Venfer was a Ferdskjon city on the Mjnfar Peninsula, in the northern Ferdrskjisle.

Early Settlement

The settlement of Venfer was founded in 1'210 b. OW, when Varskji warriors from a Grodskjisle clan established a fortified hilltop settlement on Mjnfar during the later days of the initial Ferdskjon expansion. The town did not grow particularly large, but it did have a population of a few hundred, and was ruled by its own clan: Clan Gremden (founded 1'198).

Venfer grew only very slowly, in part because it was quite far away from the other Ferdskjon settlements, and because the surrounding land on Mjnfar was as of yet hardly settled; human homesteads struggled to establish gardens to sustain themselves, and the few goblin and orc tribes around did not readily establish trading relationships with Venfer. The human population was simply too low to warrant a city of any notable size.

Nonetheless, Venfer became a respectable town of nearly 1'000 people by 1'080 b. OW. The houses and artisans' shops were all concentrated in the walled hilltop town, now known as the Borg, while some small huts and farmsteads had popped up around it, especially on the shoreline of the Vennen River estuary, where longships were frequently docked.

Drubark Occupation

Drubark sailed into the Ferdrskjisle and occupied all major population centers in 1'080 b. OW. Venfer, being relatively out of the way and quite minor, stayed out of much of the small-scale fighting that characterized the orcish occupation. A Drubark governor and an odd dozen warriors took up residence in the Borg, but their presence was relatively light; for instance, they did not hinder Clan Gremden's government out of its halls in the Borg.

Venfer inhabitants participated a bit in the covert Varskji insurgent efforts; the untamed wilderness around Venfer, and Drubark's relatively light presence, were helpful to this end. Varskji could rest and replenish provisions out in the wilderness, or even receive supplies sailed right out of the town's port.

During Drubark's offensive from 1'050-1'040, Venfer still managed to remain relatively unharmed from all the fighting. In fact, it became a bit of a refuge town for both sides, as humans fled the violence in their islands, and orc units preferred being assigned to this relatively calm town. This enabled a considerable growth in the local economy, especially in the woodcutting, charcoal, and blacksmith sectors; mines were opened in the low hills to the north, where there were iron deposits.

Metropolis

Drubark left, and in its wake came Dwarven ships loaded with supplies, establishing a Dwarven Guildhouse in the Borg and supporting Venfer's development. The surge in trade throughout the islands, and the extra population, showed extremely beneficial to the city. The Borg was soon filled out, and houses started to cluster near the newly-built log docks on the shore.

Another economic boost came in the late 900s, as Venfer became one of the Andan military rest towns; some coastal villas for elites were constructed in the surroundings, and numerous soldiers came to stay in the Lower City (where the port was). Venfer became a center not only for trade, but also tourism. It also became a major center for Chain Houses, in particular thanks to close cooperation with Eyfloss Domen.

Venfer was extraordinary among Ferdskjon cities, perhaps even compared to Ferdrheim, for its large non-human minorities. Many orcs still lived as part of the city-clan since the Drubark occupation; these people were also integrated with the orcish tribes of hunters and farmers in Venfer's surroundings. There was also a considerable goblinoid, especially hobgoblin, population; some goblinoids remained from the natives, but most were immigrants from the south. Largely people drawn in in the army's wake, but in part also soldiers who chose to settle here. And there was also a small diaspora of dwarves.

A full wooden city wall was constructed around the Lower City from 700 - 670, at the same time as the Borg fortifications were modernized. The population had at that time reached 17'000.

Trekling Wars

A Drubark army marched over Mjnfar after having taken eastern Mjnfar and laid siege to Venfer in 633. The town, wholly unprepared to face this threat - the levy had been called, but it was concentrated in a village two hours' march away - chose to surrender.

The orcs established a military government, but left the local population free, including allowing the continued rule of Clan Gremden and the guild councils. Venfer rapidly became a major hub for Drubark's naval campaign in the Ferdrskjisle proper; several thousand soldiers were stationed in the Lower City and in a nearby camp, and the town's artisans were important suppliers in equipment^[2]. The economy rapidly adapted to this new military clientele; the chain house business, which had struggled since Trensandor withdrew, was soaring. Drubark established various "offices" to coordinate the local economy in support of the military.

Drubark had a massive impact on the town's physical and cultural image. The port was expanded with additional deeper-water docks to properly accommodate brigs and warships, complete with a new fortified road leading up into the shored-up Borg, where a partly cobblestone fortress was established to serve as Drubark's command post. Part of the portuary infrastructure was rebuilt, with large warehouses and straight roads replacing the old rickety constructions. And the town in general adapted to more modern standards: clan and guild structures were adapted to work with the demands of the governor's offices, and fashion evolved to adopt clean black silk and straight dress in the Drubark style.

Around the same time, indirectly because of the military demand, Venfer developed its leather and deepwater fishing industries.

