The Overock Family are no-one and everyone. The founder of our city, Ya Overock, was gifted the land by a great Hrothi lord of a bygone age. Ya took to the cities and began to build it up with the gold sired from the mountains and the sweat gleamed from his brow. He built a city that would stand the test of time and better all who came to call it home. He gave the city his name, and declared then that any who called it home would be his kin.
Ya married old and his wife could not bear children, and so in his final decades he adopted a Neran boy to call his own: Soryn. Soryn Overock became Lord Overock and expanded the lands his father had been gifted into a mighty coast, stretching from the great Gi'lywai river in the north to the Kalaria Rivers in the south. Soryn was proud of this glorious landscape he had carved for his family and bespoke its name on the ocean breeze: Golden Coast.
And so it went for many generations, each Lord or Lady Overock bettering their home for the next generation. Lady Silfa built a port that could home and harbor great ships, and her son Nicodemus built a market that made it grow. A traveller named John was adopted into the Overock Clan, and when he became Lord Overock he built a section of the city for the weary and lost to call home. There in the Landing he became the first Overock to retire and pass the title on to a family member.
Which brings us to today. Today, Lord Tomas Overock looks out over his city and smiles. Overock has never been so plentiful. Great ships move through the port, and Nicodemus' Bazaar is full of color and festivities. The Gardens, where his father's mother had planted the most beautiful flowers from across Elyria, and his father had built their Manor, are in full bloom. He can hear the laughter from Gin John's Landing where the Orphanage his wife helps run is letting out of classes for the day.
Life is good in Overock.
Overock is a port city. If that is all you care about you can quit reading after this paragraph, because here I will speak to the plans of Overock being on the water, and the rest is about the layout of the city and our plans for it. The major plan for Overock is to accept all comers on the open water and make trade deals with those who wish to use its port to ship from the interior of the Rhynelands into the world at large. Trade and the open sea are going to be major parts of how Overock functions and if you are interested in that, please get in contact with me (Raulwicke Legendsinger on the Forums) to start the trade negotiations.
Now for anyone who cares about our plans for Overock BEYOND the rather basic idea of trade on the high seas, let me weave you a tale...
Overock is built on the idea that Mann can be happy only when he is rich or on an adventure. The Overock Family are not adventurers and so they are inclined to become very, very rich. And That can only benefit the people of the city. I'm a Capitalist at heart, but I understand that if public works are kept up to date, it benefits everyone. That is why the taxes of Overock will be low internally (not counting County taxes, but that is a different post) and tarriffs on good will be fair and consistent.
To ship in and out of Overock should ALWAYS be the best option for anyone who decides to. That is why we supply our own navy in the form of our Merchant-Marines, The Overock Trading Company. With any luck, it will be an OTC ship that helps bring the Vorn across the ocean to the New World. The major pursuit of Overock will be the improve ships and encourage trade. The faster and better the ships we have, the faster and better deals we can offer our allies.
I am not so naive as to assume we will be the only city in the world attempting this. Our plan is to do it the best. To that end, the city is designed to facilitate this.
The City of Overock is separated into quite a few different districts each with their own purpose and function. From the bureaucracy of Huxxon Court to the ports of the Nicodemus Bazaar, to the refined halls of Lily Gardens.
(Please forgive the badly done paint drawing. I'm working on it)
The largest district of Overock is the Bone Ward. Separated into two different areas, the Ward is both the main purview of the many different merchants and shopkeepers of Overock, and also the home for many of its citizens who live on the opposite side of the Gardens.
Where the courthouse for the County and the main offices of the Overock Trading Company sit is the bureaucratic utopia of Huxxon Court. The Law-Masters of Overock make their cases here, and citizens from all over the Golden Coast can come to speak their piece to Lord Overock himself.
The Landing is the home of the Orphan's of Overock as well as those who are seeking solace from the world. Beggers, Drifters, Wanderers, and Orphans all call the landing home, and it welcomes them.
Underneath the Landing, is the underground sprawl known as the Mire, which serves as the home of the criminal underbelly of Overock. While the thieves guilds and mercenary companies are not officially sanctioned by the city or county, it an open secret that the Overock Family turns a blind eye to some of the activities that happen in the mire so long as they leave the citizens of the Landing be.
The Bazaar is a cacophony of sound and smells and enthusiastic yelling as merchants from all of Elyria ply their wares. The great ships come in and out, the captains and first mates meeting at the Harborhouse with the Master of Ships or his lieutenant the Dock Master.
Lillian Overock dreamed of a beautiful place to live for her and her children, and began to plant flowers all across a length of Overock. As these flowers bloomed, the Garden rose around it and it became the place of finery and high-society living of Overock. Here sits the Overock Manor, which some say is the true seat of power in the Golden Coast.
Outside of the walls of Overock is Ricetown, an area of farmlands and miners who work in the area surrounding the city, but not the city proper. On the far side of Rice Town is the Hunter's Claim, a mercenary and adventurer's guild that is supplemented by the Overock Family is exchange for certain favors and to act as a standing militia for the city.
The Government of Overock resides in whoever has the title of Lord Overock. They take advice from the Assembly of Masters, but all proclamations from the city come from them such as that of a local king or duke. The County is beholden to all laws of Overock, but Overock is not beholden to all laws made in the County. While Lord Overock has allied himself to the Vornair in past decades, the government of the city see themselves as allies who work with the Clans, not as a vassalage. Whether this interpretation is correct is a matter of some discussion amongst the Assembly of Masters, but all parties agree that so long as the City of Overock and the Golden Coast act as if they are vassals of the Rhynelands, then the rest of it is simply local jargon.
The Assembly of Masters serves as advisers to Lord Overock and help run the city in its many facets.
Responsible for the taxation policies of Overock, and working with both the County and Kingdom to ensure that not only is Overock in good profits, but also that we are in complicance with any higher authority. Will also be mindful of the coffers of the city in general.
The Master of Ships will be responsible for not only working with Sailors and those of the Nicodemus' Bazaar to ensure smooth transition of all goods coming in and out of Overock, they will also work closely with Allies the city has made prior to and after game launch to ensure any deal concerning our ports are upheld.
The Master of Goods will work with the merchants, traders, and business people of the Nicodemus' Bazaar and Bone Ward to ensure that they are comfortable and that no price-gouging or other unfair business practices are taking place. We are a Business conscious community, not completely criminal.
This member of the Overock family will speak for the Unions and Guilds within the City, as well as being the spokesperson for the denizens of Gin John's Landing.
This Master serves as the keeper of all records for the various lands of Overock and the Golden Coast at large, and is the contact for the Fief-lords of the Coast.
The Overock Family Invite you to join us. Reach out to Lord Tomas Overock (Forums: Raulwicke Legendsinger) to join our beautiful city. Adventure awaits.
