Caracara
Caracara (care-ah-CAR-ah) is a small town in the province of Austimere in the Kingdom of Lionen. It is a moderately sized town of just over 1200 and is known for the blood-red crimsonwood found there and in other parts of the Bloodsap Wood, the Shimmermoon lake, whose surface always perfectly reflects Aramanth's moon, Old Ember, upon its still surface, and the Crooked Hills, a region that over the years has hosted a number of sects and faiths dedicated to prophesy, though all of which have fallen to ruin in modern days.
The town is ruled by a council of nobles with the advice and guidance of both the Exultist and Flame churches. It hosts an inn and two taverns, and a mild amount of specialty commerce.
The Caracara Fair
Likely the most notable thing about Caracara is the fair that occurs during autumn every year. Owing to Caracara's location near a well patrolled and relatively well-used crossroads, the town has managed to leverage its location to become an area in which traders, merchants, and revelers wealthy or daring enough to make the trip all come together to exchange goods, coins, and more. During this time a number of caravans come bringing those from larger cities and wealthier enclaves, nearly doubling the town's population for the duration of the fair. For two weeks the town hosts a number of games, contests, and events to go along with the various merchants that come to share their wares. Most famous among the events held at the fare are the Kite Duels, in which hundreds of participants raise high ornately designed kites equipped with thin blades with which they to cut the lines of their competitors. This is by far the most popular event and is held daily during the fair. Other contests include fencing, dancing, poetry, drinking, and (a favorite perhaps second only to Kite Dueling) Karnosian fisticuffs. Plays, orations, and debates are also held during this time, often with scholars giving talks on various topics material, philosophical, and arcane.Recent Concerns
Of some concern to the Noble Council has been the recent disappearance of some of their citizenry. Many believe this may be the work of a particularly aggressive goblin band that seems to have recently taken up residence in the Crooked Hills. The Exultists have entreated to the other goblin communities in regards to this, only to find many of them deserted, and the others far too skittish to speak with. More perplexing, however, has been the sudden and inexorable appearance of tek in the area. Caracara has been well known for its relatively sparse deposits of drit and other forms of tek detritus in which salvaging of such devices is normally performed, and yet in recent months tek functional enough to classify as cyphers have shown up out in fields, dredged up from the rivers, and sometimes even appearing overnight in the middle of the street. At the fervent assistance of the Exult Priests, the cyphers have been collected as best they can and stored at the Clave for safekeeping, but it is suspected that many have taken to secreting away the suddenly appearing cyphers in hopes of drawing some boon from the devices. Perhaps owing to the fact that study has found that, thus far, only minor and relatively benign forms of tek have been found, the decision by the council has been made to alleviate this large quantity of tek by offering them as prizes in the upcoming fair games. This decision has proved considerably controversial by the Exultist deacon operating form within the Clave.Government
Caracara is ruled by a town council of minor nobles who report to Duchess Elia'lean, they receive advice from both the head priest of the Flame Church, who doubles as the town's judge, and an Exultist Deacon, who handles the town's archives and education.
Defences
The Tall Maul militia serves as the town's primary defenders. They serve to dissuade raids from the scattered goblin communities who choose to live in the Crooked Hills to the east of town, though more dangerous bands of abhumans occasionally migrate to the area, usually necessitating both reinforcements from the church and cooperation with the local goblins to fight off.
Industry & Trade
The people of Caracara make steady trade from the crimsonwood trees that fill the forests to the south, and fish from the Shimmermoon Lake hold chemicles with unique properties valuable to far off Maginatrix traders. This is all augmented by the yearly festival, which sees a notable explosion of trade in various goods and services and brings merchants from many places to the region.
Assets
Caracara holds a small number of wealthy noble families with villas in town who provide the majority of the town's taxes. Most of the town's funds comes from the yearly Caracara Festival that is held in early autumn, which sees caravans of travelers come from as far away as Karnos and South Maginatrix.
Guilds and Factions
- The Lionen Red Lumber Company holds a small office in town, where it contracts out the extraction of lumber from the nearby forests. In theory, they are supposed to send regular reports to the head office in Narfel, but the distance from the capital makes these communications a rare occurrence. The orc Dren Bogdoth runs the local company with a lax, affable hand.
- The Flame Church has the largest building in town, a large cathedral that sees more than half of the town's inhabitants in for weekly services. Marta Iathrana is the head priest, and also the town's judge. She has a reputation for being fair and well-liked by the townspeople.
- The Exultist Clave is small, though it has a number of adherents to come to the regular services held there. An eccentric and sometimes prickly man named Delebean Dunben serves as the deacon, though he is rarely seen outside of meetings with the nobles' council, and most services are held by his apprentice priests.
- The Nobles' Council is local organization formed from the five wealthy families in Caracara who serve as liasions between the town and the Duchess. They ensure proper taxes and tithes are collected, that the duke's crops are proportioned out, and, when necessary, fighting men and women are sent to serve when threats rise against the province. Aenry Kelia is the most prominent of the nobles, a reserved, even withdrawn man of mixed ancestry concerns himself most with maintaining the town's prosperity above all.
- The Tall Mauls is the local militia, charged with protecting Caracara from external threats (The Flame Church is usually left to handle law and order within town). They train with the Church templars and can often be found sent out to scare away goblin troublemakers or, more dangerously and thankfully more rarely, to battle abhuman raiders, which usually come in the form of the goat-headed margyr. The head of the Tall Mauls is a plain-spoken dwarf woman named Kathra Synthfist.
History
Formed in the still tumultuous years after Lionen's founding, Caracara was founded by human and elf veterans of the Voidgate Wars who wanted a quiet place to settle down away from the chaotic reconstruction and politics of the burgeoning political structures of Lionen. By the time the provinces were divided out by the newly crowned monarchy to the various appointed dukes and duchesses, Caracara was already a community of several hundred. While the community has grown slowly over the decades, they remain a relatively safe a prosperous town, owing to both the available lumber and fishing resources and the relative lack of major threats in the area.
Architecture
Most buildings are made from the blood-red crimsonwood lumber found in the nearby forests. Owing perhaps to the considerable elven population, most buildings are elegantly crafted, and save for the manors of the noble family and the Flame Church cathedral, few buildings rise over two stories.
Geography
Caracara is nestled within a wide valley and next to a moderately sized lake fed from the Locklaine River which runes down the western side of the valley, which exits east and flows out eventually into the Still Sea. To the North are the Crooked Hills a series of grassy downs that whose shape gets increasingly peculiar farther northward until it is overtaken by the Bloodvale Forest.
Founding Date
120 FE
Type
Town
Population
1245
Inhabitant Demonym
Caracaran
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Related Reports (Primary)
Related Reports (Secondary)
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