Barda's Folly
Barda's Folly? Do you mean to tell me the village still hasn't folded yet? I swear, I'll never doubt a dragon-kin for stubbornness ever again. Or maybe I'll never give them credit for smarts... why keep trying to make that place work? It never will. Perhaps some god they annoyed, or a curse from a wizard. Whatever it is, they'll never get anywhere.Most of the land around Hilgar is devoted to smaller settlements growing various crops, from grains such as sunwheat to orchards of fruit trees. All of these meet what some consider to be an ignoble end: transformation into various alcoholic beverages. A generation ago, a group of dragon-kin split off to the south in the interests of doing their own craft with wood. They settled in a valley between the Blueleaf Swamp and a small forest known as the Winged Thicket. The settlement was called "Barda's Hope", after the elderly member.
However, things quickly began to go wrong. Elder Barda became ill and perished within the first few years, leaving a void which has yet to be meaningfully filled. Incredibly harsh weather patterns proceeded to follow over the next few years, either with droughts or excessive rain. And most recently, orcish bandits have taken to waylaying community members returning from the market in Hilgar. A state of decay has followed, with many buildings being ruined and poverty being commonplace.
So it was the village has now become known as "Barda's Folly" instead.
Demographics
The village was founded by black dragon-kin, and as such most of the residents today bear the same shade to their hide. A few itinerant 'friends' are of other species, but they find themselves uncomfortable with the living conditions. The "monochromatic" nature of the residents has given rise to some speculation as to why this happens, and a subtle hostility towards outsiders gives rise to unkind rumors. Most residents of the village are either young or mature adults, with most elderly keeping to themselves and children a seeming rarity. It is believed this is due to dragon-kin reproducing slowly, though in truth it is because the village cannot support very many more beyond the current population.
History
Some decades back, Barda Arborfall and many of her kindred had grown disgusted with life near the town of Hilgar. The dragon-kin were dissatisfied with the surrounding area being primarily used to support the brewing the town was famous for, and struck out to make their own settlement. They traveled south through rolling plains until they found a valley which was not far from the woods, and was close to a swamp which was comforting to them. It took a year to assemble the start of the village, and once that was finished there were trees planted in order to grow again over the decades. Seeing her kin work so hard and finish their work easily, Barda declared the village to be "the hope we were looking for". Several types of crop seed, and livestock was purchased through connections either in Hilgar or traveling merchants who would return later that year. It was expected the village's prosperity was only just beginning.
However, the following winter was harsher than expected and Barda fell ill. Rumors filtered through the kin of her visiting the swamp in search of useful plants to cultivate, and having disturbed something poisonous in the process. The herbalist could not definitively declare whether this was the case, but during a funeral rite in the spring the rumor had now become the warning of ill omens. That spring saw a number of storms roll through the valley, drowning fields which had just been planted and startling livestock. As a result, the village needed to purchase basic necessities from merchants again. But optimism remained, surely this could not continue for very long.
Year after year, the situation repeated to varying degrees of severity. The dragon-kin were slowly working on ways to recoup their expenses, and turned to harvesting wood from the edges of the swamp. This wood was not common on the east side of the Broken Spine, and it was made into furniture by request of those in Hilgar. A relative of Barda also began making a dry bread from a family recipe, calling it "Barda's Waybread". Both the custom furniture and baking managed to offset the costs, but never enough to truly begin building wealth in the community. Food was often barely able to stretch for everyone, yet the villagers continued to trust things would improve.
Ten years into the village's existence, a blight hit certain crops in Hilgar which the village was relying on. The resulting famine caused considerable hardship and reduced the population to a mere shadow of what it had been. The elderly and a few children were the primary victims, though a lack of food exacerbated other situations. Buildings went without needed maintenance or repairs, collapsing during the winter. The echoes of this loss remain today, as the village appears populous enough and yet there are ruined and decaying buildings all around. Yet, surely their fortune would improve...
The proverbial last straw for this optimism happened within recent years, as orcish bandits began hounding villagers returning from the Hilgar market. Once they discovered the dragon-kin had no ability to really defend themselves, or deflect bandits, it became held to a regular schedule. The villagers began bitterly discarding optimism, calling the village "Barda's Folly", yet they were nervous about truly departing the place. After all, there was no guarantee fortune would favor them any more elsewhere.
These days, the village is clinging to life and barely making it through. The bandits have realized it is much better to leave just enough with the traveling villagers to keep things stable. Hilgar is too far away to really help with any of the town guard, and the village is too impoverished to afford mercenaries to take care of the problem. Grumbles about needing to find some way to deal with the trouble have begun to circulate, but there is no plan yet.
However, the following winter was harsher than expected and Barda fell ill. Rumors filtered through the kin of her visiting the swamp in search of useful plants to cultivate, and having disturbed something poisonous in the process. The herbalist could not definitively declare whether this was the case, but during a funeral rite in the spring the rumor had now become the warning of ill omens. That spring saw a number of storms roll through the valley, drowning fields which had just been planted and startling livestock. As a result, the village needed to purchase basic necessities from merchants again. But optimism remained, surely this could not continue for very long.
Year after year, the situation repeated to varying degrees of severity. The dragon-kin were slowly working on ways to recoup their expenses, and turned to harvesting wood from the edges of the swamp. This wood was not common on the east side of the Broken Spine, and it was made into furniture by request of those in Hilgar. A relative of Barda also began making a dry bread from a family recipe, calling it "Barda's Waybread". Both the custom furniture and baking managed to offset the costs, but never enough to truly begin building wealth in the community. Food was often barely able to stretch for everyone, yet the villagers continued to trust things would improve.
Ten years into the village's existence, a blight hit certain crops in Hilgar which the village was relying on. The resulting famine caused considerable hardship and reduced the population to a mere shadow of what it had been. The elderly and a few children were the primary victims, though a lack of food exacerbated other situations. Buildings went without needed maintenance or repairs, collapsing during the winter. The echoes of this loss remain today, as the village appears populous enough and yet there are ruined and decaying buildings all around. Yet, surely their fortune would improve...
The proverbial last straw for this optimism happened within recent years, as orcish bandits began hounding villagers returning from the Hilgar market. Once they discovered the dragon-kin had no ability to really defend themselves, or deflect bandits, it became held to a regular schedule. The villagers began bitterly discarding optimism, calling the village "Barda's Folly", yet they were nervous about truly departing the place. After all, there was no guarantee fortune would favor them any more elsewhere.
These days, the village is clinging to life and barely making it through. The bandits have realized it is much better to leave just enough with the traveling villagers to keep things stable. Hilgar is too far away to really help with any of the town guard, and the village is too impoverished to afford mercenaries to take care of the problem. Grumbles about needing to find some way to deal with the trouble have begun to circulate, but there is no plan yet.
Type
Village
Location under
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