The World of Shannara Page 10

  he Southland’s isolationist stance would not have been possible if not for the fact that the territory encompassed within the Southland contains both fertile farmland and areas rich in metal ores. The quality of farmland in the South is unsurpassed, save by that of the Sarandanon in the West, and the quality of its metal ores are matched only by those in the mines of the far North. The combination allowed the Southland to provide both food and industrial goods for its people without resorting to trade with the other Races.

  Arishaig

  Arishaig, the capital of the Federation, is also the Southland’s youngest and most modern city. Called the “Jewel of the Federation,” it sits far to the southwest, below the older, more industrialized cities of Wayford and Stern. Boasting a population of almost one hundred thousand people, the city lies on the west bank of the Rappahalladran River. Built over the town of the same name, Arishaig was rebuilt and modernized in the aftermath of the War of the Warlock Lord. The newly created Federation needed a capital, and none of the older cities would do. Tax monies raised by the new government were used to transform the sleepy town into a city fit to house the Federation control center. Arishaig, alone of all the Southland cities, was rebuilt to a master plan. It alone has roads paved with brick, flagstones, and cobblestones instead of the normal dirt and gravel. Because Arishaig’s focus is on governmental business and trade, most manufactured and farm goods are shipped from the other Southland cities into Arishaig for use by its residents. Specialized craftsmen and tradesmen thrive within her borders.

  At the center of Arishaig is the Governmental Compound, dominated by the large, ornately carved stone capitol at its heart. Towering over the other state buildings, the capitol’s gracefully carved and ornamented upper archways, adorned with intricate stained-glass windows, overlook the ministry buildings to either side. Though smaller, these buildings—the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Labor, and Ministry of Trade—are all the work of a skilled designer. Adorned with fluted columns, frescoes, stained-glass windows, and elegant statuary, the entire administrative complex is designed to create a sense of awe in anyone entering the main gate of the walled compound. A broad walkway cuts through immaculately kept gardens toward the capitol, where it joins an esplanade passing before each of the ministry buildings. Grand staircases front each building, adding to the sense of authority exuded by the area. Clustered nearby are other, smaller edifices that house governmental offices or serve as residences for governmental officials and their staffs. A walled park with guarded gates and sentry posts to prevent uninvited visitors from gaining access to the grounds surrounds the entire complex. Only those with documentation or an invitation are allowed entry. It is ironic that the Federation, the government of the people, has more protection around its capitol than any of the monarchies of the Four Lands—old or new—ever required around their palaces.

  Within the heart of the capitol, past the massive entrance rotunda, is the great round theater where the Coalition Council sits when it is in session. The room, known as the Council Room, contains a lower circle of seats for the main body of the council, centered on a raised dais. There is an upper balcony for seating invited guests during open sessions. The perimeter of the room is decorated with murals depicting Man’s heroic struggle for survival in the aftermath of the Great Wars, as well as some of his greatest victories since that time. The mural depicting Southwatch was removed after the Shadowen War.

  The Prime Minister and his staff use the west wing of the building. It contains day apartments and offices, as well as various smaller council rooms and briefing areas. The east wing is used by the council members and their staffs and is similarly designed, but with more rooms on a slightly smaller scale.

  A dedicated cadre of elite Federation soldiers guards the complex as well as the politicians within it. There are no unguarded corridors within the public areas of the governmental complex. Each of the ministers also has a household private guard. When outside their residences, they are always accompanied by at least two of their personal guards.

  To further ensure both the safety and the secrecy of the government, a series of concealed underground tunnels was built connecting the Council Room and the Prime Minister’s chambers to the various ministries. No politician ever has to be seen making deals with another. It is doubtful if most of the people of the Federation, or of Arishaig, know these tunnels exist.

  The rest of the city is designed to radiate outwards from the glory of the central complex. Outside of the Governmental Compound’s high stone walls, a series of small open parks extends for about fifty yards beyond the walls. From the capitol area, wide paved roads radiate toward the outer edge of the city like spokes on a wheel. Other roads cross and crisscross these main thoroughfares in a pattern that tightens toward the outskirts of the city.

  Nearest to the governmental compound are the large walled estates belonging to various diplomats and council members. These estates often consist of several buildings set amid manicured grounds, centered on great manor houses. A series of well-maintained gardens separates the estates and larger houses. Open to the public, these parks all contain grand fountains and statuary carved by the finest artisans in the Southland.

  Farther out are the homes and businesses of tradesman, craftsmen, and merchants. This area also contains shops and eating and drinking establishments of all types as well as the better class of brothel. On the riverfront side of the city, this area contains the docks for river trade boats and warehouses for goods sent from the other cities as well as various riverfront shops and taverns.

  On the north and west sides, beyond the trade district and toward the outer edge of the city, are the less affluent areas, which include hovels for the poorer workers and the less reputable brothels and taverns. Beyond the poverty areas, the city gradually flattens into farmland and forest areas.

