Prestenvale
"I love it here for one reason and one reason only: apple pie" -Captain Avani Oumar
A small town in the vast plains of the Veridian Expanse, Prestenvale is a small farming community about two days travel northwest from Oxfront. Most residents are farmers, lumberers, or workers for the large Dragon Hill Apple Orchid plantation, an industry that was there since before the town. Nearly everything in town is centered on these apples, and every able baker in town can bake the original apple pie that many believe founded the town - a warm, soft, golden brown pie filled with a generous portion of a rich, gelatinous apple filling, made fresh with apples picked moments ago. Life is simple in Prestenvale. The orchid is always in business and the people are pleasant. It's well within the borders of the Empire and is in a cozy location within a small valley and is isolated enough that nothing bad could ever happen here... Right?
Demographics
Most residents in Prestenvale are common farmers or merchants. Almost all of them work for the Apple Orchid, either tending to the apple trees or work as artisans refining the apples into more apple products: baking apple pies, making apple cider, etc.
Government
The town is governed by a mayor who makes local decisions. Being within the Veridian Empire, the town is guided by the Empire's laws. The region it's situated in is governed from Oxfront.
Despite being a fiefdom that was given to a lord, that lord left the governance of the town to itself, allowing the mayor to make most decisions.
Defences
The township lacks walls but always has an Imperial garrison keeping watch as well as locally employed guards.
Industry & Trade
The main product of Prestenvale is its apple products. The orchid plantation, where most of the citizens work, was established shortly before the township itself and has since been handed down to multiple families. It is currently owned by the Raythorne family and has been for two generations. In addition to providing much of the apple supply for Oxfront, Prestenvale also produces its own apple based products, including apple jellies, apple wines, and apple pies. Prestenvale apple pies are supposedly something of legend...
History
The township of Prestemvale was nothing but a plot of land until about 210 years ago, when the High King of the Empire bequeathed the land as a fiefdom for a noble lord. The noble constructed a mansion and began an apple orchid to please his wife. While the profit from the apples was good, the real moneymaker was his wife’s apple pies. The reputation of these divine pies began to spread to Oxfront, and demand grew. Thanks to the pies, the orchid did really well and before long, the orchid needed to expand. So the noble employed more people, building houses for them to live in. As more people came, the orchid grew, eventually becomming its own village. The Noble’s wife’s recipe for apple pie was passed down to the workers and now, every baker in town knows the famous recipe.
The orchid remained in the name of the family until it’s third generation. For the next few decades, the orchid would see at least 3 different owning families until finally its ownership passed on to House Raythorne. The Raythornes maintained and further expanded the orchid’s products, including apple cider, apple jams, apple butter, as well as continuing the homemade apple pie recipe. The current proprietor of the orchid is the 2nd generation Raythorne: Lord Mathias Raythorne.
Many years ago, roughly around the time when the Raythornes inherited the orchid, a mysterious fire erupted in the town. No one is sure how it started, but it spread quickly to the dry wooden buildings and farms. More than half the town and its major orchid plantation burned down. The major structures that survived the blaze were the two divine temples, the orchid manor, and a tavern. The tavern was renamed to commemorate the inferno and it still stands as part of history.
Geography
The town exists within a small valley in the rolling hills of the Veridian Expanse. The land is fertile and suitable for farming - particularly apple trees.
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