The Fleece
'Don't cross the Kin. You will always regret it, and I would not set foot in that forsaken, freezing bay they call home. The Fleece is only good for one thing the Barbed Fin. Now that fish is something to write about. I have it on me bread every week, keeps me stout and hale.' Heard in the Valiant Bear inn on the Holyholm docks
Geography
The Fleece is the most northern, inhabited bay of Alven.
It is situated on The Lost Coast or Ghost Coast, in the region of Farside.
In reality, the Lost Coast is a no man's land, a frozen and dangerous strip of land along the edge of The Eastern Seas.
It is the place where desperate clanless men and women and outcasts, have come to scratch a living.
The bay is the most northern outpost of humankind on that stretch of the continent and one that is surprisingly thriving these days.
The Fleece takes its name from the shape of the bay, which roughly looks like a sheep fleece.
An island in the middle of the bay has been nicknamed The Eye as it is supposed to represent the eye of the sheep.
Along the bay, small craggy hills rise gently to a wooded plateau. The southern parts of the bay are contoured by high stone cliffs punctuated by gushing waterfalls that pour out the melting snows.
Behind the bay, an immense frozen tundra stretches for miles and miles, a dangerous wilderness where humans of any kind do not exist.
It is situated on The Lost Coast or Ghost Coast, in the region of Farside.
In reality, the Lost Coast is a no man's land, a frozen and dangerous strip of land along the edge of The Eastern Seas.
It is the place where desperate clanless men and women and outcasts, have come to scratch a living.
The bay is the most northern outpost of humankind on that stretch of the continent and one that is surprisingly thriving these days.
The Fleece takes its name from the shape of the bay, which roughly looks like a sheep fleece.
An island in the middle of the bay has been nicknamed The Eye as it is supposed to represent the eye of the sheep.
Along the bay, small craggy hills rise gently to a wooded plateau. The southern parts of the bay are contoured by high stone cliffs punctuated by gushing waterfalls that pour out the melting snows.
Behind the bay, an immense frozen tundra stretches for miles and miles, a dangerous wilderness where humans of any kind do not exist.
Ecosystem
Due to the oceanic influence, the Lost Coast ecosystem can sustain all sorts of life.
The Fleece has a very particular ecosystem being sheltered from the worst effect of the Dark Month's storms and blizzards.
The sheltered bay provides a haven not only for humans but wildlife.
Some bird species, such as the Dove Geese and the Ghost's Talons owl overwinter on the coast before flying back inland to reproduce during the Light Months of the year.
Birds are not the only ones to hug the coastline during the Dark Months.
The Greenbough Deer and other mammals tend to shelter in the dense coastal forests of the Lost Coast where the snow is not too deep to forage in winter.
The first exiles who got stranded on that wild coast found that the bay had much to offer to them.
The amount of game, fish and shellfish that could be had year-round on that particular bit of land was seen as a gift from the gods.
Not only food and furs were plentiful, but the nearby forest provided a ready source of construction wood and heat.
The sheltered bay was also ideal to moor and overwinter boats and soon the harbour of Nedderhyve was created.
The Fleece has a very particular ecosystem being sheltered from the worst effect of the Dark Month's storms and blizzards.
The sheltered bay provides a haven not only for humans but wildlife.
Some bird species, such as the Dove Geese and the Ghost's Talons owl overwinter on the coast before flying back inland to reproduce during the Light Months of the year.
Birds are not the only ones to hug the coastline during the Dark Months.
The Greenbough Deer and other mammals tend to shelter in the dense coastal forests of the Lost Coast where the snow is not too deep to forage in winter.
The first exiles who got stranded on that wild coast found that the bay had much to offer to them.
The amount of game, fish and shellfish that could be had year-round on that particular bit of land was seen as a gift from the gods.
Not only food and furs were plentiful, but the nearby forest provided a ready source of construction wood and heat.
The sheltered bay was also ideal to moor and overwinter boats and soon the harbour of Nedderhyve was created.
