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GemFeld, or Gemfeld (/ʎɪmfɪld/ or /gɪmfɪld/, disputed) was one of the largest cities in Bormar, and the largest city in Bormar's entire northern half.
GemFeld connects to The Well by a deep-water port which served as the main dock for northern goods and people roots to terminate.
GemFeld, prior to the fire had a very sizeable population.
Etymology
GemFeld derives from Gem's Field which further derives from Andagem's Field as Andagem Unti owned 104 Hectares of land used for various kinds of farming, from standard pastoral, plantation, and vegetative, to the more experimental apiary, mycelial, and lupulial.
Andagem was well known for security around his costal farming plots and strong defenses against Dwarves and animals. Eventually, offers of renting some of his land began flooding in and Andagem began allowing non-agricultural projects to take place on his land, over 25 years, Andagem's fields became a small hamlet, and Andagem was tiled 'Hamleteer'
The /ʎ/ for one of the variants of GemFeld's pronunciation began as a mocking of Andagem's inability to produce /g/ sounds.
History
Following the founding of GemFeld, GemFeld's socio-economic and transport link vitality was realised, leading to a massive influx of funding from guilds, Lords, Ladies, and courier services, GemFeld underwent 3 'Crystal Ages', burning down half-way through the third Crystal Age.
Ruby Age
GemFeld's first Crystal Age was the influx catalyst from the industries, nobility, and transport corporations. These prioritised mostly on installing the triple-economic activity principle as well as the dredging of what was eventually founded as 'Deepdock Harbour' using rudimentary 'Diving Bells' and hand-held shovels. Land-based courier firms, most notable 'Dangi Express' and 'Post An' invested heavily for modern roadways to be connected from neighbouring towns and cities.
The population prior to the Ruby Age (Known locally as 'R-time') sat at several dozen, and following the conclusion, increased by 265%.
Sapphire Age
GemFeld jumped into the second Crystal Age two months after the death of the first Hamleteer, Andagem Unti. In his will, he left a puzzle to the treasury, and Hamlet Livery Collar (The representative object of power for the Hamleteer). Amig Andosk's discovery of the treasury and livery collar automatically elected him as the second Hamleteer. His first initiative was to establish a government, which had it's chambers above the location of old treasury. The large complex became the Municipal Centre of GemFeld, and a blackstone pillar in a courtyard marked the exact location, locals referred to the Andosk Municipal Complex (AMC) as The Obelisk.
Amig negotiated with the First House to release a lumpsum payment of thousands to facilitate the further development of the town, this lumpsum would be further bolstered by Amig's wealth gained by the LordForge initiative of his own, creating a chain of master foundries throughout the town and the rest of Bormar.
The Sapphire Age (Known locally as 'S-time') further expanded the triple-economic activity principle, but began to install ameneties like Commodore Park and Rectangle Square.
The Sapphire Age closed 1 decade later, with the First House deeming GemFeld as a city, with the expectation that GemFeld can now finance itself.
In that time, GemFeld's population grew a further 678%
Diamond Age
Amig Andosk remained the Second Hamleteer as his Steelworks industry, 'The LordForge Foundry' launched its 'Status Changer' project, the creation of the 'LordForge Behemoth' in the Canmissary Quarter. The 'Steam-Wheel' warehouse claimed it would automate forging, to a level needing only 6 workers, all keeping the Behemoth alive.
Reporters described the Behemoth as 'A room-sized living and self-mobilising mass of brass, cylinders, and gears.'
Amig's advertisement of the Behemoth to the First House incited the procedure for titling a new Lord, and a leak by an unknown Lady caused the largest influx of funding to the Municipal Government, as well as a mass-settling of nomadic labourers into GemFeld.
The Diamond Age (Known Locally as 'D-time') ended prematurely when Amig closed the LordForge Steelworks Branch 001 in the LordForge district, laying off 15% of GemFeld's population. The following riots cost the lives of dozens of Dwarves, and was the catalyst of GemFeld's destruction.
The "Foundry" Fire
The riots pushed into their third continuous month, with the Municipal Government's entire silence, it was discovered that Amig spent day and night working on the Behemoth, ignoring his duties as Second Hamleteer.
The enraged mob descended around the Behemoth's warehouse, and a handful broke in, leaving destruction and bent metal wherever they went. Several instigators died as the Behemoth's super-heated steam boiled them when destroying it, yet one Dwarf broke into the boiler room, and lit the coal mound on fire.
Within minutes, the boiler room was a mass of fire and smoke, which quickly spread through the complex, lighting the wooden roofs of the warehouses surrounding it.
GemFeld's warehouse district was notable for its lack of Bormarian building style, the warehouses used wood as the majority, with stone supports and bases, this provided the perfect kindling for a city-wide fire, where the architecture was more standardised, stone walls, wooden roofs, wooden interiors.