Age of Kings

Venfer was one of the last cities to be freed by the Sea-King from Drubark rule; only in thaw 626 could a fleet, which had beleaguered the town by sea for most of the previous year, force Drubark to yield and surrender the town. This was still a quite peaceful handover; the blockade had slowed down trade a bit, but there was virtually no fighting, and aside from the replacement of the extensive Drubark military authority with the lighter Lalein clerics' rule in the Sea-King's name, things continued virtually as before.

The guild councils now had a very strong position, essentially appointing their heads who wholly constituted the body of elders for Clan Gremden; it looked very little like the ancestral clan anymore. Its chief was now legally the king, though in practice the levied army was commanded by one of the first jarls; the man who had commanded the Ferdskjon fleet during the war, who now acted as prime among elders in the Lalein-Clan government.

With time, Venfer the urban center continued growing. But the countryside also grew wealthier, as farms expanded and production increased, and the mines became the Ferdrskjisle's primary local source of metals. These opulent resources motivated the rise of local lords and military leaders who also called themselves jarls (meanwhile, the city no longer had a jarl after 599). These men formed a closely intertwined network of power and family ties with the elite leaders in Venfer proper. Meanwhile, the guild leaders in town consolidated their own position, transitioning from being masters at their craft elected by their fellows to being hereditary leaders and permanent members of the clan council, calling themselves sages. Another important factor in the city's growing wealth was taxation in the form of port fees and guild fares, which nearly matched the wealth the jarls extracted from their dominions.

The clan was split up in 512 b. OW, in an effort to match the multi-clan traditions of other cities. Gremden barely existed as a central entity anymore; the sages' council was a meeting between different interest groups structured around tradescraft interests. There were initially seven clans, constituted by merging their assigned guild members, though more were formed with time.

Jarldom

Venfer's increasing wealth, and the modernization of its countryside, led to the increasing power of the ever smaller governing council, and increasingly few dominant jarls who essentially vassalized their colleagues. At the same time, the central authority of the king was waning, and the Lalein clergy's influence became more cultural than political.

The port was expanded, with the focus now being on the deepwater shore rather than the estuary. Stone houses and sewage systems were built; the Borg received a stone wall, completed in 405 b. OW.

A single person became the de facto ruler of Venfer and its vast surroundings in 469 b. OW. This man was called the Protector of Venfer, who enjoyed the blessing of Lalein and the trust of the sages to essentially govern Venfer as a small kingdom: not only did the Protector collect the port fees, he also demanded a flat tribute from landmann (the minor rulers of farmers) and guilds, and he had the sole authority to call the leidangr and command the city's military. Venfer was at this point a powerful city-state, theoretically able to raise a military force of several thousand.

Now and again, Venfer waged war. Often, these were small-scale engagements with neighboring savage tribes, but sometimes, these were also conflicts with other Ferdskjon polities.

Venfer was consistently on the road of greater cultural and racial diversity. For over a century, there had been a steady influx of human arrivals from the south, and especially of southern culture. Gradually, the spirits of Ferdr had seen themselves placed under the spiritual authority of the Five; a big church of Waukeen was built in 404.

Orcish Incorporation

Venfer's neighbors on Mjnfar, the orcish tribes, were modernizing themselves, forming farming communities and military alliances on par with the Ferdskjonner. Starting in 250, the Protector's subject landmannr and jarls began forming close trading relationships and even military pacts with their orcish neighbors. The Protector himself sometimes allied with one tribe for political or simply military reasons.

The primary source of immigration became orcs. In diplomatic maneuvers, Venfer actually grew larger, by incorporating orc communities with their own landmannr, and even jarls. Through population assimilation and simple economic pressure, the orcish role in Venfer society quickly grew. The land-based economic power from the north was simply much stronger than the slowed-down economy of the islands.

Orc Jarldom

An orc became Protector of Venfer in 190 b. OW. This marked a point of no return, as Venfer - which historically already had an orcish population and customs, especially in fashion, building aesthetics, and government form - would fully transform into an orc-style society.

Boen City^[3]

Venfer was incorporated into Clan Bonebreaker in 88 b. OW. This initially only meant that the Protector swore fealty to Chief Lamik, but as the Boen state modernized over time, so did its direct influence in the city.

Venfer played a role as a support for the Treesmasher and Boen fleets in the Orc Wars. It was considered part of the Boen heartland and accordingly received relatively direct rule, executed by the Orcish Guard from a considerably expanded fortress in the Borg. The population was also heavily pushed to being orcish, with human residents being either forced out into the countryside, enslaved under orc guilds, or being relocated to settle occupied human territory in the south as a more friendly population.

Sun Empire

When the Sun Empire arrived in Ferdr's Isles in the early 60s, it initially allowed the city to govern itself - appointing its own mayor - without trying to enforce a human authority, as this was far beyond the state's capacity.

Eventually, though, a human government was installed, as Venfer was properly incorporated into the Ochebanian state. At this point, Venfer hardly had only a small human population left (though the surroundings did have human communities, albeit with Boen cultural traits). This gradually became a large human minority, though the orcish population remained dominant.