Quarowl

Quarowl currently runs on a fiercely democratic political model which is a template for the entire Congress of Concerned Citizens but in earlier days it was led firstly by a line of Kings, allied with the Puzzle Lords Directorate, and then later over many ages by the Baronial Moot and the Arch Baron, a plutocratic oligarchy which held power for the best part of two thousand years until it collapsed in 3618 APC. A number of different democratic experiments followed, in some of which, the Lord Mayor was the elected ruler, before the existing more settled structures took hold.

In its early days, Quarowl was primarily a forestry and tin mining town, with a number of associated craft industries based on woodworking and metalwork. Fishing on Lake Rowl supports a small export trade as well as supplying the city fish market. Later concerns about the conservation of the delicate local ecosystem have led to a significant scaling back in all three of these activities, although they continue to operate to some degree even today.   A number of thull farms can be found within a short distance of the city and the drying and processing of the leaves is another specialist regional trade which has grown slowly over many years, whilst never having anything like the same popularity or wealth generating potential as the similar but much more prosperous and ancient trade in phryne at Katrapetch, for example. The gathering and distilling of mistleflowers to make mistleflower oil for local alchemists has never been industrialised but there are competing harvesting shops who provide this service in the city.   The development of the Institute of Magical Analytics and its support services gradually became a substantial source of income for the city from 2280 APC when it was founded, until 3718 APC when it relocated to Ralsimoor taking the wealth it generated with it.   Whilst the Noctaliyan Gate was open, Quarowl was the most important nexus for trade between Magicians' End and Noctaliya. Saranjum transported from the fields in the south of the continent, was the most popular export, whilst Noctaliyan Diamonds, Thran (the spores of Tharanilluminae) and to a lesser extent Grelk arrived as imports.   There has been a steady development in tourism to Quarowl over the centuries (see separate heading).

At the time of the city map linked on the right, in the 33rd century APC, the area immediately around the Institute of Magical Analytics was divided into three districts, the First Scholars' District to the south and east, bordered on the South Lake Shore District to the east and the Second Scholar's District to the west. Both Scholars' Districts were primarily residential and occupied by the staff and students of the Institute of Magical Analytics. When the IMA left the city in 3718 APC (due to differences with the Second Popular Ascendancy) its old buildings were demolished and the accommodation in these districts was adapted by the city government to support a mix of light industrial and housing needs for other demographics.   When the Institute of Magical Analytics was operating, the Tidevault district to the north and east of the main campus was a region dense with sealed arcane archives and oceanwater distilleries, and a haven for information brokers and lesser alchemists. It hummed faintly with static from the filtration towers and was the primary location for the production of mistleflower oil. Afterwards, some of these businesses remained but changed their production quotas to meet the less academic requirements of other city customers, whilst others went out of business completely. During the Synaptic Squeeze, it is most likely that the Unbound had secret mixing houses in the Tidevault district which replaced the Institute labs for the production of Synaptic Unbinding Potion.   In the west of the city, further away from the Institute buildings, the Owlblood quarter of the city which occupied a considerable area of land to the south of the Noctaliyan Gate, continues to cater to the needs of the species from Noctaliya even to this day, although the Gate has long been destroyed.   The Market District in the north and east, is conveniently placed to accept goods coming up river and via the aerial port. It has good links to the centre of the city too.

Please refer to the timeline, linked behind a button at the bottom of this article for a chronological listing of events relating to the history of the city.   The city was founded by the Puzzle Lord Appavern Maneck in 1453 APC. The lake and surrounding territories had been won by him in a game of Tangle Web, eight years earlier, where he deployed a strategy still known as the Northern Gambit (as too, is the original game itself). Seeking to exploit his winnings he invested heavily in building up local trades, including logging, fishing and salt mining. Quarowl became the centre of this new activity and it was not long before it began to rival the other older and much more established cities on the continent.   For nearly three thousand years from the middle of the 16th century, the city became almost synonymous in the public mind with its famous Gaming Hall, until the Hall was burned down during the Age of Shadows.   During the era of the Four Aerial Courts, in the first few centuries of the third millenium, Quarowl was one of four Hub Towns, which are also called the Aerial Courts. Each Hub Town had a significant airforce and in the case of Quarowl it connected the previously rather remote site to the wider world and allowed its power and influence to wax significantly.   The image below shows the Diplomatic Fleet of Quarowl at the Summit of the Fleets in 2125 APC, an important diplomatic convention which took place early in the age of the Four Aerial Courts.     In the later part of this age, Quarowl became the home of the newly founded Institute of Magical Analytics which would play an important part in the history of the entire world, becoming in little more than a century, the leading authority behind the formation of the Moderators' Council, an institution based in the city which excercised great power throughout the world for over six hundred years until it collapsed shortly after the start of the fourth millenium. The age of the Moderators' Council, was the peak of the power of Quarowl as a city.   In the Time of Terrors, there was a signifcant migration of Owlblood into the realm via the Noctaliyan Gate which was built to link the city to Noctaliya by Zemdath the Terrible. Owlblood remain an important minority of the population in and around Quarowl to this day, but their influence weakened after an uprising known as the Ruffling of the Feathers which destroyed the Noctaliyan Gate in 3387 APC.   Quarowl's international influence faded slowly over subsequent generations although it remains a regionally important metropolis and has had something of a revival in recent years since it became the capital of the Congress of Concerned Citizens, arguably the weakest of the three great modern power blocks on Magicians' End but nevertheless an important player on the world stage.

The Great Assembly Hall of Quarowl was completed in 1978 APC to provide a permanent venue for the Baronial Moot. Together with the (now lost) Great Gaming Hall and the palace of the Moderators' Council it is one of the three grand public buildings of the city. The Baronial Moot was disbanded in 3618 APC, but their Great Assembly Hall continued to host the parliaments of succeeding weaker democracies. In modern times the building has been extended and refurbished to provide a home for the Congress of Concerned Citizens. Here we see the building viewed from the Eastern Water Garden.     The supreme circle of the Moderators' Council met in a specially built palace on an island in the lake. This was the luxurious location with windows looking out over the lake shore and the city, where many of the important political decisions of the age were taken.     The building is now open to the public and has become an important tourist attraction.

Attractions visitors have been keen to see included the Great Gaming Hall of Quarowl (albeit ruined since 4372 APC, which significantly reduced its interest to tourists), the Moderator's Council Chamber which became a museum after the fall of the Moderators' Council in 3004 APC and the Harmonix Amphitheatre, a beautiful open space dedicated to public concerts, some sporting events and elaborate theatrical productions.     Excursions north, downriver to Arvolun and the wild coastal regions beyond are popular for nature loving visitors too, who might hope to catch a glimpse of the elusive Bistrelle in the woods, an invasive species originating in Noctaliya. Bistrelle plays an important role in local cuisine.   The city's special role as a centre for Owlblood culture on Magicians' End since the opening of the Noctaliyan Gate has also been cultivated as a tourist attraction and the ceremonial services of the Quarowl High Guard which once served the Arch Baron but now serves the Congress of Concerned Citizens is an attraction for those who enjoy military pomp and parades.

The city stands on the western shore of Rowl Lake, which is a large, relatively shallow expansion of the Rowl River as it flows north into the ocean. Parts of the city have extended into islands in the lake. Shipping can pass north downstream to the ocean and there are overland links to the south.