bjolendenBJOLENDEN — The Crown of Canopies
Location:
Bjolenden lies within a cold, rain-soaked forest near a rugged western coastline, where low clouds drift inland and sea winds carry salt into the trees. The land rises gently from coastal rock into dense woodland, and the city spreads upward into the canopy to escape saturated ground and seasonal flooding. Fog settles between trunks in the mornings, and winter storms bend the highest walkways with coastal gusts.
Founded: Rain 1, Day 16 A.R.
Current Population: 458
(Bjolenden’s population shifts with weather and trade. Storm seasons draw people inward; clearer months fill the canopy routes with movement. The number changes, but the forest remains.)
Map Reference:
Overview
Bjolenden is both a city of treetops and a city of axes. While its homes and walkways cling to living trunks, much of its survival depends on large-scale forestry in the surrounding regions. The forest beyond the core canopy is actively managed, harvested, and replanted in cycles that keep timber flowing to the city’s yards and saw platforms.
This dual relationship defines Bjolenden’s character. The inner canopy—where the city is anchored—is protected and carefully maintained. Beyond it stretch working forests, marked by logging trails, transport rigs, and regrowth zones. The boundary between living city and working forest is clearly defined, and crossing it feels like moving from shelter into industry.
Economy & Resources
Timber is Bjolenden’s primary export. Large quantities of structural wood, planks, beams, and fiber bundles are processed in elevated saw yards and drying platforms built along the forest’s edge. Resin, bark oils, and treated fibers are traded for stone, clay, and metal brought in from other regions.
Because of the scale of forestry operations, Bjolenden has developed efficient transport systems—log lines, pulley networks, and suspended carriers that move timber from the cutting zones up into the canopy for processing. Waste wood is used for fuel, charcoal production, and composite materials. Very little of the harvest goes unused.
Civic Traditions
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The Marking of the Groves: Each season, new forestry zones are marked for harvesting, while older zones are closed to allow regrowth. Cutting outside marked areas is a serious offense.
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The Canopy Oath: No support tree within the city canopy may be felled. These trees are considered part of the city’s structure, not a resource.
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The First Cut Ceremony: At the start of each major logging cycle, foresters perform a public ceremony acknowledging the forest before work begins.
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The Load Count: Timber quotas are publicly posted. When quotas are exceeded, export is restricted to prevent long-term damage to surrounding forests.
Governance & Structure
Bjolenden’s councils balance urban safety with forestry demand. Separate bodies oversee canopy integrity and logging operations, and disputes between builders and foresters are common. Expansion of the city upward is permitted only when new growth zones are secured beyond the protected canopy, ensuring that the forest can continue to sustain both shelter and industry.
Notes for Travelers
Visitors will notice the contrast between the quiet, elevated living districts and the constant motion of the forestry zones beyond. The sound of saws and transport rigs echoes through the forest at all hours. Timber is abundant here, but stone and clay are valued trade goods. Those who stay longer often come to understand Bjolenden’s central truth: the city survives by taking from the forest, but only because it draws a line it refuses to cross.