Localized Phenomena
The relative softness of the climate in the bay is one of the secrets of the Lost Coast and partly explains the growing popularity of the harbour in recent times.
In winter, the endless blizzards that plague the forested interior of the continent do not affect the bay for the most part.
The bay and the surrounding coastline are still subjected to the raging winter storms but the hardy Fleece inhabitants have learned to cope with the often unpredictable weather on the Lost Coast.
However, when the snow melts, the running waters can become problematic in the bay. Floods can affect parts of it and transform some of the lowlands into short-lived lakes.
the Mud, south of the town of Nedderhyve, is one such boggy place that is totally transformed during the Melt.
One of the main features of the bay is the number of caves around its shoreline. They range from small tunnels to immense open-air domes.
Many of them are connected and run deep into the ground.
Some tunnels are thought to have been mines the the Ancestors built when they lived in the area.
No one really knows how long or far the cave and tunnels run for. Anyone who tried to delve deep within the earth below the bay has never come back to tell the tale.
The caves on the surface level are safe and were thought to be the first place the clanless settled in as they arrived in the area three hundred years ago or so.
In winter, the endless blizzards that plague the forested interior of the continent do not affect the bay for the most part.
The bay and the surrounding coastline are still subjected to the raging winter storms but the hardy Fleece inhabitants have learned to cope with the often unpredictable weather on the Lost Coast.
The Melt
However, when the snow melts, the running waters can become problematic in the bay. Floods can affect parts of it and transform some of the lowlands into short-lived lakes.
the Mud, south of the town of Nedderhyve, is one such boggy place that is totally transformed during the Melt.
The Nedder Caves
One of the main features of the bay is the number of caves around its shoreline. They range from small tunnels to immense open-air domes.
Many of them are connected and run deep into the ground.
Some tunnels are thought to have been mines the the Ancestors built when they lived in the area.
No one really knows how long or far the cave and tunnels run for. Anyone who tried to delve deep within the earth below the bay has never come back to tell the tale.
The caves on the surface level are safe and were thought to be the first place the clanless settled in as they arrived in the area three hundred years ago or so.
Climate
As mentioned in a previous section, the Fleece benefits from a microclimate.
The Dark Months are harsh and temperatures routinely go below freezing. The waters in the bay ice over for a few weeks, but the amount of snow the bay receives is relatively low compared to the snowfalls in the icy tundra at its back.
Winter days are rainy and sunless but not totally inhospitable if one sticks to the bay and its surroundings.
The weather warms up slowly on the Fleece. As the days lengthened and become slightly warmer, the snow in the tundra starts to melt and pours through the bay, partly flooding it.
The sun makes a bit more of an appearance and even some warmth can be felt from it if you stand in a sheltered spot.
The small amount of grass that has been encouraged to grow on the barren surrounding hills starts to green and the Dove geese make their way back inland to breed.
The growing season is very short in the Fleece and the clanless make the most of it in every way they can.
By Midsommer, the few crops that are able to grow in such harsh climates are sown and are starting to sprout and grow.
Crops are few but provide valuable greens and tubers that can be dried or stored for part of the winter.
Mushroom is one delicacy that the Fleece communities are very fond of.
The cool (sometimes warm) season ends very quickly, a short rainy few weeks turn soon to snow. The Dove Geese come back to the bay and a new year cycle starts on the Fleece.
The Dark Months
The Dark Months are harsh and temperatures routinely go below freezing. The waters in the bay ice over for a few weeks, but the amount of snow the bay receives is relatively low compared to the snowfalls in the icy tundra at its back.
Winter days are rainy and sunless but not totally inhospitable if one sticks to the bay and its surroundings.
The Light Months
The weather warms up slowly on the Fleece. As the days lengthened and become slightly warmer, the snow in the tundra starts to melt and pours through the bay, partly flooding it.
The sun makes a bit more of an appearance and even some warmth can be felt from it if you stand in a sheltered spot.
The small amount of grass that has been encouraged to grow on the barren surrounding hills starts to green and the Dove geese make their way back inland to breed.
