The Bereny Bugle

FOR LATEST NEWS SEE HEADLINES.

The
Archive

Next Archive Page

Previous Archive Page

The Bereny Bugle
‘Blowing our horn for the People of Bereny’

Headlines || Archive Index || Letters || Funny Page || Horoscope || Quiz || About the Bugle || Search || Madhouse

IS BERENY SHORTLY TO

GET A NEW CITY?

Dateline: 10-9-518

Several of the most notable citizens of the Kingdom have petitioned King Dirk to charter the foundation of a new city in western Bereny - which would be the first such foundation in Bereny for centuries, since Lux was granted such a charter.

The case to create the new city has been championed by the wealthy and influential DeBarbarac family, who control three estates around the Kingdom, but additionally has the support of ITOBA, the Bereny merchant’s association, who see it as the key to opening up the Kingdom’s under-developed western hinterland to trade and commerce.

The DeBarbarac family have been at the forefront of offering shelter and succour to the many refugees from Moonward created by the Goblin War and in particular by the destruction of northern Moonward’s principle town, Meadowbrook. In the last year the once sleepy village of Lichtenstein within the borders of Lichtenstein Abbey’s estate has grown into a bustling and overcrowded town.

The scheme, as proposed by the DeBarbarac’s, would however not be based on the existing town, whose growth is already constrained by its water supply and the surrounding terrain, and which is in any event within the boundary of the Abbey. Instead they propose creating a new city from scratch on a previously undeveloped site outside the estate boundary. The refugees from Moonward would be encouraged to relocate there to provide a nucleus for the city’s population, which the city’s proponents hope will soon be augmented by an influx of settlers from elsewhere in the Kingdom.

“Western Bereny has long lacked a major population centre,” Baron Gelt DeBarbarac told the Bugle. “It is a part of the Kingdom with considerable economic potential, as demonstrated by the success of my brother Christian’s estate there, but it is under-developed and under-populated. What better way would there be to develop it and send out a clear message that Bereny is a growing and developing kingdom, than to charter a new city there - and all at minimal expense to the Crown!”

King Dirk is said to be favourably disposed to the idea, but it has thrown the Crown bureaucracy into turmoil as they fear the effect it may have on the already over-stretched Crown coffers, despite promises that the majority of the funding would come from private investment. The city’s proponents counter that for a minimal initial investment the Crown will receive a new source of revenue to replace the lost revenue’s from Meadowbrook.

Even more contentious are the question’s around the new city’s governance. Would it, for example, be the seat of a new Dukedom? And to whom would this be awarded. The DeBarbarac family are clearly seeking to position one of their number as the obvious candidate, although quite who from this large and rambling dynasty it might be is not clear (the most conspicuous candidate, Christian DeBarbarac, would seem to be disqualified by being an Abbott, and Gelt DeBarbarac holds his Barony on the opposite side of the Kingdom). For now the proposers are talking vaguely of an ‘executive council’ drawn from interested guilds and professional bodies.

Perhaps most importantly the new city does not yet have a name, although there have been suggestions that it might be named in honour of King Dirk or Queen Juliette, or even in memory of King Mark.