The first relocation of refugees organized by The Court was a strategical investment into what would in time become the city of Ill-Vess.
Ill-Vess is currently one of the richest cities of The Steppes. It boasts a population of about 265.000 individuals, its factories account for about half of The Steppes' industrial output and its mines supply most of its ore and coal. The land surrounding Ill-Vess can hardly be classified as part of The Steppes in any way, but neither can it be considered part of the neighbouring Hieronhorte.
On the surface, it is a rocky, coniferous peninsula northeast of Arrakans separated by the so called Veshite Sea, actually an overblown bay, but still connected to the mainland by the nearly impracticable mountain range that separates The Steppes in its broadest sense from the ashen tundra of Hieronhorte.
This land was first discovered by arrakensis pirates, but it remained neglected for several years because it was deemed uninteresting, cold and depressing. Once Arrakans was integrated into The Court, however, stallian expeditions started to prospect this territory, easily managing to locate massive deposits of coal, iron, silver and other valuable materials.
An organized colonization attempt, however, was delayed because of the considerable logistic burdens imposed by the stormy Veshite Sea and The Court's lack of resources at the time. Basically, all the responsibility for transporting and supplying colonists and heavy machinery fell on the ragtag pirate fleet of Arrakans, with predictably lacking results.
But the raw materials of the veshite underground were too important to be overlooked, so The Court instead envisaged an alternate, grander plan, embarking on its first great engineering feat.
The primordial Ill-Vess was therefore, to all effects, a small engineering settlement with the sole task of building a railway through the mountain range connecting the region with The Steppes. A stallian team meanwhile started construction on the other end of the planned railway, while Arrakans was simply expected to supply the reduced veshite team.
This was a lengthy endeavour that shaped the industrial character of Ill-Vess. The construction was delayed by beastfolk raids on the stallian side, but what truly shocked the public were the first reports of the hieronhortean terrors that the veshite team faced.
People at the time eagerly devoured the progressively more exaggerated stories of mysterious savages, destructive ogres, lurking horrors, murderous monsters and gruesome plagues that threatened the vital railway's construction, thus triggering the infamous proliferation of veshite tabloids.
Once the railroad was complete and both teams had celebrated their belated meeting, Ill-Vess was temporarily militarized in order to be prepared for the influx of immigrants. The railroad was regularly patrolled by armoured trains and large parcels of land were generously handed to refugee tenants in order to boost the colonization process. This is when the first active collaboration between hieronhortean savages and The Court was observed, with savages spontaneously rallying to confront an ogre ambush on an armoured train carrying soldiers into Ill-Vess. Significantly, during the railroad construction per se the very same savages were known to have simply sat back and watch as ogres attacked the hapless engineers.
From this point on, perhaps in part thanks to the silent savages' incomprehensible and unexplained aid, the settlement of Ill-Vess started to thrive, but the first years were chaotic. With former tenant farmer refugees suddenly finding themselves in control of vast underground coal deposits, the veshite economy fluctuated wildly until the most shred individuals among the lot started to amass capital and property and subjugate the rest. The long shadows of this process and the resentment it created are the direct cause of the ongoing class struggle and polarization of the veshite society.
The settlement was eventually recognized as a city of The Court and its defence was gradually transferred to its own fledgling forces. The aristocracy of the city back then, just like today, consisted mostly on engineers, since they gathered the most merits during the creation of the vital railway and it is their continuous efforts that keep the city's industry and pride up and running.
Presently, the city of Ill-Vess is second only to the city of Nivhar in inhabitants, but it surpasses the latter in other areas, most notably industry. Both cities are currently engaged in a fierce but largely harmless rivalry over this and other matters.
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