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The hills at the southern feet of the Black Mountains are covered with pine-trees and spruce-firs; a dark wild wood, with a rough, rocky soil. Eras and ages ago, the first coal was found here. The dark, fat shiny coals, mixed with the odd jewel, came at certain places to the surface of the soil, and men eagerly dug deeper to find more jewels. The sparkling jewels, and the misleading shiny coals gave the wood its name: Forest of Stars or Sterrenbos. Some wondered if these stars came from above, from the night sky, and if they contained something of splinters from the deceased - could it be that the black coal was the burned splinter of an evil men, who had lived in Daleth ages and eras ago, and now had fallen back on Airtha? Sterrenbos, far away from the big cities, far from Ildritz, and generally isolated, meant nothing throughout the ages. The odd treasure hunter would come there and dig a while, then leave. The tiny settlements here were nothing more than a few shelters and sheds. There were roads once, the Delfweg ("Digway") and the Mijnweg ("Mineway"), long ago, that led from the Stainrhen River through Sterrenbos to De Ster, an inn on the road from Gronbrunlar to Donvar. After the bridge over the Wyz had collapsed and the inn was ruined by a large fire, the road became unused and melted away into oblivion. However, at the dawn of the steam age, the engineers focused on Sterrenbos as one of the largest sources of coal, a high energy mineral that should fuel at least ninety percent of Daleths steam engines. The "royal" Sterrenbos Mining Company (RSMC) was founded in 1825 and had the job of getting the coal out of the mountains the most efficient way. The RSMC itself founded three settlements in Sterrenbos, all on the river Riqizrin. The oldest town that was founded is in the west, Haurrindal (1829), is the first place to go to when arriving from Nieuw-Gamoor, Hveitsvar, Scholvan and Isauls. It is the largest town, where the Head Quarters of the RSMC has its residence, and the mansions of the company's executives have been build. Further east is Riqizrin (1832), named after the cold, dark, lifeless mountain brook that flows all through Sterrenbos. It was founded second, and was soon followed by Tugglbryc (1833), even further east, where the Riqizrin Brook turns from its mountains source via waterfalls to its valley in Sterrenbos. The settlements are no more than half a stond walking from each other. Nevertheless, it was far enough to build the first railroad here to transport the coal to Haurrindal and, a couple or years later, to the Stainrhen, where the coal was shipped to Nieuw-Gamoor. The railroad was powered by horses until in 1817 the first steam powered horse was build - an engine on six wheels, spitting steam, smoke and fire, that puffed its was through the dark and damp woods of the Black Mountains. This engine is known as the "Black Diamond" after the beautiful engraved coat of arms of the RSMC, in a diamond shaped shield, that soon faded to black under the soot of the steam. The Black Diamond was the engine that was the example for many more steam engines in Daleth. The three settlements in Sterrenbos are all basically the same, a rational planning made the layout for more or less identical. The cores of the settlements are the barracks for the mine workers. The low, long buildings have a central hallway with small rooms on both sides where the employees and their families live. The shops, taverns, schools, canteens, gong tower, laundries, baths, temples and other facilities are situated around the barrack block. Next to this quarter of town are the offices of the mining company, the houses of the clerks and chiefs and the mansions of the executives. Further in the woods, up the mountain slopes, are the mines with all their dirty industries, the engine houses, the elevators and the warehouses. All three towns have a depressing atmosphere. The woods surrounding them are still dark and uninviting. The moist soil smells muddy and rotting. Every now and then, the sad call of the steam horse is heard - a hoarse call that sounds like a cry of agony. The chimneys of the industry spit smoke and soot, that forms a dirty veil of dust over the towns. The houses are smeared with soot, the wood is black, the windows opaque. What used to be white, is now grey, and the other colours have faded to different shades of grey too. Related topics: |