MATERIA

Surrounded by the hilly grasslands, Bergen is a relatively peaceful port city known for its baskets and clothing manufacturing. Most construction here is clay brick and stone.

Bergen is roughly 500km from Reston.

Oceanfront

City Hall

Guard Station

Twin Lights

Grand Pier

Breaking Grounds

Fifth Street Market

The primary industries of Bergen involve the growing and processing of the flax plant. The climate and terrain make the region perfect for growing the plant, and the landscape allows for adequate crop rotation between the flax as well as plants that serve in the creation of dyes and additives, other grains, and the edibles consumed by the local population. Some fishing also takes place as well.

Flax products produced by Bergen include:
– Woven Baskets and small furniture
– Linen material, sheets, clothing, sacks, etc.
– Papers and tea-bag material
– Lace fabric
– Cereals for food and for livestock feed
– Cooking oils
– Linseed Oil (varnish, wood protector, rust prevention)

Because of this vast array of products and intertwining processing methods, the coastline of north Bergen as well as the eastern edge of the city (starting far north and south of the main road for aesthetic purposes)is heavily populated by factories and workhouses.

Flax Processing:
The flax seeds are harvested, pressed for the oil or dried and ground for cereals, boiled, etc. depending on the target end product. Various processes

The rest of the plant is then pulled from the ground, bundled, and laid out for several weeks to begin decomposing, a process called retting. Once the farmers have determined that the retting has reached the proper stage, it is collected and delivered to a breaking Hall where workers use special tools to smash and pull the stems apart leaving the strong thread like fibers. These are further refined and spun into threads that can be twisted into rope or woven into fabrics. The threads can be dyed before or after being woven on looms.

In addition to flax based oils, some of the factories switch to producing fish oil, grassweave material, and other materials in the offseason.

Most of the structures in Bergen are of cut stone or large clay brick, most of the material coming from fields as they are constantly improved and expanded to yield better crops. Some structures are built of wooden clapboard or wood shingle, especially nearer the coast, and many structures throughout the city have sheetmetal or tin shingle roofing imported from Pitston.

Bergen is a coastal city on the western shores of the continent. The coastline here is rocky, and docks project out to the deeper waters to allow access to larger vessels. Local boats have a shallow draft and there are several marked channels for safe passage to closer docking facilities.

After a short erosion ledge which has been reinforced with stone walls and piles of stone in some areas, the ground becomes relatively level for several miles in each direction, small hills giving the city a wavy appearance from a distance. Beyond the city limits the hills continue, many mounds of random size and shape, most covered completely with grass. Most trees in the area are fruit or nut trees which have been intentionally planted. A day’s travel north will bring one to a point where the grass begins to thin and the landscape becomes more desert like before reaching the Western River.