Bledfeld
Within the living memory of some of its inhabitants, Bledfeld was a sleepy farming community that was the focal point of the agrarian activity that kept the town of Vorcastle and its fortress to the north fed and watered. However, Bledfeld’s recent history is one of strife and sadness.
Though it lies just within sight of Vorcastle, the village lies within the territory claimed by Nova Norgantho, whilst its larger neighbour remains under the control of the Empire of Turelion. Whilst Bledfeld’s people empathise with and support the Rebel Nation’s rule, they have found themselves on the front line of an attritional and bloody war.
Even though the village has no strategic value, it is regularly attacked by Imperial forces, hoping both to stop Nova Norgantho's forces from fortifying the settlement and potentially turning it into a base from which they could launch concerted assaults against Vorcastle, but also to grind down the will of the few remaining people who have stubbornly refused to leave their homes.
Demographics
Before the secession of Nova Norgantho from the Empire of Turelion, the population of Bledfeld numbered at close to 500. However, after close to a century of constant conflict taking place in and around their community, the population of the village has plummeted to fewer than eighty souls.
Originally, the community had a socio-economic makeup similar to other comparable agrarian communities across Kelbonnar’s Material Plane. Now however, all of Bledfeld’s people struggle to survive day to day.
Government
Before the secession of Nova Norgantho, Bledfeld was run, like most settlements in the Empire of Turelion, by an Alderman who was appointed to run the community on behalf of the Satrap of Norgantho Province.
When the secession of the Rebel Nation began in 488DW, the last Alderman fled before the violence could reach so far north in the Province. As another Alderman was never appointed, the people of the Bledfeld elected a village council to make important decision on their behalf. This council model has persisted throughout the dark days of the village’s recent history, but now as so few villagers remain, all of them come together in council to make key decisions, as there is now little point in them appointing representatives.
Defences
Originally, Bledfeld had a palisade wall along with an accompanying external ditch to protect it from the dangers that occasionally strayed out of the wilder reaches of the Worfal Tundra.
However, since the conflict between the Empire and Nova Norgantho began, successive imperial attacks have dismantled most of this palisade wall, with the remainder being slowly chilled away at by the village’s residents for firewood.
Whilst occasionally troops from Nova Norgantho will be stationed in the village, usually as a show of strength following a raid from Vorcastle , Bledfeld has no formal defence force. The people of Bledfled have learned the hard way that if any of them are suspected of bearing arms against the Empire of Turelion, they will at best be killed on the spot during the Empire’s periodic raids out of Vorcastle, or at worst be dragged back to what remains of Norgantho Province and handed over to agents of the Imperial Inquisition for lengthy and painful questioning.
The ‘Bloody Fields’
The frequent clashes between the forces of the Empire of Turelion and Nova Norgantho in and around the village, along with the regular raids of the village itself that Imperial forces carry out means that the village has become more colloquially known throughout the Rebel Nation as the ‘Bloody Fields’. Where once fields of wheat and vegetables grew and livestock grazed the bones and rusting weapons and armour of countless dead soldiers are scattered, their numbers added to on a regular basis. The village itself is a shadow of its former tranquillity. Most of its buildings have either been abandoned and fallen into disrepair, or have been damaged to the point of dilapidation by the fighting. Those buildings that are still lived in are ramshackled affairs, patched up and held together with whatever the remaining villagers can scrounge from the surrounding wreckage. People from elsewhere in Nova Norgantho are always staggered by the tales that their soldiers bring back south of people still clinging on to the ghosts of their former lives in Bledfeld and when asked, Bledfeldians will always reply that the village is their home and that it has been home for their families for generations. Those who have remained are adamant that one day they will be able to live peaceful lives again and rebuild their community, even if the current situation feels cruelly hopeless.Industry & Trade
Long before the war between the Empire of Turelion and Nova Norgantho, Bledfeld was founded to be the focal point of the agricultural activity that fed and supported its northern neighbour, the town of Vorcastle and its garrison of troops.
Now, however, little agricultural activity, other than the basic subsistence farming of its inhabitants takes place there and there is little industry other than the salvaging of weapons and armour from the many battle sites littered both within and around the village. This salvage is gathered by the villagers and kept in hidden caches until patrols from Nova Norgantho arrive, to whom the scrap will be sold in exchange for food and other supplies.
Infrastructure
Though the village lies on the Norgantho Way, no trade caravans have travelled either north from Hraman or south from Vorcastle for many years. Indeed, the road that was once a source of life and prosperity for the Bledfeldians is now a curse, as the military forces of both sides use it as a faster route north or south, which normally leads them to meet in battle in and around the village.
The village was never large enough to have an underground sewer network, but as the population of the village is now so small this lack of sanitation is a relatively trivial problem compared to everything else its inhabitants have to endure.
Originally, the village had a large fountain in its central square, which was both ornamental and which provided the bulk of Bledfeld’s drinking water. However, this water source was poisoned a couple of years into the conflict by Imperial forces as they retreated back to Vorcastle and it has remained tainted ever since. To safeguard their water supply, the village’s inhabitants now excavate small boreholes that they secrete within abandoned buildings, where they will hopefully remain undetected by Imperial forces.
Geography
The village of Bledfeld is located on a small hill that rises out of the surrounding scrubby grassland of the Worfal Tundra.
Founding Date
125DP
Alternative Name(s)
Bloodyfeld / the Bloody Fields
Type
Village
Population
c.80
Location under
Owning Organization
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