When the Canmissary Warehouses were fully engulfed in flame, the fires spread eastwards, setting The Obelisk, Eastfront Accommodation, and the LordForge District alight. With 2/3rds of the City alight, the wind blew north and devastated Gemhovel and set the mature wheat, barley, and other cereal crops alight. No section of GemFeld was spared.
Death tolls counted 85% of the total population dead, 10% severely wounded, and 2.5% missing.
First House Investigations
Following the Foundry Fire, the First House contracted the Ereben Molir Detective Agency. Preliminary investigations lined up with the claim of the Foundry Fire. However, later investigations concluded that the fires were first started in a warehouse parallel to that of the LordForge Behemoth's. The owner of that warehouse is unknown, and the EMDA closed the investigation[1] after failing to decode the burnt page.
Government
Local
GemFeld has a functional Municipal Government, with the highest executive office being that of the 'Hamleteer'. The Hamleteer would serve for life.
The municipality ran upon an elected system, electing 16 total citizens who would represent Dwarves, serving for 4 years.
GemFelds Municipality received little criticism until the premature conclusion of D-time, where the riots overtook the city.
The Municipal Government, referred to as the 'Munis' by locals handled all local up-keep affairs and were not divided, with each official holding legislative, judicial, and executive powers.
Local and National newspapers regularly scathed GemFeld's governance system, which had officials holding unchecked powers who were easily bribed.
Amig Andosk was not free of this either, regularly making sweeping changes to benefit himself and his corporation, leading to regular riots.
National
GemFeld was mere months from the ceremony of electing Amig Andosk as GemFeld's Lord, however the fire, which took the lives of Amig Andosk, 85% of the population, and the entire city caused GemFeld to be stricken from the record of cites.
Geography
Landscape
GemFeld is situated in the Northern Plains and above the western quarter of the Feldian Aquifer. GemFeld was also located above the Inmiban River which submerges 5 kilometers before GemFeld's city boundaries.
GemFeld lay 5 meters above sea level, and the turbulent stormy waves on the northern half of The Well regularly resulted to flooding, until Amig's mitigation measures.
Geology
GemFeld's city boundaries, along with vast swathes of the Northern plate sits on an Early Karst Landscape, as well as the Northern Batholith, the predominantly limestone rocktype of the Karst Landscape leads to rich and nutritious farming, with the Granite in the Batholith forming hard-to-erode mountaincaps, keeping the plains sheltered for centuries.
Climate
Similar to much of Northern Bormar, GemFeld experiences a maritime climate with mild-warm summers, cool winters, and a lack of temperature extremes. The average maximum temperature from the third to fifth month is 8.8°C, while the maximum temperature from the sixth to eight is 20.2°C.
On average, the sunniest months exist mid-year, with a maximum of 18-hours sunshine, with the Wettest months being the last quarter, the driest being in the first.
GemFeld's isolation from the coast, due upland surrounds, as well as the bay mouth being south-west facing shelters it from rain and moist winds receiving rain amounts similar to that of central Bormar (600mm/pa).
Places of Interest
Landmarks
GemFeld was known for its distinct lack of public art, despite being a city.
GemFeld has two landmarks, The Obelisk, a blackstone pillar in the courtyard of the Municipal hall, also called The Obelisk. The other public art is Andagem's Harvest, located in Commodore Park, it was a steel statue of Andagem carring bales of wheat on his back with a scythe in his hand. The scythe dug into the grass at its Granite pedestal, where a small garden of Andagem's favourite plants grew, King's Staff Daisies.
Greenspaces
GemFeld was also criticised for its lack of public greenspaces, having only the 1-acre Commodore Park in GemHovel.
Commodore Park was a small greenspace with mostly fir trees, paved and with a small fountain around Andagem's Harvest.
Economy
GemFeld was a strong economic node in the North, with multiple national banks, financing agencies, agricultural, metalworks, and transport companies located throughout the city. 4 of the top 10 national banks had branches in GemFeld, with 8 of the top 10 transport and logistic companies having warehouses and distribution centres in GemFeld.
86% of GemFeld's population were financially stable, with 28% of such group being classed as 'rich'. GemFeld's employment and social works programme worked to drop unemployment to record-breaking levels, reaching their lowest at 1.7%.
Of the 14% of impoverished citizens in GemFeld, the Dole Grain and Food incentive provided them with free grain, and the Workfinder's Aid branch of the Municipal Government aided the unemployed Dwarves in preparing for job interviews.
Both of these incentives, while great for employment and equality, put a noticeable strain on GemFeld's treasury, leading to large taxation on those with even moderate amounts of wealth. These caused regular protests and petitions to abolish these social welfare schemes, and the Economic Pillar Support Destruction bill was being debated in The Obelisk during the first few hours of the fire, before the session was cancelled.