  From her clean, carefully ordered city center, with its modern buildings, artfully controlled gardens, and paved streets, to its secret passageways, Arishaig is designed for power. Control, order, power, and secrecy—the qualities that are the spirit of the Federation are embodied in the bedrock of Arishaig.

  Wayford and Stern

  Believed to have originally existed as townships in the age before the First War of the Races, Wayford and Stern were the first settlements reestablished after that war. Both were built deep in the southern plains near river routes and farming country, but far away from the other Races. At this time, the South was mostly made up of tiny farming communities, which relied on the larger towns for trading their crops and procuring manufactured goods. Wayford and Stern grew from villages into industrialized cities and trade centers supporting the farming communities around them. They were each governed by a council and protected by an armed militia made up of citizens and local farmers.

  Now, as part of the Federation, they are under the control of the Coalition Council, represented by their elected council members, and protected by a garrison of the Federation army. Federation rule brought with it efficiency of government and a renewed emphasis on manufacturing that led to greater growth and employment. They increased the number and quality of roads between cities to allow faster wagon traffic, but the roads within both Wayford and Stern are still primarily dirt and mud, except for those near the garrison and the governmental offices, which have been covered with gravel.

  According to official Federation records, the population of each city hovers between eight hundred thousand and one million. Most of the people within Wayford and Stern are tradesmen, general laborers, or shopkeepers. The only way to become a tradesman is through the apprentice system. Most shops, regardless of the product, are controlled by a master craftsman who employs journeymen and apprentices beneath him, each hoping to eventually earn the master rating and a shop of their own. Unskilled laborers not looking to apprentice can find work in the larger warehouses or serving municipal needs. These days, though, anyone not employed by a guildsman is likely to be conscripted
for the Federation army. Dying is considered unskilled labor.

  Each city is built around a central plaza, once the village green, with governmental offices nearby. The rest of the city is divided, rather haphazardly, into warehouse and storage districts, shops and manufacturing districts, the tavern district (which also contains inns and brothels), and the residential district. Many people live where they work, in quarters built over or near their shops. Only the more well-to-do citizens have separate homes within the residential areas. The poor either live in the back rooms of the shops that employ them or in rooming houses in the tavern district. The very poor live on the streets, though any that are able-bodied are certain to be snatched up for the war effort.

  Dechtera

  If Arishaig is the “Jewel of the Federation,” Dechtera is its grime-encrusted workhorse. Located north of all the other major Federation cities, Dechtera sprawls across the arid central plains that run south of the Prekkendorran Heights. The largest city in the Four Lands, Dechtera is also the least attractive. By day, the smoke belching from its thousands of foundries can be seen for miles over the southern plains. By night, its furnaces glow red like the fires of the underworld.

  Almost as old as Wayford and Stern, Dechtera was originally established as a mining town, located between the ore-rich deposits of the southern hills and the great western forest. During the First War of the Races, the need for weapons and military equipment spurred its growth into a premier manufacturing center, home of the finest metal-smiths in the Southland. It was here, during the Second War of the Races, that the legendary Sword of Shannara was made by the master smith Uprox Screl.

  The forest is long gone, sacrificed to the voracious hunger of the insatiable furnaces, but the mines have grown ever larger and deeper. By the time of the War of the Warlock Lord, most of the surface ores were depleted and the shafts were extended deeper into the earth, increasing the dangers involved in mining the needed ores. Tunnel collapses and subterranean gas leaks were regular occurrences. It became more difficult to find workers willing to risk their lives for the small amount of pay allocated to mine workers. During the years of Federation expansion, the mines of Dechtera were infamous for consuming lives almost as fast as its furnaces consumed coal. The Federation began conscripting prisoners of war as slave labor to work the mines. This solved both the labor problem and the question of how to eliminate the prisoners. Killing them outright might have alarmed the population, but everyone knew that miners died all the time.

  In the aftermath of the Federation-Dwarf War, almost a third of the Dwarf nation met their deaths in the mines. While a few of the labor camps have been converted and modernized for use by Federation convicts, some of the original sheds used to house prisoners during the Dwarf War still stand on the plains outside the city. They are grim reminders of the atrocities committed in the name of human domination, for while it was the Shadowen who instituted the program that nearly destroyed the Dwarf Race, it was often Men who carried it out.

  Uprox Screl

  Uprox Screl, Master Smith, was the embodiment of the heart and soul of Dechtera. Arguably the finest swordsmith in the Four Lands, he almost refused to cast the blade that became the Sword of Shannara.

  A powerfully built but gentle man, Uprox was honored for both his skill and his hard work. Born near Dechtera, he moved to the city to learn the smithing trade, working his way up from apprentice to master in less time than most. His craftsmanship was highly prized. By the time he was thirty he perfected the art of making fine blades as strong as iron, yet light as tin. When word of his skill spread, buyers flocked to buy his pieces. Soon the sale of his work enabled him to build his own smithy and buy a home outside of town, away from the smoke and soot, in which to raise his family.

