So it was, on the Yarmdon maps, that the town had been named 'Darling'. A more peculiar origin for a trade town would be hard to find, for indeed, much of the town's growth and popularity could be put down merely to its strange name. It stood out on a map, and travellers simply found the urge to travel there.
That little draw, combined with the fact that it had high military walls, and to this day had a sizable garrison, soon had turned it into the economic powerhouse that it was.
Now, in recent years, there was another thing that made Darling special – its freedom. Because it was a Stormfront man that had ruled it, in the end, the inheritance had been made problematic, and for the last hundred years, Darling had been without an official ruler. It was a small pocket of democracy – as best as they could achieve it – nestled in between settlements that were built of foundations that were the complete opposite.
