- This article is about the city. For the surrounding province, see Baronial Province of Anskaven.
Anskaven is a city, the largest settlement of the Baronial Province of Anskaven, and the first place where the Sommlending settled on Northern Magnamund after the Great Voyage. It is one of the four great cities of Sommerlund, and an important port.
History[]
- See also: Baronial Province of Anskaven: History
In MS 3434, at the end of the Great Voyage, the Sommlending landed in Anskaven Bay. The named the place "Anskaven", meaning "Our Harbour" in Old Sommlending. From here, the Sommlending moved south, defeating the forces of the Darklands, and eventually began to settle the land. Anskaven, along with Holmgard, Toran and Tyso, where the first four great cities established in MS 3447 by King Braern I.[3]
During the Helghast Wars, House Kalsken was entrusted with the defence of Anskaven. The Brotherhood of the Crystal Star forged the sword Midnight for this purpose. However, as House Kalsken's prominence grew, the defence of the city fell to lesser nobles of the house, and the magic of Midnight declined in tandem. During the events of Rookhaven, it was wielded by Sir Persicar Kalsken, a Sommlending Knight of the Realm, but secretly, a bitter, evil man. Persicar was slain by a group of the Order of the Kai.[4]
In MS 3791, during the War of the Black Muster, the Anskaven Fleet (led by Baron Baleon Caldar) joined with the Fleet of the Holmgulf to break the Great Siege of Toran, with the Sommlending forces eventually victorious.[5]
Shortly after the Sommlending landed in Anskaven, it was first fortified with a wall of heaped rocks, but proved to be inadequate from raids by Giaks and Doomwolves. Over time, Anskaven's defences grew into a large curtain wall of rock, with watchtowers and Borese naval cannon batteries, first imported in MS 4992 but strengthened further in MS 5000.
In MS 5080, during the events of Wolf's Bane, the titular character Wolf's Bane, a Jahksa of Lone Wolf, landed in Anskaven, masquerading as the real Lone Wolf. Wolf's Bane murdered the men of Baron Avan Caldar, and then went on a rampage in Sommerlund, attempting to assassinate Banedon, and failing to do so, burnt down the Guildmaster's Hall; Wolf's Bane later travelled to Tyso, leaving destruction and chaos in his wake. The real Lone Wolf arrived eighteen days later, and was promptly imprisoned, until his identity was verified by a Platinum Amulet.[2][6]
Geography[]
Anskaven is located in Anskaven Bay, on the eastern side of the Baronial Province of Anskaven. It is described as "wide" rather than "tall": Most of its buildings are more than two stires high, with the notable exception of the Baron's Citadel. Anskaven is fortified by a crenelated curtain wall, with watchtowers and Borese naval cannon batteries. The wall is made up of a checkerboard pattern of alternating blocks of Toranese quartz-rich granite and white Kirlundin stone. This checkerboard style is mirrored in several of its buildings, in a style described as "Samoric".
Anskaven has a military feel, in contrast to many other Sommlending cities. Naval and army personnel make up a sizeable proportion of Anskaven's population.
Bay Road is an important road that runs through through Anskaven. Roads leading out of Anskaven lead to Icy Point, Lancelar, Combay, Hulst, Monksey, Pinestar and Jadin Cove.
Precincts[]
Anskaven is divided into precincts:
- Admiralty Precinct
- Contains the administrative buildings of the admiralty of the Northern Fleet.
- Caldar Precinct
- Home of Anskaven's iron, steel and glass industries.
- Docks Precinct
- Contains wharfs, shipbuilding yards and workshops. Anskaven's fishing fleet, the largest in all the of the Lastlands, is based here in the jetties.
- East Precinct
- Residential area where shop workers and labourers live.
- Fisherman's Precinct
- Residential area where, traditionally, the fishermen and their families live.
- Guilds Precinct
- Location of the Guildhalls of Anskaven, as well as the skilled artisans, intellectuals, wealthy merchants and upper-middle tier of Anskaven society.
- Noble Precinct
- The most affluent area of Anskaven and home of the nobility, wealthy traders, and high-ranking military and naval officers.
- Traders' Precinct
- Home of the traders, small shopkeepers and low-income tier of Anskaven.
