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Winter, 1325
Stanton was an ugly little settlement, a helter-skelter assortment of houses situated at the bottom of several flat, dusty hills. It was a good-sized town with a population of about 2000 hardy and hardworking individuals. There was a single tavern that doubled as a place of boarding, a town square, a small chapel and a speaking platform and a public well within the square, as well as a blacksmith shop a short distance away, billowing smoke forge. In the distance, perched on the highest hill in the area, stood a windmill gently blowing in the evening breeze; some of the last townsfolk who milled their grain this day were heading home.
Despite its forgettable description, the town’s location was another matter; it was the northernmost settlement in the Western Piedmont, twenty miles from other towns and relatively isolated from the South. The hills dominated this area, though within a mile or two the dusty plain gave way to the large but fordable Rapidan River, which made a sharp bend around the hills, providing the inhabitants with fresh water and irrigation. The Rapidan was lined with trees, the northern shore consisting of a large coniferous ecosystem stretching all the way into the mountains, where it joined with the formidable Kern River. The south shore was more scattered between the conifers and the carboniferous trees, though most of any type were cut down to build the mentioned settlement. A large irrigation canal branched West from the Rapidan, powering a water wheel and watering several dozen fields nearby. The entire area was dominated by the nearby Snowdon Range, with Snowdon Mountain in the center, Mountain Rubinox to the East, and two mountains in Corioli Lord Fairfax had tactfully named Fairfax Mountain and Satraph’s Mountain to the West. These mountains blocked the passage of the clouds northwards, which in turn unleashed torrential rainfall onto Stanton during the spring months, turning the unpaved streets into mires.
Trudging through that muck was the hunter Logan Durham, who cursed as an entire leg sank deeply into a miniature quagmire. After several frustrating minutes digging out his leg, he resumed his trek toward the town he had spent five days trudging to. It was early spring and the bearberries and bell heathers were beginning to bloom, though the hunter didn’t notice as he brushed off the melting snow from his pack and swung it onto his back while continuing forward. Logan was thinking about a good rest he would have. After weeks of subsisting on forest game the hunter was quite eager to get back to some civilization, crude though this place was. Even so, Logan took care to walk slowly and assertively; chest out, head high, awl pike hanging on his backpack like a maypole, sword in obvious view by his side. Experience had taught him not to show any sign of weakness or desperation in front of potential customers. Woods soon led to fields, fields to farms and the first signs of habitation, then after a final rise, the town itself appeared. The town did not have a wall, but Logan noticed a pair of guards idly chatting at the juncture where the road entered the town proper.
The houses of Stanton that lined the road he walked along were simple, plebeian one-room abodes with thatched or planked roofs; a few had small gardens or pigpens or simply refuse piles that mixed with the melting snow and the unpaved road to create a malodorous mess. Logan keenly avoided the worst spots along the street, though he was still very quickly caked in a fresh layer of mud.
Much like the rest of the townsfolk, the hunter thought dryly as he observed the inhabitants going about their lives.
Nina Paley-This Land is Mine (Andy Williams)
More map stuff because I like maps. Map generated by https://inkarnate.com/
Most of the setting of my story takes place in about a 160 mile X 160 mile area on the Piedmont on the edge of the Wilds and between the ill-defined borders between the Satrapies of Pometia and Corioli. The area is dominated by the Southern Ranges and a bend where the Kern River joins up with the Rapidan, known as the "River Triangle". The River Triangle has a population of about 90000 humans, who are scattered around 4 towns: Triford and Goldsboro, both with a population of about 3000, Stanton with a population around 2000, and Brekshire, with a population of about 1000. About 10x the town populations reside in the fields and farms around each town. They are hardy folk, mostly second generation inhabitants of this historically mining region after the ore played out but the land remained fertile.
Stanton is the Northernmost of the River Triangle Settlements, at the end of the Old North Road near the torrential and flood-prone junction itself. Priding itself as a last outpost of civilization, the town resides in the shadow of the Snowdon Mountains. A strategic gap, the Giant's Pass, leads up from Stanton to one of the major access routes into the Great Back Valley, home to the great Ironwood Forest and the mysterious inhabitants, the Sabines. Other inhabitants include at least 2 goblin tribes, one in the Hinterlands and one in the Southern Ranges, and an ocassional satyr or Cynocephali. These creatures would ocassionally raid Stanton, and with wolves and bears being issues as well Stanton has developed a strong militia and security element.
