Excerpt from digital mapping project and detail sketch.
Métlan and Jáyo
1)
The
sákbe road running north to Usenánu. There is some question as to which side of
the road the high side should be on. The road is fairly centrally located
within the empire so facing a closest border becomes somewhat of a toss up. If
the low side were closer to the river it might make river traffic more
accessible. That is to say, loading things onto and off of the road. But then
why not do that at one of the major centers on the river, and if coming from
the hinterland why not cross under or through the road at some tower gate and
load directly onto barges? Myself I think it more likely that there would be
crossing points to allow this and river villages located at the popular spots
to facilitate this traffic. A better argument is that if the high side faces
east then it will provide more shade to travellers for a longer part of the
morning thus easing their journey. For this reason I favour the high side of
the road facing the river.
2)
The
sákbe road head. Wherever travellers are able to join the road there must be
long ramps to accommodate the chlén carts and litters. The slope of these ramps
would probably be no steeper than the wheelchair ramps of today. The road head
is where the road ends and ramps provide access to ground level. Typically
there is a tower or fortress guarding access to the road beyond the ramps.
3)
Road
Head village. A squalid village filled with cheap vendors and whores seeking to
make money from the travellers. The clan houses of the ferrymen would be located
here.
4)
Small
local villages. These villages are generally poor and pretty squalid. The
villagers fish and grow crops on the flood plain between the floods. The
deposits of sediment laid down during the floods provides them with fertile
soil and they get good yields but are poor none-the-less.
5)
The
causeway. This is a very low stone causeway that runs from the edge of the
typical high flood to the rivers edge. On the north side it runs right the way
to the town gate, but on the south side it just runs across to the main river
channel. The causeway mimics the structure of the sákbe road with three
different levels but each level is only 2 inches (50mm) taller than the next
lower level. This makes the causeway 6 inches (150mm) high at its tallest edge,
which is that facing upstream. The width of the causeway is the same as the sákbe
road. On the south side there are a year round ferries that cross the main
river channel, but on the north side there are only ferries during the flood
season.
6)
The
Foreigner’s Quarter of Métlan is outside the town walls. There are small
enclaves spread out over the south part of the island. There is a small Ahoggyá
community near the southern tip. A few dilapidated huts surrounded by a low
stockade. The few Ahoggyá who live here year round are mostly fishermen. A few
also hire out to caravans or boats.
7)
The
Páchi Léi enclave is in the wooded center of the island. It currently consists
of a single member who has a good reputation as a doctor.
8)
There
is a Swamp Folk enclave right at the rivers edge, on huts built up on stilts
above the water. They work as fishermen and on the boats.
9)
The
Shén enclave is perhaps the most numerous. They live in a series of huts at the
end of the dockyards section of the town where most of them work as labourers. All
are from the main Shényu egg-group and the police keep a watch full eye when
other parties of Shén pass through, and also that they keep their distance from
the Ahoggyá.
10)
The
Pé Chói enclave is in the woods next to the Páchi Léi. They are few in number
and generally are in imperial or temple service in the town. They avoid the
river as much as possible.
11)
Another
small human village, this one mostly home to clans involved in the docks,
shipping or transport in general.
12)
The
dockyards. Always busy with river traffic. Many caravans coming from districts
to the east and west just transit by chlén cart as far as here and then switch
to barges to travel up or down river at a faster rate.
13)
Near
the town wall is that part of the Foreigner’s Quarter occupied by humans, and
those few other races that don’t want to mingle with their own kind for
whatever reason.
14)
Ferry
routes across the main river channel. A number of competing clans run ferries
across the river. These can range from large barges and boats to smaller craft
that carry only a few persons at a time.
15)
Police
and Naval docks. Home to the local River Police and occasional vessels of the
Imperial Navy.
16)
Legion
Fortress. A small fortress on the crag at the north end of the island. Has
barracks than can accommodate several cohorts of troops but currently very
sparsely garrisoned by the River Police and two imperial legions. The Legion of
Mirkitáni, Hero of Victories, often has a contingent posted here, as does the Squadrons
of Tlanéno the Steersman.
