The Caskwood
The Caskwood
The Caskwood is an eastern woodland controlled by the Eastern Ledger-State. It is not treated as land, but as production space. Trees here are cut, processed, and replaced under state rule. Guards patrol it like a border, and punishment is fast when orders are broken.
Land and Layout
The forest is dense and shaped by work. Tall trunks grow in tight rows, broken by straight roads and fresh clearings. Main roads are wide and packed hard from traffic. Narrow side paths pull timber toward fortified yards. Thorn growth and broken ridges slow movement away from the roads. The air smells of cut wood, pitch, and smoke. Fires burn at gates every night, watched closely, because fire can destroy months of labor.
Work Zones and Control
Fortified yards sit where roads meet. They hold timber stacks, tool sheds, pitch pits, and guarded store buildings. Each yard answers to a controlling house or state office. Inspections are common. When supplies vanish or counts fail, work stops until someone is blamed. Entire yards can be shut down without warning.
Life in the Caskwood
Most people here are cutters, haulers, yard hands, and guards. They live close to the work in rough shelters near fences and walls. Camps are moved or broken apart when pressure rises. Days follow strict work cycles. Fires are limited. Light is controlled. Bodies are counted. Disappearances are never ignored, because flight, theft, and sickness all threaten output.
Power and Pressure
Three forces shape the Caskwood:
Charter Houses, which control cutting rights and production quotas.
Contract Courts, which decide blame, debt, and seizure when loss occurs.
State Guards, who enforce order and remove problems.
When these powers clash, production always wins. A yard can lose protection overnight. A camp can be erased by a single ruling. Survival depends on staying useful and unseen.
Smuggling and Shadow Routes
Illegal trade thrives because the forest cannot feed everyone it uses. Hidden paths run through thorns and low ground where patrols avoid travel. Smugglers move wood, pitch, salt, and other survival goods. Some help workers survive. Others sell back what was taken from them. The state answers by clearing cover, widening roads, and hanging warnings along cut lines.
Raids and Outside Threats
Orc warbands raid the forest for supplies and tools. They strike fast and scatter into dense growth when challenged. Patrols answer with sweeps, curfews, and public punishment near the roads. During lean years, yards hire extra muscle. This brings more corruption, more violence, and more missing people.
Corruption Patterns
Scarcity makes abuse useful.
Some yards hide supplies for bribes or emergencies.
Some officials trade favors instead of coin.
Some guards sell access, then arrest buyers later to erase proof.
Some smugglers operate with protection while feeding rivals to the law.
Faith and Fear
Life priests are called in during injury waves and sickness scares. They save who they can, but limits are enforced. Death orders arrive when bodies pile up or sickness spreads. They can destroy whole work zones to stop contamination. Yard leaders fear this more than raids, because it can collapse supply lines and ignite riots far away.
Fire and Destruction
Pitch is everywhere. It preserves wood and makes the forest burn fast. Sabotage fires happen during audits or raids. Afterward, rules tighten. Camps are pushed back. Cover is cleared. Guards double. These measures reduce ambushes but increase exposure and hunger. In dry years, one spark can cripple the region.
Signs Workers Watch
A gate fire burning in daylight means inspection or quarantine.
Extra cords on guards mean something was stolen nearby.
Fresh markings on posts mean escorts are being doubled.
A road that goes quiet is treated as danger, not relief.
Role in the World
The Caskwood feeds the east with containers and treated timber. When output slows, weaker towns lose supplies first. This drives flight, theft, and shadow trade back into the forest. The Ledger-State keeps the Caskwood working through force, punishment, and fear, even when the cost is clear.
What Outsiders Should Know
The Caskwood is not a wild forest. It is a controlled production zone. It exists to keep goods moving in a world where loss is permanent. The state defends it because without it, storage fails, transport breaks, and survival collapses.