A Brief Guide to Astreiant's Points Stations
Someone asked recently exactly how many Points stations there were in Astreiant. A fair question, though not entirely an easy one to answer! There are a total of twelve stations under command of a Chief Point, who report directly to Rainart Fourie, the Surintendant of Points. (You’ll notice that this is a solar dozen - there are 12 houses in the solar zodiac.) However, as the city has grown, and as the patterns of trade and crime have shifted, Fourie and his predecessors have created three more Points stations that are nominally subordinate to the established stations and which are headed not by a Chief Point but by a Head Point - Point of Knives is the most notorious of these, and the Head Point there, Mirremay, is pretty much the last person anyone wanted in charge of that neighborhood. The suns will rise in the west before she becomes Chief Point at Knives, though there is a rumor that Fourie might try to buy her off by offering her the chance to become a Chief Point on the northern side of the river - Manufactory Point, perhaps. If you count these new stations, there are 15 stations - a lunar dozen.
Of the original solar dozen Points stations, six began as defensive towers along the length of the Sier: Point of Hearts at the upper end of the Sier just below the Chain Towers; then Point of Dreams, Point of Hopes, Point of Sighs, Point of Graves, and Point of Sorrows, which lies at a sharp bend in the river and just above the island that now holds the main customs house. One story says that the names of the towers were the sequence of events that an attacker would experience as she moved down the river, but that’s almost certainly a back-formation in the last century. Of the six, only Point of Sighs and Point of Graves remain on the riverside, in or near the original guard towers; Hearts, Hopes, Dreams, and Sorrows have all moved to inland, purpose-built stations that stand roughly in the center of their neighborhoods.
The other six original stations are mostly north of the river: City Point, Temple Point, University Point, and Fairs’ Point. (Customs Point and Queen’s Point are both southriver, and newer.) Temple Point is the Surintendant’s own station, though he is rarely involved in day-to-day business, and is oldest and first in precedence. Fairs’ Point is the youngest station, and the most recent to receive a Chief Point of its own. With Point of Hearts, this makes for a total of five Points stations on the north side of the Sier: this reflects the greater wealth of the northriver districts, the higher social standing of its residents, especially as one goes further north toward the Queen’s official Residence, and a general sense that crime northriver is more likely to be genteel - white collar - and not really something for the Points to deal with. The Surintendant intends to change this, and to that end, the other two new stations are both located north of the river. More on them later.
The southriver stations are Dreams, Hopes, Sighs, Queen’s Point, Graves, Sorrows, and Customs Point. In general, the southern side of the river is considered to be home to more of the lower orders and to the criminal classes in general, and as a result, each station’s territory is smaller than the northriver stations’. Customs Point is the richest of the stations, as the bulk of Astreiant’s trade passes through their jurisdiction, and there are nearly infinite opportunities to be offered or to demand fees - Caiazzo is not the only person paying off Customs Point, and among the points, positions at Customs Point are much in demand. Point of Graves is the city’s larger prison, as well as the site of public execution. Queen’s Point is the second-youngest station, and controls the neighborhoods where the Queen’s Highway enters Astreiant’s southwestern edge.
The three new stations are Point of Knives, Exemption Point, and Arsenal Point. Point of Knives is southriver, and Fourie would dearly love to see it re-absorbed into any of its neighbors. At the moment, things are relatively peaceable there, but the rookery at its heart, the Court of the 32 Knives, remains largely self-policing - even Mirremay’s people aren’t welcome there. Arsenal Point was originally part of Manufactory Point, but as the city spread north toward the Arsenal, the then Surintendant granted the outlying station its own commander. It’s the oldest of the new stations, and will probably be the first to be promoted to full status. Exemption Point is also controversial, at least among the points themselves: it’s physically the smallest of the stations, covering only the area around the Exemption Docks, where exempt cargos land to avoid passing the customs stations just north along the Sier. Originally it belonged to Customs Point, but after a tremendous scandal sixty years ago, the territory was given to Fairs’ Point instead. Fairs’ Point didn’t handle it any better, and Fourie’s first act as Surintendant was to make Exemption Point its own station and staff it with his hand-picked people. This has been somewhat successful, but there are still problems and tensions between it and its parent stations.
