Map Legend for Zuyevo (For a map of the region, go to : http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Cauldron/5014/Graphs/Maps/Yalumap.JPG )
Zybirsk (population 6,000): Zybirsk is a relatively newly created town following the discovery of silver and gold in nearby hills in 999 AC. Zybirsk is the classic frontier town - wild and untamed, although the Tsar's troops maintain a presence in the town, ostensibly to make sure that taxes are paid on the metals extracted from the mines. However, corruption is rife, and the Tsar's troops and officers often accept kickbacks in return for not levying taxes.
Kishinev (population 3,000): Kishinev is the newest of all Zuyevan towns, founded as recently as 1006AC. It is Zuyevo's only year-round ice-free port, and its only outlet onto Yalu Bay. The small Zuyevo Southern Fleet is headquartered here, and the town is a base for naval explorations of Yalu Bay and beyond.
Zuyganev (population 55,000): Capital city of the nation, Zuyganev is a prosperous but rambling collection of stone and wooden buildings, surrounded by thick and strong stone walls. It is home to the principal Imperial Palace, as well as many other fine examples of the unusual Zuyevan architecture.
Dubyshev (population 27,000): Dubyshev is a thriving logging and mining town, and is the key to the Aska pass, the narrow and treacherous route that links Zuyevo to its northern ports on the Sea of Brun. It was originally the powerbase of the Dubyshev Princes, but since the recent 'time of troubles' ie the civil war of 994-998AC, the independence of the region has been crushed by the Tsar - who maintains two Talmav Guard Regiments in the city.
Krasnavodsk (population 12,000): The earliest Zuyevan port that was built, it was settled in 594AC by Talmav explorers. It is now a thriving sea-port, although the Bay that it is situated on (the Ostrov Vaigach) freezes over for 3 months of every year and is dangerous to larger ships for another 2 months due to floating ice sheets and the like.
Archangelsk (population 25,000): Archangelsk (or Archangel in Zuyevan) is the principal port of the Empire. However, it faces similar problems as does Krasnavodsk, with the port open to navigation at best 7 months of the year. It is the administrative and economic centre of Zuyevo's north. The region (or oblast) is cut of from the outside world for at least 4 months out of every year with the Aska pass snowed in and impassable during winter and the shipping lanes similarly impassable. Despite the founding of Kishinev, which is still in its infancy, Archangelsk is the main route for exports to be shipped out of Zuyevo.
Kulikovo Fortress (population 5,000 soldiers): Kulikovo is an immense rambling fortification system built on the eastern side of the Yalu river. It features a sizeable wharf/dock area where riverboats ferry troops and supplies to the fortress from Sharya. The Fortress is the only major military instillation of note on the eastern side of the river, and is the point from which military expeditions are sent out against the vicious humanoids of the northern Yazak Steppes.
Sharya (population 23,000): Strategically positioned in the apex of the mighty Yalu and Rybinskoye Rivers, Sharya is a booming city, and gateway to the east. It is largely a military town, and is constructed as such - neat long streets in a grid pattern. Sharya supplies the troops across the Yalu river at Kulikovo, and is the starting point of military and trading expeditions that strike out eastward across the northern Yazak Steppes
Vyatka (population 18,000): Vyatka has been an integral part of the Zuyevan Empire since it was conquered by the Yevo in 320AC. It sits amongst vast tracts of excellent Oshak agricultural lands - wheat, rye and other grains are grown here in abundance. As a result, Vyatka is known as the granary of Zuyevo, exporting its excess produce north and south along the Rybinskoye River.
Kostyn (population 19,000): Kostyn sits at the source of the Medyn River, namely Markavey Ozero, (Z. Markavey Lake). Its main industries are fur trapping and fishing. The city has grown rich and prosperous from the fur trading in particular - pelts of beaver, mink, sable and others are sold here by hunters that range hundreds of miles north and east through the forests of the Kostyn Oblast, punctuated only by stockaded forts and villages. The Tsar levies a 15% fur tax on all pelts brought into the city, but corruption and overzealous bureaucracy often results in more or less being collected for the imperial coffers.
Kirov (population 38,000): Kirov is the second largest city in Zuyevo. It size is built on the prosperity of its fur trade and its strategic position at the junction of the Rybinskoye and Tashkent Rivers. Formerly the capital of the powerful Visneskayan Khanate, it was conquered by the Yevo War Leader Miska in 517AC. It is also well known for its most famous product, Vodka - which is produced here in abundance.
Kharkav (population 21,000): Located on the upper reaches of the Rybinskoye River, Kharkav is the traditional home of the Talmav tribespeople who have been a part of the Empire for almost 500 years. The Kharkav Oblast is principally wooded steppe, but there are also large plains of feather grass. Horses are common in the region, and many peasants living in the Oblast are excellent horsemen. As such, many go on to join the Tsar's armies, and vie for positions in the elite Talmav Guards.
Chusqvoi Selo (population 7,000): Chusqvoi Selo is a solitary and often snowbound northern outpost for Zuyevo. Connected by roads (little more than muddy and barely passable tracks) to Saratov and Kharkav, it is the centre for those hardy Zuyevans who choose to live in the inhospitable north of the Empire. Talmavs settlers continue to push the borders of the Empire further north and east every year as they expand the fur and the hunting grounds. They leave behind small fortified hamlets and villages along muddy roads that are forged through the Chusqvoi Steppes.
Saratov (population 16,000): Saratov is Zuyevo's window on the north. It is a large trading centre - many expeditions leave from Saratov for Douzbakjian and Sardjikjian. Its primary industries aside from that are military and fur related. The military are there to secure the routes of communication and to prevent tribesmen (like the Sendarya from the Zdredanyan Forest) and dark orcs from the north disrupting trade. The hunters are there, because wildlife is abundant in the region and the value of a good pelt is often more than worth the risk.
Vyamisgrad (population 4,000): Vyamisgrad is but a shadow of its former glory.
The town is still recovering from its almost total annihilation by Marshal
Steyev in 998AC when it was the unfortunate site of the largest (and final)
battle of the time of troubles. However, the region is rich in farming land and
is another major crop growing area, and will likely bounce back within a few
decades. Many of the nobility maintain estates in the region of varying sizes -
each populated by anywhere from 10 to 5,000 serfs.
