Great Fire of Shirekeep

From ShireWiki
Jump to: navigation, search
A painting of the fire spreading accross the Foreign Quarter.

The Great Fire of Shirekeep happened in 1567 AN during the reign of Kaiser B'Caw I. It took the authorities three days to stop the fire. Without the river between the Foreign Quarters and the other districts, the fire would probably have caused even more damage.


Revolts against the Babkhans and Anticans during this period (as they were seen as those responsible behind an evil plot to split Shireroth) led to violence and riots in the streets. The city guard couldn't avoid that the people began burning down several houses.

The houses in the Antican and Babkhan Quarters were, however, relatively old and not very fire safe. It ended up in one of the largest fires that Shireroth had seen in 1,000 years: the largest parts of the capital south of the Elwynn were destroyed.

Kaiser B'Caw I offered the citizens a new home in Halluci Shire and Westshire (the most northwestern quarters of Shirekeep). Most of the citizens accepted to move and sold their homes (or: the ruins of the houses) to the State. Some decided to stay and their descendants continued living in the Foreign Quarters, even after it became known as Lichkeep.

Over a period of several years, the ruins of the Foreign Quarters made place for new projects: the Fishian Wall was built to protect some farmland and Fort Tempus was built to protect the Elwynn River in the west against enemies. Via Fort Tempus there is an underground corridor which allows farmers to easily move to the fields to harvest and stock their wheat.

The land outside the Fishian Wall was a reason for conflict between Brookshire and the City Government: technically the farmlands outside the wall no longer belonged to the 'city', but it was still considered being a part of Shirekeep by the Shirekeepers because of its historical ties and economical benefits (the farmlands give the city the a modicum of self-sufficiency).