Sudham

Sudham is a large city on the south-western coast of Mittelmark, and a major port. Built on top of marshland, the city has often impressed architects with its initially precarious construction on top of the water and mud which lie beneath its buildings.

GENERAL LAYOUT
Sudham is a port and canal city built on top of the marshy Möddervork river delta in south-west Mittelmark, which leads out to the western sea. It is constructed around the rivers which make up the delta, using them as the main routes of transport in and out of the city, while buildings are built on top of the marshland in the area, with canals both dug out from the bog and formed from the gap between structures being built directly over the water.

CONSTRUCTION
Sudham's buildings started out as the homes of villagers built on top of the marshy islands of the Möddervork river delta. The villages were built almost entirely on stilts, and this technique would continue to persist throughout Sudham's architectural history. However, only the oldest and poorest buildings in Sudham are built solely on top of wooden stilts now; most are constructed over pile foundations.

Pile foundations involve arrays of long and sturdy wooden poles being pushed firmly deep into the muddy soil, with a platform on top carrying the weight of brick walls, which structures are then built up from. This method allowed the Sudhamers to construct their city on top of the mud and marshland of the river delta, without their houses sinking into the soft soil, as they normally would if built conventionally.