Esther

1. #1hl.Half-Boar Havenselective

   Keys: /Haven/, /Half-Boar/

   The Half-Boar Haven Type: inn Location: Berant Crags, border between Surelin and Hinterlands Description: the Half-Boar Haven is the only inn located in a mountain pass that links Surelin proper with the hinterlands of northern Cetas. Passed down through current-proprietor Pana's family across several generations, it is a stout, unadorned cabin with a clearing and pen behind it housing the inn's few livestock. While lively in the warm seasons, during winter it remains all but deserted due to the surprise storms that crop up in the area rendering travel a risky venture.

2. #2vw Velvetwealdselective

   Keys: Velvetweald, /Weald/

   Velvetweald Type: region Location: southern Cetas Areas: Fennel Copse Features: fractal shifts in terrain and climate, massive plateaus and ravines, hidden valleys For all its beauty, the cataclysm responsible for modern Cetas is most evident in the Velvetweald, where an aspen wood shifts to desert, jungle, steppe and back over the course of a day's travel. Each miniature region is gapped by deep ravines that hold their own confused slew of biomes and open to hidden valleys and waterways, forming a web of paths through the region to Cetas' southern shores. Attempts to map the region have stalled, as the land itself is prone to frequent shifts. Though the population is very sparse, beastfolk tend to favor the isolation provided by the terrain.

3. #3hl.Amaranthselective

   Keys: Amaranth

   Amaranth Type: farming village Location: Hinterlands, northern foot of the Berant Crags Overview: Amaranth is a shining beacon of fertility in the rugged Hinterlands, just out of Surelin's grasping reach. Which is to say, it is a modest, peacable village a few days north of the Half-Boar Haven. Ecology: Ensconced by valleys on each side, Amaranth is a uniquely fertile locale in the rocky plains that encompass the north of Cetas. Noteworthy is the various fungi, mosses, and lichens that abound the village, quickly taking over any patch of land or corner of a room that doesn't see frequent attention. Culture: Amaranthine residents are much like any other northern village: quiet, industrious, and insular. A walled convent overlooks the village, home to the Sisters of the Fruiting One. In exchange for gifts of food and supplies, the Sisters bless Amaranth's fields and provide medicine, but outside of this symbiosis, the two groups keep to themselves.

4. #4Sisters of the Fruiting Oneselective

   Keys: /Sisters/, Fruiting One

   Sisters of the Fruiting One Type: convent, cult, nunnery Location: Amaranth Beliefs: unknown Associations: fertility, rebirth, harvest, decay Overview: The Sisters of the Fruiting One are a strange, small cult located in a walled complex overlooking the hinterlands village of Amaranth. Little sets them apart from the other myriad cults and micro-religions that litter the land, save for the fact their blessings - anointing the fields and burning an effigy at harvest - actually seem to have power behind them, imbuing Amaranth's soil with the fertility necessary for self-reliance. The Sisters largely keep to themselves, only exchanging words with the villagers near ritual times or to exchange medicine for food.

5. #5Lysicaselective

   Keys: Lysica

   Lysica Type: foxkin Personality: Lysica is an inscrutably jolly corsac, extracting as much mirth from blood and death as from pleasantries and wordplay. Relations: Sienna's boss, Vesper's 'friend' Appearance: Tall, lithe, bushy-haired and sinewy. She's learned to smile in a way that hides her overgrown teeth. History: Lysica is native to the slums of Arca, dubiously connected to the local underground in her role as the proprietress of the Third Step tavern.

6. #6Siennaselective

   Keys: Sienna

   Sienna Type: foxfolk Personality: drowsy, blithe, uncanny, amoral Appearance: small but strong, orange-haired, empty eyes Sienna is Lysica's go-to underling for anything of import, risk, or requiring tact. Has trouble curbing her appetite.

7. #7Pathselective

   Keys: /Path/

   The Path Type: subspace, ley line, otherworld The Path is a loose catch-all for anywhere outside the mortal plane, named thusly because its most common entries take the shape of paths between. Dangerous and difficult to reliably navigate, few people are aware of the Path, and only deerfolk mystics are known to still traverse it intentionally.

8. #8Bread Girlselective

   Keys: Bread Girl

   Bread Girl Type: Curse, blessing Abilities: bread conjuring The Bread Girl is a title given to women who have the mysterious ability to conjure up bread from thin air. Nobody knows where the power comes from, but it's innocuous enough that nobody really questions it. Bread Girls can also sense the hungry around them, and can teleport to deliver bread to them.

9. #9sn.Cherryrunselective

   Keys: Cherryrun

   Cherryrun Type: isolated village Location: Western Surelin Population: less than fifty, all beastfolk, primarily cowfolk Organization: commune, ranch Geography: forested, balmy Features: communal lodge, barn, stables, high palisade Cherryrun is a fledgling settlement in the cold wetlands west of Surelin, founded by a cowfolk matron named Yura, with the deerfolk witch Sura as her main advisor. Cherryrun aims to be a self-sufficient safe haven for beastfolk who wish to separate themselves from Surelin and human society.

