Kellersland
The road here parallels the river. It is not a mighty river, but it is much more than a creek. The village here is built in the shadow of a cliff. There is a waterfall (and wide pond) a stone's throw from the buildings that make up the village. The village and various out buildings are between the road and the river.
The villagers supplement their income portering boat and goods up and down the cliff, by going around the cliff proper by following a side trail.
The initial buildings of this village are the various outbuildings and remaining parts of the main house, that made up Lord Kellers land. Lord Keller and family died in the house fire. No one else noble has taken up residence in these parts. So the locals sort of moved into the various surviving buildings and have build up a village since then. Go to Comment
Sophan is a middling-sized village of small huts constructed out of the local volcanic stones. Every house has the bones of a small jackrabbit pinned up above the frame; it's a local tradition, but nobody remembers the purpose of it anymore. It is surrounded by copses of ancient trees which the Sophans are loathe to cut down; this too is an ancient tradition whose purpose is unremembered. Finally, the village is centered around a small raised hill, and atop this stands a gallows which has not been used for 200 years; the Sophans believe that the gallows was originally used to make sacrafices to the heathen gods which were worshipped here before the coming of the Kingdom Religion. Go to Comment
Cumber's Gap
In a tiny valley with a small lake, there is a nice village. There are several good roads that lead through the valley (which is a short cut over conventional routes). Besides the standard farming, lake fishing, light logging (as there is no saw mill here) and inns (travelers on the roads), there is a large manor home that is a chartered home for the Guild of Messengers. Here old members retire, new members are trained (riding, running, and swimming in the VERY COLD, blue lake), and regional administrative duties are done. The red caps wear their caps here all the time, so people can tell who is who. The red caps are very conscious of being "on duty" so act appropriate.
Hub Villages
There were four huge villages (nearly towns) that surrounded the Old Capitol. Given recent events (the destruction of said capitol and moving of the throne to a new site), the villages have fared better than the city has... but not a great deal better. Many of the surviving residents have moved elsewhere. This leaves the hub villages strangely quiet, as they appear to be large and prosperous, but few are around.
Sunset (West Hub): The village is bustling, as all the buildings abandoned by the peasants have been filled with shops and warehouses that support the military force that guards the former capitol.
Sunrise (East Hub): This village used to be a support camp for mercenaries and small mercenary guild companies that the throne needed from time to time. They have moved on. This leaves a few farmers and some of the best weaponsmiths in the regions.
Noon (South): The village is along the route to a great shrine, so it is eking out a living to those that are making the pilgrimage.
Star (North): The most abandoned of the villages. The great storehouses and barracks are empty. The few farmers have built homes closer to their plots. Squatters are all that are left. Go to Comment
Bridgedale
The land in this area is quite uneven, with rolling highs and lows. The crop around here is rice and produced in submerged fields. The fields are irrigated from the river through natural channels and a few artificial dams, dykes, and water walls (with water gates and Archimedes pumps). The village itself is quite dispersed over the area. Pockets of buildings are built on "high ground", which are connected by dyke paths and dozens upon dozens of bridges. One can have to walk quite a distance to reach a store, the miller, or inn. Go to Comment
Cambrian Gardens
This little hamlet is just a stones throw from the city. It appears so quiet and quaint. It was. The City (an important regional hub, if not the capital) is filled with nobles- all with their honor, sharp wits, sweet wine, and dueling culture. The City Prince, in an attempt to slow the bloodshed, forbade the crossing of swords (dueling) in the city bounds. Cambrian Gardens had been filled with picturesque cottages, lovely formal gardens, and a huge number of weekend homes for nobles to escape the squalor of the city and its smell in the summer months. It soon became "the thing to do" to resolve disputes among the peace and beauty of the gardens. In response, the duels became more polite, more ritualized, and often accompanied by poetry readings and picnics to assist the idyllic mood. Many of the land owners here (not all nobles) have made small "out homes" adjacent to two or three dueling gardens. This way people will have a place to rest, prepare, and stage their duel. It has made for an odd main street in the hamlet. Instead of the normal cozy domestic shops and common rooms, there are weapon shops, purveyors of fine leather dueling armor, a mortuary, two churches for last rites, and inns for seconds and survivors. Behind the hamlet proper, there is a small compound for healers and physics who attend these events. Go to Comment
Frost
High in the hills of the North Mountains is a village with a noted distinction, the first frost always occurs here. It may or may not be magic ,or spirits, or just odd weather, but the rest of the land follows two to five days later. Some hire riders to wait here at about the right time, to tell of the coming frost (important for some crops to be up and in before the frost, most notably grapes). Though winter comes here first and leaves here late, it is surprisingly mild in this village. The village is known for its Mid Winter Festival, The Frost Festival. There are many winter sports, sled races, and the requisite food contests and market.
