Silver Springs County
Silver Springs County is the geographic and political center of the Duchy of Zimoz.
It is a tiny bit bigger landwise than its northern vassal state the County of Filipa and its a tiny bit bigger population wise than its southern vassal state County of To be Determined.
Demographics
Roughly 90% human, mostly Fumayan humans with a splash of Jórtoca thrown in.
A slim majority of the non-humans are gnomes.
Government
By tradition, the Duke of Zimoz and the Count of Silver Springs are the same man, so this is the personal demesnes of the duke though the duchy has a fair few barons that report to the duke but on paper are vassals to the Count of Silver Springs rather than the Duke of Zimoz.
Defences
Castle Argentum is not the largest castle in land of Fumaya but it is in the top three or four largest and by most accounts is the best equipped to weather a siege.
It was designed and supervised by dwarf engineers at its inception and the numerous times it was expanded. It was built for utility and not creature comforts or aesthetics though it was painted silver so it is fairly pretty in that regard.
Castle Argentum boasts its own natural spring inside the walls meaning a besieging might be theoretically be able to starve them out, but they can't cut the defenders from clean water.
Castle Argentum is large and impressive, but it cannot house all the population of Silver Springs which is why each Baron has his own castle and every village has a stockade wall at the very least.
Industry & Trade
The realm is sustained mostly by farming, hunting, and herding.
History
The Silverwood trees alone meant the region was famous well before Kingdom of Fumaya existed as a political entity. A lot of the history of the region leans far more towards legend than history and involves many Demon Lords and undead supposedly slain here. Other legends involve Korus or one of the rest of the Nine punishing mortals who harmed or even disrepected the Silverwood trees.
This is ancestral seat of House Zimoz. Originally the entire Duchy of Zimoz was one very large county but Zimoz the Archer did not intend to keep all the land to himself forever creating baronies and counties as quickly as was feasible, but the population was intially clustered around the center and branched outward.
Being more or less on the edge of the frontier, the region hasn't seen a lot of politcal intrigue was this was and sort of still is the forward base to adventures in the wild north.
Points of interest
The County of Silver Springs gets the first half of its namesake from a grove of Silverwood trees that is the most valuable resource of the realm and is guarded by the nearby Castle Argentum, more colloquially known as Castle Zimoz.
Castle Argentum gets its fresh water from a natural spring which forms the second half of its namesake.
Geography
Mostly flat with some gently rolling hills covered with a mix of farmlands and forests.
Climate
Temperate leaning towards cool.
Natural Resources
The Silverwood trees both in and out of the main grove are the realm's namesake and most prized treasure but Silverwood is harvested so slowly and carefully that it doesn't really drive the economy. Farming, herding, and harvesting of regular timber drives the day-to-day economy.
The region has a fair few reagent foragers but not quite as many as the County of Filipa.
The realm has a couple "cold" mines, unimpressive compared to Duchy of Nerozik can boast but not nothing.
Compared to the rest of Fumaya, fishing opportunities are unimpressive but compared to the rest of West Colassia, fishing is decent here.
The comparably limited fishing is because this county has fewer and smaller lakes than most of the rest of Fumaya, but there is plenty of drinkable water below ground. The spring that feeds Castle Argentum is the most famous spring but it is far from the only one in this realm.
Founders
Type
National Territory
Population
About 10,500 mortals
Inhabitant Demonym
Silver Springers (polite) Silver Wooders (mildly teasing)
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Additional Rulers/Owners
Owning Organization
Comments