The growing season is very short in the Fleece and the clanless make the most of it in every way they can.
By Midsommer, the few crops that are able to grow in such harsh climates are sown and are starting to sprout and grow.
Crops are few but provide valuable greens and tubers that can be dried or stored for part of the winter.
Mushroom is one delicacy that the Fleece communities are very fond of.
The cool (sometimes warm) season ends very quickly, a short rainy few weeks turn soon to snow. The Dove Geese come back to the bay and a new year cycle starts on the Fleece.
Fauna & Flora
Flora
Due to its microclimate, the Fleece boasts a great number of plant species. Some of them found nowhere else in Alven.
The Fleece Mushrooms
The Fleece is well known for its mushroom and many recipes served in its two inns include one or two sorts of mushroom, sometimes three.
Mushrooms grow only during the Light Months of the year but when in season are plentiful.
They are also dried by the fire for a few weeks and used all year round in stews and omelettes.
The number of comestible fungi eaten in the Fleece counts up to 10 or so species, all found in different parts of the forests, cliffs and caves around the bay. Four of the most well-known are :
- the Shaggy Mane: a tall and thin, cream mushroom with a large, umbel-like cap
- the Bald Patch: a small, flesh-coloured, shiny ink cap type
- the Blue Wheel: a very pretty, blue, thick-fleshed, mushroom. Its cap is round like a wheel.
- the Big Buggle: a very large - not many needed for an omelette - statuesque, pale yellow, trumpet-like mushroom, only found in some parts of the forest. One of the best in stews.
The location of the mushroom circles is a very well-guarded secret among the Fleece population.
The Moon Weaver
There is also one very special mushroom, the locals call the Moon Weaver. This mushroom has very strong medicinal properties, some people even think that it could be magical.
This theory is backed up by the fact that the Moon Weaver only grows around the Rucinon Ruins, an ancient place of the Ancestors.
Moon Weawers also spookily glow in the dark at night if the moons shine in the sky.
The main reason the clanless collect and use the Moon Weaver is for its anaesthetic properties. Only a few of the mushrooms are needed for someone to fall into a painless and harmless sleep.
Other Notable Plants
The Nedder Pearl Root
There are two main sources of plant food around the Fleece. One is a well-known Eastern tuber by the name of Pearl Root.
The Pearl Root is a very good root vegetable for colder climates and is grown widely in the Northeast of Alven. It grows quickly and the tubers can be harvested before the Dark Months set in.
If kept frost free, the tubers can feed a family for many months.
Several varieties of Pearl Roots were present in the wild when the Outcasts settled around the bay. Over the centuries, varieties have been crossed and selected to give a firm, grey-coloured tuber the size of an apple.
The Weeping Leaves
The other main vegetable grown during the warm months is the Weeping Leaves. This leafy plant throws up many flopping dark-green leaves continuously from the Melt until the first snows.
It does not grow very well away from the Lost Coast and is somewhat considered a delicacy for that reason in the The Eastern Isles.
The people of the bay have a way to dry the leaves for the winter. They can also be kept in brine for a long time.
The Green Blade - Seaweed
The Lost Coasts throws up a lot of kelp on its shores. The clanless do not eat the weeds but use them to fertilise their small vegetable patch and The Machairs.
The main type of kelp is routinely called the Green Blade. The kelp needs to be handled very carefully as its long leaves when dried become very sharp - like paper.
The Lone Star
Another medicinal plant that the locals call the Lone Star has only been found up to now around the bay.
Because of its rarity and strange properties, many assume that it is another plant that was introduced by the Ancestors. If that is the case, the Lone Star still blooms on the Fleece millennia after the Ancestors disappeared.
It can only be found around certain sheltered springs in the forest in places that are never frozen or covered with snow.
The Lone Star has the particularity of blooming nearly all year round in such places.
All parts of the plant are used to cure many ailments. The leaves are used in teas to soothe pain, fevers and clear the mind.
The flowers are baked into bread to increase women's fertility. The tubers are grounded into a fine paste and have wonderful healing properties on cuts and other injuries.
