Town: Sheepshank

The town of Sheepshank lies near the center of Larnach along a major waterway, the Mercurial River. It has a resident population of about 9,000. This is a modest trading post, busy enough to attract regular traffic but not as crowded as a big city. Many of the citizens work in mercantile or shipping jobs. A town council keeps the peace and enforces fair trade, ensuring the quality and legality of goods traveling through this jurisdiction. Not every settlement is equally careful about trade stock and processes; Sheepshank's reputation in this regard boosts the value of goods with its seal of approval. It's a bit like Branson, Missouri or a very early and small St. Louis.

As the name implies, the town was originally founded by sheep. Another of Larnach's prevailing races, mice, soon followed. They recruited two of the common races: horses for sheer physical strength and teamwork, and ravens for intelligence and aerial oversight. Seagulls, also a common race, came along the river and settled as the town grew. Two uncommon races have established a permanent presence here. Most of the cornsnakes live in the same neighborhood located between the landward gate and the town center. The fireflies spread out more. There is one Theasian race, pup birds (common). Their enclave came from a group of refugees who fled abroad during the Great War. They live just inland from the docks; most of them work in shipping or entertainment.

These comprise the races numerous enough to have a significant cultural influence on the town and regular visibility in its population. Scattered families or individuals of other races may also appear. Because of the trade routes, travelers of just about any Quiaran race could pass through. The numbers are approximately 2,500 sheep, 2,000 mice, 1,200 horses, 1,100 ravens, 900 seagulls, 500 cornsnakes, 500 fireflies, 250 pup birds, and 50 miscellaneous.

This gives overwhelming precedence to the diurnal races, which means that the town's activity peaks during the day and lightweek. The only other resident urn is crepuscular, whose members are favored for opening and closing businesses at dawn and dusk. Because the fireflies are vespertine and do only evening work, this pushes the cornsnakes towards matinal activity at dawn. The metaturnal mice have to shoulder the rest of the burden for crepuscular duties, and pretty much all of the nocturnal duties, because there just isn't anyone else to do it. (They're torn between the dayshift with the most activity, and the nightshift with the highest demand and pay.) That makes some vital things such as emergency services, and especially law enforcement, difficult to provide all the time. So the town is a little more tolerant of other metaturnal species, and actively tries to attract nocturnal people to settle there -- so far without much luck, because everything closes at night. There is almost no conflict across the urns here, as the numbers just won't support it. Similarly, there is little disagreement regarding hames, since pup birds are the only race from outside Larnach, and people kind of feel sorry for them as refugees.

Phyle conflicts are more common. The placental mammals (sheep, mice, horses) comprise over half the population and most of the power base. If there's an argument, about half the time it's the placentals vs. everyone else. The ravens and seagulls, as members of the avian phyle, usually work together. Seagulls are notorious troublemakers, so sometimes the ravens stick up for them if they feel it's an unfair fight, but other times the ravens break away and leave the seagulls to their own devices. Pup birds don't really fit anywhere; they are most often counted with marsupials (because they have a pouch) but here they are more closely allied to the birds. Cornsnakes prefer to collaborate with the birds, because of the avian/reptilian alliance (viewing themselves as two subsets of the egg-laying phyle). But if the other races are ganging up on the fireflies -- who are unsupported, as the only invertebrates -- then the cornsnakes will move to support the fireflies as members of the same urn. Then they usually win, because the other races can't afford to alienate the only crepuscular races they have in town. The cornsnakes also get along rather poorly with seagulls, since cornsnakes often work as morning-beat guards and seagulls often cause problems.

Local cuisine runs to the vegetarian, given the prevalence of herbivores such as sheep and horses. They enjoy grains and grasses grown for flavor. Some fruits and vegetables also appear, usually in simple forms. The omnivores and carnivores appreciate the addition of freshwater fish from the Mercurial River. Kickfrogs are nonsentient amphibians favored by predators who need live food, such as the cornsnakes; wild kickfrogs are caught along the river, and domestic breeds are raised by farmers. Sheepshank specializes in bread and pastries of many types. There are plain breads made from individual grains, blended or swirled breads from multiple grains, enriched breads with herbs or vegetables, fanciful sweet pastries made with fruit or nuts, and rolls stuffed with all kinds of different fillings. Each season also has a few breads made with ingredients that come fresh at that time, not available otherwise.

Sheepshank takes in grain, livestock, and other staple goods from inland farmers to ship on the river. Some crafts also come in, along with cloth and other textiles from nearby villages. A few local artisans make fine wares for trading, beyond retail sales in town. There is one local factory, which produces practical glassware along with some beads and other decorative items used in jewelrymaking and enchantment. Imports include fruits and vegetables from warmer climates, spices, timber, medical supplies, magical components, metalwork, and miscellaneous luxuries. Surrounded by a wooden palisade, the town has two main access points: the landward gate on the west side and the river docks on the east side. Marble Arches is a picturesque stone bridge made from white marble with flashy golden veins of pyrite, passing over the Mercurial River.

Given their interest in trade, the town council also monitors the activity of people who can travel between worlds. This includes both the native moonjumpers (called "demons" by offworlders) and the foreign world walkers. Such activity is sporadic due to the town's small size, but someone always has to be ready to deal with it at need. The Moonjumper Bureau is, in fact, little more than its namesake bureau crammed into a walk-in closet converted to a miserable windowless office in the town hall. It is customarily staffed by someone of low-class background who will take any government job just to get their foot in the door, or by a more respectable civil servant who has committed some offense not quite egregious enough for dismissal. Thus the battered old bureau has been liberally defaced with graffiti carved and scribbled by generations of disgruntled staffers.