Ford is located at the estuary where the M'nar River enters the bay of Erin's Folly. It is the only area within 100 miles where the bay is narrow enough and the river shallow enough for crossing without a ferry; thus its name. It is around 100 miles west of Aereolus City, at the foot of the Dwarven Hills region of the GloomRim Mountains.
Ford is the gateway to western half of the country Aereolus and the western Crescent Lands. It allows merchants and travelers to avoid the expensive and slow ferries at towns further south along Erin's Folly, like Ton.
This region of the country is part of the demesnes of Earl Kh'Arl Silun. The Silun family are second cousins to the rulers of the Risen Throne. While they pay taxes for military protection and receive judgment on high crimes from this lineage, Ford is ruled by a council of burghers elected by landowners at ten year intervals. All minor crimes, laws, duties, taxes and public works projects are the responsibility of the Council. In fact, other than his hosting of the Harvest Gathering, the Earl's presence is seldom seen or felt in the area.
Similar to SpireWall, the Plague has had the effect of increasing the population of Ford. During the height of the Plague, many souls fled the heavily afflicted Aereolus to live in the lightly affected Ford. While always a large and economically thriving town, Ford now is city with a population of five thousand.
Except for experiencing a brief depression during the Plague, Ford came through it mostly unscathed. It is thought to have lost only 5 10% of its population during that blight.
The primary source of income for the inhabitants of Ford is service, hostelry, and the sale of merchandise to travelers. For a city of its size, Ford has an unusually varied supply of goods and services for sale.
Further, much of the estuary has been drained in areas surrounding Ford allowing the planting of various SouthLand spices. While only producing small quantities at the present, it is expected that in the next ten years Ford's spice farms could supplant the sale of some of the more expensive SouthLand spices. The moors around Ford are also a great source of income from the harvesting and selling of peat. In the nearby Dwarven Hills, are the largest amber mines in the Crescent Lands. Ford is also noted for the fine quality woodwind and stringed instruments they make and sell. The Tongue Dancers Guild has its largest craft hall here.
Finally, because much of the city is built on the estuary, which floods annually, most of Ford's buildings are constructed on mammoth wooden platforms raised above the ground by large wooden pilings. Ford has passed very strict laws regulating the use of fire within the raised city.