The Lone Star is a well-guarded secret and not many know to prepare it properly. If ill-used, the Lone Star can be harmful and even life-threatening.
Fauna
The Fauna of the Fleece is diverse and would take several books to describe in detail. However, some animals around the bay can be easily identified: domestic animals bred for meat, wool, leather and milk, have been brought over to the bay by boat.
However, there is a limited amount of land around the bay that can sustain flocks and herds. This is why, hunting and fishing have been a staple of the population's food since the first men entered the bay.
Both men and women of the Fleece are trained to become excellent hunters as it is ofen the key to survival in these harsh lands.
Hunting traditions and rites of passage are common among the people of the bay. Women usually hunt with a bow while men favour the lance.
Here are a few common animals regularly hunted around the Fleece shore:
- the Green Bough deer: a small and agile deer that takes its name from the colour of its wood in the spring
- the Dove Geese: a common fowl in the north of Alven that overwinter in flocks in the bay
- the Long Tusk : an aggressive and dangerous boar that roams the oak and beech forests along the coast. Its meat is very much appreciated in the bay but it is very difficult to track and kill.
- the Flying Cat: a large type of cat-squirrel that can fly between trees. Nowadays, they are less and less killed for their meat, as the Bay people have found they make excellent pets. Woody Hawkyve, the bay Overlord is said to have a Flying Cat as pet by the name of Flitty.
Nocturnal Beasts
The forest of the bay is particularly busy at night. Many species of rodents and other mammals are nocturnal and can only be seen at that time of day.
Among those are:
- the Ghost's Talons: an enormous and beautiful, snowy owl endemic to the region
- the Acorn Mice: more the size of a rat, and feeding exclusively on acorns is this giant, black mice. It is also the owls' favourite food. Because of their food preference, the Acorn Mice are not a danger to the population's larders. On the other hand, the newly introduced common mouse is.
- the Ant Familiar: a very strange and secretive anteater. The creature hibernates or lives underground in the winter and is only visible above ground in the summer. A large carapaced animal, the Ant Familiar is believed to be a sign of good omen when seen.
Natural Resources
The Forest
The forest around the bay has always been a great resource for the people living on its shores. At the start, its wood made sure that the humans who first ventured into the bay did not die of cold and provided the logs for the first cabins built on the shore.
Very quickly, small boats were constructed and fishing became a steady industry for the bay. These days the forest has become a great source of revenue for The Kin and the Fleece communities.
Small settlements of loggers have sprung in the forest not too far from the bay. When the weather permits, trees are cut into logs, stocked, and then brought to the Nedderhyve Keyes to be loaded onto the Kin ships.
The boats sail the wood further south to the affluent and populous towns of Lowside.
The forest has a number of mixed, hardy trees. Oaks, beeches and maples stretch for miles along the Lost Coast, but only for two or three miles inland. Further in the interior, the conifers reign supreme as they can stand the harshness of the climate better than other trees.
The Pink Fir
One of the most beautiful trees of Alven is the Pink Fir. It colonises the soggy, bottom valleys of the forest. Its most distinctive feature is the dark rose fir cones that come out by Midsommer at the end of its boughs.
Before the first snows, its needles also turn pale pink, before falling to the ground. The effect is enchanting and looks like a floor of cherry blossoms.
The wood from the Pink Fir is also very much sought after, as the pine wood has a rose-tinted glow to it. When polished, the effect is particularly fetching.
The Pink Fir is difficult to find and bring back to the coast - it grows in the very ancient and dangerous tundra forest of The Lostlands. Because of the price it can fetch, some loggers are still tempted to try their luck and risk their lives every year to bring back the beautiful wood to the coast.
The Machair
The sheltered hills of the bay have provided a unique environment for the clanless. After centuries of enrichment - mainly due to the adjunct of seaweed - the sparse flat hills have become fertile pastures where sheep, angora goats and even long-haired cattle can graze nearly all year round.
