overly justified. Many of the weapons were given back when House Malkier armed the men Kenton sent west.
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