Solec
Solec is a hamlet — or more accurately a loose collection of farmsteads vaguely styled as a community — surrounding Old Bonegrinder in the Ravenloft Moors. Despite the relatively terrible quality of the local soil, the surrounding farmsteads are surprisingly bountiful, and produce the majority of crops for the wider County.
Though Solec lacks a formal leader, its de facto face is Isnaf Mathais Shashlovich, as he is the most prosperous farmer in the community.
According to the Isnaf, Solec is under two specific decrees from Stolnik Rahadin Temnoye: a curfew, where all residents must be inside their homes come nightfall, and; a limit to the number of people who may sleep under any one roof, determined to be only those whose home it is. These decrees are apparently enforced by magic.
Name Origins
The name Solec stems from the Barovslovy word sol 'salt,' in reference to an ancient practice of pouring bags of salt on the Old Svalich Road which runs through it during winter to prevent the stones from becoming slick with ice. This salt ultimately poisoned the earth immediately around the road, giving rise to the clear guttering that runs through the village despite the otherwise rampant weeds and flora.History
Solec was founded several generations after the coming of the Mists, as a spill-over settlement when Vallaki grew too large, and its meagre fields and resources could no longer support the population. Apart from the obvious benefits of being next to the (already built and operating) mill, Old Bonegrinder, the site of Solec was chosen for its relatively wide open space, and its central location to the County. The sunlight in the middle of the County is at its strongest (though still wan and weak), so it was believed to be an ideal location to grow crops despite the lack of a Golden Gourd.
Solec's crops were, however, constantly plagued by blight, crop failure, and other maladies due to the lack of available sunlight. As such, the people of Solec (what few there were) became sickly but also resilient, being able to survive on blighted crops when few others could. However, fortunes changed for the tiny settlement when the Harvest Society founded, and introduced the use of Shashlovich Blood'n'Bone. The fields became fecund and produced the finest crops in the County. New settlers flocked to the settlement, and the community more than doubled in size in a matter of seasons.
Type
Hamlet
Population
403
Inhabitant Demonym
Soleccers
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Ruling/Owning Rank
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