High Hearth

High Hearth is a fortification in Bastonia which defends the small city of the same name in the heartland, located along the road between Boischateau and Whiterock known as the Northern Line, and for which the name is often used in reference to either. While not economically powerful, High Hearth is well known owing to their association with the Knights Hospetalier, who are headquartered there. This Chivalric Order in the service of San Hera is famous throughout the Bastonian Kingdom as protectors of the common people, especially pilgrims, and routinely mount patrols of the roadways of the kingdom.

Geography

With stark white cliffs on its north and west, High Hearth is a comparatively small castle, positioned behind the city it protects It is surrounded by grassy slopes its other sides, rolling gently away downhill to the south and east, across which the Northern Line road runs. This position is also a crossroads, and here the road branches off to the northeast onto a smaller road known which leads to Castle Pointrainne.

The fortification of High Hearth is actually comparatively small by comparison to the town, and most Knights Hospitalier (even those attached to the headquarters company) do not live within its walls, but within the city proper.

A narrow road leads down the cliffsides to the west to a large lake known as "Lakeelse". While shallow, the lake is known for its freshwater clams and trout, which are fished in their seasons and popular delicacies of the region.

Economy

This small city's economy is largely concerned with agriculture, both horticulturally (to feed itself) and with the ranching and production of cattle livestock, especially horses and pack mules, which are in constant demand with their attendant knights. The city also frequently trades for materiel to support the knights.

Politics

The Knight Commander of the Knights Hospitalier is, by right, properly the Earl of High Hearth. This puts the city in a position of mixed loyalties. The Knights themselves are vassals of the Duke of Estmarch, having been founded by an ancestor of the line of royals that currently holds the title, as is their Knight Commander. However, in the capacity of Earl of High Hearth, that same individual is also loyal to Count Boreal, and through them to the Duke of Bastonia. For this reason as well as religious reasons among the knights, the city has a reputation for abstaining from wars of succession should they erupt.