Town of Vallaki
The Old Svalich Road meanders into a valley watched over by dark, brooding mountains to the north and south. The woods recede, revealing a sullen mountain burg surrounded by a wooden palisade. Thick fog presses up against this wall, as though looking for a way inside, hoping to catch the town aslumber. The dirt road ends at a set of sturdy iron gates with a pair of shadowy figures standing behind them.Located close to the shores of Lake Zarov, and beyond the sight of Castle Roeyen, the town of Vallaki seems like a safe haven against the evils of the Svalich Woods. A 15-foot-high wall encloses the town, its vertical logs held together with thick ropes and mortar. The top of each log has been sharpened to a point. Wooden scaffolding hugs the inside of the palisade twelve feet off the ground, enabling guards to peer over the wall there.
Background
Vallaki was founded not long after Ravna Batrova's armies conquered the valley by an ancestor of the town’s current boyar, Baron Vargas Vallakovich. The Vallakoviches have royal blood in their veins and have long believed themselves superior to the Batrova line. Baron Vallakovich has deluded himself into believing that hope and happiness are the keys to Vallaki’s salvation. If he can make everyone in Vallaki happy, the boyar thinks that the town will somehow escape Ravna's grasp and return to the forgotten world whence it came. He stages one festival after another to bolster the spirits of the townsfolk, but most Vallakians consider these festivals to be pointless, meaningless affairs more likely to incur Ravna's wrath than to provide any hope for the future. In the last festival, Baron Vallakovich had townsfolk parade through the streets with the severed heads of wolves on pikes. His next event, which the boyar has dubbed the Festival of the Blazing Sun, is soon to get under way. Weatherworn garlands from previous festivals still hang from the eaves of Vallaki’s buildings, and work has begun on a large wicker sun, to be set ablaze in the town square on the day of the festival. In the days leading up to the festival, Baron Vallakovich has begun arresting local malcontents and throwing them in the stocks so that his efforts aren’t ruined by “those of little hope or faith.”Developments
The party falls in league with Lady Fiona Wachter in opposition to the Baron. The Lady ultimately leads a coup to overthrow the Vallakovich family, seizing control of the town with the help of her cult, known as "the book club." She has now declared herself the Boyara Fiona Wachter, ruler of Vallaki and the surrounding lands. Returning some time later, the party finds that the Lady Wachter has taken firm control of the town, and those not loyal to her are routinely persecuted and "disapeared." However, someone is terrorizing her followers through magical means. The party and Lady Wachter quickly realize this must be the Baron's son, Victor Vallakovich.Maps
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Vallaki
Type
Town
Population
c. 1500
Location under
Included Locations
Characters in Location
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