Goldenvine

Overview of the Merchant's Quarter perched atop a rock off the city's coast.

Merchant's Quarter

Craftsman's Square

The Red Harbor

The Gold Harbor

### Named For

The vineyards producing the grapes used to produce Arbor Gold in the hills surrounding the city.

The town of Goldenvine dates its existence back to the Age of Heroes, when Gilbert of the Vines first arrived on the Arbor's shores. It is rumored Goldenvine was founded at the place he first set foot on the Arbor.

The settlement was named Gilbert's Town in it's early days, but it was renamed when the small, residential vintners expanded into the hills to form larger vineyards. In AC 60, Lord Gilbert IV officially declared Goldenvine a city at that years' Crushers Festival.

Walking down any of its lanes to see the flowering and towering of plants, trees, and vines along its many staircases, windows, and walls is truly a one of a kind experience

## City

### Location

Goldenvine is the largest settlement on the Arbor, sitting on the island's north-eastern shore. It's location makes it the most accessible to, and therefore the best for trade in and defense of, the Redwyne Straits. Inland it is surrounded by vineyards, orchards, farms, hamlets, and villages as far as the eyes can see.

### Layout

The city is divided into quarters, some more restricted than others, each developing around different uses, occupations, and classes of people.

#### Red Harbor

Red Harbor is a military shipyard situated on the northeast side of the harbor, and is home to the Redwyne Fleet. For obvious reasons, it is the most restricted quarter of the city for traffic coming in and out. Since the shipyard in this quarter was built after the main docks were named Gold Harbor, they followed the apparent naming convention, and christened it Red Harbor, after the wines. The shipyard is surrounded by apartments, group lodgings, and taverns servicing the sailors, captains, and other workers that make the shipyards run.

#### Gold Harbor

Gold Harbor is a port which fills the southern coast of the harbor. Most believe the name comes from the Arbor Gold, though a few older songs and poems written of the harbor speak of the Golden Sunrise, a phenomenon in were the sun lights the waters of the harbor as if it were liquid gold. Taking the age of the port into account, and their liege is named after the red wines of the island and not the white, the latter is more likely. Whichever be the factual reason, there is no lack of Arbor Gold sold in, around, and through the port in Gold Harbor.

Wine, however, is not the only good that passes through this port, because it serves as the city's merchant port for all trade. It is stocked with docks, housing, and taverns. The accommodations, however, were made with the vagaries of civilian fiduciary states in mind, and are therefore more fitting for the poorest of small folk to the highest paid of the Fleet's officer corp. These sometimes seek their solace amidst the less rambunctious taverns and wine houses, not to mention better living quarters.

#### Merchant's Quarter

In between the two ports, on large rocky island connected by bridge and ferry lies the Merchant's Quarter. The island was, before the new castle was built, formerly home to the Redwynes. The buildings on this island were torn down, mostly so another could not claim the old seat of power, and the stones reused to rebuild accommodations suitable for the island's new inhabitants, mostly wealthy merchants and courtiers. While mostly serving as housing, this quarter also hosts several auction houses that sell the finest art and gems from the cities of Essos.

#### Craftsman's Square

> The Craftsman's Square is the most self explanatory of the districts, being the home to smiths, carpenters, tailors and any other man or woman who practises a craft. While it is the least wealthy district, it is by no means the most looked down upon, instead its inhabitants have garnered more respect than anyone else.
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### People and Economy

> The people of Goldenvine are among the wealthiest of Westeros, as it is said that even the beggars are richer than the craftsmen of King's Landing. Whether there is truth to that claim however, remains to be proven.
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> Generally speaking, they are among the friendliest as well, mostly due to their seclusion from the rest of the realm. Save some of the merchants and the sailors almost none on the Arbor have seen anywhere else.
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> Economically the main source of wealth in Goldenvine, just like the rest of the Arbor, is the wine trade. According to the Maesters of Oldtown more wine passes through Goldenvine than any other port in Westeros.
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## History

Goldenvine's history is a storied one, and though most of its story is lost to history, it appears to be a typical example of the origin stories of other settlements of its kind throughout the Reach, especially those of the Arbor. The Gilbert of the Vines of ancient legend, whether he were factual or fictitious, speaks to a truth self-evident in the Arbor--it was during the time of the First Men that the land of the Arbor was used for farming and growing wine grapes, and Goldenvine was at the center of its trade.

Legend tells us Goldenvine was founded after Gilbert of the Vines' earliest steps on the Arbor, though it is more likely there were already hamlets and settlements in the area, and this was the largest of them. Earliest record indicate it was then known as Gilbert's Town, which likely sprouted from a central fishing, trade, and market village. Some of the older residences of the area still have evidence of wine-making in their age-old basements, and several wine-houses boast of a wine-making tradition going back to those days.

Stories, both from the mouths of the town's denizens, and from written sources found in the Redwyne library, report that the legendary Gilbert was barely around after landing on the Arbor's shores. It is said he travelled the length of the Arbor, learning of its people, and inspecting the land. The written sources vary as to this version of the story, but it becomes fairly obvious that the men and women of Gilbert's Town lived largely autonomous lives until about the time the Redwyne family begins appearing in the few histories layed down. It is telling this is when Gilbert of the Vines is also said to have returned from his tour of the island.

> Gilbert's return wasn't just significant because of it's influence of their lives, no, he brought about something more, something greater. With him he carried a waterskin, but what was inside was no water. Instead it was a rich liquid coloured a deep burgundy red. It's taste rich and sweet, with a slight tang of spice that slowly builds to head up the rear. It was not anything like the ales they had tasted in the past, this was something that the rest of Westeros had to taste.
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> Gilbert's Town started out with a single vineyard planted just outside the town and as time passed it became two, three and increasingly more as the Arbor sold their wines across the pond to the Hightowers of Oldtown. This bit of lore does have the ring of truth in it, as this pattern is reflected in the pattern of the other settlements of the Arbor--first a few garden vines, with the appearance of basement wine-making, then larger gardens, and finally a truly sizable vineyard paired with a larger estate.
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> As they kept selling their wines the Arbor blossomed, and Gilbert's Town in particular grew to be the hotspot for all growth. Now ruled by Gilbert Redwyne, King of the Arbor as he had come to style himself, what had begun as a small fishing town but a few centuries years prior had grown to a booming metropolis based almost solely on the production and export of the Arbor's wines.
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> For years throughout history Gilbert's Town grew, slowly and steadily as the Redwynes grew their influence, economic power and fleet. By the time
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Some may consider this titlage an ambitious fiction, but those who say so do not know much of life on the golden island. Though it did not and does not rival the major cities of Westeros, and may by some judges still count only as a town; it remains the largest settlement on the Arbor, and truly there are few cities which can rival its clean agrarian charm paired with the wealth that comes from the centuries-old wine trade centered around the port. As Lord Gilbert said in its christening speech, "Town is too little a word to convey such beauty, wealth, and might."