A city-state at the heart of Mikisapi Forest, built around an ancient grove that the trees have never reclaimed. Tenches controls the only safe maritime route between Central Aboyinzu and the South Sea, and has parlayed that position into wealth, influence, and careful neutrality.
The City
Tenches occupies a natural clearing in the forest's center—roughly two miles across, perfectly circular, with the Heartwood Grove at its exact center. The clearing has existed longer than anyone can remember; the trees simply stop at its edge, as if held back by an invisible line.
The city is built in concentric rings around the Heartwood. The innermost ring holds the Grove Council's halls, temples, and the homes of the old families. The middle rings contain merchants, craftsmen, and the prosperous middle class. The outer rings house workers, newcomers, and the three road-gates that connect to the island's harbors.
Population hovers around fifteen thousand, swelling during trade seasons and shrinking in winter. Buildings are constructed from Mikisapi timber and local stone, rarely more than three stories tall—the Grove Council forbids anything that might overshadow the Heartwood. The streets are unpaved but packed hard by centuries of foot traffic, swept clean daily by city workers.
Government
The Grove Council rules Tenches absolutely. Seven elders serve for life, chosen through a process that involves isolation in the Heartwood Grove until a new councillor "becomes clear." The council handles all major decisions: trade agreements, timber quotas, diplomatic relations, criminal sentencing.
Day-to-day administration falls to appointed officials who serve at the council's pleasure. The system is efficient, opaque, and resistant to outside influence. Foreign powers have tried to bribe, threaten, and infiltrate the council for centuries. None have succeeded for long—the forest has a way of revealing secrets, and the council has a way of acting on them.
Economy
Tenches' wealth comes from three sources:
Transit tariffs. Every ship passing through Deadloop pays fees at one of the island's harbors. The rates are reasonable—high enough to profit, low enough that alternatives aren't worth the danger. Captains grumble, but they pay.
Timber exports. Mikisapi wood is valuable, and Tenches controls all cutting rights. The Grove Council sets strict quotas, maintaining scarcity and high prices. Attempting to harvest timber without permission results in exile, seizure of goods, and blacklisting from all Tenches trade.
Sanctuary services. Tenches is neutral ground. Enemies can meet here safely, negotiations can proceed without fear of ambush, and secrets shared in Tenches stay in Tenches. This service isn't free—the council charges handsomely for hosting sensitive meetings—but it's reliable. No one has successfully violated Tenches' neutrality in living memory.
The Neutrality
Tenches refuses to take sides in regional conflicts. The Grove Council hosts negotiations, shelters refugees (for appropriate fees), and maintains diplomatic relations with every power in the region—including those at war with each other.
This neutrality is enforced absolutely. Violence within city limits results in immediate judgment: exile, imprisonment, or death depending on severity. The guilty party's faction is held collectively responsible—if a Chechol soldier starts a fight, Chechol pays reparations. This system has made Tenches one of the safest cities in Aboyinzu.
The council's neutrality extends to information. What's said in Tenches stays in Tenches. The council knows more secrets than any spy network, and they keep them all.
What It Looks Like
A city of wood and stone under a circle of open sky, surrounded by endless forest. The buildings are handsome but modest—carved wooden facades, slate roofs, flower boxes in windows. The streets are clean, the people prosperous, the atmosphere calm.
The Heartwood Grove dominates the skyline. The seven great trees are visible from anywhere in the city, their branches spreading over the central district like protective hands. At dawn and dusk, light catches the leaves and turns the grove to gold.
The harbors are busier than the city itself—ships loading and unloading, merchants haggling, sailors spending their wages in dockside taverns. The contrast between the quiet inner city and the rowdy harbors is striking.
For Adventurers
Tenches offers:
- Safe harbor in a region surrounded by dangers
- Neutral ground for meetings that couldn't happen elsewhere
- Political intrigue around the Grove Council and its mysterious decision-making
- Trade connections to every major power in the region
- The Heartwood mystery—do the trees really speak, or is the council playing a centuries-long con?
- Forest expeditions into Mikisapi's depths, seeking ruins, spirits, or things older still