Ginnfield

The region of **Ginnfield** is a region in the Alenic Frontier along the river Alen. The region was once an important duchy in the Gawedi Kingdom and the Kingdom of Gawed. Ginnfield was known to be more forward thinking compared to the rest of Gawed, this was facilitated by the importance of trade in the region as a result of its location along the Alen.

## History

Ginnfield has been inhabited by the Alenic people for most of its history. The Castanorians would have a large impact on the region as well, with the founding of Alenath and Ginnfield in 456 BA. Alenath would become a trade hub in the region, with the city attracting many Alenic traders wishing to sell wares and buy Castanorian goods. The city would eventually fall with the collapse of Castanorian influence after the conquest of Vertesk by the Damerian republic.

Ginnfield would be settled by the Gawedi in the 470’s, when they drove the Wexonards out of the Alenic Frontier. The rich farmlands along the Alen, including Ginnfield, would ensure that the Gawedi would become the strongest Alenic power due to a population boom.

With the invasion of the Gawedi Kingdom in 980 by Black Castanor, Ginnfield would become the site of many battles and sieges. Most notably the two sieges of Alenath.

After the establishment of the Kingdom of Gawed in 1015, the duchy of Ginnfield was established. The síl Alenath’s became rulers of the lordship. The síl Alenath dynasty was one of the few Gawedi noble houses that would intermarry with elves and promote elvinization; it seemed that Gawed would join their anbennarian cousins in elvenization with the emergence of the Nuralenic culture. This process was stopped after the pogrom of Alenath in 1042 AA, and with it the growth of Nuralenic culture. The dynasty never gave up hope of integrating the Gawedi into the wider elvenized world.

The lordship of Ginnfield, under the house of Sil Alenath, was one of the noble houses to support the house of Vanbury during the 11 year long Gawedi War of Succession. It was during this time that Ginnfield held the most sway in Gawed, being an almost entirely autonomous vassal under the Vanbury kings and sometimes even dictating policy. The dynasty would, however, lose control of Ginnfield with the ascension of the Baldfathers after the Greatwood Uprising, after which the most important lands of Ginnfield would be directly annexed for the Gawedi crown.

After the annexation of Ginnfield into personal demesne of the king of Gawed, the duchy would slowly start to lose any semblance of its own identity that had started to form during the brief foray into elvenization.

## Economy

The Ginnfielder economy was quite large in comparison to other Gawedi regions, mostly due to the rich farmlands along the Alen ensuring a more densely populated area. The main produce of the area was gin, Elwick tonic, grain and cloth from the city of Alenath.

Trade was also of large importance towards the lordship of Ginnfield, with traders often traveling up and down the Alen and stopping along the way in Ginnfield and Alenath to buy and sell goods.

The start of the industrial revolution would be a massive boon towards the already fairly rich area, with many labourers migrating to the cities along the Alen to work in its newly established factories. The coal deposit in Alenath helped along the process of industrialisation.

## Culture

The small process of Elvenization started by the síl Alenath has left its mark on Ginnfield, the region boasting the largest elven and half-elven community in Gawed. Although most cultural practices introduced by the process have faded, Alenath is still known to be the most forward thinking region of Gawed. This is also partly due to their more frequent contact with people among the Dameshead due to trade, when compared to the rest of Gawed.

The region also boasts one of the largest universities in Northern Cannor, with the university of Alenath being founded in the late 1600s. This university would further contribute to the stereotype of the region being more open than the rest of Gawed.

The region would also play a large role in the Magnates Uprising, with the large cities siding with the magnates and the remaining nobility in the countryside siding with either of the two pretenders.