New Salem

[kant01 5]

 

Chapter 1

 

During the reign of Chancellor Gaius Valarum, in what was known as the worst persecution of the Droth people since the Second Inquisition, an exodus took place. The Droths decided to pursue their brand of scientific mysticism outside the rule of the Imperial domains, outside the laws of the Senate, and away from the rabid anger of Chancellor Valarum. The Droths feared Gaius as much as the Senate, for both considered the Droths a danger to Imperial stability. Gaius used his Imperial forces, and in particular the Royal Assassins to round up Droth leaders in the night, to execute them in hidden covens where they worshiped, and to kidnap and torture their children. The Senate passed laws to seize suspected Droth property and make it impossible for them to conduct commerce. And so, after decades of persecution, hiding, and fear, the Droths began to leave confines of the Imperial domain. They settled at first in uncharted territory and they called their home New Salem.

 

 

They established a small farming community which soon grew to a hefty 5,000 members, all Droths who had escaped from Chancellor Valarum and the Senate. They lived off of the land, growing barely, alfalfa, and soy, as well as cattle and sheep. The people who came had spent so long in hiding, in persecution, and many without a profession so they farmed and became herders.

As they divided up the land into plots, they also built homes, nestled together around a small city square. It was in that square that they would meet on the first new moon of each month to worship the Droth Lord and to watch the stars and to chant their sacred rites. And over the course of 5 long years with two severely brutal winters, they eventually came to have a solid and thriving community.

And once their numbers were strong, they built a house of worship to the Droth Lord, and they sacrificed the new born calves. And the remaining Droths who still lived under persecution back in the Imperial domains heard secret whispers of this new land as did the other religious minorities, and people told tales of a public meeting place where the Droths could gather and no one had to hide from Chancellor Valarum and the Senate.

As more tales were told, the people continued to flee to the town of New Salem. The small original settlement of 5,000 quickly grew to 9,000 in just two more years. Some of the new people that came in the second wave were not Droths, but the Droth peoples opened them as fellow outcasts of the Imperium.

As the people came, the small settlement had to expand it center, providing marketplaces and meeting houses for the other faiths. People began to engage in other forms of commerce, to hold festivals, to sell flowers and earthenware vessels in market stalls along the sidewalks, and to conduct in banking and finance. This rural farming community of star-watchers was now a small collective and the loose forms of civil management were no longer enough to maintain order and plan for future development.

But little did the people know that the worst winter yet lay in store for them. That January a plague broke out amongst the people. Men, women, and children found themselves sick and dying. The bodies began to pile up, food became scare, and no one wanted to leave their homes for fear of catching the plague.

 

When the winter past, the Droth leaders found that nearly 2,500 people had succumbed to the disease. As they buried the bodies in mass graves, they decided that the time had come to implement some changes. They couldn’t live without structure and organization to figure out what to do in a crisis. They needed protection, guidance, and decisions to be made. And they needed specialists who could treat disease and take care of urban planning. For some had speculated the plague came about because of waste run-off from the farms into the river. Without engineers and architects to figure out some basic planning strategies, they seemed likely to repeat the devastation in winters ahead.  To be continued...

[Larks2242 251]

Cool city, looking forward to more!

[Evillions 552]

You do know there is Medvial Streets that you can use.   But nice work doing with SC4 people would do for old Euro towns.

[DCMetro34 577]

Great start! Make Cities XL look tempting if you don't have it.

[Skimbo 304]

Let's see how it will develop in future times

but: Nice start

[mentarman 14]

Sounds like this will be an interesting one to keep an eye on.

[Mayorm 14]

great start

[Herdervriend 46]

Great start. but will there ever come a new update?

[jazyje 1]

Originally posted by: Herdervriend

Great start. but will there ever come a new update?quote>

Probably not ....

It's been more than 6 months..... This said, I wish wqe all had access to these old medieval English buildings....