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   The city of Tarsier is relatively new in the midst of things on the Altherian Peninsula, founded just over thirty years ago in the year 993 I.C., as a place for legionnaires to rest, relax, and hone their fighting skills. Tarsier was conceived as the final stop for those participating in their tour along the Patrol and is situated on top of a large plateau overlooking the Kraldjur River. The city, which is on the edge of the Altherian border, is almost directly south of the city of Semar. This temperate setting has given the city a tropical flavor and the swamp vegetation provides an exotic location for the legionnaires to spend the last leg of their tour at. However, living in this tropical paradise does not come without a price. During the summer of 998 I.C., Tarsier became the victim of a brutal raid by Ss'ressen forces and many commoners lost their lives as well as several legionnaires who assisted in the defense of this peaceful settlement. In 1002 I.C. a massive wall was built and spread across the front of the settlement, which was originally designed to repel away any advancing army from the city's slopes. The reason for all this security was due to advances by the Ss'ressen forces that surrounded the city and its inhabitants. However, the townsfolk, still feeling the pressure from hostile forces within the swamp felt that they needed more defense even in their pristine locale. The citizens of Tarsier constructed a steep, winding stairwell covered in dug-outs which serve as sniper holes for Altherian Sharpshooters during the later half of 1010 I.C. and to this day has served as the city's main line of defense. This zigzagging stairwell can cause even those warriors with superior endurance to tire easily and fall victim to the fatal lead slugs of the hawk-eyed sharpshooters. Then in 1017 I.C. the Val families took interest in the small backwater station, and poured considerable amounts of time and money into the city making it a home away from home for travelers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. The reason for this was increased military support to the city and realizing that this would increase the importance of the city and they began to fund weaponsmiths, armorsmiths, carpenters, brothels, agricultural adventures and more. The merchant families quickly latched onto this idea and profited richly from their gambling on the city and its future importance. The most prominent Val bloodline in the city is the val'Abebi bloodline. In 1018 I.C. Adjutant General Dume val'Abebi was assigned to Tarsier and over the past six years has helped transform it from a sleepy out-of-the-way town to a thriving marketplace and an important location on the Patrol route. His public works programs have given hundreds of common folk jobs and helped to improve the overall condition of the city. He has helped to build a sewer system underneath the city which drains out into a nearby swamp at the base of the plateau, and he has renovated the sniper dug-outs which line the stairwell leading up to Tarsier, creating a system of tunnels which are used during raids on the city to get sharpshooters to and from locations quickly and efficiently. During recent years there have been increasing problems with Ss'ressen forces. Raids have become increasingly frequent, men are becoming the victims of brutal attacks on the foresting camps near the border of the city, and throughout it all, the people of Tarsier pray to their Gods, hoping for deliverance. But even in the light of all of these problems, the citizens of Tarsier have begun to expand their control over the region and incorporate more and more land into their self-proclaimed borders. They have subjugated the land to their will and provide enough food to support themselves and all those who pass through their gates. They fish the nearby rivers for food, tan animal hides for leather, cut down the forest that lies on the periphery of their settlement, and they are renowned for their spirits and alcohols which come from the local fruits and exotic plants, which in turn are produced within the city walls and distributed throughout the Altherian Peninsula. |