10. #10Vacaselective

    Keys: Vaca

    Vaca Type: tradebroker, clerk Personality: grounded, practical, sharp, analytical, mundane Appearance: thin, androgynous, swarthy, long nose, wry lips, inscrutable, graceful Vaca is a tradebroker in their element cutting deals and crunching numbers. Unfortunately, after an incident with the Sisters of the Fruiting one, they've been taken off regular trade duty to act as an 'eldritch diplomat,' though nobody's quite sure what that entails.

11. #11vw.Fennel Copseselective

    Keys: Fennel Copse

    Fennel Copse Type: hamlet, ancient ruins Location: Southern Velvetweald Population: primarily human Organization: village headman Geography: sandwiched by mountains, idyllic, red sun Features: extensive ancient ruins, irrigation channels, mountain springs Fennel Copse is a quaint, independent settlement deep in Cetas's southern reaches at the foot of a narrow valley. The local dwellings are built symbiotically with the ancient ruins' stonework, preserving them.

12. #12Cowfolkselective

    Keys: /cow(folk|girl|girls|kin)/i

    Cowfolk Type: Beastfolk Characteristics: wide, plump, horns Disposition: calm Cowfolk are an exceptionally rare subspecies of beastfolk known for their stout builds, horns, and milk production.

13. #13Foxfolkselective

    Keys: /fox(folk|kin)/i

    Foxfolk Type: Beastfolk Characteristics: lithe, sharp features, fangs, carnivorous Disposition: charismatic, sly, Foxkin are a breed of beastfolk known for their vulpine features, charisma, sense of smell, and carnivorous appetite. They are one of the more well-accepted tribes of beastfolk in the eyes of Cetan elves for their grace and shared disdain for apefolk.

14. #14Deerfolkselective

    Keys: /deer(folk|kin)/i

    Deerfolk Type: Beastfolk Characteristics: tall, graceful, antlers Disposition: reclusive, nomadic Deerfolk are a type of beastfolk with antlers and alarmingly tall, narrow builds. They are rarely seen settled in society, typically living in communal caravans that traverse the edges of civilization.

15. #15Shadesselective

    Keys: /Shad(e|es)/, /half-Shad(e|es)/

    Shades Type: Aberration Characteristics: forgettable, nondescript Disposition: furtive, defensive Shades are the rare, unfortunate byproduct of pregnancies conceived in the Path. Somewhere between mortal and spirit, they are loosely tied to physical reality and are both hard to notice and easily forgotten. Some legends say that the misfortune of their birth lends them the power to foul others' luck.

16. #16Apefolkselective

    Keys: human, /round(-ear| ear)/i, /ape(folk|men|women|man|woman|kin)/i

    Apefolk Type: Beastfolk Characteristics: round ears, stout build Disposition: ambitious, greedy Apefolk, or humans as they prefer to be called, are one of the younger tribes of beastfolk in Cetas. Cetan elves generally find them to be the most disgusting of the beastfolk for their similar features, with some theorizing that they originated from elven families in the northern hinterlands' excessive inbreeding.

17. #17Cetan Elvesselective

    Keys: /\bel(f|ves|ven|vish)\b/i, /knife(ear|-ear|ears|-ears|eared|-eared| ear| ears| eared)/i

    Cetan Elves Type: Elf Characteristics: lean, sinewy, green-haired, yellow-orange eyes, haunting Disposition: callous, proud Cetas is named after the elves that conquered it. They are haughty, proud, disdainful of whatever they deem 'unseemly,' and have the power to back up their claims of superiority - elves, moreso than any other race on the continent, have the ability to pull magic from the Path at-will and shape it freely.

18. #18sn Surelinselective

    Keys: Surelin, Sureline

    Surelin Type: merchant principality Location: central Cetas Terrain: wet, subalpine Capital: Arca Culture: Too insular and decentralized for any sense of nationality. Surelin is the preeminent power in Cetas, and barely more than a city-state. Nominally ruled by a council of merchant princes in the witch-city of Arca, the state's reach and influence can be attributed to its bureaucracy and tradebrokers. Outside the core territory, settlements are effectively left to themselves spare the regular trade caravans hailing from Arca.

19. #190.Cetasselective

    Keys: Cetas, continent

    Cetas Type: continent Regions: Surelin, Montane Reach Cetas is a harsh and sparsely-settled land, peppered with crumbling ruins from a dead civilization. A large lake craters the center of the continent, and its southern reaches are a perilous mess of cliffs and plateaus seemingly rent asunder by an unknown cataclysm.

