Rivertown

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This information has the ability to potentially ruin elements of the plot for the reader. Proceed with caution if you have not read this book. The page will not be written in a way to avoid spoilers, rather it is written in an in-universe chronological manor.

Rivertown is a city that grew up along a river.

Both the Academy and Sally-Anne's Fish Shop are located in the city. In many respects Rivertown can be considered to be a combination of two settlements, the 'upper', wealthier city, and the 'lower' city which is at least partly comprised of shanty towns.

History

The site that would become Rivertown was initially a king's summer estate. Wealthy nobles also made their estates up river, which over time would become the wealthier districts. At the same time, the people who staffed and supplied the estates settled into the river town that had previously been a luxury port, and became the core population.

Once the monarchy fell and the nobility diminished, merchants and landowners moved into the existing estates and this likely marks the time when the estates became more akin to a city district. At some point in this time, the king's summer palace became the Academy, stated by Sez to be 'thirteen dozen years ago', though this may be hyperbolic.

The arrival of factories led to a second population boom and the establishment of the lawless shanty towns downriver of Gemscutter Lane.

Governance

The wealthier, 'historic' part of town is under Bureau protection. Armed guards and other Bureau facilities are provided to help keep the area safe, both from Things and other, more mundane, threats and troubles. In contrast, the lower city has no formal government of it's own. Instead, the Shore Knights, a lower city gang, provide certain levels of protection. Sez and her friends also work to provide some form of support and protection to the residents of the lower city.

"A town grew up along the river, but a government never did. No police, not like the big seaside cities have. The Knights were a minor gang until they stumbled across a good mage and started killing monsters, for a tithe."

- Beanstalk, chapter 8: Test Scores

Future of Rivertown

After the events of Remember the Dust, the city is split into two independent factions, with Sez taking a significant role in orchestrating both the initial declaration of the lower city as an independant city state and the fight to get offical recognition from the Bureau.

Residents

• Sally-Anne
• Sez
• Bart and the Shore Knights

Notes

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