Farworld: The Free Traders of Fahren City (part 1)
A young merchant lord thirsting only for knowledge and vengeance transforms a continent.
11,816-12,007 AF
By 11,800 AF, a great Ustayaran city had arisen on the shores of Quiet Bay. The Men of the city valued riches and knowledge above all else. For hundreds of years, the city was ruled by a council of merchant lords. Outsiders mockingly named it the Council of Coin, for the inhabitants of the city worshiped no gods but money and the council members were made up of the city’s five richest patriarchs, scheming and plotting to surpass the others in wealth and take power. The ruling merchants took a liking to this name and wore the emblem of the Council of Coin with pride.
Though many hated the residents of the city for their privilege and arrogance, so too did they look to it as a beacon of hope, for the Council of Coin forbade slavery amongst their people and the peoples with whom they traded, professing that slave workers were too likely to revolt. So too did the people of the city detest violence; fighting with weapons inside the city walls was illegal, and no family was allowed to have a fighting force of more than a handful of guards. They hired ships and armies to protect their trade routes and enforce treaties, sparing their own people bloodshed and earning the love and respect of the residents of the city. Many flocked to the city looking for shelter and work, and the city thrived in turn.
As far back as the inhabitants of the city could remember, the city had no name, even from the time it was a humble fishing village. It was called Trader’s Town, City of Coin, Merchanton and many other names, but the people of the city never united under one banner, preferring to display the emblems of powerful families instead.
This changed in 11,816 when Andrew Fahren established Fahren College, the first university in Ustayara dedicated to the teaching of arts, sciences, histories, and economies. Soon noblemen from all over the continent and even across the Shallow Strait sent their children - mostly boys, but girls were allowed as well - to Fahren College, filling the Fahren family coffers. For nearly a hundred years, a Fahren sat atop the Council of Coin and many began to call the ruling Fahren patriarch as the Merchant King of Fahren City.
The fourth of these so-called Merchant Kings was an arrogant man called Francis Fahren. Unlike his forefathers, Francis eschewed humility and embraced the title, even going so far as to create a coat of arms for Fahren City featuring the Fahren family crest.
The other families of the city did not warm to this Fahren boldness and plotted for Francis’ downfall. But the incomes of the Fahrens were too bountiful, their trade alliances too strong, and no matter how they tried, Francis Fahren remained the richest and therefore most powerful on the Council of Coin.
The people of the city had always abhorred violence, preferring to make deals for other “savage peoples” to fight battles when necessary. So it was nigh on unthinkable that an attempt would be made on Francis’ life. Arrogant as he was, Francis did not take seriously the threat from his enemies within the walls, and in 11,899 the city was shocked to find him dead on the street, fallen from his bedroom window.
Many witnesses claimed to have heard him stumbling drunkenly around his rooms and that he must have fallen in his stupor, a believable story as Francis was known to go deep in his cups. Suspiciously, none of the whores with whom Francis oft cavorted could be found at the city’s many pleasure houses. Some suspected Francis’ wife Melinda, a cold and quiet woman, and daughter of a minor house. Others suspected his disappeared ladies of the night had pushed him and made off with as much gold and precious gems as they could.
It was unthinkable that an honorable man of the city could have murdered Francis Fahren, unthinkable to all but Francis’ son and heir Valerie. Val the Vengeful, as he would later be known, was a student at the College at the time, only twelve years old but intelligent beyond his years. Though he was distant from his cold-hearted mother, he could not believe she was behind his father’s death, nor did he spare the whores another thought, as his father could not possibly have been brought down by commoners. He fiercely believed, as many in the city whispered, that his father’s death had been an assassination by the other Councilors.
As he was not yet of age, Val could do little to avenge his father’s murder, and his uncle Kenneth - a wise and patient man, chancellor of Fahren College - joined the Council until the boy would come of age. Kenneth saw the rage in his nephew and knew that it could be the undoing of their great house if untamed. Kenneth took special care to teach the boy the strategies of the great conflicts of history.
Val poured himself into his studies, obsessing over every book and scroll he could find that spoke of the great leaders of Ustayara. When his uncle saw how voraciously the boy read, he acquired as many of the Traveler’s Tomes as he could. His studies ignited great curiosity about the lands beyond the walls of the city, especially of the Elfs and Dwarfs.
When he came of age, Valerie requested that his uncle remain the head of the house for a few years more, as the younger man wished to enrich his studies with travel. For four years Valerie traveled the entire continent of Ustayara, sending letters and treasures back to the city from Westlip to the Cold Mountains and Blood Lakes. His letters told of great adventures and beautiful maidens, vicious Orks and hearty Dwarfs. Val learned to wield a sword from the Night Raiders, slaying Orks in the mountains and exploring great Dwarfen mines.
In the city, Valerie’s siblings and cousins spread the stories in every tavern and pleasure house, displaying the treasures sent back from Val’s adventures. He became a legend amongst the cityfolk, and they awaited the day he returned and showered all with wealth and love.
But Valerie did not send all his stories home, as we now know from his personal journals. Having read the Tomes, it seems that the young man began to view himself as being a great figure in history. His journals are an unequaled resource to scholars, as he wrote detailed accounts of every day and every meeting. Comparing his personal writings to his letters, it is clear that he was sowing the seeds for his future plans.