Caldar Square, the most significant of Anskaven's city squares, lies where the Guilds, Noble and Traders' Precincts converge.
Flora and fauna[]
- Floroa fungi[7]
Politics[]
The city of Anskaven is the domain and seat of power of the Baron of Anskaven.
Government and law[]
The laws of the city are set by the Baron of Anskaven. Theft, however, is an issue in the city. As of MS 5000, this has gradually increased, and has led to an unspoken agreement known as the "Fisher's Bargain": Scoundrels, who operate in well-defined transient sectors nicknamed the "Shadow Wards", do not steal excessively, the City Guard turns a blind eye to it, and in exchange, the scoundrels do not cause the reeves harm. These scoundrels wear blue tattoos to identify themselves as such.
Military[]
Anskaven is the home of the Northern Fleet, the largest flotilla of the Sommlending navy. As such, many of Anskaven's buildings are devoted to the management and upkeep of this fleet. Its headquarters are located at Fleet House in the Admiralty Precinct.
Emerton Shipwrights, located in the Docks Precinct, is the largest shipbuilder in all of Sommerlund. It employs over a thousand skilled carpenters and marine engineers, involved in both the building and refitting of ships, and exclusively uses Sommlending oak cut from Raditch and Crowoode. In MS 5000, it was owned by House Emerton, with Fryearl Vas Emerton personally running the business; Vas Emerton was the designer of the majority of Sommlending naval warships around MS 5000.
Economy[]
Anskaven is one of the richest cities of Sommerlund. It is a centre of excellence of industry, the military and the navy, and is seen as a generally-lawful city port. During the Age of the Sun Star, Anskaven's status as the most important Sommlending port was overtaken by Toran and Holmgard, but it remains one of the most important ports due to its superior quayside and shipyard facilities. Its fishing fleet is the largest in the Lastlands.[8]
Anskaven's economy is driven from:
- Mining
- Hematite
- Phosphorous
- Fishing
- Timber production
- Steel smelting
- Cultivation (for clothing and canvas)
- Flax
- Hemp
- Iron extraction
- Horse rearing
- Cattle and beef production
- Pig farming
Finished goods are sent to Toran and Holmgard regularly, by land and sea.
Demographics[]
The population of Anskaven in MS 5000 was approximately 70,000.
The people of Anskaven call themselves "Anskaveners". As Anskaven is the oldest settlement in Sommerlund, Old Sommlending is used sporadically in everyday conversation and in the names of city streets and civic buildings. Many Anskaveners have family names prefixed by Cal-, Dro- and Sken-, reflected in the old saying "By Cal, Dro and Sken, know ye Anskaven men."
Like the rest of Sommerlund, Anskaven celebrates the Feast of Fehmarn on the first day of Spring, and is designated a public holiday. At sundown of the Feast of Fehmarn, the Baron of Anskaven awards medals to army and naval personnel who showed great courage or initiative, with the highest honour being the Caldar Cross, for exceptional bravery. The batteries are fired hourly, and a fireworks display is organised, ending at midnight.
List of notable people born in Anskaven[]
In the gamebooks[]
Anskaven is briefly visited in Wolf's Bane. The player, as Lone Wolf, is arrested at the start of this gamebook, as Wolf's Bane, a Jahksa, had caused chaos in his guise. The player leaves Anskaven soon after.
Design[]
Anskaven was first called "Anskavern". The latest version of The Magnamund Companion updated all these references.[10]
Sources[]
- Dever, Joe [2017]. The Realm of Sommerlund. Cubicle 7, pp. 128–141.
References[]
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. The Realm of Sommerlund. Cubicle 7, p. 16.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wolf's Bane: The Story So Far...
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. The Realm of Sommerlund. Cubicle 7, p. 9.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. Rookhaven. Cubicle 7, p. 99.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. The Realm of Sommerlund. Cubicle 7, p. 105.
- ↑ Wolf's Bane: §195/§302
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. The Realm of Sommerlund. Cubicle 7, p. 199.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. The Realm of Sommerlund. Cubicle 7, p. 123.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. The Realm of Sommerlund. Cubicle 7, p. 85.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [1986] (2015-10-31). The Magnamund Companion, Internet Edition, Project Aon, p. 134.