Cohorts' Refuge

Forty years ago, during the Conflict of Three Rivers, the wounded were bivouacked here. The valley’s heavily wooded slopes prevented the main forces from widespread open engagement. In the shelter of the trees, the injured were tended to. Healing herbs were plentiful and several springs flowed from the heights. Despite being a dishonorable act to attack a medical camp, the opposing army sent a company to take the valley and the camp. The camp’s scouts intercepted the enemy’s forward patrol and brought news of the underhanded maneuver. A runner was sent to the main force while a savvy commander collected the more able-bodied among the camp to set traps, pits, ditches, and block trails. The invading company was quickly entangled and cut off from their main forces. The leader of the camp’s healers ordered for the enemy soldiers to be brought to the camp and tended to them personally. Not one person who was brought to the camp while still living died. A log wall was the first structure build of what would become a fort. The reputation of the skills of the healers and peacefulness of the valley persisted long after the Conflict ended. Many that received care there were loath to leave the valley and settled there forming a permanent garrison. Gradually the temporary wooden structures were replaced with study stone foundations and thick log walls. Outbuildings house a variety of infirmaries and more serious issues are handled by the central hospital which the locals call The Refuge. The old ditchworks filled with water and joined the springs’ outflow. Small homes dot the valley, each with its own gardens of vegetables and herbs. These gardens maintain the apothecaries of Cohorts’ Refuge. A steady trickle of petitioners continued to find their way to the valley’s healers in the years that followed. While most of the traps have been dismantled some remain forgotten by their makers, visitors are reminded to stay on marked trails.

Type

Hospital