Birds-Eye #14, Cestus

Centuries ago the Constonians were looking to establish a permanent foothold in the Frontier. Not a garrison or a fort or an outpost, but a proper stronghold from which they could definitively assert their military and economic dominance over the area. At the time, the colossal land-bridge spanning over the Jasper River was already the site of a well-established trade hub for folk from all corners of the Frontier, and it was one of the few spots of refuge from the harsh conditions of the wilderness around. With its central location, defensible geology, and proximity to the Constonian border, the town was the obvious answer.

It took only a day for an entire division of Knights of the Royal Corps to march from the Sun Gate to the town. It took them a matter of hours to rout the local militia and storm the upper city. By the end of the third day, the residents atop the land bridge had all been forced to flee and their valuables claimed in the name of the King. Any non-humans that did not escape to the plains either hid in the slums below or were massacred. Within a week, with a Constonian banner raised above the bastion atop the bridge, the town was declared Constonian territory and renamed Cestus--The King's Fist.

As Constonian interest in the Frontier waned over the centuries, so too did its grasp over the burgeoning city. Where once the King of the Frontier stationed entire regiments of Knights, the Duke collected hefty tariffs, and the Church rooted out abusers of the arcane, now mercenary warlords and black market smugglers move the town with steel and coin. Though the Constonians still maintain a presence on the eastern mesa, and the trade lanes are more active than ever, true control of Cestus and the Frontier has reverted to its original owners: No one.