Farms and Hunting Grounds around Heartholt
When Dra’cora was first founded, areas were set up around the The Pearl Egg of Creation as plant nurseries and animal pens, letting the Egg’s magic enhance their growth. But as orchards grew into forest and the city of Heartholt was established, those crops and animals were relocated further out, until finally being settled in a series of crater valleys and lakes just beyond the city’s border of briar hedges.
Habitats in craters vary from plains, to desert, to swamp, to jungle and other woodlands, to tundra, with animals placed in them according to climate needs. The tall crater rims serve as natural walls, preventing escape. Trees are cleared away from edges of lower crater walls to keep in climbing animals. Birds are kept in smaller crater aviaries with woven vines and giant spider silk forming a net overhead, or else have their wings clipped.
Those craters holding temperate climates double as farms, with their rims terraced to house crops, alongside vegetable lambs and barnacle geese. Gravedigger trees are planted throughout the animal pastures to provide salt and mineral supplements. Thorn vines are used as fencing to keep animals out of crops, with varying degrees of success.
Dra'corian shepherds regularly patrol the craters (valley and lake), tending to sick and injured animals, and herding as needed to prevent overgrazing and over-hunting. The predator/prey behavior of beasts is left intact, but monitored to keep populations under control, as is hunting by Dra’corians for food and sport. Shepherds and farmers also keep watch for giant insects and monsters (non-sentient Dra’corians) which occasionally raid them, alerting hunters and city guards for aid if needed.
With animals doubled in size thanks to the Egg, several shepherds are needed to move a group--or even just one if too large or dangerous--requiring use of magic to drive the animals and keep them on course. Hunters once used this tactic when going after herd prey, but it fell out of favor as hunting solitary creatures is considered more challenging, especially when after dangerous beasts.
To prevent unneeded stampedes in the limited spaces during hunts--as larger Dra’corians like dragons and rocs cause panic among the beasts--animals to be culled are singled out and moved by shepherds to one of several designated hunting ground craters, depending on which climate is most suitable for the event.
Odd behavior has been noticed by shepherds over the past 50 years, and eventually by farmers and hunters. Crops are being raided more successfully, game vanishes during culling, traps are fouled and disarmed, and most recently, and worrying, Dra’corians are being stalked and chased. At first, this was only single hunters, then groups, but now shepherds are being targeted also. Tension hangs in the air, and no one dares venture into the craters alone anymore...
Natural Resources
Aside from meat, fruits, vegetables, and grains, organic materials such as leather, fur, feathers, fleece and glue can also be collected.
Type
Crater / Crater Lake / Caldera
Location under
- Most are <1km
- Others range 1km-2,000km.
- Average large craters: 300-500km
The terraforming spell condenses water from air into riverbeds and lakes, melts it from ice, or pulls it up from underground.
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