Ralhaz

What's the name of your settlement? Why is it called that?

• Ralhaz is a fortified city in Rhudd. a large portion of the Cromlech West of the mountains. It is a type of liqueur or mead that is dark red, and fermented from honey and the bloodsister plant native to the large expanse of swampland.
• It was either named for the liquor, or for the colour of the liquer, suggesting it is the originator of the spirit

How big is this settlement?

• About 10,000 People live inside the fortification, with the population outside of its fortifications unknown

What’s the purpose of this settlement?

• It is large, expansive palace that used to be a summer house or villa, but was turned into a makeshift fortification, before being repeatedly abandoned and repopulated.
• Eventually it settled in the hands of Lambscress. It's a modestly sized town and the only downside is it's not on any of the train routes so it's hard to get to. There's only one route to it that is badly maintained.
• It is a town of outlaws, that had a brief mining boom that ended destructively

What's the surrounding geography like?

• grasslands and moors slowly becoming a lowland swamp
• It's the border between the forest/woodlands and the swamp, land isn't very fertile
• lots of trash, recycled metal, but there is something irresistible about the divide between "civilized wild" and "uncharted wild"

What's the tone or vibe here?

• Don't go anywhere without a weapon, it's a difficult place to live
• However it can be very rewarding if you like living by your own terms
• Very much a city of outcasts, a well-run but brutal regime for those who can't lead

What does “a roof and a meal” look like here?

• the organic matter is stretched to the very brink in most foods, using chemicals and magic to experiment with different cheap cuisine,
• Their organic diet consists of fermented tubers and legumes, but this can only sustain certain people
• They sometimes have arthropod meat/sap if they've been able to hunt in a forest or on the doomsday islands
• Lots of soap, and due to the amount of tubers and legumes, their known animal food is also often soap-shaped
• Most of the water is some kind of fermented thing to kill the bacteria

History

Built on a section of the Old Graves which once stretched all the way to Godsbone Coast, Ralhaz was initially an important hub between the wild north and the market towns of the south, and thus was considered for railway. However, a rise in criminal activity and several other catastrophes had the train project cancelled partway during the beginnings of a famine. After the Clockmakers refused to build the train anymore, Lambscress had them all executed and their remains scattered. They are built into the concrete of the city walls to ward off trouble, a technique she learnt from her Henoset companions.

Type

Large town

Included Locations

• Lambscress' Flash-ken
• Magpie's Nest
• Upper Ralhaz Clockmakers Temple