Foalport

Government

Much like the rest of the Inis; Foalport is ruled by a Lughlinn Mór and his staff of Lughlinn, though this close to Dòchas Ùr the lughlinn mór swears fealty to the Ard Banríon & Ard Righ.

Demographics

The caern-rath of Foalport covers an area of approximately 132 acres, with a total population of 8,000 people. The town has 37 Lughlinn houses and 1 Lughlinn Mór house. The peace is kept by 50 conscripts, another 150 chrualinn in reserve.

Many of the mortal races end up here although it is a predominately Daoine settlement. Few Fwoarians can be found this far from the Bulthron, but some come as mercenaries and skilti. Huldufolk carachlinn and merchants weasel their way onto the wharfs with their Boggart allies and one might even catch a rare glimpse of a lone Elfin Childe wandering the market.

Industry & Trade

Unsurprisingly the Caern-Rath of Foalport is well known for its trade and barter of horses. A rare commodity throughout the Inisa, most other caern-raths and their holdings are forbidden under decree from the Ard Righ Mochuma the Unifier from selling and raising horses. While this was regularly enforced, some places ended up bartering the horses from Foalport or Roan-Rath, then surreptitiously sell their excess to prominent Unknown or nobility. While this may go uncontested, as the restrictions still make truly profiting off horses a dismal affair at best, raising them is an entirely different matter. More than one local alderman who thought they were clever has cost their people dearly when the powers that be chastised them from breaking the decree. Foalport also sits on the largest slope that meets with the shoreline beneath the great cliffs of the Horselands, making it one of the last Caern-Raths of note on trade routes before Lwyg-Rath.

Districts

There are three primary districts that Foalport is broken into over the one hundred and thirty-one acres the caern-hearth stands on:

• The Settlement - Where the general domiciles of the city are kept. Here houses group close to the northwest of the city, very little separates them save for dust streets and junk-filled alleyways.
• Rath of Thundering Drums - Is the caern-rath where sits the local nobility, its massive frame pressing the main markets between the hill and the homes.
• Old Wharf - A network of rickety old docks and bridges built up carelessly over the years. The water here is dirty with the tide affecting it little as the many docks seem to act as a break for the waves, leaving the trash and the offal to fester below the crumbling boards.

Infrastructure

Like all caern-raths, Foalport is surrounded by a low rising wall of stone faced with stark white plaster. However, dust and wind often renders the walls here a tawny brown. A rath sits atop the central hill here, overlooking the sprawling market place that swirls around its caern.

Sweeping down from the south wall of the city is a trail that ends in the scattered, rickety docks of the Old Wharfs where the myriad carachs arrive to offload goods to prospective merchants. There is little in the way of defense on the Old Wharfs, but then a march up the slope would be met with a hail of arrows and a downward charge of cavalry.

Access to one of the few paths up the cliffs from the ocean's front provides both a measure of protection from sea-based attacks and allows the caern-rath to adopt trade from the same source.

Places of Interest

There is little of the surrounding country to notice. Rolling hills in the north and the perilously tall cliffs that drop to the Roiling Sea in the south, with Foalport perched upon the cliff's edge looking out over both the plains and the ocean.

Rath of Thundering Drums is so named for the many and constant concerts that fill its halls. The acoustics of which seemed designed specifically to carry the beating of drums and other percussion instruments perfectly. Like any other rath it is fairly plain having been built mostly for defense. The inside, however, is filled with faded tapestries from far of caern-raths, tarnished treasures from a more prosperous age decorate the feasting tables, and the stage upon which the music is made is carved from fine dark wood and lined with an intricately carved molding depicting the thundering charge of Foalports cavalry.

The Old Docks, as they are now called, sprawl for almost two full acres at the base of the cliffs which Foalport sits upon. These crumbling walkways crisscross, cut back, slip over and under each other creating a confusing and dizzying labyrinth of shanty huts and merchant stalls. The Wrinkled Rose hostelry and brothel is the largest structure situated, with reckless abandon, in the center of the morass of boardwalks.

History

Like most of the caern-hearths that came and placed their Menhirs in the blood and dust of the Horselands, Foalport was built on the sweat of settlers looking to get away from the great works and arcane wonders of the modern world. When the men of the Horselands learned to tame the small, but stout horses, their determination was rewarded. Seemingly over a year Foalport's commerce exploded as nobility and warriors the country over demanded to purchase the steadfast steeds. It would be for many years that Foalport became a titan of coinage, the new docks built on its shores sprawling out of control over the years to accommodate the amount of shipping the city accepted and provided.

When the Age of Summer came to an end many people of other regions took to the Summerlands to help with the mysterious calamity. However, most people in the Horselands were rooted there, to its rustic charm, and the inhabitants of Foalport were no different. So, though their population diminished only by a margin, the commerce from other regions ground to a halt. Even after the refugees returned south, it took years for Foalport to grow stable again, as even here the War of Spears diminished much of what made the mortal realms great.

Now they are on the rise again. As the need for horses and bodies grows, feuding states demanding carts and beasts for war. Only time can tell if Foalport will rise from its decadence to once again become a magnate of mercantile mastery, or if it will forever continue to crumble into the dusty soil of the Horselands.

In AoA 2808 RE, Foalport was one of the most heavily assailed caern-raths and dealt terrible cruelties by the Fomorii hordes. Its lughlinn and nobles imprisoned and its horses stolen. To cap off the indignities the local High Grove was desecrated by the Priests of Stramlag the Twisted One. So its without little surprise the warriors of Foalport quickly pledged their steeds to the Coalition of the United Inisa when the army liberated the city.

Heraldry

A black shell represents the sacrifices of those who died defending the caern-rath. A blue field represents the sea at the southern edge of the Horselands, represented by the yellow field. A red stallion represents the equine-obsession of its people and their readiness to draw blood in the caern-rath's name.