Urcean frontier: Difference between revisions

Prior to the advent of the railroad and industrial irrigation techniques, travel through the frontier was dangerous and relatively rare. The primary route was the ''Via Antonia'', a road constructed by the [[Great Levantia|Great Levantines]] and probably based on an earlier [[Gaelic people|Gaelic]] path. The ''Via Antonia'' began in the [[Sea of Canete]] port city of Meliferia in the southeastern portion of the modern province of [[The Cape (Urcean province)|the Cape]], and from there moved southeast into modern [[Southmarch]] and [[Callan]], gradually bending away from the Sea to more than 75 miles inland. At the northern border of modern [[Callan]] was the town of Colina, which by the medieval period was functionally the last major settlement along the ''Via'' until one reached the northeastern periphery of [[Greater Canaery]]. The hundreds of miles of road between Colina and Mauriele, the end point of the ''Via Antonia'' about 100 miles east of [[Cana]], were dry and ran through desert and rocky valleys and crags with no source of potable water. For centuries, there were rumors of an ancient Great Levantine well about midway through the journey. This rumor became known as the "Antonine Trap", as many desperate travelers on their last resort would often backtrack to try and find the legendary well; it was not uncommon to find corpses along the road digging in the sand. Historians are divided on the issue of the well behind the legend; it is moderately well attested to in the historical record, but ancient sources disagree on its location. The existence of such a well also poses several practical problems, including why a settlement never grew up around it, how such an often-used well would fall out of use and disappear, and the physical lack of evidence of an aquifer along the road.

The road was never safe during the period of Great Levantia, but by the medieval period through the industrial period it was dangerous, providing significant opportunities for ambushes by outlaws, highwaymen, and other bandits. For this reason, travel overland between [[The Valley (Urcea)|the Valley]] and modern [[Canaery]] during the medieval period was not usually considered possible, and most commerce and travel between [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] and [[Cana]] occurred via the sea route. Travel on the road would have been an option to individuals in only limited circumstances, including being very poor and unable to afford sea passage, being an outlaw or some other person unable to travel by ship for fear of the authorities, or specific instances that would require goods or persons to be moved overland. In most cases, those who could afford to would hire {{wp|mercenaries}} to serve as guards along the way to Canaery. Armies of the period typically avoided traversing the frontier if at all possible.