Overview
While the city of Goodberry is a new and thriving city, it wasn't always thriving, nor a city. Originally called the "Highgarden Estate," the white mansion was the property of the Highgarden family, a long and prestigious bloodline that lived in Eber. However, one of the family forefathers made a powerful binding agreement with a forest spirit named Ailonvalor for unprecedented power and success. He granted it to them at the cost of a familial sacrifice every generation. Over the years the family got greedy and decided to scheme the spirit out of his side of the arrangement. He cursed their bloodline and in 4 generations all the Highgarden family members met gruesome ends and the house fell into disrepair for over a century.
A group of travellers were hired to investigate the building to find the sister of a local knight. They found the house haunted and found the young woman. By the time the group found her she had already fallen in love with the spirit who initially blessed the house. When the two were united, Ailonvalor returned his blessing to the house, this time without the sacrificial stipulation. The noble who hired the group wanted nothing to do with the house that took his sisters life and gave it to the intrepid adventurers who had initially ventured into it for him. Returning to the house, the group found the house had returned to its former glory. They decided to use it as the base of their operations moving forward.
Shortly after taking ownership they party learned that the estate, now called the Geodegazer Estate after the new owner, actually existed inside a 100-acre dimensional bubble, complete with an artifical sun and landmass. Later, the group discovered that the house had several magical and mundane upgrades that could be purchased to give the dimensional creation new benefits and abilities. One of those abilities was to grow strong enough to support the creation of a town within the bubble and sustain life safely and perpetually.
Goodberry is the product of that estate growing in such a manner.
Demographics and Layout
Racial Demographics:
- Human: 51%
- Suli: 10%
- Vishkanya: 10%
- Orc: 10%
- Dwarf: 10%
- Other: 9%
City Layout:
Goodberry is a country-themed village that surrounds an incredibly rich and luxurious looking white mansion:
- Market Street: A recent addition to the city, this is the main trade district of the city and houses the business fronts of the local citizens only. Visitors from outside the city are allowed to setup stalls and carts in the town square.
- The Farmland: A stretching section of lush farmland covers many of the acres within the bubble, filled with crops of countless types. While the farmland isnt open to just anyone, all the food grown here goes to feeding the village.
- The Mine: The mine is Goodberry is incredibly rich with ore, thanks to the magical nature of the estate and the dimensional bubble they reside in. Ore from this mine (Silver, Cold Iron, Moonstone and mostly Iron) is the largest export the city offers.
Government and Politics
Goodberry is currently under the rule and leadership of the "Mayor" of the city, Arties Geodegazer who is the proper owner of the estate that powers their city. Under her guidance, the city has grown and thrived. Despite the lack of any sort of election process or open challenge ot her role in any form, the villagers have managed to find peace and safety within the walls of Goodberry without feeling like they've lost any sort of freedom or autonomy.
The Mayor leads the city when she is present, but had opted to create a council filled with people she knows and trusts across various fields to stand up for fields of necessity that she, herself, is not educated in. In times of trouble or needs for difficult decisions, she summons the council together to hear everyone's opinion on proper actions to take.
While the city has no other form of politics, there are backups for every position in the off chance that someone is lost to war or a need to leave the village.
Geography and Climate
Thanks to the magic of the estate and the bubble around the city, the temperature stays a steady 80 degrees every day and a cool 60 degrees at night. Since Arties took owernship of the estate there has only ever been sunny days and starry nights with no inclement weather. However, with the arrival of shamans, resonance experts and a host of professions that specialize in the dimensional spaces moving into the city, some people have begun to report sudden rain showers happening across the 100 acre land, though they are short lived and vary in intensity.
Geography:
The estate sits atop a small hill in the center of the bubbled dimension and has a rather large, sprawling layout that is both luxurious and spacious. Homes and other city buildings sprung up around the base of the estate and continued to fill in a sort of spiral pattern, slowly pushing out further and further into the wilderness, with some people opting to live on the outskirts.
Outside the edge of the village is a large swathe of farmland and sizable grove that functions as the primary food source for the city. Out passed that, a series of snowcapped mountains seems to be in the distance, though they are not reachable, functioning more like a breathtaking wallpaper than a physical location.
Economy and Trade
The economy of Goodberry is a fragile thing, as it has only just begun.