The fields are not very large and can only sustain a certain number of animals, but enough to provide milk, leather and wool for the small, tight-knit population.
The Machair is also one of the most beautiful sights of the bay at Midsommer as the prairie flowers of the coast bloom in great profusion in the fields.
The Bay Waters
The population of the bay is mainly divided into two groups: the Fishers and the Smugglers.
The Fishers are a quiet community, counting up to 25 families or so all around the bay.
Most days, the fishing boats bring back a catch of fish and shellfish. Fish are dried and cured artisanally by the shore, then bought up by the Kin who make a lively trade in cured and smoked fish with some of the Eastern Isles.
The Barbed Fin
The fish that is the most prized and most sought after by the Eastern clansmen is the Barbed Fin. This large silver fish sports a huge line of barbed hook-like bones on its dorsal fin.
It is plentiful in the bay and along the shore of the Lost Coast. The Barbed Fin is not found in warmer waters to the south. The northern seaports are the only providers of it.
The Barbed Fin is cured and smoked into delicious fillets that can be kept for a few months and enjoyed with warm bread and butter or added as an ingredient to many culinary delights.
History
A Shaky Start
The first clanless humans settled on the shores of the Fleece 300 years ago. Old families of the bay still tell the story of Okel Boughstir and his clansmen who found this sheltered bay in the middle of a hard winter.
Okel was the chieftain of a small Lowside clan (Clan Baldglen). After a plague ravaged the clan population, its more powerful neighbour, Clan Gusson, annexed the clan lands and outcast the Baldglen Clanbearers.
Okel fled to the Eastern shore. With the last clan's resources, he bought a boat, the Merryweather, and boldly sailed north where very few had ever ventured.
Two weeks after Okel and his family set sail, the boat ran aground just a few miles from the Fleece in the middle of a snowstorm.
It is said that Okel lost his mother and one of his younger nephews in the family's desperate attempt to find shelter.
The Outcasts finally found their way to one of the large caves of the bay - now called the Wish Cave. They survived the whole winter and when the Light Days came they started rebuilding their lives on the bay shore.
During the following decades, others came and went. Other clanless and outcasts, some of them criminals and unsavoury types, settled in the bay, but, bit by bit the port town of Nedderhyve was built and flourished under a mixed economy of industry and lawlessness.
The Kin
The Hawkyves, who are now the masters of the Fleece, came to Nedderhyve nearly a century ago but soon established themselves as the undisputed lords of the bay.
Their organisation, the Kin, is now omnipresent in many aspects of people's lives.
The Kin almost have a monopoly on all smuggling operations in the area and are very jealous of their territory.
On the other hand, the Hawkyves know that their power rests with the respect they earn from the rest of the Bay families.
The Kin are generous with their wealth and make sure that the people they depend on for a living are well cared for. On the other hand, they are notoriously vicious if they are crossed. The Hawkyves live in what could pass as a small keep in the northern part of Nedderhyve, often referred to as the Kin House by the locals.
A Growing Settlement
Under the Kin's management, the Fleece population has started to grow. The place is attracting all sorts of adventurers, drifters looking for a new start and an adventurous life on the wild coast of Alven.
Nedderhyve now boasts two large inns. The Fleece Bounty is the older inn. It is situated right in the middle of Nedderhyve, one of its largest buildings, not far from the Keyes. The Smug Swan is newer and has been built in a growing settlement south of Nedderhyve, going by the name of Lowrhyve.
Further along the bay shore, Nedderpoint started as a single farmstead but is quickly growing into a hamlet of sizeable proportions.
A few families have moved to the headland with their own sheep to develop the Machairs down that side of the bay.
Hopefully, it will provide the growing population of the Fleece with more access to necessary resources as the Bay families often have to wait for the Kin ships to come into port to buy or barter goods in short supply in the area. Resources in short supply are usually: ore, weapons, tools and leather objects (footwear).
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Inhabiting Species
Related Materials
See those of the Fleece, they'll fleece you of everything.
Yep, that could be interpreted like that! Thanks for reading and posting. :D