GemFeld's wealthy regularly bribed incumbent officials, leading to bills such as Reduction of Taxation on Transport Executives, Abolition of Warehouse Worker Unions, and most controversially The Dissolution of the GemFeld Muncipal Government to Achieve Liberty.
Cheesemaking was core tennet of GemFeld's agricultural economy, the rich grass gave grazing Mar Goats a specific taste of their milk, which permeated into their cheese, creating Gem-Cheese, known for its pungent woody aroma and high salt content, going well with a glass of Dark Rum.
Transport
Roads
GemFeld, like other towns and cities had a strong shared-road network, with pedestrians, horses, and carts all sharing the same paved roads.
Unlike most of Bormar, GemFeld abandoned Cobblestone paving, and instead used layered gravel, concreted stone (Limestone, sand, and water which is then agitated and poured), this was then topped by an odourless tar with stoned embedded atop.
The specificity of the odourless tar allowed roads to be given certain scents. The Nasal Navigation incentive began to aid those with visual impairments, by giving certain roads, and areas a specific scent. Notable inclusions are 'Baker St.' which had caramelised sugar and corn syrup included in the liquid tar, prior to pouring. This, coupled with the baking shops' outflow of the signature 'baked smell' helped identify the beginning of Gemhovel.
The Obelisk also had a distinct odour, with a strong smell of coffee, due to roasted and pulverised coffee beans being embedded into the tar.
The Nasal Navigation incentive had some failures, with the Docklands' smell being 'Seaweed', the embedded seaweed began to rot, making a putrid odour which permeated the Docklands for 2 months until it was repaved with odourless tar.
Other tar and smell mixes resulted in the tar not fully hardening, which damaged shoes, hooves, and cartwheels; none of these roads were ever re-paved, leading to significantly lower traffic, and economic depressions befalling these roads.
Municipal Agents created a wide 15 meter entrance road through the maingate, called the 'Mainways'. The road had ingots of steel, iron, and 2D boat-shaped wooden carvings all embedded into the road, which would sparkle and show GemFeld's economy to entering caravans and Dwarves.
Sea
GemFeld's deepwater harbour allowed cargo vessels, clippers, capital ships, transport ships, and hulls to all be fully serviceable.
Trade, people-moving, and movement of bulk goods was remarkably easy and cheap.
The originally-wooden jetties and boardwalks were converted to stone, allowing sturdier and increased weight to be on- and off-loaded, the walks also had embedded slits for standard-width carts to move more easily on the narrow stone paths.
Education
GemFeld had multiple institutions for academic and practical learning, subsidised by the Bormarian Guilds and the Municipal Government.
Education was seen as quality, yet pro-GemFeld propaganda was present, and the ideas of GemFeldian independence was included in all curricula.
Scholarly education had only a maximum of a 25% subsidy to payments by the government. Practical works (Mining, Jewellery, etc.) all were free if the student was in an apprenticeship while studying, but would be full price if otherwise.
The majority of GemFeld education institutions were in Gemhovel.
The LordForge Foundries
The LordForge Foundries was a national corporation set up and executed by Amig Andosk. The LFF specialised in revolutionary forging techniques, as well as researching new ways to use metals, primarily steel and brass.
The LFF had over 36 foundries spread throughout Bormar, with the 3 largest being in GemFeld, beside its Headquarters in a district called The LordForge District. The LFF's GemFeld division was the centre of innovation for the LFF corporation, the LordForge Behemoth was developed, tested, and prototyped only in GemFeld. Compostions of new Alloys were also tested, but to little avail.
The LFF employed the largest amount of citizens from GemFeld, in all poisitions, to the LFF's personal mine, to forging and smithing, to administration, logistics, and advertisement.
GemFeld's Molir
The Molir was the only non-corrupted branch of GemFeld's leadership system.
GemFeld's Molir had 5 ranks, each denoted by an arm-band colour.
| Rank | Colour |
|---|---|
| Enlistee | White |
| Moderator | Green |
| Master | Blue |
| Lieutenant | Red |
| Captain | Purple |
The Molir also had different colour coats denoting the task they were presently completing. Coats existed in a long and short variant, sharing arm-band, and gold trim designs on the coat and hat.
| Colour | Task |
|---|---|
| Red | Patrols |
| Blue | Guarding / Protecting |
| Green | SWAT & Armed assaults |
| Black | Administration |
The Molir had a red and black banner and shield design.
Following the destruction of GemFeld in D-time, Gib Andosk remained the sole user of the Molir iconography and uniform style, however repurposing them for his work in Zietal Mar's Governance.
Footnotes
[1] - GF-185