Caster's Folly
This small hamlet existed on the banks of the Carrig River prior to the Blight. A small fishing settlement consisting of a main road and several small homes and shops. While the settlement was inconspicuously unremarkable and similar to so many others, when the Blight fell an undiscovered subterranean location below the settlement opened up due to the seismic shock of the impact and swallowed the entire area, causing it to sink beneath the crumbling stone and settle in the darkness below.
Demographics
The population of Caster's Folly was entirely human, and almost entirely working class individuals that made their living either by fishing the river or supplying the needs of the fishermen that did.
Government
The burgermeister of the location handled the day to day functionary duties, maintenance and defense, and handled collection of taxes and overseeing of trade and stockpiling of goods.
Industry & Trade
Fishing was the primary source of income for the village, and the trade of the goods caught and collected was usually barely enough to keep the citizens afloat.
Infrastructure
Aside from several private homes, the only businesses in the hamlet prior to its disappearance was a small general store and a tavern.
History
The history of the small hamlet was simple. Several families settled in the same area to ply their skills upon the Carrig River and over time it became a small hamlet as the families intermarried and more joined them at the site, eventually growing large enough to merit an individual to govern the site.
It was not until after the Blight that the simple fate of this small group of people changed so drastically. As the structures sank below the churning earth and stone, many of the denizens were lost in the chaos. The citizens found themselves trapped there, surrounded by cracked and broken caverns and water that was sour and rancid. The first days following the upheaval were some of the worst, as the injured slowly fell away and the dead were gathered and piled up where they could be. As the days progressed the air itself seemed to grow cold and bitter and one by one the people began to vanish. Terrified they started to gather and attempt to consolidate their remaining resources, still hoping for rescue and unaware of what had occurred.
Several days passed as they waited, and then one of the survivors saw a light in the distance moving towards them. In their jubilation they rushed out to meet their saviors, but were instead greeted by an old battered man leaning heavily on his staff and struggling to move across the one remaining bridge that led into the hamlet. They helped him in and offered to share what they had and put him to rest in one of the remaining structures that still stood. Within the strange man remained, spending his days writing furiously and growing more and more unusual and agitated as the days went on.
Behind it all as the tensions rose, the man revealed himself to the burgermeister of the hamlet as Xendal Vedakrhi , and attempted to manipulate the man into allowing him to use the remaining survivors as a sacrifice to empower himself and save them both from certain destruction. While the burgermeister was not the strongest willed person, he stood his ground and refused, enraging the undead mage who lashed out and attempted to claim what he wished anyway, claiming several lives before the people of Caster's Folly rallied and forced him out, injuring him in the process. Xendal fled into the deeper parts of the underground never to return.
In the interim, things only got worse for the poor souls that remained. At the edge of their town, a small cave began to belch out Void energy and the denizens that exist within it. The survivors stood no chance against them, though they held out as long as they could, fighting to the last as darkness claimed their home.
Many years later, around 170 PR the location was discovered by a Professor of Archaeology from The University of the Lighted Way Nicodemus Bernhold Garrintrough, who lost the majority of his team excavating what a lost temple to the goddess Vrokhanna , a rarity even before the Blight. His explorations uncovered not only the lost temple, but the remains of Caster's Folly and Xendal as well. Sadly, the scholar did not survive his time in the subterranean location either, though he left several notes detailing some of his observations that were discovered by the group tasked to follow the fourth utterance of the Somnambulistic Prophecy . The Scattered Writings of Nicodemus Bernhold Garrintrough, Professor of Archaeology told of his discoveries and his hopes that someday, someone might return his findings to the University.
RUINED SETTLEMENT
0
Founding Date
146 AR
Type
Hamlet
Population
Approximately one hundred at the time of the Blight
Related Ethnicities
Inhabitant Demonym
Bechtlarites
Owning Organization
Comments