Major Industries:
- Mining Operations:
- Precious metal extraction (silver)
- Metal mining (iron, cold iron)
- Semi-precious stones (moonstone)
- Stone
- Metalworking:
- Generic tool crafting
- Stonecraft (statues, walls, fountains)
- Dwarven steel ingots
- Crystal Engineering:
- Light crystal cultivation and cutting
- Heat distribution systems
- Acoustic resonance devices
- Farmland and Crops:
- Exotic vegetables
- Exotic fruits
- Exotic herbs & spices
Trade Network:
Trade is conducted through the newly created "Market Street" for locals, or stalls and carts in the city square:
Local Stores:
- The Resonant Wood: A store that sells and repairs musical instruments
- Legendary Rope and Twine: Sells ropes and strings of different materials, colors and styles
- The Snake's Claw: A store that sells daggers and small blades, all crafted locally
- The Distant Target: Sells bows, bowstrings and such but also offers training for aspiring archers
- Ironfist's: A blacksmith who specializes in weapons
- My Bag is Full: A store that sells containers, bags, purses and more
- Dat Spark: A store filled with gadgets and techno-magical mechanisms that promise to improve your life
- All that Glitters: A gem and jewelry store
- Our Daily Bread: A bakery owned by a body-building dwarf with an infectious laugh
- Candyland: A confectionary that specializes in chocolate treats
Exports:
- Silver ore
- Iron ore
- Exotic/Rare vegetables, fruits, spices and herbs
- Textiles
Imports:
- none
Economic Features:
- The Textile Mill: The largest employment opportunity in the city, a place to make various fabrics and threads that are resold to connected or nearby cities.
- The Portal Room: A domed building that houses all the portals to other cities which makes trade fast and easy.
Culture and Society
The culture of Goodberry is truly a melting pot of numerous cultures that have moved to the city and share their ways with the other citizens. Society is structured around understanding, tolerance and even acceptance of the differences between the citizens.
Notable Customs:
- Goodberry Day: A series of events and competitions similar to games for knights, but more aimed at the common man, woman and child. Competitions occur between cookouts, barbecues and pie eating contests.
- Apple Night: It is a little known fact that Apple Night started in Goodberry
Arts and Entertainment:
- Singing and Dancing: The local tavern, Our Home, is always bumping at night. Someone is always performing live music or inspiring dancing competitions, all made better by inebriation.
- Ice Sculptures: One of the young folks in Goodberry has a unique talent to create lifelike ice sculptures that can take any form and last much longer than one might expect
- The Resonant Wood: The proprietor of this shop is said the have the best singing voice in the city and often does small performances for customers.
Education:
Education in Goodberry is simple:
- Basic Education: All people below 18 are required to go to school for 4 hours a day:
- Reading and writing in Common, but more is available for gifted students
- Mathematics
- Creative pursuits (sculpting, painting, storytelling and cooking)
- Geography
- Mythology and Legends
- Basic Government and Economics
- Adult Education: The head of the schoolhouse openly offers to educate Goodberry citizens on any subject they want to learn more about at no ridicule, no obligation and no cost.
Religion and Magic
While Goodberry does not limit a person's religious freedom, there is no official or standardized religion. In fact, the overwhelming majority of people in the city believe in the power of the Heavens and nothing else, at least as "higher powers" are concerned. People are allowed to believe and worship who or whatever they like. There is no law that discourages group worship or prayer, with the only request being to respect the the choices of your neighbor.
Magic:
Open casting and practice of magic is allowed in Goodberry, so long as it does not affect or bother the other citizens or infringe upon their freedoms and rights. The only real school of magic that is shunned is the school of Necromancy, but only specifically to the aspect of manipulating or creating undead.
Law and Order
Law and Order in Goodberry is pretty straight forward; be a good person. Of course, this is still a hard concept for some to understand, so the mayor and her council took to making some laws for the people to follow:
- Killing of another person within city limits is forbidden, except in the case of self-defense.
- Stealing from an individual, business or the government is forbidden.
- Individuals are required to clean up after themselves, disposing of trash when and where necessary. It is suggested that all people should take pride in the city and voluntarily clean up anything they see out of sorts.
- Conserve water, food and other resources as much as possible. Wasting resources of any type is forbidden.
- There is no forced religion in Goodberry, nor is there an 'official' religion. Worship of anykind is permitted, except for that of traditionally 'evil' entities.
- Treating individuals poorly or showing favoritism for/against individuals because of the color of their skin or their race is strictly forbidden. Goodberry is a place of fairness and equality.
- There is a 'Good Neighbor' clause in the city that mandates you should never attempt to violate the freedoms/rights of others in the community and should, in fact, attempt to helpful, kind and understanding as much as possible.
- There is no recognized curfew, but citizens are encouraged to head home at nightfall.
- Public drunkeness is forbidden.
- Public usage / casting of magic spells is permitted, so long as the spell is not terribly powerful and there is no infringement on anyone elses freddoms/rights.
- Tampering / interfering with the mail (or delivery thereof) is forbidden.
- Slavery is forbidden within the city limits. If you are a visitor and slavery is legal in your country, you are still not permitted to bring the slave into the city.
- Animals within city limits are protected by the city as living entities, worthy of common descency and limited rights. Mistreatment or unwarranted killing is forbidden.
- Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and all citizens are considered equal, regardless of the rank they hold within the government.
- Any complaints or requests are to be brought to the attention of city hall.