Tagom (ˈta-gom)

Tagom is the westernmost town in Suganuran. It is found in Pesenini Ako and is the smallest town - in both population and area - of that ako.
It is about twelve acres big, surrounded by wooden walls, four meters high and two meters thick, with 1732 people living inside. The town is especially famed for their well crafted weapons and their martial arts school.

 

History

The First Settlers

Not much is known about how the town came to exist. Who started it, and why? It is not something we can know. Most likely, people settled near the lake, wanting to be near the water and the animals going to drink from it. The people here were a nomadic folk, living from things that nature provided, and would not stay long in one place. During the 5th century the town was inhabited by the Kalto Clan, one of the smaller clans during this time. They were known to fish in the lake to feed themselves. The Kalto Clan was one of the last to join the Pan Giron Onunuran Se.

Pan Giron Onunuran Se

The Pan Giron Onunuran Se, or Pan as it was also called, was founded in 436 by Sugasabunen when they had united all the tribes. During this time, there was a lot of moving around, as people from different clans moved to other clans, and joined other tribes. Tagom saw a lot of different people come and go, but not many chose to stay.

The Expansion Era
The Expansion Era was a great war that started in 526 and ended in 548. During this time, Tagom - as the southernmost settlement - was a strategic point for the Pan army. They had a lot of resources stored in the village, and protected it fiercely. For quicker reinforcement, Absave, the leader of Pan, moved the training of new military to Tagom. A structure was built, so that they could train even in the violent rains of the later months, and it still remains 400 years later, albeit refurbished over the centuries. As the border moved further and further south, the village was abandoned by most people, as the army needed resources further south.
When the war ended in 548, the village became abandoned for a few years, as everyone - army, builders and officials - moved to the capital. It wasn't until 553 that the Ibvon Clan came to use the village as a storage place. In the coming years, the village would grow again, with hatchlings and elders of the Ibvon Clan, and the Molda Clan residing these as the adults were out hunting and gathering.

The Long War
It was in 642 that Vermegia declared war on Pan with the intention to take back the land they lost in The Expansion Era. Pan was not in as great of a place: the population had been declining as a result of a strange disease, affecting the eggs and making them unhatchable. The war was a big problem for them, and when Wohoʻī and Kāhinu quickly allied with Vermegia, it was even worse. Despite this, the Pan army held out for a long time, thanks to great leadership and an undying fight in the people. Unfortunately, the war would eventually be lost and the last stand took place in Tagom. The village was attacked and civilian hatchlings and elders were slaughtered, many burned alive in their tents. The peace treaty was signed in the ruins of Tagom Nodo 33rd, 694.

When we came to the village, we knew it was over. The horrible smell of burned flesh and leather is still etched in our noses. We could simply not believe that they would burn hatchlings. Innocent, indefensible hatchlings. The silence was so loud, we could only fill it with our hollow screams.

— unknown member of Molda Clan

Rebuilding

A tragedy like this could make the surviving clan members move somewhere else, but it had instilled Molda and Ibvon Clan with a fire so fierce it simply couldn't be moved. Instead, the people stayed and built the village up again from the ground. Provisorial tents were used, but the plan, for the first time, was to build permanent housing. They were here to stay this time. A two meters thick and four meters tall wall of dense wood were built around the whole village, and grand gated were meticulously decorated with stories from the burned victims. The wall wasn't finished until 722, nearly 30 years later, but it was the pride of the village. The houses were built of stone with hidden doors, to make sure no one would ever be burnt alive. The structure for military training was not burnt since it was made of stone, but it had been hacked at and the inside was completely trashed, with the nuran mats slashed to pieces and the wooden figures gone. This, too, was rebulit and added to over the years, as the village got time and material for it.

The Nuran Bati Takes Over

The religious group, Nuran Bati, had gained a following after the war. It had gotten so big that they in 704 took over control of the government. This didn't mean a whole lot for the people of Tagom as they were focused on rebuildning, and no one in the village followed the religion, but in Vibo, the government changed and Sumonen were installed as head of the ako. Balgi Molda (leader of Molda Clan) and Geur Ibvon (leader of Ibvon Clan) were installed as leaders of the village, and were told to report to the Sumonen in Vibo. At this time, no one cared that they did not belive in the same religion, since the village was so small with only 150 people, and they were very self sufficient.  

