Riflken (ɾifɵl̪ke̞n̼)

Demographics

The majority of inhabitents are humanic, although there is a family of halflings in residence. The barkeep is kogani.

Government

Riflken is run by a council made up of all of the adults in the hamlet. The council is usually led by the person who called the meeting, but all opinions are, in theory, equally weighted. In reality, the town alchemist, the priest of Andrael Vas, the priest of Soma, and the barkeep are considered to have deeper insight than the rest of the farmers and tradesmen.

Defences

The hamlet is surrounded by a moat blasted from the earth and backed by a wooden palisade. The church is just outside the palisade and built solidly from foot-thick blocks of local stone, with a lead roof. The belfry doubles as a watchtower, and has a crenelated top for archers.

Industry & Trade

Riflken is primarily agrarian and self-sustaining. The primary trade is between the village and a nearby mirukk encampment in the woods to the northwest.

Infrastructure

The hamlet is well-equipped with a church, its attached lichyard, a blacksmith, an alchemist and healer's atelier, a windmill, a tavern, a well, and even a bathhouse.

Epicentre - Riflken Village

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The village of Riflken, featuring a blacksmith, tavern, alchemist's atelier, and three houses.

History

Old Riflken was founded in PS 810 by a sylph mage named Lucinda Miriel, who sought a quiet corner in which to practice her arcane experiments. She quietly encouraged three families of malcontent farmers to relocate with her from South Warden in order to create a small, but self-sufficient community and thus avoid the notice of the magistrates and the elven academies both.

Over time, the small community grew, as communities do. The farmers needed a farrier, and so they recruited one. They had children, who wanted their own families. By PS 880, Old Riflken had expanded to some hundred souls including a priest of Soma, her apprentice, a hedge witch, a blacksmith and even a tavern keeper and his family. Even Miriel had a daughter, Mirei, who was the darling of the town even as a babe in arms. Nobody asked questions about the father, or the fact that Lucinda was nearly ninety when she had a child. She still looked like a woman in her thirties, and her longevity was ascribed to her Touched nature.

Disaster struck the village in PS 892. Nobody knows for sure what happened, but one summer afternoon, the earth shook and an enormous, ten mile long chasm was torn open half a mile south of the town. Lucinda's tower partially collapsed, and the land for half a mile either side of 'the gap' desertified instantly as if all the life was simply sucked out of the crops and people working in the fields. Lucinda Miriel, the hamlet's long-time protector, vanished with her daughter on the same day.

The survivors attempted to repair the village and break new land for farming, but were eventually forced to move five miles south of the Gap by the poor results of their efforts and the increasing danger from change-born monsters.

Riflken as it currently stands was officially founded in PS 902 by the survivors. In PS 107, a travelling adventurer called Lucia discovered a small community of mirukk had set up camp in the woods nearby. Initial encounters were violent, but Lucia managed to navigate the mirukks' customs and forged a trade deal between them and the people of Riflken. The forest is now considered Blue's territory, although she has accepted an ambassador of sorts in the form of the halfling ranger, Sandra.

Points of interest

The hamlet itself is unremarkable save for how well equipped it is, a legacy of its history as a larger settlement.

The metalled road leading north-west through the forest, and the stone bridge that spans the narrowest point of the Gap, are likewise echoes of more prosperous times.

A little off the road to the west, in the depths of the forest, lies a small village of traditional, rukkish yurts inhabited by a tribe of mirukk, led by an unusual blue mirukk who simply goes by Blue.

The Riflken Gap is the most eye-catching feature in the area, being a ten mile long, half mile wide chasm that descends deep into the roots of the world. The gap is surrounded by a wide swathe of dry, dead earth in which nothing grows even to this day.

Visible across the gap is the ruin of Lucinda Miriel's nine story tall stone tower. The tower was there before the hamlet, and in fact predates the Shockwaves. It is believed to be of fey construction originally.

The ruins of Old Riflken still stand, including the Church of Soma in the middle of its lichyard. Nothing lives there now, but occasionally undead are sighted in the area. Visitors are advised to stay well clear.

Tourism

The occasional visitor to Riflken is welcome to stay at the tavern, where two guest rooms are available. Visitors are rare, however, and the rooms are usually only used by the magistrate who visits once every six months.

Architecture

The village mostly consists of square, grey-stone buildings with steeply pointed rooves and wood-shuttered windows.

Geography

Riflken is nestled in the foothills of the Guardian Mountains, on the edge of a great forest that stretches for miles in either direction.

One square = 1/2 mile

Epicentre - Riflken Surrounds

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The area surrounding the village of Riflken in south-eastern Epicentre

Climate

The climate in Riflken is temperate, although the occasional changestorm does make its way past the guardian range to deluge upon the hamlet with chaotic magic and tainted water. During these storms, the well must be covered, and the water is considered unsafe to drink for roughly a week thereafter until the water table has stabilised and been purified by the consecrated ground.

Natural Resources

Riflken is a small farming community of stubborn survivors and pioneers. The farmland provides a moderate yield of grain and fruit crops, primarily corn and apples, while the nearby forest is full of game and wild berries and herbs.

Founding Date

PS 902

Alternative Name(s)

New Riflken

Type

Hamlet

Population

30