Lakehead
Lakehead was the unofficial capital of the Reclaimer resistance, a vast port on the stormy northernmost shore of the Great Lake. During the Ironworks era, the settlement served as the headquarters of the Sleeping Giant, an ever-growing faction of northerners determined to retake Steel City and free their enslaved kin from the Ironworks.
Monty Mackenzie, Head of the Sleeping Giant, coordinated the resistance from Lakehead. Under his direction, quiet messengers rode west and east to other settlements, putting plans in motion for the eventual liberation of Steel City while maintaining the appearance of a simple port town. The anger about Tohr's plague and Steel City's occupation fueled the movement, drawing new recruits from every northern community.
The port served double duty. Fishermen and merchants plied their trade on the Lake's surface, but a section of the Sleeping Giant's navy was stationed at nearby Soosainmaree, with armed craft that made slave hunter vessels simply disappear when they pursued fugitives into northern waters. Reclaimer privateers struck at Ironworks ferries at every opportunity, particularly those carrying slaves.
The Giant was waking. Messengers spread the word, forces gathered, and the population of Lakehead grew more determined with each passing season. The Ironworks had dismissed the northern settlements as a nuisance to be dealt with eventually. They would learn otherwise.
Monty Mackenzie, Head of the Sleeping Giant, coordinated the resistance from Lakehead. Under his direction, quiet messengers rode west and east to other settlements, putting plans in motion for the eventual liberation of Steel City while maintaining the appearance of a simple port town. The anger about Tohr's plague and Steel City's occupation fueled the movement, drawing new recruits from every northern community.
The port served double duty. Fishermen and merchants plied their trade on the Lake's surface, but a section of the Sleeping Giant's navy was stationed at nearby Soosainmaree, with armed craft that made slave hunter vessels simply disappear when they pursued fugitives into northern waters. Reclaimer privateers struck at Ironworks ferries at every opportunity, particularly those carrying slaves.
The Giant was waking. Messengers spread the word, forces gathered, and the population of Lakehead grew more determined with each passing season. The Ironworks had dismissed the northern settlements as a nuisance to be dealt with eventually. They would learn otherwise.
History
Lakehead evolved from a northern port town into the command center of the Reclaimer resistance. The Sleeping Giant faction grew steadily under Monty Mackenzie's leadership, fueled by the occupation of Steel City and the plague that devastated Tohr. Privateers operating from Lakehead and nearby Soosainmaree harassed Ironworks shipping on the Lake, targeting slave transport vessels. Messengers traveled in all directions coordinating plans for the eventual liberation of Steel City, building an alliance of northern settlements united by the shared goal of driving the Ironworks out of Homeland. The Giant worked as quietly as possible, knowing that premature exposure would bring the full weight of the empire down upon them before they were ready.
Geography
Lakehead sat on the stormy northernmost shore of the Great Lake, positioned as a natural port for both trade and naval operations. The settlement connected to Tohr and other Homeland communities through overland routes, with the Fork serving as a midpoint on the path to the east. Soosainmaree, stationed nearby on the Lake, housed a section of the Sleeping Giant's navy. Steel City, the target of the resistance's liberation plans, lay across the Lake to the south within Ironworks-controlled territory. The port's northern position made it difficult for Ironworks forces to reach by land, and the Lake's storms provided natural defense against naval approach.
