Goldenfields
Goldenfields is a huge, walled temple-farm dedicated to Gafsyn, the goddess of fertility and agriculture. Called "the Granary of the East," it's the only reason many Easterners ever taste soft-fleshed fruit larger than bush berries. Salzenstadt and its neighbors consume the temple's reliable output: carefully husbanded grains and dried, oil-packed, or salted foodstuffs preserved in vast storage cellars, vats, and squat stone grain-towers.
Enclave Stronghold
Run by Abbot Ellardin Darovik, Goldenfields is a stronghold of the Emerald Enclave. Members of that faction are as welcome here as clergy of Gafsyn; many of them stay for months at a time to help with the work and the vigilant defence of the farm against insects and blights, as well as would-be vandals and plunderers. Hired guards and adventurers patrol the walls and the land immediately around them. Inside the farm, young treants allied with the Emerald Enclave hide within stands of trees, ready to animate trees to repel invaders. More than five thousand people live and work in Goldenfields year-round, farming more than twenty square miles of tillage in gangs of hard-working gardeners.Features
The sprawling temple-farm is built on higher ground than the surrounding fields, and it's enclosed on all sides by a wall of mortared stone. The outer wall is 60 feet high (20 feet high inside the compound) and 30 feet wide. The wall is built out at several points, spaced at least a mile apart, with stone pagodas and barracks at those locations. These watch posts have unobstructed views of the surrounding countryside. The outer wall requires repair in many places. Time and weather have eroded some of the mortar, creating ruts between the stones that can serve as handholds and footholds. The entrance to Goldenfields is a large stone gatehouse set into the middle of the south wall. Beyond its gates, dirt roads crisscross the compound's interior, providing passage between and through its fields and orchards. Roads also run along the inside of the wall, connecting the various watch posts. During the harvest season, wagons make their way between the fields, gathering food and grain and transporting it to cellars beneath the watch posts, where the food is kept under lock and key until caravans from Salzenstadt City and other settlements arrive to pick it up. In addition to the large grain fields, fruit orchards, and vegetable gardens, smaller gardens hug the outer walls. These gardens grow berries, rhubarb plants, and other such fares. Most of Goldenfields' workers live in a small town situated near the abbey, where the abbot hosts morning, noon, and evening prayer. North of town is an enormous inn called Northfurrow's End. Visitors planning to spend the night in Goldenfields are directed here.Notable Locations
Earth Mother's Bounty
The first thing visitors to Goldenfields see as they pass through the gatehouse is a 20-foot-tall wooden statue of Gafsyn, depicted as a plump, smiling woman standing with her hands on her hips in a garden of golden wheat, surrounded by a dirt roundabout. North of the statue is a stone building with an open front, above which hangs a sign that reads "Earth Mother's Bounty." Visitors can buy seeds and cornucopias here. The abbot tasked with overseeing the store, and its inventory is Sevembra Tumbleleaf, a member of the Emerald Enclave who sells nothing but the finest seeds. She also gives away lots of free samples.Livestock Fields
On the town's outskirts are two large fields of roaming oxen and cattle, with cordoned-off pens for sheep, chickens, turkeys, and pigs. Each field is roughly a half-mile in diameter and enclosed by wooden fences with rearing horses carved into their posts. Shepherds and workers with milk buckets and wool shears can be seen moving among the herds of cows and sheep during the day.Town
The buildings that house most of the residents of Goldenfields are arranged in concentric half-rings around a central square where locals can socialize and gather for picnics after midday prayers. Orderly rows of wooden longhouses, each large enough to house a hundred people, face inward toward a central plaza, with the abbey of Gafsyn off to the southeast. Each longhouse is a work of art, its beams sculpted with images of a particular animal, thereby differentiating it from its neighbours. Most of Goldenfields' workers are human commoners. A handful of peaceful Gafsyn worshipers live and work among them. Wagons and wheelbarrows are parked just about everywhere, free for anyone to use. The oxen needed to pull the wagons are kept in the livestock fields. A grove of trees south of town is home to three young treants. If the town or the abbey comes under attack, their job is to animate nearby trees and aid in the town's defence. The grove is also home to an awakened tree named Lifferlas. Created by a long-dead druid, Lifferlas is the oldest living resident of Goldenfields. It speaks Common and has long entertained the children of the workers with harrowing, often humorous tales of heroes and monsters and legends about the gods, Gafsyn in particular. The tree allows children to climb it while it walks about cautiously with hosts of them clinging to its boughs and screaming with delight.Harvesthome Abbey
The largest and most elaborate building in Goldenfields is the abbey, Harvesthome, a centuries-old stone edifice whose outer walls have statues of Gafsyn at every corner, her hands raised to the sky as though casting a spell to summon rain. Well-tended hedges surround the foundation, and a sun-shaped window of stained glass is set above the entrance and the steps leading up to it. Narrow windows of stained glass decorated with images of wheat, fruit, and vegetables light the pillared arcades within. Toward the back of the building, mounted between sturdy roof beams, is a large bronze bell that is rung fifteen minutes before prayers every morning, noon, and evening. Wandering the abbey halls are two old black bears named Darlow and Tilbee. A few months ago, they startled some workers in the south fields. No one could fathom how the two bears crept into the compound unseen, spurring rumours that they were gifts from the Earth Mother. Rather than drive them out, the workers sheltered and fed them. The bears eventually followed workers into the abbey. They try to mooch food from visitors while posing no danger to anyone. The Abbot of Goldenfields, Ellardin Darovik, is a worshiper of Gafsyn and a member of the Emerald Enclave. He's a generous, reserved man who avoids confrontation and doesn't like to ruffle feathers. He leads prayer services at nine bells in the morning, noon, three bells in the afternoon, and six bells in the evening, and though attendance isn't mandatory, most workers take a break from their chores once a day to hear the abbot's words. There are no guards in the abbey, just a handful of acolytes. One of the acolytes, Zi Liang, has scolded Father Darovik many times for leaving the defence of Goldenfields in the hands of incompetent military leaders, which has made her somewhat unpopular. When she isn't busy with chores or prayers, Zi takes it upon herself to patrol the outer walls.Northfurrow's End
Standing north of the town is a three-story stone edifice with arched windows that offer a view of the surrounding gardens—thin plumes of smoke from its many chimneys on rainy days and cold nights. Life-size statues of rearing horses flank the double doors that lead to the common room. Above these doors hangs a wooden sign that proclaims this grand establishment's name, Northfurrow's End, in fancy lettering. West of the main building is a stable house that can hold and feed up to fifty horses.Maps
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Goldenfields
Type
Large town
Location under
Included Locations
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
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