About 30 years ago, King Sebastian Walker of the Kingdom of Auxia had attempted to open the Great Back Valley to human settlement, the fourth attempt by humans to settle across the mountain ranges. He had built the North Road, improved the towns in the River Triangle, and gave Stanton, Goldsboro and Triford Free Town status. Then he marched his 11000 strong army through Giant's Pass to establish new human settlements at Castaic and Piru in the Ironwood Forest.
And then King Sebastian died, along with most of his men at the Battle of the Wabash against the Sabine Pine Raiders, who like the previous three attempts, did not take kindly to the intrusion. Castaic and Piru were stormed, sacked and destroyed, and the few surviving humans fled back across the Southern Ranges. In the dynastic chaos that followed, Old Prince Jayden took the throne, and Lord Fairfax of Corioli attempted to annex the River Triangle. Local leaders appealed to Lord Colfax of Pometia for help. Lord Colfax defeated Lord Fairfax at Planasia and hence the River Triangle nominally came under Pometian control, though it still exhibits significant autonomy. As the Old North Road now leads nowhere and Stanton has lost its greater geostrategic purpose, it didn't really matter who was in charge at the top.
About 20 years ago, a dragon appeared atop Mount Rubinox. It began raiding farms around Stanton for livestock, especially North of the Kern River. Repeated expeditions by the townsfolk to kill or capture the dragon failed to accomplish the task, and eventually the town elders decreed the abandonment of the farms around the Kern. Since then, the dragon has decreased but never completely stopped its raiding, while the Town of Stanton has likewise decreased but never stopped its attempts at hunting down the dragon. A major factor holding back the town was the inability to find the dragon's den and catch it unawares. Through the years various would-be dragonslayers had visited, stating that they would find and kill the dragon, but none of them ever returned.
And then in 1325 came a hunter from Volscia.
Stanton was an ugly little settlement, a helter-skelter assortment of houses situated at the bottom of several flat, dusty hills. It was a good-sized town with a population of about 2000 hardy and hardworking individuals. There was a single tavern that doubled as a place of boarding, a town square, a small chapel and a speaking platform and a public well within the square, as well as a blacksmith shop a short distance away, billowing smoke forge. In the distance, perched on the highest hill in the area, stood a windmill gently blowing in the evening breeze; some of the last townsfolk who milled their grain this day were heading home.
Despite its forgettable description, the town’s location was another matter; it was the northernmost settlement in the Western Piedmont, twenty miles from other towns and relatively isolated from the South. The hills dominated this area, though within a mile or two the dusty plain gave way to the large but fordable Rapidan River, which made a sharp bend around the hills, providing the inhabitants with fresh water and irrigation. The Rapidan was lined with trees, the northern shore consisting of a large coniferous ecosystem stretching all the way into the mountains, where it joined with the formidable Kern River. The south shore was more scattered between the conifers and the carboniferous trees, though most of any type were cut down to build the mentioned settlement. A large irrigation canal branched West from the Rapidan, powering a water wheel and watering several dozen fields nearby. The entire area was dominated by the nearby Snowdon Range, with Snowdon Mountain in the center, Mountain Rubinox to the East, and two mountains in Corioli Lord Fairfax had tactfully named Fairfax Mountain and Satraph’s Mountain to the West. These mountains blocked the passage of the clouds northwards, which in turn unleashed torrential rainfall onto Stanton during the spring months, turning the unpaved streets into mires.
Trudging through that muck was the hunter Logan Durham, who cursed as an entire leg sank deeply into a miniature quagmire. After several frustrating minutes digging out his leg, he resumed his trek toward the town he had spent five days trudging to. It was early spring and the bearberries and bell heathers were beginning to bloom, though the hunter didn’t notice as he brushed off the melting snow from his pack and swung it onto his back while continuing forward. Logan was thinking about a good rest he would have. After weeks of subsisting on forest game the hunter was quite eager to get back to some civilization, crude though this place was. Even so, Logan took care to walk slowly and assertively; chest out, head high, awl pike hanging on his backpack like a maypole, sword in obvious view by his side. Experience had taught him not to show any sign of weakness or desperation in front of potential customers. Woods soon led to fields, fields to farms and the first signs of habitation, then after a final rise, the town itself appeared. The town did not have a wall, but Logan noticed a pair of guards idly chatting at the juncture where the road entered the town proper.
