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THE
MANTHRIAN
VILLAGE
OF MYRTH |
Once a small but prosperous
lumber camp, the Manthrian village of Myrth stands
amid a forest of rotting stumps and scraggly brush a mere stone's throw away
from the rushing waters of the Mashdai
River. Having devoured its main source of income in its fanatic zeal for
wealth, the settlement of approximately one hundred now lies underneath a cloud
of poverty and disrepair; its once valued lumber supplies replaced by other
areas of the Kingdom of Santharia. Though the
villagers still manage to sell small quantities of wood to Chrondra and to
Marcogg, the importance of their supplies is not
nearly much as in their heyday.
Description.
Situated around an overgrown path choked by wild grasses and other small
plants, to the casual observer, Myrth is often mistaken for an abandoned
settlement hardly worthy of a second glance. As a mere shadow of its formal
glory, the broken boards and cracked paint of the collection of weathered
buildings seem to verify this assumption.
The handful of wooden shacks and small cottages that actually house permanent
residents are clustered in small groups at the village’s northern- and
southernmost reaches. Almost identical in layout, both clusters are centered
around a communal lumber mill, used to process the day's haul into a marketable
ware. The heavy silence that hangs stiflingly in the
air as the villagers process solemnly out to
the forests at daybreak and return wearily as the
sun disappears behind the horizon
underscores the eerie ambiance created by the mass of ramshackle structures.
The soft murmur of its rushing waters audible throughout the settlement, the
river Mashdai lies nearly flush against the village’s western flank. With
choppy crests sparkling like the facets of a beautiful aquamarine, the river
laps at the foundations of the spattering of shabby wooden huts that line its
banks. Home to the handful of locals who work as fisherman and captain the
ferries, these few men and women are the only inhabitants of the settlement who
maintain regular contact with the outside world, keeping up to date on the
latest news from Chrondra through their interactions with business partners
purchasing the town’s wares or travelers passing through. As a result of their
interactions with Chrondra and Marcogg, these few
Avennorian families seem almost
out of place amidst the shroud of gloom and isolation that hangs over the rest
of the settlement, and prefer to keep their social interactions among
themselves.
Location. Nestled in the
remnants of the grove that once stood in its place, the village of Myrth stands
directly opposite Chrondra, its fading wealth and depressed economy a stark
contrast to the majesty and power of the city on the far side of the Upper
Mashdai. Following either the river or the trails leading through the
Stormwarden Ridge, Myrth lies about a day’s journey from its nearest neighbor
to the south, the imposing metropolis of the capital,
Marcogg.
To the north and the east, the small settlement finds itself flanked by the
numerous towns and forts erected underneath the shadows of the
Mithral Mountains and the Sentinels.
People. Myrth’s
population of roughly a hundred consists mainly of the descendants of once
opportunistic settlers from Marcogg and Chrondra with
a sizeable minority of Avennorian
humans. Once a booming young lumber-camp, the village finds its population
steadily dwindling as its members slowly drift back to the larger neighboring
cities able to support their needs.
The sour taste, often accompanying the bitter realization that one’s dreams of
wealth, power and prosperity shall never be fulfilled, defines the demeanor of
the remaining members of Mryth. While not hostile or exclusory, the atmosphere
of Myrth differs greatly from the opportunistic mood of a location such as
Courtford, instead adopting a more mordant and
pessimistic view.
Save for the handful of Avennorian families who make a living providing a ferry
service across the Upper Masdai to Chrondra and to
Marcogg,
the populace of Myrth is predominantly loggers and their families. Moving in
large groups, and often accompanied by a horse and pulled log-bed, the village’s
men travel miles through cleared forest daily to reach the sparse groupings if
trees to the north and south.
