Nephatar

Nephatar was a fishing town long before it was officially declared to be a city in 467 APC, and fishing has always been an important element of the local economy, a fact reflected in the title the first king chose for himself and in many of the traditions and stories associated with the area.     Fishing alone, however, would never have made the city into the powerful centre it became when it was a transport hub for river and trans-continental trade, firstly by sea, starting in the age of the Water Kingdoms and then later by air as well at the time of the Four Aerial Courts.

Before there was a city at the mouth of the great waterway we now call the Nepha River, there had been a small fishing village, its origins thought to date back as far as the age of the Long Thaw but with no known precise date and undocumented until it was briefly referenced in some of the surveys and land claims of greater lords during the age of the Twelve Wise Ones. The settlement was never considered noteworthy during the entire period of the Old Pale Empire, although it grew steadily to become an unimportant town which might have remained in obscurity if it were not for the dramatic events that established the modern city and from which it dates its true foundation.   In 466 APC, a bold local fisherman by the name of Walthar Bass made a famous name for himself when he led a voyage to Punjuki, the first successful sailing between continents since the Planar Conformation had put a stop to oceanic voyages due to the risk of sea monster attacks. On the strength of this, he began a programme of further sailings, and next year, on 11th Mald 467 APC, he declared himself the Fisher King of Nephatar, founding not only the city but the first of the Water Kingdoms which marked the start of a new age of the world. Subsequent rulers have been known as the Fisher Kings and Queens of Nephatar, ever since.   The image below is an artist's impression of the first Fisher King returning to his home town with the ambitious ideas that would reshape its history and the history of the world.     When three major Water Kingdoms merged to form the Arcane Supremacy in 1196 APC, Nephatar retained its independence and although it could not match the combined might of its three formerly separate rivals which the Arcane Supremacy now controlled, it was still the second most important power of that age.   Under the Puzzle Lords Directorate the influence of the city ebbed slightly as some of the older cities in Myruthea regained a fraction of their former glory and the continent of Tinturbean received a lot of the focus of development, including the building of the city of Quarowl. Nevertheless, Nephatar remained a city of some significance throughout the entire period and it would return to the first rank in the age of the Four Aerial Courts during the first three centuries of the third millenium.   At this time it became arguably the first amongst "equals" within the four great competing aerial courts, projecting authority and influence by airships and balloons as well as by more traditional naval means. The illustration at the head of the article shows Nephatar at the height of its power in this age when it had become an enormous city state.   The coronation of the Fisher Queen Aketheema in 2231 APC was a famously extravagant event, at which the other aerial courts all paid dutiful homage, including a fabulously expensive gift of Arcane Amplification Perfume from the City Council of Highloft.   In subsequent years the power and influence of the city again receded like the tide, as it lost out globally to competing centres of power under the Moderators' Council and suffered more badly than most during the Time of Terrors. The worst single incident was the Battle of the Rising Deep which took place in 3324 APC. The Fisher Queen Shellesha conducted a famous successful defence of the city against a monsterous attack from the armies of Ralsimoor and their natural and supernatural allies, orchestrated by the mage Pezulruth Veld. Many lives were lost in the conflict before the enemies of the city were beaten back.   Later in the Age of Shadows, too, the city suffered badly from the forces of the Dark Domains and its population fell again.   Yet ever since its ascent to power in the Age of the Water Kingdoms, Nephatar has always been a vital hub in the economy of south east Myruthea. Even now, diminished as it might be from the heights of its former glories, the city remains a much valued part of the modern day Trans-Oceanic Empire and holds the role of regional capital ahead of those older neighbouring cities which it has permanently surpassed.

The Gulls' Clock Tower is a combination of a light house and monument to civic timekeeping which stands on a rocky outcrop off the northern coast of the city.     From here, the clocks have rung out the bells to mark the time of day since 1582 APC when the tower complex was first constructed under the aegis of the Puzzle Lords Directorate and the Fisher King John Redtail.   The Gulls' Clock Tower has been rebuilt on two occasions, following catastrophic storm damage in 3612 APC and 5073 APC, but apart from those short interludes there has always been some version of the lighthouse standing here against the sea.