Skywatch

Skywatch is a large city in eastern Bastonia, seat of the eponymous county and containing the fortification of Castle Skywatch. In terms of population, it is the largest city under the Bastonian flag which could be said to be within the scope of the Atlas Mountains, situated along the only real road between Estburg and the Pass of the Tall Folk. The city has some significant political capital as a result.

Skywatch marshals a considerable and outsize force of men for its wall guard, far more than a city of similar population might, to support itself against frequent Carcolie raids. It boasts fortified positions both within and without the castle walls that provide cover in the case of attack by air.

Geography

Skywatch (both the town and the castle) exist on an island of the same name, which itself is in the middle of a lake known as the Alethiomere. The immediate area surrounding the lake is heavily deforested with the expanding need for farmland and housing. Much of the city is constructed outside the walls of the Estburg proper and comprises houses and other wooden buildings of varying quality of construction - these are protected by palisades and other wooden and stone constructions of varying completion, to attempt to impose traffic only along the western road. A floating bridge is constructed in the warmer months to allow for easy traffic between the shoreside communities and the island town; in winter, the lake is deep-frozen and passable.

Economy

Skywatch's economy is booming for the region, but far from decadently wealthy. While it does largely control human trade with the Clans of Magnus, that trade has never been especially deep in scope, and Carcolie raiding has only put pressure on it. With the flow of refugees east and south, times are turning rough for the city, but the city is also capable of providing for its own food and water needs, in a way many Bastonian cities often are not.

From time to time, the County Skywatch is known to reopen a nearby alum mine.

Politics

Skywatch is the county seat of County Skywatch, but that is a bit like being the captain of a canoe - the houses loyal to Skywatch are limited in both number and levy, and the county is rural and largely undeveloped - well-settled frontier, perhaps, but frontier none the less. Still, given its position on the "dwarf road", the county is considered a prestige county. The position is also in the gift of the Duchy of Estmarch rather than being a direct royal appointment.