And there you have it! Originally, Lisa and I had said we’d do a novel for each station, assuming there was demand. I don’t know if I’ll quite make it that far, but it’s worth a try. Next up - Point of Sighs.
Of the original solar dozen Points stations, six began as defensive towers along the length of the Sier: Point of Hearts at the upper end of the Sier just below the Chain Towers; then Point of Dreams, Point of Hopes, Point of Sighs, Point of Graves, and Point of Sorrows, which lies at a sharp bend in the river and just above the island that now holds the main customs house. One story says that the names of the towers were the sequence of events that an attacker would experience as she moved down the river, but that’s almost certainly a back-formation in the last century. Of the six, only Point of Sighs and Point of Graves remain on the riverside, in or near the original guard towers; Hearts, Hopes, Dreams, and Sorrows have all moved to inland, purpose-built stations that stand roughly in the center of their neighborhoods.
The other six original stations are mostly north of the river: City Point, Temple Point, University Point, and Fairs’ Point. (Customs Point and Queen’s Point are both southriver, and newer.) Temple Point is the Surintendant’s own station, though he is rarely involved in day-to-day business, and is oldest and first in precedence. Fairs’ Point is the youngest station, and the most recent to receive a Chief Point of its own. With Point of Hearts, this makes for a total of five Points stations on the north side of the Sier: this reflects the greater wealth of the northriver districts, the higher social standing of its residents, especially as one goes further north toward the Queen’s official Residence, and a general sense that crime northriver is more likely to be genteel - white collar - and not really something for the Points to deal with. The Surintendant intends to change this, and to that end, the other two new stations are both located north of the river. More on them later.
The southriver stations are Dreams, Hopes, Sighs, Queen’s Point, Graves, Sorrows, and Customs Point. In general, the southern side of the river is considered to be home to more of the lower orders and to the criminal classes in general, and as a result, each station’s territory is smaller than the northriver stations’. Customs Point is the richest of the stations, as the bulk of Astreiant’s trade passes through their jurisdiction, and there are nearly infinite opportunities to be offered or to demand fees - Caiazzo is not the only person paying off Customs Point, and among the points, positions at Customs Point are much in demand. Point of Graves is the city’s larger prison, as well as the site of public execution. Queen’s Point is the second-youngest station, and controls the neighborhoods where the Queen’s Highway enters Astreiant’s southwestern edge.
The three new stations are Point of Knives, Exemption Point, and Arsenal Point. Point of Knives is southriver, and Fourie would dearly love to see it re-absorbed into any of its neighbors. At the moment, things are relatively peaceable there, but the rookery at its heart, the Court of the 32 Knives, remains largely self-policing - even Mirremay’s people aren’t welcome there. Arsenal Point was originally part of Manufactory Point, but as the city spread north toward the Arsenal, the then Surintendant granted the outlying station its own commander. It’s the oldest of the new stations, and will probably be the first to be promoted to full status. Exemption Point is also controversial, at least among the points themselves: it’s physically the smallest of the stations, covering only the area around the Exemption Docks, where exempt cargos land to avoid passing the customs stations just north along the Sier. Originally it belonged to Customs Point, but after a tremendous scandal sixty years ago, the territory was given to Fairs’ Point instead. Fairs’ Point didn’t handle it any better, and Fourie’s first act as Surintendant was to make Exemption Point its own station and staff it with his hand-picked people. This has been somewhat successful, but there are still problems and tensions between it and its parent stations.
And there you have it! Originally, Lisa and I had said we’d do a novel for each station, assuming there was demand. I don’t know if I’ll quite make it that far, but it’s worth a try. Next up - Point of Sighs.