Hastile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEgd5kkyWHI

V3
Hastille is barely a settlement - it's formed out of wooden structures on stilts located in the heart of Sarpedon Bog. It's built around a fork in the river that leads into the continually forking bayou, and serves as a natural centerpoint of the bog for trade along the river. Many of the foks living in the bog interract with others solely within Hastille.

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Civic Life

Nearly 70% of Hastille's population is Galvan - And it serves as a place that exiled Galvan can congregate in a place similar to their home's geography/biome. but without the presence of the God King. (Meta: resist the urge to name and faction-ize them. They are just "The Galvan of Hastile" or "The Galvan of the Bog" - they wholly reject the loss of individual identity in a larger whole. They're Thorfinn at the end of season 2 'none of us should have taken up the sword to be here')

Layout

There's a fork in the river, around which are all the most-used buildings (town gathering square, a few general shops, etc). Spreading out from this central fork are "neighborhoods" of stilthuts that house people. (The population shown in the sidebar represents the people that could be in Hastille town square within 5-10 minutes)

Government

no centralized government. everything is a group decision. because these are galvan who rejected the godking.

Law Enforcement

No law enforcement. When someone's in danger, they ring bells. people take up the ring (ding-ding: alarm from up river. ding-ding-ding: alarm from down river), and anyone who's able to help, may jump in.

Mail Service.

NPC: Omara Himil - an elf with a personal history in Falconry in Almira. He trains swampgeese (or some kind of heron) to carry messages to a few set locations.

Power / Utilities

Galvanic Induction Motor - small machines that can only be powered by Galvan touch. Not capable of a ton of work - just things like small boat motors, coffee makers, etc.
Enola Tizka f, Galvan - Inventor specializing in the application of galvan electricity. She invented the Galvanic Induction Motors. (around 50 years ago. She just did it slowly and privately, before moving into Hastille. Eccentric because she was a hermit for so long)

news

Argus Lashgar - m, orc. collects and prints news from outsiders (Anytime someone new comes into town, he seeks out and chats them up for info). Grows a ton of reeds and uses them for papyrus. he trades these papers for fish or whatever hermits might bring into town. He runs a VERY small swamp wrestling thing that he puts on very infrequently where he portrays a heel named 'the viper.' From Nuremborc.

Public Transportation

some folks (most are galvan) work boats. can be chartered for transportation or shipping.

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Culture

Art

People make woven net art used in fishing or construction. with beads, reeds, that sort of thing.

Music:

Therevin - A Galvan metal-stringed instrument invented by Tizca - by positioning fingers across conductive wires (made from bolt yabby antenae), makes sort of an electric violin sound.
Other folk play banjos, musical jugs, washboards, and the like.

National heroes.

Ahzek Rex - leader of the squall that rebelled and first came here. other galvan began seeking them out after hearing about them from normies in the scalatoran world.

Religion

The Clutch of the Endless Serpent - a serpent-worshipping cult out in the bog. Worship a serpent named Apophis. Their rituals mutate them into part-serpents. And they command massive river-snakes, larger than anacondas.
In hastille, there's conjunctivism. Maybe one NPC that's trying to preach olympianism to poor reception. and many individuals keep their own religions from their pasts but these are rarely if ever organized.

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Enterprise

Agriculture

People eat fried lillies (called lillycakes). Lotus root. lots of moonshine. Mostly fish, though. and bolt-yabbies. Marshrabbit and possumchicken as well.
Most of the Moonshine here is from Horned Lizard Distillery - a company formed by Reverie Dober (m, kin), and Jaax Dalkan (f, galvan). Their flagship drink is "bullfrog moonshine" also make "hastille lillywine," "Gityog Grog," and "hypnomoth sour ale."

Joints

Tiamat's Tavern - owned/operated by a Galvan, Tiamat. More drink-focused. Has music most nights.
The Fork on the River - more of a food-focused place, but they still carry beer. owned/operated by an elderly human, Alcide LeBlanc. lots of fried stuff. flagship dish is fried Siltfish.

Goods

None dedicated, but there's a guy who hangs out at one of the joints - sells everything (like the Resident Evil merchant)

Important figures

Baba Yaga - Another hermit out in this swamp.
Bah'met - a thors-like figure that people look to for wisdom, but not in any official role. simply known by his name: Ahzek. or Bah'met.
Bertreaux the oracle - way outside of Hastille. A hermit out in the woods that cooks for people (grumpy, usually objects until visitors beg). folks will travel to them, get a quest to find some animal for the dish, and have to bring it back. like "the Menu" chef. The reason people seek out Bertreaux is that the meal is a ritual component of a powerful divination spell that she casts for the visitors.

Meta

Role:
Where the people who want to avoid the World Go.
Themes:
Thoreau was right. People are fine, but society isn't. Monsters here, but it's less monstrous away from the world that money and politics created.
Feel:
Louisiana Bayou swamp town. What I imagine Elsewheyre to be like. Visitors are the center of everyone's attention and immediately made to feel odd by that. The scene at the beginning of evil dead or housu as the protags approach the scary remote cabin - but once you're past that, these are really genuine people.
Touchpoints:
Midnight Mass. Spirit Bog in Tolkein
Genre:
Bayou stuff? Fargo/true-detective/true-blood style mystery complicated by the alien vibe of such a small insular place.
Villains:
rogue sages, wild cults? serpent-cult like the ones in dnd.
Patrons:
Anyone that needs a favor that's out in the monster-infested bog.
Person with a missing loved-one
Elements:
riverboats, river monsters, catfish, confronting-fear/taboo-of-rogue-rojin-vari-and-not-wanting-to-discriminate-but-also, serpent cult,
Adventures:
going out into the bog for favors. Reasons to go here:
Finding specific people who have retreated out here.
Quest to track down Sages hiding here.
Seeking out the Chef NPC for divination.
Events/set pieces around:
Big rivermonster rolling through town and the chaos as the town suddenly comes together. (could do a serpent that points to the cult).

Demographics

Population:~350 - this may include the surrounding residential areas
Elves: %1 (3-4)
Kin: %9 (~30)
Orcses: %3 (~10)
Humans: %16 (50-60)
Galvan: %70 (~250)
Dwarves: 1% (3-4)

Type

Estuary / River delta