Note: There is no "festival" for the first day of frost and its impending winter. There is a tradition that everyone spends a half day drinking on the first day of frost. Some people are thinking about making the unofficial race out of town into an official one. Go to Comment
Parsan
This village is at the end of the Great Parsan Pass. This is the only pass large enough to march an army through, so it is very strategic. This village has seen more battles than any one place in the world. In fact, the locals maintain a shrine to all the unburied dead who died in battle here, hoping to quiet their unrest. Note this is the only place in the world where Bloodflowers bloom continually.
Bloodflower wounds are the only terrain feature in this pass, so many a wise general has used it to their advantage in combat, as it will slow down or stop cavalry and light to medium infantry. Go to Comment
Brownin:
This is a village on the outskirts of the Great Dark Oak Forest,. Everyone is careful not to waunder there. A bit farther up the road from Brownin, towards the forest, is a The Shrine of Spirit Beasts. The holy men here maintain symbolic stables, pens, and corrals for spirit beasts to "visit". On a solstice or equinox, spirit beasts can be seen living in these places by the uninitiated. The 2/3rds of the Order of the Oaks is "unhappy" with the holy men being here and think the Shrine mere existence is a threat to the safety of The Lands. Unfortunately, it is in the Land of Mowren, where the shrine is of the Popular and Only religion. Nobody of that Land, including 1/3rd members of the Order, would dare act against it. (Someday, one of those spirit beasts will get "uppity" and the Order will have a "problem").
There are actually six or seven small villages in this region. There are low rolling hills, covered in grass (eaten by the abundant sheep) or crops. Most properties are marked off by hedgerows. Initially these plots were defined by Imperial grants, but they have been redefined in the Dark Ages.
In this region, perhaps as many as one-fifth of all surviving hedgerows date from Proloran times, a living link with the Dark Ages. Some even date back to Imperial times.
Grethdon Proper is the central village. It is nearly a small town. It has a Proloran Era temple, part keep tower with a hall attached to it. Go to Comment
Pietre
Pietre is a normal village. However, the white wash/ plaster has a light green tint and all the thatch on the roofings is green as well. If somone built a building without a thatched roof, they would paint the roof green.
Supposedly the green stuff wards off the local bugs. Go to Comment
Generic village
The buildings in the village look fairly normal, but are all built up by a foot or two of pressed stone. Every building has a steep couple of steps to get into. The land seems fairly flat and even, but it is actually on a flood plain. The flood level, at worst is only two feet, so most of the buildings are built accordingly.
However the soil is so soft, the foundations eventually slip down into the earth, eroding their protection from floods.
In the region around the village there are some deep soft mud holes and a few sink holes. Go to Comment
Bryrmont
Bryrmont is a the original name for the village. The new inhabitants kept the old name. They even helped some of the old inhabitants "move out" and reclaim some of their things left behind.
There was an Earthquake, the subducted seacliff fell and land it was supporting slide towards the sea (bottom first). The level of ground shifted, the ocean began to flood towards the lower delta. The sea reclaimed the land.
The seafolk were running from the undersea disaster, moving towards the shallows and coast for shelter. The humans were almost unprepared for the flooding. The Sea Folk rescued some of humans washed into the onrushing sea waves. They helped them on to the various boats and to the new high grounds. In gratitude, the humans gave them their old towns and villages to live in (not like the Humans were going to do anything with them twenty to fifty feet below water(7m to 22m)). Bryrmont was the largest village (nearly a town) in the region.
