Spiritkeepers
The Spiritkeepers are a group of people who purposely left Ketra and who have chosen to live in a temporary camp northeast of the city in a small forest. Spiritkeepers are folks who got fed up with Keizl and his criminal enterprise running the city. They're merchants who got tired of paying for "protection," homeowners who couldn't afford his "taxes," and regular people who were scared to walk the streets because of the gangs he allowed to run rampant. The Spiritkeepers have banded together to fight against Keizl and his corruption of Ketra. Their leaders and founders are Petyr and Marta Lowaxe.
Structure
Petyr Lowaxe is the leader. His wife, Marta Lowaxe, is in charge of vetting and onboarding new recruits to the cause. She is his partner in decision-making for the organization. There are six members of the council, to which they both answer. The members represent different groups of people and each has their own strength. Everyone participates in daily chores, as well as guarding the Covert.
Culture
The members of the Spiritkeepers believe that Keizl is the enemy in Ketra and that he needs to be rooted out and replaced with a stronger mayor and city council, as well as a city guard that actually does its job. As a whole, the Spiritkeepers are mistrusting of outsiders due to the necessary secrecy of the Covert.
Public Agenda
There are weekly meetings between the leaders and their council to discuss progress on goals set at the last meeting. There are monthly meetings that the rest of the Covert can join and participate in. The primary goal of Spiritkeepers is to keep their members safe from Keizl. Another very important goal is getting Keizl out of power.
Assets
The Spiritkeepers have little in the way of physical assets, aside from the homes they've built high in the trees. They maintain a small amount of silver with which to bribe guards and minor political figures. The only weapons they have are the ones people thought to bring with them. The same is true of horses. They are not destitute, however, as many of their people are skilled workers who produce things that can be traded, such as furniture or jewelry or clothing.
History
Petyr and Marta Lowaxe left Ketra in early 1877 with what little they could carry from their homes on horseback. They'd decided once and for all that they had had enough of Keizl and the way he ran the city as if it was his own personal playground. They'd notified a few people of their intentions to leave, so their party consisted of a total of 6 families. They were not a large enough group to attract attention. They journeyed for three days before finding a large forest that the horses were scared to enter. Even some of the people were frightened, saying they could hear spirits in the woods. Petyr and Marta's common sense won the day and both horses and people were calmed and led into the woods. Upon further inspection, the forest appeared to be the perfect spot for a secret settlement. The Covert wasn't officially recognized as a settlement until sometime in 1878, when the Spiritkeepers had been an organization for a year.
Demography and Population
At present, there are around 300 members in the organization. Most reside in the Covert but some reside in Ketra to provide current events and act as spies.
Territories
The Spiritkeepers hold the Covert and the forest around it by force. The woods have a reputation for being haunted and the people have turned that to their advantage, increasing the spookiness of sounds coming from within. Also, they reinforce the rumor that people who go into the forest never come out. Generally, this is because they are indoctrinated into the Spiritkeepers and decide to stay because it's in their best interests. However, there have been those who have sworn to tell the world about the secret hideout and those had to be held prisoner indefinitely.
Military
There is no military force to speak of but all able-bodied people are trained several times a week in hand-to-hand and mounted combat. They are also trained in stealth and arboreal maneuvers.
Technological Level
The sleeping pods are an innovation, since at first they were building wooden tree houses but that involved felling trees, a practice the forest didn't seem to like. The forest now seems to appreciate having the vines groomed from its limbs and trunk, allowing it to breathe freely and receive sunshine. The weapons are primitive but because each member practices with them twice to several times a week, they're fairly deadly up close with a spear or from a distance with a bow and arrow.
Religion
All religions are welcome within the Spiritkeepers, with two rules: you are not allowed to proselitize to anyone and you must be tolerant of other faiths. Breaking these rules leads to punishment up to or including being bound and gagged for a period of no less than three days, being put in the stockades, or serving meals for three weeks in the humblest of shifts.
Laws
The Spiritkeepers follow the same laws as Ketra, the difference being that the laws here are enforced. New laws come before the council as suggestions from the people. They discuss them and bring them before Petyr and Marta, who either ratify them or deny them. The Spiritkeepers have a kind of police force that's responsible for bringing in offenders and jailing them if that's their sentence.
Agriculture & Industry
Parts of the forest have cleared themselves in order to provide food for the Covert. No one has been able to explain these clearings, other than the forest itself caring for them. The trees around the clearings grow extra tall and thick, making them invisible from the outside but allowing plant life to grow inside. This means that Spiritkeepers are able to feed themselves. They are not an agricultural power. Also, bees are plentiful in the Covert and there are those who work with the bees to harvest honey.
Education
There is a school teacher who is a member of the Spiritkeepers. She teaches the children and also runs a class for adults from time to time. The adult classes vary, from learning to read late in life, to translating ancient texts from Early Shotarkian to Modern Shotarkian. The education level of the Covert varies widely. There are a few doctorate level scholars and there are those who barely made it out of primary school.
Infrastructure
The Spiritkeepers have managed to weave sturdy pods out of vines that are suspended from high in the trees. These are large enough to serve as one's rooms. A bedroom could contain a large bed, an armoire, a nightstand, and a chair or stool sat next to a desk. An adjoining bathroom pod could contain a shower or bath cleverly plumbed from the creek north of the Covert. The water is warmed in the pipes by magical rings created to heat the pipe and, subsequently, the water. The bathroom pod also contains a basin for washing your hands and a toilet of sorts, which is plumbed to a deep pit that removes the liquid waste and sends it to a special holding tank that cleans the water using magical disks, made out of clear quartz crystal. The solid waste is removed once a year by a mage with no nose who has made it his profession to make poop disappear into thin air.
Towards a peaceful Ketra
Founding Date
1877
Type
Illicit, Rebel
Training Level
Semi-trained
Leader
Founders
Economic System
Barter system
Location
Comments