One of the more conspicuous aspects of the tribal composition of the inhabitants
of Myrth, given its proximity to both Stormwarden Ridge and the cultural melting
pot of Chrondra, is the distinct lack of
Serphelorians. While
Serphelorian women may have
proven quite capable of fending for themselves in fields considered generally to
be a man’s realm, the tribe’s code of honour, the katmoh, prizes charity,
friendliness and the assistance of others, characteristics that stray far from
the principles of greed and a desire for material wealth that serve as the
cornerstone for the foundation of Myrth. As such, members of the tribe tend to
avoid the settlement, condemning it as a place of vice.
Though it is difficult to prove, it is worth mentioning that some believe many
of Myrth’s abandoned buildings, particularly the larger ones, such as former
taverns or general stores, located towards the center of the settlement have
come to serve as bases of operations for Chrondra’s branch of the infamous
Underground. While rumors of such a grand over-arching scheme can be left to the
conspiracy theorists, being only a hop, skip and a jump away from the city
proper and containing an abundance of free living quarters have made portions of
Myrth an ideal hideaway for those ladies-of-the-night, pickpockets and other
unsavory characters who have attracted unwanted attention from the law across
the river.
Climate. Pressed
comfortably between the storms and cool air
billowing down from the jagged peaks of the
Mithral Mountains and the refreshingly chilled waters of the Upper Masdai as
they mix with the hot, dry climate of the majority of the eastern side of the
Santharian Kingdom, Myrth, and the forest that
formerly housed it, are situated in the perfect environment for plant growth and
cultivation. A tempered winter and summer allow for plant-life to flourish year
round, carpeting the remnants of the forest floor with
doch nut and
goldenbell bushes and ptoria weed
peeking out from amidst the rotting stumps of once magnificent trees.
Though rain occurs sparingly, often in harsh and tumultuous storms traveling in
from the mountain ranges to the east, the soil is kept fertile and moist by
nutrients swept in from the north by the river. Though it has yet to be
attempted, due to the vast amount of resources and effort required, should the
forest remnants be cleared, it is quite possible that the land could be suitable
for farming.
Flora. Immediately
surrounding Myrth, amidst the remnants of the grove that once stood there, lies
a carpet of bushes and weeds ranging from the doch nut shrub to the
ptoria weed. As one moves further
away from the settlement, the small, scraggly shrubs and weeds are replaced
first thin-trunked birch and eventually powerful oak and mighty urban trees. In
these depths of the forest, where the towering trees shade the moist ground, an
assortment of vines and mosses cover the ground and curl around bases of trees.
Fauna. Once brimming
with fuzzy woodland creatures of all sorts, ranging from the cutest chipmunk to
the fiercest black bear, as time has progressed, the animal composition of Myrth
has drastically changed. Where once wild beasts dominated, as the area has
become increasingly deforested, domestic animals have become common. Requiring a
sizeable number of beasts of burden to haul felled trees,
horses, oxen and donkeys of all kinds are
the most common animal life in the region.
Resources. Despite
their lack of prosperity in recent times, Myrth is situated upon a gold mine of
natural resources. Running along its entire western flank, the Upper Mashdai
provides the village with an unlimited supply of fresh water, able to be used
for drinking as well as washing, and a steady supply of fish. To its immediate
north and south, Myrth is surrounded by a dwindling supply of its life-blood and
sole export, lumber. While the village is on the decline, due to the quickly
evaporating supply of trees, should it so desire, its prime location would allow
it to be converted into either a small fisherman’s hamlet or a quarry-town.
Myth/Lore. Local
believers in the Twelvern faith, particularly those who worship the goddess
Jeyriall and the Hunter-God
Arvins, are under the impression that the village’s decline stems from its
inhabitants offense to the gods. Consumed by its lust for wealth, the settlers
completely usurped the delicate balance of life gingerly constructed by the
Green Prince and, through their flagrant
disregard for the forest and the creatures it housed, disrespected the
Goddess of the Harvest, the source of
all life. As a punishment for the offenses committed against them, it is
believed that the two gods cursed the ground upon which Myrth stands, slowly
drawing life from the forest and stilling the growth and reproduction of its
trees and creatures.
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