Castell Village
This 600 hundred year old settlement is the most important of the villages in the Valley of Fair. The village sits near the foot of the surrounding mountains and consists of about 80 houses. At the eastern side of the village is the famous Sanctuary of Khanna at Castell, one of the most important centers of the worshippers of the goddess Khanna. At the northern edge of the village is the Alyite Chapter House of Castell.
Demographics
The village is occupied by a population predominately of Mountaineer origin. The village's importance to Khannist Faith has drawn many Southrons and Northrons to the village. All three populations have a heavy leavening of Corgerians. The witch community also includes a handful of Danites and Dark Corgerians. The village also has small Danite merchant clan that manages many of the imports and exports from the valley.
Government
The Coven of Castell acts as the village's government but mainly does so through building cooperation and consensus. Most of the villagers are related to each other in some way with kinship ties helping decrease conflicts. The Coven most actively governs if the village is somehow under outside threat or in adjudicating the use of communal lands.
Defences
The village is surrounded by wooden fences primarily meant to keep domestic animals in and wild ones out. There are no actual fortifications with the isolation of the valley and the magical power of the Coven of Castell serving as the main deterrents to attack. The Alyite Chapter of Castell maintains a fortified compound adjacent to the northern road into the village. The compound consists of a stable, a keep and a storehouse surrounded by a 12' stone wall with battlements and a walkway.
Industry & Trade
Most villagers practice farming as their main means of subsistence, but hunting, fur trapping, weaving and woodworking are common secondary occupations. During the winter, when the valley is blanketed in snow the main focus is on crafts. The village, like other communities in the Valley is known for the production of high quality cider and cheeses. The chief craft items produced in the village are intricately decorated wooden boxes, woven blankets with bright geometic patterns and fur-lined boots.
Infrastructure
The village is centered around a cobblestone main street with lateral dirt roads spreading out from the main road. A collection essential business like a tavern, wheelwright, blacksmith, potter and shoemaker are located here. Small farms surrounded by wooden fences spread out from the village shelter along with a number of walled apple orchards.
Assets
Like all the villages in the valley, the residents of Castell spend the frowing season accumulating a vareity of preserved and stable foodstuffs to get through the long winter. The domestic food supply is supplemented with wild game and the bounty of the valley's many fish ponds. Quality wood, furs, leather and wool are all stockpiled to support the winter's extensive crafting activities.
History
The village was established during the current era in the year 347 by the Khannist witch Martella Ammanos. Martella has found the valley during her wanderings in the Spine and brought her extended family here to settle on the fertile land with it's sacred grotto. Over time, Martella attracted other Khanna worshipping families to the valley and established the Coven of Castell. The Coven effectively became the valley's government and encouraged more witches to journey to the valley and establish more settlments. With the villages sacred grotto and it's impressive wooden shrine to valley became a center of pilgrimage and learning for the the followers of Khanna.
Tourism
The village is a religious pilgrimage site for worshippers of Khanna with individuals and small groups of witches visiting the shrine and often staying for extended periods of time to study with the Coven of Castell.
Architecture
The village's houses are typically wooden framed with wattle and daub walls and shingle roofs. The houses are typically decorated with birghtly painted woodwork and a tin or brass lantern with colored glass is traditionallly hung over the door. The houses have steeply pitched roofs to shed the copious winter snow.
Climate
The village enjoys pleasant summers, but suffers through cold, snowy mountain winters.
Natural Resources
The valley is very fertile and well watered. Apple orchards, fields of hearty grains and pastures fill the valley. The valley's ponds are used for fish farming and the wooded slopes of the surrounding mountains are carefully managed to provide a steady supply of wood for fuel and building.
Founding Date
347
Alternative Name(s)
Castell
Type
Village
Population
320
Location under
Included Locations
Owning Organization
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