Brymont looks much like it did. The few thatch roofed buildings have been replaced by the slate roofs the rest of the buildings had. The sea folk live in a manner much closer to the peasants used to. There is actually sea based agriculture adapted from land agriculture. They do this in addition to their normal fish and mussel ranching.
The sea folk and the delta folk have a close working relationship now. The nobles and powers that be on both sides are less than thrilled with this, but the common folk have embraced each other for the time being. Go to Comment
Take a pinch of sun, a sprinkle of rain, cool nights and warm days, a vineyard of well-drained Piedmont soil, and an ancient tradition around the hilltop town of Morressa. Age in oak barrels. Yield: Some of the best red wines in the world.
Morressa is a on top of the largest of the rolling hills found in the area. It is a sea of green dotted with vineyards and the occasional other farm. The village is full of your standard square plaster buildings, topped with red tile roofs. Generations of vintners have come from this town. The world does beat a path to its door. Go to Comment
Oren
This village is nothing special. In fact, all the villages around here are pretty average. However, Oren is the central one, so all the little roads in the area lead eventually to Oren. The road from Oren leads to the local city.
The terrain here is more important than the village. This is a low flat farmland not far from a big river. The last two kings have built a large number of canals and levies in this area. They are used to carry farm goods out of and finished good into the plains. It also allows faster movement from the coast and rivers to the mountain borders.
Some untold weather will occur, usually at a dramatic moment. Oren (and other villages) will be at risk when the water rises.
You could be charged with stopping the flood before it starts.
More heroically, imagine a fight scene on a levy or barge as the water rises. You could be in a low area fighting something, and the water spills over the levies, slowly flooding where you are. You could be racing to reach the next levy before you get washed away by the wall of water coming towards you. Go to Comment
Rafute
This small village (and surrounding area) is known for some of the finest pork in the world. Their pigs are huge and a bit more wild than most domesticated pigs. Between good genetics and the local feed, they produce fine pigs.
The local cooks are quite skilled. Rafute, the Dish comes from this very village. This and other excellent pork dishes are a specialty here. Go to Comment
The village (and all the buildings here abouts) are all painted in various shades of blue and white. The village is good sized and there seems to be some traffic along these roads.
It seems the local mushrooms (which are everywhere after a rain, but in the local woods nearly year round) and soft stones found in the rolling hills in the area produced blue pigments suitable for paint, dyes, and ceramic glazes. Go to Comment
Flattown is a good sized island in the Pymean Delta that empties into the Western Ocean. It is dead center in the flow just after the Northern Cole and the Western Cole merge into the Pymean River. It is a ten minute trip by pole boat to the shorelines. It is about an hour and some to get down to Old Town dock or two hours getting back.
Here the fishing and hunting is good. The lands (mostly) protected by the levies around it are fertile. While Soy for feed is the main crop (shipped up rivers), any number of other crops are planted. The buildings are an odd mix of ramshackle wood and brick. The main business in the town is "stop overs" for river boats going up and down the Delta. There is a small entertainment district which employs most of the population of Flattown, providing things that more respectable ports of call don't provide.
The Island was just called Flat by the boaters. The village here is called a town because most boat owners won't or can't (by charter) stop at the villages along the river... only the towns.
Locations (City) (Any)
The road here parallels the river. It is not a mighty river, but it is much more than a creek. The village here is built in the shadow of a cliff. There is a waterfall (and wide pond) a stone's throw from the buildings that make up the village. The village and various out buildings are between the road and the river.
The villagers supplement their income portering boat and goods up and down the cliff, by going around the cliff proper by following a side trail.
The initial buildings of this village are the various outbuildings and remaining parts of the main house, that made up Lord Kellers land. Lord Keller and family died in the house fire. No one else noble has taken up residence in these parts. So the locals sort of moved into the various surviving buildings and have build up a village since then. Go to Comment