The Arbor is the largest island of the chain of islands that make up the Southern Islands of the Reach located near the Redwyne Straits separating the islands from the mainland. The Mermaid's Palace and Stonecrab Cay are the second largest islands followed by the Isle of Pigs and Horseshoe Rock. The Bastard's Cradle is more of a rock formation than island, and the other few islands in the Arbor Islands are small fishing village islands with only a few dozen people as inhabitants that are irrelevant on any scale.
The Arbor's landscape is mostly open fields filled with vineyards producing the internationally renowned wines of the island, a few farms, and the estates of the vintner nobility of the island near their vineyards. Some patches of forest, rolling hills, and in the northern section a few mountains are present as well. A river flows from the northern mountains, then divided into two flowing into Tisbury before going west to empty into the ocean near Vinetown, the other winding down the entire island to meet the ocean near Starfish Harbor. The surrounding islands are more forested due to the lower populations on them, and in the case of the Isle of Pigs, nearly completely untouched besides a lighthouse and dilapidated watchtower.
The three largest settlements of the Arbor are Ryamsport, Starfish Harbor, and Vinetown. Ryamsport, the unofficial capital of the island due to it's proximity to the Redwyne's estate and manse overlooking the city from a nearby hill is the largest of the three, similar to Duskendale in size. It's harbor is divided evenly between military and commercial sections, it has the island's main septry, a small stone wall ringing the perimeter with stronger defenses near the harbor. A statue of Gilbert of the Vines is located in the center of the Market Square.Ryamsport is the northernmost of the three major settlements. Work is beginning in a section of the coastal districts' shipyards to turn them into the Ryamsport Arsenal, a complex of Redwyne-owned and maintained shipyards and armories dedicated to creating ships for the Redwyne Armada or mercantile fleets that sail from the Arbor across the world, influenced by the Arsenal of Braavos, but with a greater emphasis on ship construction and docks than defense.
Tisbury is located several miles to the southwest of Ryamsport, a smaller town divided into two sections by the river that flows through it. A small motte and bailey serves as the main defense of the settlement and residence of the Knight-Commander of Tisbury. Dotted around the island are small fishing or farming villages, and in the far north of the island, a small fishing town named Harrenport that was a major Ironborn military settlement during their control of the Arbor that has a ruined shrine to the Drowned God located there. The residents of Harrenport are known to play the finger game and appearance wise look more like a cross between Reachmen and Ironborn as some likely have ancestry from the reavers who occupied the island. Goldport is located on the western coast of the island, one of the few ports built over there due to the majority of trade coming through the Redwyne straits on the eastern side of the island. Like Vinetown, it is a primarily commercial port with a few warships docked in it for defense that was once the Merchant Guild's headquarters but a trade war between the Vinetown and Goldport merchants resulted in a shift of power to the eastern town. It was named for it's export of primarily Arbor Gold, which was the primary vintage of wine grown by the nearby vineyards.
The Violet Manse overlooking Ryamsport is the Redwyne's personal fortified manse with a small stone wall surrounding the mansion with several towers, although it primarily appears as an opulent merchant prince's estate over a fortified castle. Several acres of vineyards surround the estate and it has a private dock located nearby for the personal ships of the Redwynes or those in their employ, such as the Arbor Queen or merchant ships. Inside the mansion is decorated rather ornately with Essosi products mixed with some Westerosi and artwork. A fountain with a statue that poured wine into the fountain below was present in the past, but after a more conservative Lord Redwyne it was removed and replaced with a standard fountain. There are three wings of the mansion off the main buildings. One is used exclusively by the Redwynes, another is the guest quarters, and the third is the servant's quarters.
Starfish Harbor is the southernmost of the cities, located on the southern tip of the Arbor, and is the smallest of the three settlements due to it serving primarily as a military port with little commercial trade coming into the harbor. The majority of the Redwyne Armada's ships are docked here while the larger ships and the flagships of the Redwynes are located at Ryamsport. The Starfish Fort overlooks the city harbor, a castle built several hundred years ago to defend the harbor with artillery and connected to the stone wall surrounding the city around 205 AL to finish the fortification. Some of the Arbor's finest shipbuilders are located here, building ships not only for the Redwynes but anyone who contracts them, from local merchants to foreign princes desiring warships. Vinetown is the opposite of Starfish Harbor, a primarily commercial city located in the central coast of the island in between the political and military centers. Home to the Arbor Merchant Guild's guildhall along with multiple inns, brothels, and taverns near the harbor, Vinetown receives the greatest amount of travelers and hosts the largest market square in the Arbor where numerous vintners, farmers, and other tradesman hark their wares to travelers.
The Isle of Pigs is a desolate place inhabited by a few guardsmen who man the lighthouse and watchtower. Other than that, the only inhabitants are mainly swine placed there in the past by some unknown party for an unknown reason. The Isle is two miles out from Vinetown, and is visible on a clear day from the harbor. The Bastard's Cradle is rocky island with two small fishing villages on it, named so for it is where the Redwyne-Gardener fleet defeated the last Ironborn King to hold the island, nicknamed the Bastard Son of the Drowned God by some Ironborn for surviving several drownings. It is located to the north of the Arbor near Harrenport.
Mermaid's Palace is another island that has a history connected to the Ironborn occupation. It is home to several ruined shrines to the Drowned God, and in the Goldwyne's castle, they have a tapestry dating back to the Ironborn control of the island depicting reavers meeting mermaids on the island. The island has one settlement that has a port and serves as the Goldwyne's seat of power, and several fishing villages. The Mermaid's Palace is located slightly to the north of Ryamsport. Stonecrab Cay, the seat of House Lowther is located several miles off the coast near Starfish Harbor as the southernmost island in the chain of islands that the Arbor has lordship over. Named for it's shape like a crab and the rocky coastline around most of the island, the only settlement on the island is the Lowther's seat, a large fishing town. Horseshoe Rock is the last notable island, and like the Cradle, is more a rock formation than island. Several smaller islands are located between the islands that have a single fishing village or are uninhabited. |
The Arbor, seat of House Redwyne
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Wheatley