  But one day a buyer returned to tell him of the marvelous carnage his blade had wrought. The warrior was delighted, but Uprox was heartsick. Uprox was an artist, who loved shaping steel—he had never really thought about the pain his creations could inflict. He began to realize that his beautiful lightweight blades were being used as terribly efficient weapons of death. The more weapons he made, the more it ate at his soul, until he could no longer find joy in his work. He tried to make other things, but all anyone wanted were his famous blades. By the time the Druid Bremen found him, he had given up metal work for woodcarving.

  The Druid convinced the smith to cast one more very special blade, a weapon that would have no equal—one that would save lives rather than end them. A sword forged with magic.

  It took three days of preparation and one long night of casting to make the great sword. Legends are still told throughout Dechtera of the night when green magic burned in Uprox Screl’s forge, spirits danced in tune with his hammer, and a hand with a burning torch rose out of the fires to embrace the molten blade.

  By dawn, Druid and smith together had forged the last and greatest weapon Uprox Screl would ever make, and the only one that was destined to save lives: The Sword of Shannara. Uprox was the first and only smith to forge a sword with magic in the history of the Four Lands. But as it does with all things, the magic changed him. Within a month, he took his wife, children, and grandchildren, and left Dechtera forever.

  Uprox Screl, master smith who forged the Sword of Shannara.

  He settled in the Borderlands, in a village above the Rainbow Lake. Changing his name to Uprox Creel, he lived out his life in peace, never guessing that his heroic descendants, Panamon Creel and Padishar Creel, would both become part of the history of the sword that was his best and last creation.

  The mines are still active, supplying the ores needed for the ongoing war effort, but now the majority of the laborers are Men, usually prisoners, who serve out their sentences in the dark depths of the mines. Conditions have improved in that fewer workers die from the labor than during the Shadowen period, and adequate food and shelter are provided to ensure the survival of all but the weakest, but the work is still arduous, the conditions still hostile, and death still a constant threat.

  While the mines may seem like a passageway to the underworld, the city itself often resembles artists’ images of the nether regions. The fires of the great foundry furnaces burn night and day, belching out clouds of smoke and soot. The combination of the fires and the heat-retaining smoke cause the temperatures inside the city to remain several degrees above that of the surrounding plain. The resulting soot and ash coat everything with a dark gray pall. Those who can afford it live in the suburban and rural areas on the outskirts of the city to avoid the soot and the heat.

  Unlike Arishaig, or even Wayford and Stern, Dechtera was built to no set plan. It has simply grown as needed. Foundries and shops, warehouses and brothels stand side by side along the dirt and gravel streets of the huge city. Open areas are often piled high with scrap metal or raw ore. Alehouses and taverns dominate the central area of the city, but even there, the occasional small blacksmith shop can still be found. The clang of the hammers and the roar of the furnace can be heard day and night. The larger foundries and smithies run two shifts to avoid having to cool the furnaces or bank the fires. The fuel to feed the fires, hard coal and wood, is brought in from mines and forests on the Eastland borders.

  As dirty as the city appears, the creations of the artisans and craftsmen who live there have no equal in the Southland. From simple tools to fine weapons and complex machinery, all are made here. Unlike the conscripted miners outside the city, the people who live and work in Dechtera do so because they choose to. Most of them are craftsmen who have found their own type of magic in the science of metallurgy or in the joy of shaping and honing a fine piece. From the lowest apprentice to the most highly skilled master smith, all take pride in their work. Even the shopkeepers and tavern owners take pride in the work Dechtera produces, for they know the Federation cannot find its way to the future without them.

  Highlands of Leah

  Balanced between the Southland and the Borderlands, the Highlands of Leah are a community separate
from either, yet claimed by both. While technically part of the Southland, Leah’s isolated location has allowed it to retain its individual identity for most of its history

  The aftermath of the First War of the Races left much of the Race of Man discouraged and seeking new homes within the South. Most men fled deep into the South, in an attempt to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the memory of their bitter defeat. But a small group of hardy individuals, led by a man named Tamlin Leah, stopped running when they discovered the wild beauty of an isolated upland just south of the Rainbow Lake. The land was heavily forested and full of game, yet protected on all sides by natural barriers that would discourage visitors. The land eventually took on the name of its first family and became known as the Highlands of Leah.

  It is easy to imagine how these settlers, worn and travel-weary from the escape to the South, had been caught up by the rugged splendor of the lands as they rose above the surrounding forests and marshlands. Some legends claim that Tamlin Leah was a warrior who wanted a safe place away from the rest of Man because he and his small band of friends had been among those who opposed their Race’s push for world domination. Others say that he was a skilled hunter who found in the Highlands a land, plentiful with game, that he and his family could love and protect.

  In either case, Tamlin and his family and friends found their new home, far from any existing towns, on a high plain that overlooked the lowlands and forests around them. There they built a village. The isolated location was no hardship. Between its game-filled forests and fertile soil, Leah was completely self-sufficient. The village prospered and, in time, grew into a city. That city in turn spawned its own outlying hamlets.