20. #20hl Hinterlandsselective

    Keys: Hinterlands

    Hinterlands Type: region Location: Northern Cetas, split from Surelin by mountain passes Sublocations: Amaranth, Half-Boar Haven, Murcwen, Berant's Rest Features: gentle hills, rocky soil, sparsely settled The Hinterlands are a catch-all for the northern third of Cetas beyond the Berant Crags, cut off from Surelin's influence and regular trade. The terrain ranges from crag to plains to tundra and ice-wastes, but as a whole, the region suffers from short, dry summers, and long, cold winters. Amaranth is the region's largest village (and closest to the border), with other settlements few and far between.

21. #21sn.Berant's Restselective

    Keys: Berant's, border post

    Berant's Rest Type: border post Location: Surelin, southern foot of the Berant Crags Features: stone wall, trade depot, cantine Berant's Rest is a small, walled complex at the northern edge of Surelin's reach. North of the perfunctory post is a hard mountain crossing, and beyond that the vast stretches of the Hinterlands. Its only constant inhabitants are a kindly band of trappers who managed to convince the regional tradebroker to pay them to keep the place manned year-round.

22. #22Tradebrokerselective

    Keys: Tradebroker, magistrate, clerk, warrant

    Tradebroker Type: government employee Surelin's tradebrokers are one-part clerk, one-part caravanner, and one-part marshal, acting as the long arm of the bureaucratic apparatus that keeps Arca rich and the roads functional. Any one tradebroker's responsibilities and assigned territory can vary, with some acting as census takers, others as road and game wardens, and still others as actual traders, but each is empowered through their warrant seals as a full representative of the Principality of Surelin in territories outside Arca's heartlands.

23. #23Estherdisabled

    Keys: Esther, Amulet

    Esther Type: possessed amulet Personality: sad, bored, kindhearted, experienced traveler, outdated, old-fashioned, stir-crazy Appearance: ghostly, small, trails out from her amulet, crown braid, parted bangs, narrow eyes, ruby lips, dollish History: Centuries ago, Esther was trapped in an emerald amulet from an old Cetan villa. With no way to free herself, she spent several decades advising other adventurers who chanced to wear her, until eventually she was stolen and pawned off. The intervening centuries have been a blur of nothingness occasionally interrupted by the sense of her anchor changing hands. Amulet: A mirror of emerald on a beaded chain. Completely inert when unworn. Esther can only see and hear through the wearer's perception, and only the wearer can hear Esther speaking. She can sometimes project herself out of the amulet like a ghost. Abilities: Esther is - was - an experienced traveler and adventurer, several hundred years ago. She's always willing to give advice or act as a second set of ears and eyes, but her sensibilities and knowledge is often outdated.

24. #24sn.aa.Arcaselective

    Keys: Arca

    Arca Type: city, capital of Surelin Location: Central Cetas, Lake Arcalin Areas: moonfields, wall, slums, highroad, docks, catacombs, ley conflux, noble quarter Though Arca is the heart of Cetas, both geographically and economically, visitors to the city oft find themselves in a state of unease when approaching its grand walls. Nature goes silent, the sun dims, and the light of a false moon shines from above. Located at the edge of the crater-lake in the center of Cetas, the capital of Surelin is split into three tiers: the bulk of the capital - its slums, docks, and commercial district - is built over the ruins of the city that came before. Below it is Cetas' central leyline conflux and the city's catacombs, home to Surelin's resident occultists and the eldritch engines that fuel its moonlight. Far above both lies the noble residences and bureaucracy's offices, built atop an artificial cliff overlooking the rest of the city in silence.

25. #25Panaselective

    Keys: Pana

    Pana Type: innkeep, baker Personality: friendly, nosy, easygoing, mischievous, gossip, uneducated, inattentive host Appearance: round face, cheerful, brown eyes, freckled, blonde hair, tight bun or double braid (depending on how fancy she feels that day), matronly, very short, pear-shaped, mature, rotund rear, slight paunch History: Pana is the sole owner of the Half-Boar Haven, a remote inn passed down through the family for generations, luckily located in the Berant mountain pass between Surelin and the Hinterlands. Part of her thinks about shutting down the Haven to move to the capital, but being the only innkeep in the region is just too good of a living to pass up, so she satisfies her curiosity collecting gossip and rumors from travelers.

26. #26Berant Borderpostselective

    Keys: Berant, Yetek, /border(post| post|-post|watch| watch|-watch)/i

    Berant Borderpost Type: volunteer organization Location: Berant's Rest Leader: Yetek Associations: Surelin, Hinterlands, Half-Boar Haven Interests: trade, booze, trapping The border post of Berant's Rest is in actuality a loose congregation of trappers from the region who occasionally squatted in Berant's Rest, banded together under the gruff Yetek. It's rare to see more than one or two actually in the border post at any one time, but they keep the larders stocked and roads safe.

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