Thessalon

The capital city of a wetland nation may sound like a meager place but make no mistake it is a thriving city sustained by some of the most productive land in the seven kingdoms. Though “land” may be a bit misleading. What they have on the outskirts of the city is a set of reclaimed islands amid shallow waters. Built using Gilman techniques of laying out a frame of willow posts into the lake mud, they then fill the base of this basket with layered stones, topped with sticks and then matted reeds and other organic compost. Finally, a few feet of dredged mud to clear the water line. The posted willows begin to sprout and reinforce the banks with their roots. The stepping branches provide a wind break and act as a shaded nursery for the fish of the placid waters. The base is like a porous sponge and self-irrigates the soil. The compost adds nutrients over time. And each of these islands are surrounded by canals making the transport of fresh soil, tools, seed, and harvested crops greatly improved. These canals are of three grades: primary, for barges hauling large cargo, secondary for canoes and small gondolas often used by farmers tending their plots, and tertiary, which is too small for boat traffic but is used for small aquaculture such as growing reeds, snails, or frogs. The arrangement is more diverse than the plantations of Amarath, but is also more delicate and must be worked by hand. The islands, called “cultivars”, are rather small to be worked by a single farmer, can be easily accessed by boats, and to ensure to surrounding water can seep under all of it. The care and attention to each aspect of this system makes these farmers more rangers than peasants, being attuned to the environment of their own design. They are far from the shoreline to protect them from thieves, pests, and weeds.Animals give insight into this system, worms for the saturation of the soil, salamanders for the water quality, and so on.