Esclarmonde

"We prosper on the advice and guidance of our elders. It only makes sense that we place them in positions of honor in both life and death, so they may watch over us always."

A village located in the harsh and unforgiving region of the Hernaut Mountains. Its people call it Esclarmonde, light of the world, for their self-identified status as the last bastion of the region's true culture. Outsiders, however, term it the Gray Village for three reasons: its people, its surroundings, and its customs.

Demographics

Few children are born in Esclarmonde. Though this means fewer farmhands to do the arduous work of tilling the fields or raising the livestock in villages at lower altitudes, the inhabitants of Esclarmonde are unusually long-lived and retain their health and vigor for longer. It is frequent for a resident of Esclarmonde who looks like they'd be enjoying their twilight years in leisure surrounded by grandchildren in any other village to get up at dawn with the strapping young village men and go out hunting or raising the few crops which grow in these rocky climes. This is the first reason for the nickname of the Gray Village: the gray hair of its people.

Government

What the Gray Village is far more known for, however, is their custom of mummifying the bodies of everyone who passes on from old age. Some are placed in the communal hut where the Council meets, but others are set up at shrines publicly throughout the village, where they can watch over their descendants and loved ones. Those with no one alive to remember their legacy are transported with grave ceremony to caves deep in the mountains. Down winding staircases carved into the rock itself, past torches relit at every new moon, distant ancestors and the unremembered are posed in the Caves of the Forgotten for alertness and comfort in their eternal rest. This is the third reason for the nickname of the Gray Village: because euphemism forbids them from naming Esclarmonde the Village of the Dead.

Architecture

Brune and Rubea, Esclarmonde's cousins in the mountains, carve their homes into the mountainside itself and explore the network of caves running deep into the mountains. Esclarmonde does the same, stricter prohibitions on exploring the caves aside. However, the Gray Village has more limited options for heating when the cold arrives. Furs are common, prepared from the mountain goats they raise as livestock or hunted from the foxes which show up sometimes in the area. Black tuber (blackroot) leaves can be dried and burnt for warmth, but the latent magic within them makes the resulting fire as unpredictable as it is long-lasting. A typical dwelling in Esclarmonde, therefore, has a small fire-pit surrounded by stone barriers, with fur as makeshift blankets and headrests. Their tools, and pots and pans, are either carved out of stone or traded from the lower tribes in exchange for furs and blackroot leaves.

Natural Resources

Few plants grow well in Esclarmonde. The dry mountain air and barren soil makes thriving a challenge for all but the hardiest of species. Black tubers or blackroot, named for their black leaves, are the village's staple food, and beyond that they supplement their diet with fish from mountain streams or game hunted from the mountains. This is the reason for the nickname of the Gray Village which is most widely acknowledged: the drabness of its surroundings.

Alternative Name(s)

The Gray Village

Type

Village

Population

400

Inhabitant Demonym

Esclarmondeans

Location under

Hernaut Mountains