The Circle

A trading city built as an entry point for people into Yorn and a meeting place where native tribes and outsiders can work, trade, and live together. Has an interesting mix of culture from multiple sources, but holds true to the classic Yorn ways. The Council of Great Sages guide Yorn and it's people from this city.

Nestled in a rare clearing amidst the vast, soggy expanses of the marshlands lies The Circle, a sprawling trading post that has evolved into a bustling trade city. Here, the waterways converge into a natural basin, forming an ideal hub for travel and commerce. The Circle is a melting pot of cultures where marshland tribes and foreign merchants meet, trade, and mingle, blending their ways of life into a vibrant, chaotic tapestry. The Circle’s name comes from its circular design, dictated as much by the natural terrain as by the ingenuity of its inhabitants. At the city's heart is a wide, open plaza ringed by wooden platforms and floating docks, where traders and visitors gather to showcase their goods. Radiating outward are a series of concentric canals and pathways lined with stilted buildings, floating markets, and improvised bridges. A large, slightly elevated area is the plaza center of it all, crafted from hardened clay and reinforced with ancient marsh magic. This space is the primary marketplace, with merchants displaying wares on woven mats or in portable stalls. Colorful banners and totems flutter in the humid breeze, marking stalls by tribe or region. The entire city is a mixture of permanence and transience. While certain structures have stood for generations, others—such as raft villages and temporary trade posts—are constantly on the move, anchored in the Circle for only as long as needed.

The Circle thrives on diversity, attracting merchants, traders, and adventurers from afar. It’s a place where foreign goods like silks, spices, and metals meet marshland treasures such as enchanted clay runes, rare swamp pearls, and potent herbal remedies. Local marshland tribes maintain a strong presence in The Circle, their representatives mingling with outsiders to trade or negotiate alliances. Each tribe has its own district or corner of the trading post, often marked by distinctive carvings, totems, or the colors of their woven banners. Over time, The Circle has become a place of cultural fusion. Foreign visitors adopt tribal customs, such as wearing swamp-dyed fabrics or using clay runes for luck, while marshland dwellers incorporate foreign tools and trade practices into their lives. The Circle operates under a loose council of marshland elders known as the Council of Great Sages and representatives from a few influential merchant guilds. This council convenes in a circular hut overlooking the central plaza, resolving disputes and maintaining the trading post’s neutrality. While no single tribe or group dominates, all acknowledge the importance of The Circle as a shared resource. To maintain order, the council employs a group of marshland enforcers known as the Reed Sentinels—tribal warriors skilled in navigating the waterways and enforcing laws with a blend of diplomacy and strength.

For the marshland tribes, The Circle is a gateway to the outside world, a place where they can exchange their unique crafts and learn of far-off lands. For foreigners, it is an exotic destination filled with rare treasures and an opportunity to connect with the mysterious marshland cultures of Yorn and the Clay Region. In The Circle, cultures clash and collaborate, weaving a complex, ever-evolving story of survival, prosperity, and coexistence in the swamp's heart.