Town, in Places
Easthills
Easthills is a large town located north-east of Lyikdia in the southern Mediata Savannah, situated at the base of the Itumue Mountains. It is a member settlement of the Arakcadian Congress and one of its more prominent members among the frontier settlements of the savannah's eastern and southern reaches. The town takes its name from its geography: built across three large hills and the valley between them, with its back resting against the foothills of the Itumue range. This elevated, multi-terraced position has given Easthills significant natural defensive advantages, contributing to its growth into one of the largest and most prosperous towns in the southern Mediata Savannah.
Etymology
The name Easthills is a straightforward Common-language description of the town's geographical character: a settlement built upon prominent hills on the eastern edge of the Mediata Savannah, where the land rises toward the Itumue Mountains. The name appears consistently in Arakcadian cartographic records from the early New Age, and there is no recorded earlier name for the site in surviving documents.
Geography
Site
Easthills is constructed across three large hills and the valley lying between them, at the base of the Itumue Mountains in the south-eastern Mediata Savannah. The elevated terrain gives the town its characteristic terraced structure and provides natural defensive advantages that have contributed to its relative security and prosperity compared to the flat, more exposed settlements elsewhere in the southern savannah.
The surrounding land is fertile by the standards of the region, partly due to the proximity of the Dassea Shallows, a nearby lake that provides water for both the town's population and its extensive farming operations. The Farmer's Pride district, which occupies one of the town's hills and bridges down into the valley, draws directly on this agricultural advantage. The combination of elevated, defensible terrain and fertile farming ground made Easthills an attractive site for New Age settlement.
To the east and north, the Itumue Mountains rise steeply. The mountains provide a natural barrier against approach from those directions, reinforcing the town's position as accessible primarily from the west via the Bronze Track. The southern savannah stretches away below and to the south-west, connecting Easthills to Lyikdia and, by extension, to the Delilao Crossroads and the wider Bronze Track network.
Defensive position
Easthills is one of the most naturally defended towns in the southern Mediata Savannah. The combination of hilly terrain, mountain backing, and a single defensible entrance from the Bronze Track has historically made the town difficult to approach in force. The main defensive walls run along the western and southern sides of the settlement, covering the approaches that the terrain does not already protect. These walls are manned by the town's standing guard force, the Sundriam.
The single entrance from the Bronze Track also limits commercial ingress, which is sometimes noted as a constraint on the speed of trade throughput, but is broadly regarded by Easthills residents as a fair price for the security the configuration provides.
History
Easthills was founded around 530 NA, roughly sixty years ago, by settlers from Arakcadia who moved south and east to take advantage of the fertile land and protected terrain at the base of the Itumue Mountains. It is a young town by Arakcadian standards, but it grew quickly into one of the largest planned settlements in the southern Mediata Savannah.
Its founding is associated directly with the opportunity provided by the Dassea Shallows and the natural protection of the hill system. Settlers from Arakcadia, familiar with the civic traditions of the city-state, brought with them administrative, architectural, and commercial practices that gave Easthills a more structured character than many frontier towns of comparable age.
Over the New Age, Easthills grew into one of the more substantial member settlements of the Arakcadian Congress. Its combination of farming, trade, and the patronage of travelling merchants on the Bronze Track route made it economically diversified and capable of supporting a wide range of specialised businesses and civic institutions.
Government and politics
Easthills is governed by a mayor and town council as a member settlement of the Arakcadian Congress. The council manages local law, market regulation, public works, farming water rights, gate security, and road maintenance. Like other Congress members, Easthills participates in shared arrangements with Arakcadia regarding diplomacy, inter-settlement law, road standards, and defence coordination, but retains its own governing body and does not submit to direct Arakcadian administration of local affairs.
Alongside the council sit two older or more specialised offices. The Lord of the East is a title rather than a single person: its holder keeps a mansion in the Marbled Basin and carries considerable standing in the town's affairs, and the graves of past holders lie in the town graveyard (the last to die in office was buried some sixty years ago). The Trading Minister oversees the town's commerce, markets and trade routes.
The town's affiliation with the Arakcadian Congress gives it access to Congress-standard education arrangements, road infrastructure funding, and official commercial protections that smaller, more isolated frontier communities do not enjoy.
Law and public order
Public order is maintained by the Sundriam, Easthills' standing guard force. The Sundriam are identifiable by their pale yellow underarmour and bright metal chestplates. They man the defensive walls on the western and southern sides of town and are responsible for gate security, street patrol, and enforcement of town council law.
The single main gate into the town, combined with the Sundriam's presence, gives Easthills a level of public order and internal security that is considered high for a frontier settlement. The town has a reputation as a safer and more orderly destination than many of the other stops in the southern Mediata Savannah.
Economy
Agriculture
Farming is one of the foundations of Easthills' economy. The Farmer's Pride district, occupying one of the town's hills and connecting to the valley via a stone bridge from the Curling, houses both residential farming communities and working agricultural land. The proximity of the Dassea Shallows provides reliable water supply, and the sheltered terrain around the hills moderates the extremes of savannah weather, contributing to relatively stable harvests.
