Herchard’s Ford: a once-frontier settlement for odnd

2 min readDec 14, 2023

greyscale overhead map of a small conurbation. The map is annotated with district names — thanks, watabou

Herchard’s Ford is the only place on the arctic plain where you can safely cross the Abishan River, having been founded by Emiran Herchart ninety years ago.

It’s also the place where you gather before heading to the Perpetual Temple of the Pale Falcon, on the edge of the Abishan Mtns.

Since it’s unincorporated with either of the adjoining kingdoms, it’s both an excellent place for delegates to meet on neutral ground, and an excellent place to indulge in moral vices — sex work, gambling, blood sports, and such.

if numbers are your thing, here are numbers for Herchard’s Ford—ST·11, IQ·14, WS·04

District gazeteer

Herchard’s Fort·ress

London analog: Canary Wharf | ST+ IQ= WS++

NOW a private garrison, housing almost one score troops
AND it’s used at a formal meeting-place for foreign diplomats
THEN, it was a keep designed to protect settlers from wildlife and inclement weather

The West Bank

London analog: the Strand | ST+ IQ– WS++

NOW a commonplace high-street, the same you’d see in a market town
AND there’s apprenticeships galore here
THEN it was an area for food stalls and firepits

Honeypark

London analog: Soho | ST– IQ–! WS+

NOW a tourist-trap redevelopment
AND still the red-light district
THEN, the outer limits of the settlement

The Horn

London analog: Hampton Court | ST+ IQ+ WS+

NOW the site of the first Herchart House
AND a public zoological garden
THEN, the site of the first Herchart House

Pighill

London analog: Hampstead | ST– IQ– WS+

NOW primarily a village for the elderly
AND houses the oldest tree for three-hundred leagues
THEN, a quarantine encampment

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