YEAR: 220 AD

POPULATION: 1,335

 

The Docks

The Nahervue Docks were initially built by the Hajjar and Borelle families, two of the original five that founded Nahervue. It was just one pier and a few canoes, and at that time, the main diet for Nahervueans was mostly game meat and vegetable stews. With members of the Gora tribes joining Nahervue that specialized in fishing, the traffic around the pier grew and so a second one was constructed around 110 AD, which was about 60 years after the founding of the settlement.

Now, the Nahervue Docks feature five piers that are buzzing with activity every dawn and morning. The Borelle and Hajar families still reel in the biggest catches, although the Gora family does have substantial catches, as well. Fish has grown in importance for the locals as it has become more of a stable in the Aliphiaran dishes, and fresh catches are much sought after.

The Nahervue Docks are the only official point of entry and exit into Aliphiara and is overlooked both symbolically and physically by the Nahervue Stone Towers. Once a year, the ship HOPE III sets sail to Europe to buy supplies for the rest of the village, an endeavor that is led by the Brickston family and is funded by the Elder Council.

 

 

Market Road

If the Nahervue Docks is considered the breath of the town, then Market Road and the Nahervue Market should be considered the pulse. Every morning, almost every farmer, fisherman, hunter, gatherer, and craftsman line up Market Road in their stalls hoping to catch a sale. Whether its Atlantic salmon or deer, strawberries or kale, spears or ceramics, almost every essential item in life back in those days was available in some basic form.

Stretching from Well Square just north of the docks along Market Road to Church Square, the Nahervue Market is not only a place for someone looking to buy or trade. Every Saturday and Sunday are Market Days in Nahervue, and the town and Goran travelers congregate onto Market Road to socialize and meet up. Just east of Well Square sits the Market Road Inn, which was built in 212 AD and is owned by the Sienna family (one of the five original families). The most popular spot during the evening and especially during the weekends in town, the Market Road Inn and the Church of Christ are the social centers of town.

 

 

 

The Market Road Inn

The Market Road Inn was built in 212 AD and is owned by the Sienna family, one of the original five families that founded Nahervue. Before they constructed the inn, the Siennas had a strawberry field on the land, which they subsequently removed and built both the inn and their own personal house instead. They also did a personal orange grove behind the inn, the only one in town.

Having witnessed the increase in trade activity especially during Market Days first hand thanks to the land’s location right at the beginning of the market, the Siennas saw an opportunity catering to Gorans that came down to town and were staying a couple of nights. The only place to stay in town formerly was the Farm Inn, located on Blackwell Street just off of Cypress Road – in other words, outside of Nahervue proper. The Market Road Inn was in the dead center of town, and its pub/restaurant was the most popular social location in town. Breakfast was also a big thing, especially during good fishing days when the fishermen would come in during the morning after a long night of fishing.

The Market Road Inn also had the distinction of being the first formally registered business in Aliphiara. The Elder Council, hoping to create some funds, mandated that every operating business should be registered and given a license in its field, as well as pay taxes on its income. Although there were grumblings about it, everyone kind of understood that it was needed as the town was growing and investment had to be put in it. The Siennas volunteered the Market Road Inn to be the first to register, making it Aliphiara’s first ever official business to start operating in 218 AD.

 

 

Nahervue Recap in 220 AD

Although the population of Aliphiara remained an unknown at this point, historians estimate anywhere from 60-80K people lived on the island at the time. What is known is that 1,335 of those people called the town of Nahervue their home. The only permanent settlement in all of Aliphiara, Nahervue was the land’s center for trade, travel, entertainment, and anything else one did at that time. Situated on the southern coastline of Aliphiara overlooking the Bay of Hope, the town was founded in 50 AD by settlers from Old World (Western Europe, Middle East, North Africa, Mediterranean, etc.) Inhabited by several tribes of the same nomadic people called the Gora, the relationship between the tribes and the settlers began friendly and had remained friendly until today with no issues. In fact, several Goran families settled down and changed their lifestyle over the years, becoming residents of Nahervue and taking on the last name of Gora.

Nahervue is governed by the Elder Council, a body made up of the Elder of each one of the five founding families (Brickston, Sienna, Gaulle, Hajar, Borelle) and an Elder of the Gora family. Together, the six Elders govern in the Elder Council out of the Church of Christ located at Church Square. Over the course of the town’s first 200 years, the relationship between the Elders was cordial and relatively friendly – there were a few scuffles of words here and there, but nothing that wasn’t worked out almost immediately. Almost all the Elders were decent, good people who had the survivability and prosperity of the settlement as their priority. While the Roman Empire was expanding and subjugating, freedom with little governance was thriving in the North Atlantic.

Most of the residents of Nahervue were farmers, but a good amount were fishermen and hunters. Over the last 20-30 years, however, a few specialists have started their trade in Nahervue such as carpenters and producers of ceramics. The Brickston and Borelle families were known to be Nahervue’s richest, but all of the founding families were wealthy, with the exception of the Gaulle family – what happened to them is a story on its own. Generally, that is what makes Nahervue’s economy, and the town sponsors a trip by the Hope III sail ship once a year with a young man from each family to buy supplies.

Other than that, however, there is still very little communication and contact with the outside world. It would be another 600 years before the Vikings visit and another 1500 years before the beginning of the Trans-Atlantic sea movement.   

Finally, here are some pictures from around Nahervue in 220 AD, and the last picture is Nahervue through the ages so far.