Poljane
Demographics
Poljane is overwhelmingly human, with long-rooted farming families making up the majority. Halflings are a close second, many of them tenant farmers or ranch hands, their skill with animals making them highly valued. A handful of dwarves, typically of Galifarian stock, run smithies or manage land leased from the nobility. The district is poorer than the town center, with most folk living simply, but it is also the most stable—generations of the same families have lived on these lands.
Government
Rytíř Ludvik Ionescu oversees Poljane and its people. Known for his practical discipline and a touch of rustic austerity, Ludvik runs the district like a military campaign. Taxes are collected primarily in the form of grain, livestock, or produce, with coin secondary. The Rytíř ensures strict adherence to planting schedules and maintains a levy system, requiring every farm family to provide at least one able-bodied militia recruit when called upon.
Defences
Though Poljane is not fortified in the traditional sense, its farms are protected by sheer numbers and a militia drilled by Ritter Ionescu’s “Brass Battalion.” Each farmstead keeps at least a few crossbows, spears, and sturdy shields in the barn, and when called upon, the rural levy can muster quickly. The farm roads are patrolled irregularly, and watchtowers at the district’s edges double as grain stores and signaling posts.
Industry & Trade
Agriculture is the backbone of Poljane, feeding both Teryk and the wider region. Surplus grain, dairy, and livestock are carted into Novýtrh for trade or export by rail. Blacksmiths here specialize in agricultural tools and horse tack, while a few cottage industries, such as cheese-making and cider brewing, supplement household incomes. Though profit margins are slim, the steady rhythm of production ensures the district’s central role in the principality.
Infrastructure
Poljane is dotted with farmsteads, barns, cattle pens, and gristmills powered by the Lash River’s smaller tributaries. A network of dirt roads and wagon paths link the farms back to Novýtrh and into Teryk proper. Irrigation ditches, many dating back centuries, help water the fields. In addition, grain silos and storage barns—often collectively owned by extended families or leased under noble oversight—provide security for surplus harvests.
Assets
The district’s assets lie in its fertility. Wheat, rye, oats, and barley grow in abundance, alongside beans, root vegetables, and orchard apples. Poultry, pigs, and cattle make up the bulk of livestock, with halfling-led ranches producing some of the finest chickens and beef in Karrnath. A few vineyards and hop fields supply the district’s brewers, linking the countryside directly to Teryk’s tavern trade.
Guilds and Factions
The Farmers’ League is the dominant faction here, a cooperative of landowners that negotiates taxes and tariffs with the town council. They often find themselves at odds with the more urban-focused Trade Guild. Sir Ludvik’s Brass Battalion, though technically a defensive force, wields quiet influence in rural disputes—when the Rytíř supports a side, the matter is usually settled. Halfling ranchers also maintain their own informal associations, ensuring fair deals and mutual protection.
History
Poljane’s lands have been tilled since before Teryk was founded, making it one of the oldest settled areas in the principality. During the Last War, many of its fields lay fallow as able-bodied men and women were conscripted, leading to famine in the leanest years. Since the war’s end, the district has slowly recovered, though scars remain in the form of abandoned homesteads and old trenches reclaimed by grass.
Points of interest
The most notable landmark is the Great Granary, a massive communal storehouse with its own stone watchtower, often considered the breadbasket of the town. Scattered shrines to Arawai and Dol Dorn dot the countryside, serving both as places of worship and rural gathering halls. A ruined Dhakaani-era watchtower still stands at the edge of the fields, rumored to be haunted.
Tourism
Poljane does not attract tourists in the usual sense, but nobles from Teryk sometimes visit their leased lands to hunt or tour the countryside. Pilgrims occasionally visit the rural shrines, and adventurers sometimes scour the ruins along the district’s borders. The annual Harvest Festival, however, does draw townsfolk and travelers alike, with fairs, horse races, and a great feast marking the season’s end.
Architecture
Farmhouses are built in the Karrnathi style—whitewashed walls, steep gabled roofs, and timber frames. Barns and granaries are sturdier, often of stone or heavy timber, built to withstand the weight of harvests and long winters. Halfling ranches are more modest, marked by long, low houses surrounded by well-fenced paddocks. The overall architecture reflects pragmatism, with ornament limited to carved beams or painted shutters in family colors.
Geography
The district spreads south and west of the town walls, where the Lash River’s floodplain and the rolling hills of the Ashen Spires foothills provide fertile ground. Fields stretch in patchwork patterns of grain and pasture, broken only by lines of trees marking property boundaries. To the south, the edge of the Shadowmount Forest looms, a dark reminder of the wilds beyond the cultivated lands.
- Ashen Spires Rye (bakery)
- Banner & Bun (bakery)
- Bone & Barrel (butcher)
- Brass Battalion Livery (stable)
- Heelhouse (childrens cobbler)
- Kohut’s Cutting Block (butcher)
- Lashbend Meats (butcher)
- Marta’s Clippers (barber)
- Millstone Breads (bakery)
- Patch & Peg (cobbler)
- Pike & Pastern (poulterer)
- Pilgrim Carpentry (carpeter & wainwright)
- Rope & Leather (cobbler)
- Seven Nails (cobbler)
- Starlit Pretzel (bakery)
- Sunleaf Remedies (apothecary)
- Tallow & Wick (candlemaker)
- The Pike & Penny (tavern)
- The White Rose (brothel)
- Thorn & Thistle (cobbler)
- Three Hooves (cheap butcher)
- Three Sisters Bakery (bakery)
- Thresh & Hearth (bakery)