It takes a certain kind of people to decide that living here is just a grand idea.
Once an outpost deep in Phrōjhana, Tah'loh has grown into a town in its own right. In the midst of ice and snow, the citizens of Tah'loh have carved a home for themselves around two great geothermal vents. Far from seeing the frozen lands around them as a bane, Tah'loh have developed a thriving business around cutting blocks of ice out of the glaciers and lakes, then selling them the the cities of the deep.
It is hard and dangerous work, but the people of Tah'loh pride themselves on their ability to get it done where more squeamish folk might balk.
Geography
Tah'loh is seated in a singular cave, much larger than the town can currently fill. Most of the buildings expand out in two separate circles from the two geothermal vents in the cave, one in the center of the cave and one located closer to the western wall. The vents constantly exude a smog that make the entire town smell vaguely of sulfur. On occasion, one of the vents will erupt in a blast of steam and thaw the frost away from the ceiling, causing water to drip down at almost every time.
Like most parts of Phrōjhana, the cave that house the town is a mix of stone and thick walls of ice. Without the vents, it is not certain how much of the cave would remain at all or if it would all become slowly filled in by accumulating ice.
The smell of from the vents blend together at any time of the day with burning Hattick or oil-lamps that struggle to keep the cold at bay. Ice and snow always threaten to clog the streets or weight down on the buildings, with the homes at the edge of town nearly frozen solid. On the eastern end of the cave and separated from the town by a few hundred yards is a sheer wall of ice, simply called "the Wall".
The rich and powerful live close to the vents, with access to warmth equaling status. The very poorest often freeze to death at the edge of the city and their ramshackle homes form the current limit of how far the town might ever grow. Only the farms and orchards that use the vents to sustain their growth rank higher than the wealthy, forming a close ring around each vent.
The Satrapy of Tah'loh
That's the kind of promotion one would do well to avoid.
Tah'loh was first established by the great city-state of
Mharaji for the purpose of acquiring ice and water. As time passed, the minor station grew into a satrapy. Today, Tah'loh remained under Mharaji rule. The Council appoints a satrap to govern the town and guard their interests, though the posting is not one that is particularly desirable. It is considered a punishment by many, as the time there even for a satrap is boring, unpleasant and dangerous.
The town often suffers as a result, with satraps of questionable quality and enthusiasm for the job often put into place as a result of intrigue back in the city-state. The current satrap, one Alba Zmai, is one such man. He still fumes over the schemes that saw him appointed to Tah'loh and "bitter resentment" is the way most describe him. Not even the recent discoveries of rich veins of gemstone and the rush of prospectors have done much to lift his spirits, although he does take some spiteful glee in the way that those who banished him must now deal with him for a chance at that fortune.
Culture
The folk in Tah'loh are a hardy and independent bunch, with a grimly fatalistic streak. It is a hard life that breeds hard people that have little time for nonsense. As a rule, they prize toughness and visitors who do not display what they believe to be a necessary fortitude are not treated kindly. It is an attitude that has been exacerbated by the recent influx of fortune-seekers and already there have been brawls. The locals resent the newcomers who arrive, expecting shelter and heat with no concept of what they have already been through.
"Jokes" played by locals on visitors are notoriously cruel and usually exploit the newcomers ignorance of the dangers present in Phrōjhana. Even so, they respond poorly when the target of pranks in turn.
An part of Tah'loh's first settlers were prisoners sent there as a form of servitude, to work off their sentence in the cold. Many chose to stay, or were given no option, and even today those families remain as a central part of Tah'loh's population. This past colors the way that Tah'loh view their distant overlords and more than one satrap has been murdered while governing the town.
Government
Tah'loh is a satrapy and the satrap is granted despotic powers to rule as they see fit. As long as trade continues and the goods keep flowing, the council of Mharaji do not care overly much what happens in the town or to its people. This has lead to some satraps being little more than looters who just seek to squeeze what they can out of Tah'loh before they can return back to the city-state. As such, the satrap's personal guard tend to be the most well-armed of all warriors in the town.
But with the discovery of gemstones, Tah'loh have drawn the attention of the city-state's council. Long ignored, Tah'loh now feature prominently in many discussions.
Industry
At least they won't run out.
Ice-cutting has always been the backbone of Tah'loh's industry and the predominant part of its exports. The Wall have been mined like a quarry for blocks of solid ice which is then sold back in Mharaji or other settlements along the way. The ice is used for everything from preserving food to melting down for the water, while chilled drinks is an ostentatious display of wealth. Teams labor with over-sized saws before loading the blocks onto sleds. With Phrōjhana too cold for Khtam, they must rely on coordination and crude machines to transport the ice.
While Tah'loh has all the water it could ever need, either from any of the trickling streams around the cavern or from simply melting ice, food is a struggle. The orchards around the geothermal vents provide some quantity of fungi and smog-eating weed for consumption, but not enough to feed the entire town. Hunters and fishermen supplement this with game such as the
Pahü Worms or fish from the freezing lakes, though such food is just as often sold as delicacies back to the Inner Shell. Those who caught them must instead sustain themselves on mushroom and dried fungi imported in turn.
The gemstone mines are recent additions to the town, with most of the infrastructure still bare-bones.
Military
Tah'loh has a small volunteer militia, usually more concerned with keeping the peace in the town and breaking up drunken brawls than they are with any enemy from outside. As such, they are poorly trained and poorly equipped, often wielding little more than a solid cudgel. Tah'loh has always been considered too remote and too cold for anyone bother attacking and little more has been needed. But with the recent influx of prospectors and their guardians, there are now more heavily-armed men and women in Tah'loh than ever before.
The satrap has his own guard, a mercenary company of veteran soldiers. These grizzled warriors answer only to the satrap and do little else to aid the town, unless ordered.
Tah'loh's fortifications are in a sad state. Neglect has seen them broken down and locals have pillaged them for building material. Recent attacks by predatory monsters, lured back to Tah'loh by the sudden abundance of prey, have highlighted this weakness.
The satrap has begun to quickly rebuild and expand the militia, though whether it is with an eye towards the predators from the wilds or the visitors fromMharaji is anyone's guess.
This place seems really cold and dangerous, but hey! at least they are not slaves... I think.
Small things! :D
Creator of Araea, Megacorpolis, and many others.