Geography

Location

The town of Tagom is right next to the freshwater lake Kelba to the west and the Uku Desert to the east. Further to the west and north-west is the Wimae mountains, that is at the borders of Suganuran, Kāhinu, Wohoʻī and Vermegia.

Climate

Temperature
The temperature in Tagom is quite warm round the year, ranging from 15 - 30 °C most days, with some warmer and some colder days. The coldest day recorded was Dona 19th, 946 where it got as low as 5 °C. However, the warmest day was Ame 14th, 932 with its' 37 °C.

Rainfall
Despite the boarding the desert, the climate in Tagom is not always dry, getting about 700 mm of rain anually. That rain only falls during four or five months during the year, these being Ioso, Preva, Dona, Merda and Fuille. It usually rains about 160 days every year, and it's usually a lot of rain at once, sometimes felling trees and destroying crops. During the other eleven months, the lake is really the savior for the people in the town, as well as the many fruit farmers, who rely on the water for their crops to grow. There have been years where water has been a scarce commodity. The townspeople have developed a way to collect and store rainwater during the dry months. See infrastructure for an in depth explanation.  

Demographics

This town has been here for over four hundred years, and during that time, population has fluctuated a lot. Before Sugasabunen united the tribes, there were never more than 50 people staying in this place at once, and it could barely be called a village.
During the period of Pan Giron Onunuran Se the population was at times higher, with up to three clans living there at once. During the Expansion Era, there were more soldiers moving into the village, making it have up to five hundred people at once, who were being trained for the front lines. During the time of The Long War, there were about 200 people living in the village on and off, but half of them were killed when the village was burnt down. After it was built back up after the war, it was a small village still, of about 150 people. There was a great community effort to build the walls around it, and they hired a lot of people from nearby villages. Some of these people moved to the village, hoping to start over in a village with walls to protect them, in case the war ever started again. At the end of the 700s, the population had risen to more than 400 people. Then in the 800s, the population would stagnate for a while. However, the people started farming the land instead of moving around half the year, and so, the adults stayed. This lead to more eggs being laid, since they got more food from farming and fishing than from gathering nuts. Since this place was far from the nuran field, they had no access to it, like other tribes, and it was harder to feed themselves on hunting and gathering. So they settled, and the population spiked to over 1000 people. The town had to be expanded and because of the wall they chose to expand upwards instead of outwards. The addition of the sanitation system made the age expectancy higher and hatchling mortality lower, and so the population spiked because of this too. The farming led to a greater need for water, even during the dry months, and they invented a rainfall gathering system, which also provided them with more food and more people. Today, the town is as big as it has ever been with 1739 people.

Ages

Emplyment

Around 1075 people are currently employed in one of these professions. Additionally, there is the leaders of the town, some thiefs and hoodlums, and some merchants that we have not included in the statistics. Additionally, hatchlings do not work and oldlings are usually able to quit working as the adult will see to that they are taken care of. There is no medically trained person living in the town, however the states ordained Roten of Rotenkapi come by every two months. If emergency would occur when a roten is not there, the fastest way would be to go to Vibo, where a stationed rotenran will be able to help.  

Governance

An organization with strong influence in this village is the church, a part of the Nendi. They have a strong influence on the leader of the village, as well as the people there. Another group, which has gained a lot of influence in recent years is the Nonganen, which is a group of merchants that have begun trading goods for Peolto, something that still doesn't mean that much to the people of Suganuran, but these merchants are making a lot of it, and use it to get themselves nice things from Wohoʻī and Kāhinu.  

Economy

The most important export of Tagom is weapons, specifically battle axes and swords. There is a large building where two hundred blacksmiths and one hundred assistant blacksmiths work every day on producing the perfect weapons. These are traded, mostly with Bolbu and Vibo in exchange for lumber and food.

Natural Resources

 

Religion

 

Culture

Architecture

Infrastructure
The water saving thing
The sanitation thing
In 882 there was an unpresedented sanitation system built, which is still, 80 years later, the best in the country. The sanitation system was engineered by Opqem.
Landmarks
There is a large building in the middle of the village which is a place where the people train different fighting techniques to be able to defend themselves. This village is home to some of the most skilled fighters in the country.  

Education

 

Transport

        When the population in the town increased, they chose to build upwards because of the walls, instead of outside of them. The roads are narrower than in most other towns in the country, and there is a lot of crime. Especially stealing is something that happens often.