The houses of Stanton that lined the road he walked along were simple, plebeian one-room abodes with thatched or planked roofs; a few had small gardens or pigpens or simply refuse piles that mixed with the melting snow and the unpaved road to create a malodorous mess. Logan keenly avoided the worst spots along the street, though he was still very quickly caked in a fresh layer of mud.
Much like the rest of the townsfolk, the hunter thought dryly as he observed the inhabitants going about their lives.
Nina Paley-This Land is Mine (Andy Williams)
More map stuff because I like maps. Map generated by https://inkarnate.com/
Most of the setting of my story takes place in about a 160 mile X 160 mile area on the Piedmont on the edge of the Wilds and between the ill-defined borders between the Satrapies of Pometia and Corioli. The area is dominated by the Southern Ranges and a bend where the Kern River joins up with the Rapidan, known as the "River Triangle". The River Triangle has a population of about 90000 humans, who are scattered around 4 towns: Triford and Goldsboro, both with a population of about 3000, Stanton with a population around 2000, and Brekshire, with a population of about 1000. About 10x the town populations reside in the fields and farms around each town. They are hardy folk, mostly second generation inhabitants of this historically mining region after the ore played out but the land remained fertile.
Stanton is the Northernmost of the River Triangle Settlements, at the end of the Old North Road near the torrential and flood-prone junction itself. Priding itself as a last outpost of civilization, the town resides in the shadow of the Snowdon Mountains. A strategic gap, the Giant's Pass, leads up from Stanton to one of the major access routes into the Great Back Valley, home to the great Ironwood Forest and the mysterious inhabitants, the Sabines. Other inhabitants include at least 2 goblin tribes, one in the Hinterlands and one in the Southern Ranges, and an ocassional satyr or Cynocephali. These creatures would ocassionally raid Stanton, and with wolves and bears being issues as well Stanton has developed a strong militia and security element.
About 30 years ago, King Sebastian Walker of the Kingdom of Auxia had attempted to open the Great Back Valley to human settlement, the fourth attempt by humans to settle across the mountain ranges. He had built the North Road, improved the towns in the River Triangle, and gave Stanton, Goldsboro and Triford Free Town status. Then he marched his 11000 strong army through Giant's Pass to establish new human settlements at Castaic and Piru in the Ironwood Forest.
And then King Sebastian died, along with most of his men at the Battle of the Wabash against the Sabine Pine Raiders, who like the previous three attempts, did not take kindly to the intrusion. Castaic and Piru were stormed, sacked and destroyed, and the few surviving humans fled back across the Southern Ranges. In the dynastic chaos that followed, Old Prince Jayden took the throne, and Lord Fairfax of Corioli attempted to annex the River Triangle. Local leaders appealed to Lord Colfax of Pometia for help. Lord Colfax defeated Lord Fairfax at Planasia and hence the River Triangle nominally came under Pometian control, though it still exhibits significant autonomy. As the Old North Road now leads nowhere and Stanton has lost its greater geostrategic purpose, it didn't really matter who was in charge at the top.
About 20 years ago, a dragon appeared atop Mount Rubinox. It began raiding farms around Stanton for livestock, especially North of the Kern River. Repeated expeditions by the townsfolk to kill or capture the dragon failed to accomplish the task, and eventually the town elders decreed the abandonment of the farms around the Kern. Since then, the dragon has decreased but never completely stopped its raiding, while the Town of Stanton has likewise decreased but never stopped its attempts at hunting down the dragon. A major factor holding back the town was the inability to find the dragon's den and catch it unawares. Through the years various would-be dragonslayers had visited, stating that they would find and kill the dragon, but none of them ever returned.
And then in 1325 came a hunter from Volscia.
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1024 x 768px
File Size 1.12 MB
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