17)
The
town of Métlan
itself. A small walled Tsolyáni town on an island of the same name in the
Mssúma river. In some ways twinned with
a smaller town of Jáyo on the south bank of the
river opposite in much the same way that Buda and Pest in Hungary were
formerly separate communities. Métlan is part of the province of Urusái.
The town has a moderately sized temple to Avánthe and her cohort Dilinála and
smaller temples to the other Gods of Stability, but only shrines devoted to the
Lords and Ladies of Change.
18)
Temporary
docks for Police and Naval vessels. The main Mssúma river channel often changes
its course over time but has consistently kept the same bed were it flows by
Métlan island. This means the island docks are of a more permanent construction
than those on the south shore which have to shift position as the river floods.
Not often used there is usually a sentry and there is a path that runners and
patrols take to get to the town of Jáyo.
19)
Temporary
public docks. Similar to the official docks on the east side of the causeway,
these are designed to adjust to the height of the river. Dirt paths lead from
the docks to the town proper.
20)
The
Hirilákte Arena. Shared between the two towns of Métlan and Jáyo, it is not a
proper arena at all, but rather is a circular array of stout posts driven into
the riverbed and protruding a few feet above high water level. These delineate
the area used for the events which are staged on a variety of barges and other
boats as deemed appropriate. Spectators view the events from other boats or
barges that are rowed over and anchored in place or tied up to the posts. There
are also some platforms on tall stilts located at the typical low water mark on
which are set up tents from which the arena referees and imperial
representatives and their guests view the matches. There is a considerable rivalry between the
two towns and also between the temples of the two towns. Many matches pit the two against each other,
while other matches are “neutral” in nature.
21)
The Tower
of Everlasting Regret – Imperial
prison for the province
of Jakásha. Along with
the southern sákbe road, forms the main part of Jáyo’s defences.
22)
The sákbe road head. In this case the road
runs into the base of the Tower
of Everlasting Regret
forming the eastern side of Jáyo’s town wall. The actual ramps that lead down
into the town a placed just short of the road end. There is a gate that leads
through the wall leading to a secondary road that heads east into the
countryside.
23)
The
southbound sákbe road that leads to Pála Jakálla or Jakálla itself. This road
faces east providing morning shade for travellers.
24)
The
town of Jáyo.
Smaller than Métlan, it has few defences, relying upon the sákbe road for the
most part. A low wall without any defensive towers covers the south, stretching
from the road to the river bank. Similar to Métlan the so-called foreigner’s
quarter is outside this southern wall. It is enclosed only by an earthen dyke
which is largely overgrown with grasses and shrubs. Jáyo has large temples to
Dlamélish and Hriháyal, smaller temples to the other deities of change and only
shrines to the Gods of Stability and their cohorts.
25)
The North Channel
fills first as the river begins to swell at the start of the flood season and
stays longest when the riverbed begins to dry out. It is not very deep but
small boats and flat-bottomed craft can be used on it. The Ahoggyá generally
just wade across often going underwater for long stretches without any apparent
concern.
26)
These
dotted regions are those areas of riverbed that dry out during the dry season
but are often under water during the floods. The actual extent of the flooding
varies from year to year. As stated in (4) above, the soil is very fertile and
provides good crops all along the river.
27)
These
lines mark the approximate high flood mark of the river. The actual flood level
varies from year to year and is often below this line but is also occasionally
above the line as well. In such times the streets of Jáyo may be flooded, while
Métlan stands high and dry on its outcrop in the middle of the river.
28)
The
main course of the Mssúma river. The depth varies but deepest parts of the
channel tend to be on the north and west sides nearest Métlan.
29)
This
last non-human enclave is a small population of Pygmy Folk who have burrows in the
hillside. The actual population is not known but as few are generally seen – or
rather, few recognizable individuals are seen – it is thought to be low. The
Tsolyáni have no knowledge of the extent of the burrow complex.
