Arx Pagus--The Founding

The Founding of Arx Pagus

No one really knew where Falkinius came from before he began carving out his Homestone deep in the Gorean wilderness.  He had a grand vision for the place thinking it a...good fertile land... accessible well water...forests and stone...a good place for a man such as he. He chose to call the place, Arx Pagus, for it meant a citadel in the countryside...a place of safety far from the tyranny of other places and cities he had been.

Set between Brundisium and Samnium, to the north and west, and Edgington, to the south and east, Falkinius chose his Homestone well.  It was not too close to the corruption of the so called civilized cities.  Nor, was it too far off the beaten path that news, travelers, and trade goods didn't make it to the village every week or so.  Also, it was not overly far from the Market of Semris, in the north and east,  a man couldn't take his produce and stock to trade for those things not be crafted or grown in the village. 

The Gorean Map artwork was created by Necrella.  More of Necrella's Gorean related artwork can be found at http://gorean-art.deviantart.com/

It is rumored, he was man with a violent and seedy past. Unless you were  drinking in tavern during the wee dark hours and found him  him in his cups, you rarely saw the man.  Yet, his frequent absences and his rough looks caused many a whisper as the village grew.  Who was Falkinius?  Where did he come from?  Surely his true caste was not of a simple tavern master and merchant!

Some said he was a warrior for hire, his scarred and weathered face seemed to lend credence to such rumors...while others speculated he was of the Black Caste traveling in secret to carry out assassinations of corrupt Free Men across the lands.

There were a few silent men, who never engaged in such gossip.  They tended to stay to themselves or speak to a select few in whispers and low voice including the founder himself.  Such men, seemed to appear out of the wilds suddenly, singularly, in pairs, or, as a small group, who generally came alone, though a drug slaves with them.  These were rough and toughened men, better with swords than plows, who seemed  to have just as dark pasts as humored of Falkinius.

Whatever or whoever he was, Falkinius was free with sul paga and the use of his slaves, who quietly tended the fields and herds so the small place prospered. 

Fast forward two generations...

....the combination tavern and inn of Arx Pagus has come down into the hands of his grandson, Darius Trezuguet, who continues to be free with the sul paga yet just as mysterious and harsh as his grandfather.