Agricultural output includes grains, vegetables, fruit, and livestock products. Surplus produce is traded through the town's Markets district and sold to merchants passing through on the Bronze Track.
Trade and commerce
Easthills' position at the junction of the Bronze Track and the Itumue foothills makes it a significant waypoint for merchants, travellers, adventurers, and official parties moving through the southern Mediata Savannah. The Markets district, accessible by stone bridge from the Curling, contains a dense concentration of commercial establishments offering goods and services that range from essential supplies to more specialised equipment.
The Marbled Basin, the elevated central valley precinct, houses higher-end establishments and civic institutions. Commercial access to the Marbled Basin is more limited than to the street-level markets, giving the town a natural economic stratification between the ordinary markets of the lower and middle districts and the more select trade of the basin.
Specialised commerce
Easthills supports a notably diverse commercial sector for a town of its location, with smiths, leatherworkers, fletchers, tailors and jewellers, provisioners, and bathhouses. A substantial equipment outfitter operates from within the Marbled Basin precinct itself. Animal boarding and stable services are provided in the farming district.
Demographics
Easthills has a mixed population reflecting its origins as a New Age town settled by Arakcadian migrants and its subsequent growth as a commercial and agricultural hub. Human and half-elven households form the core of the civic community. Halflings are well represented in the farming and market trades. Dwarves are present in crafts, stonework, and the metalworking trades. Other peoples, including gnomes, elves, and half-orcs, contribute to the town's commercial and farming life.
The town's relatively secure and prosperous position attracts a steadier resident population than many frontier settlements, and Easthills has a proportionally large proportion of established families compared to more transient communities elsewhere in the southern Mediata Savannah.
Urban layout
Easthills is divided into four main districts, each occupying a distinct topographical position within the hill-and-valley system.
The Curling
The Curling is the principal residential district, built on the front hill that curves around the western and southern face of the town. It is the largest district by resident population and contains the town's main residential streets, most of its inns, the local tailors, bathing houses, and a variety of everyday services. The Curling is the first major district encountered by most visitors entering through the main gate.
The Old Tusk Inn, Easthills' most prominent traveller inn, is located in the Curling. Its design is humble but pleasant, with lanterns, barrels, and a bard providing atmosphere to a busy but not rowdy common room.
The Markets
The Markets district is the primary commercial and business area of Easthills, connected to the Curling by a stone bridge. It contains shops, trade stalls, craftworks, and service establishments oriented toward both residents and travellers. The stone bridge connection both links and limits access, giving the Markets a slightly more bounded commercial character than open-street market districts typical in savannah towns.
The Farmer's Pride
The Farmer's Pride is the farming and lower-income residential district, connected to the Curling by a second stone bridge. It is the less formally developed of the residential districts and contains a rougher mix of farming households, slum residences, and working agricultural land. The Club and Chant, a rowdy tavern known for its loud and raucous atmosphere, is located in this district.
The Marbled Basin
The Marbled Basin is the governmental and high-end precinct, located in the central valley guarded between the hills. Access to the Marbled Basin is controlled, reflecting its status as the seat of civic authority and the location of the town's most exclusive establishments. The main library, a high-end clothing shop, an upper-tier spa, and an outfitting shop for higher-end equipment are all located here, alongside the governing council facilities.
Landmarks and institutions
The Sundriam Walls
The defensive walls of Easthills, manned by the Sundriam, run along the western and southern perimeter of the town. The walls represent one of the most visible expressions of Easthills' investment in its own security and are a distinguishing feature of the town's landscape.
The Main Library
Easthills maintains a library in the Marbled Basin that is one of the few civic institutions in the basin open to the general public. The library holds historical, practical, and religious texts, and represents Arakcadian Congress education standards applied to a frontier settlement.
Religious Shrines
Two religious shrines mark the approaches to the bridge crossings from the Curling. A shrine to Melora stands at the start of the bridge leading to the Farmer's Pride, while a shrine to Tealiad stands at the start of the bridge leading to the Markets. These shrines reflect the practical piety of Easthills' population and the town's alignment with Uinheit religious traditions.
Culture
Easthills has a civic character shaped by its Arakcadian founding origins and its frontier position. The town takes its defensive security seriously, and the visibility of the Sundriam in public life is a persistent reminder of the town's history of protecting itself. At the same time, Easthills is prosperous enough to support entertainment, commerce, and civic institutions that give it a character considerably more comfortable than the smallest and most remote of the southern savannah's frontier communities.
The stone bridge connections between districts give Easthills a sense of deliberate civic structure — the town does not simply sprawl; its districts are separated and connected in a planned way that reflects New Age settlement ideals. Markets open onto residential areas without overrunning them. Farming and slum communities occupy their own hill rather than pressing into the centre of town.