Port Azros

settlement name	duchy	district/province	type	population	founding year
Port Azros	Barban	Royal District of Kova	abandoned	0	4418

Port Azros is an abandoned village at the mouth of the Az, north-east of Azerel.

It was established in 4418 as a river landing and ocean harbour, and flourished for almost a century. Its purpose was to receive bulk mining products (coke, ambercite, seratine) for transport to Staven, Camfor and beyond.

Around the year 4378, prospectors exploring the Forest of Azerel discovered large deposits of valuable minerals in the hills in the northern reaches of the forest. The Red Mines were soon actively being developed. Not long after, Mikelmin was opened. Throughout, transport of the extracted materials to production and distribution facilities was a major challenge.

After about a decade of labour, it was decided that bulk material would be rafted downriver and landed at the mouth of the Az. A riverside landing was built, to receive the ore-bearing rafts. The ore was unloaded and the rafts disassembled, the timber being used for construction. In short order an ocean harbour was built and the collected ore transferred for shipment elsewhere.

In time, a robust village arose, and by 4435 it was flourishing. Because of the ample timber arriving in the form of rafts, the buildings of the little settlement were unusually spacious. Some of the timber was itself exported; much of the timber used in the construction of Dorbeach, for instance, came from the Forest of Azerel and Port Azros. Around 4538, however, the two mines had been extracted to capacity. The flow of bulk material to Port Azros trickled to a halt, and the village was slowly abandoned. In 4560, the last inhabitant, an old wagonmaker named Caelyb, passed away.