Astragate

Astragate has grown much in the past three years, and is hardly recognizable as the same town it was in early 603. The town was taken in the opening chapter of the Saxon Uprising of 603, captured in October of that year, and in the swift capture escaped the damage many of the surrounding towns sustained. When this is added to the fact that Viscount Mithrilmist has made this the capital city of his Barony it is easy to see why the town's economic status is on the rise.
     Astragate was once a minor city on the road between Braugm-Roar and Whitestaff, growing up at the fork in the ox cart path where the road split between Mugleden and Castellor. Once only a guard-post and waystation stood here, but looking upon the town now one would never know it. There is still much of the farmland present here, and the local woods team with game. The town proper is expanding with leaps and bounds, and now boasts four inns, numerous taverns, a kennel that is raising some of the finest hunting hounds in Blackstone, three horse farms that breed powerful warhorses for the Blackstone army, and all in all the town stands at the cusp of a major economic explosion that could see it rise to become one of the most powerful towns in Blackstone.
     The woods around Astragate are home to some rare trees that flourish here and no where else in Blackstone, possibly nowhere else on Evendarr's Eastern coast. The cherry like wood has a natural luster to it and a rich feel that lasts for years. The furniture produced through this mostly comes from the workshops of the Painter family, who for the past three generations have dominated the furniture trade from the town. The chests, bed frames, and dressers the master craftsmen produce are in demand from the bed chambers of Braugm-Roar to the offices of state in Goldhaven, far to the South. The Painter family makes sure that only a few of the trees are harvested each year, and the limited quantity of finished goods, which can each take a year to produce in the case of the most elaborate, causes the value of the furniture to be upwards of two-hundred and fifty gold a piece.
     The Painter family is the most influential family in the area, but two others also comprise most of the movers and shakers in the area. The LeBretion family, a clan of Hoblings, run three of the Inns and at least four of the taverns, two gambling dens, and one of the most prosperous farms in the area, and only their lack of interest in politics prevents them from ruling the town's direction. This is not to say they are uninterested in it, but their interest extends to maintaining the status quo and ensuring that the town does not fall into lawlessness. The patriarch of the family, the stout Francis LeBretion, is in good terms with the sheriff of the town and they work together to police the lawless and the vagrants who pass into the town expecting to find an easy mark or two. The Rebshire family is the third most powerful family in the town, an old family of vintners who brew a tart and crisp wine in the hills north of town. Their vineyards are kept under careful watch by armed men and guard dogs, and none outside of the family know the secrets of their techniques.
     Lastly of note is the large estate that has grown up almost overnight, yet is nestled almost perfectly into the surrounding countryside. Located on the Southern side of Astragate it is at once both open and inviting and carefully guarded. The estate of Baron Mithrilmist stands proud, built with skilled hands to be at one with the surrounding lands. The colors of Blackstone fly from the ramparts, and an aura of nobility seems to fill the air around it.