>> Fairly alien by our standards. Sort of like Brasilia or Canberra:-)
> Or Washington DC. But of course, wasn't that Mumford's complaint - > that such "cities" weren't *really* cities.
By the very nature of Heortling society, "such "cities" weren't *really* cities." My definition for a Heortling city (not town) is any walled structure which has more than a single clan involved. Runegate as seat of a Triaty is skimming the border...
>> So the buildings should be mostly longhouses then. Marble ones for
>> the most part but longhouses.
Heortlings are perfectly comfortable in other structures, as long as they allow them to organize themselves like a stead. In mediaeval European cities as diverse as Kiel/Germany and Galway/Ireland, there were cases of fortified town buildings for surrounding clan chiefs and other nobility/rich folk, basically a more comfortable version of a hillfort broch. Steadlife spread over several stories.
We know Boldhome has (dwarf-built, but Sartar- or Wilms-designed) "pockets" of vertically arranged appartments. My vision of Vizel down in Heortland is similar, a blend between Boldhome pockets and the White Tower of Minas Tirith. I might even be willing to blame either Sestarto or Panaxles for the layout.
>> Maybe the interiors have been set up
>> in some of them so the front parts can be used as stores like the
>> Roman townhouses so we still have a bit of retail commerce.
> Doesn't have to be "longhouses" - but it will have that sort of > kin-based organization that longhouses suggest. Could also look > like buildings at Mycanae or elsewhere.
I doubt that longhouses would be practical without a court around them, and when you have a fenced court, outhouses suggest themselves quite quickly. The Finnish city of Rauma has been parcelled out into courts which basically make up urban steads, so this is a feasible idea.
>> The inns could be guesthouses that have been more formalized as
>> inns through foreign influence. Their importance of course rises
>> during the seige since Broyan will want the defenders to mix a bit
>> to improve their comaradery (obviously a tactic fraught with peril
>> among the fractious Orlanthi).
> Yep.
Inns also are feeding stations, originally operated by gifted cooks/bakers/brewers, then institutionalized.
>> I think the Shambleshur should still be individual buildings though
>> to accentuate its oddness.
> Sure. Especially if a lot of kinless folk live there.
Another feature of a Heortling city, yes.
>> I like the thought of a hill fort done in marble right down to the
>> faux marble thatching on the longhouses. That's what an Artist
>> would have done:-)
> Great idea! Faux marble thatching is a hoot!
Now we know how the interior of the citadel looks like: the idyllic (Dawn Age) Heortling royal stead caught in marble. Maybe parts of the city, too, but I wouldn't carry this too far. Especially since Whitewall had periods of neglect or even disuse (despite remaining a site for trade fairs with uz attending).
Another example for longhouse-like architecture turned urban are the
original buildings on Bergen's Bryggen:
http://www.stiftelsenbryggen.no/1070no.htm
Since the Heortlings (and friends) at the Dawn had a few "urban" shelters, I'm convinced that Sestarto used Heortling or Vingkotling "urban" structures to prepare his city for population.
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