”… ask me the names of the Tundra, I know them all: The Red Grazing Fields, High Step, The Glacier’s Shadow, but when I dream of It: always I see Coratón.”
Heartland of the south Tundra, font of the Rill, home. You see evidence of the city before you see the city itself: other travelers on the road, boats carrying people and cargo traveling south to other lands, riders on the plains, smoke of camp and smoke of hearth.
In the city are houses of stone and packed clay, blue and grey-green, domed roofs sometimes painted, other times adorned with stones of varying colors corresponding to local unions: the riverworkers, the clothiers, the farmers, and so on.
Locales and Travel on the Tundra
- The Castle of Night (4 watches): In the north is a jagged boulder, striped in columns of gleaming metal. During the Blue Months, when ocean moon Diaturna is in phase, a castle of ghostly light appears floating above the boulder. Exploring the castle can reveal visions of futures and possible futures, and sometimes more.
- The Sanatorium (6 watches): Once the manse of the mad magus Rhogol, now a hospital for some of the most ill. It is staffed almost entirely by elementals of the death aspect. They care for their patients without need for rest, though truthfully no one knows why they have taken on the task.
- The Titan’s Table (6 watches): An enormous plateau of dark stone, worn smooth from the cold winds that come off the glacier and the northern sea. A series of interconnected caverns filled with fossils run throughout the base of the structure; though some have tried, no one has fully mapped them all.
- South, to the wetlands (6 watches).
- Further south, lush Glens (8 watches).
- To the East, the estuaries (5 watches).
Institutions
- The unions: Coratón represents the intersection of interests for many different labor unions. Their representative councils coordinate the production and utilization of local environmental resources, and establish trade contracts with other nearby municipalities. Each union has their own offices located somewhere in the city.
- The House of Blue Lights: Riverside inn, the eponymous blue lights hang out over the water, guiding boats to port even on the foggiest of nights.
- … and more!
People of the Heart
- Magda, the Alcalde (3/3/5): The function served by the Alcalde is that of intercessor: someone must arbitrate disagreements and disputes of the various unions that operate in the city. They have served in this position for the last 15 years, and are well regarded by the union council.
- Cas, the Witch (1/1/2): Educated at the Starfall Academy, she arrived here just over a year ago. Her tower is a mile out from town, where she keeps a few goats and trains an apprentice, Moss. Mostly works in potions, curing animal diseases, and placing charms of guidance on boats. Rarely does what some call “real magic”.
- Sura, shadowed one (4/4/10): A strange figure that lives in the dark corridor. It can never be fully glimpsed: a long spindly arm moving behind a curtain, a partial grin, the winking of a large eye. It is information broker, contraband purveyor, forbidden thing.
- Outrider Vale (1/1/6): Outriders do not stay in place for too long, the horses don’t like it, but they always need a place to come home to. It is said that Vale has seen everything there is to see in the tundra, and yet more that has gone unsaid. She is kind, but isolate, save for her horse.
- Almir, Rillwright (2/3/3): Almir maps the riverways. Their workshop is near the locks, and those who travel the river trade and compare their charts. Almir takes note of it all, paying well for the information and making copies for other Rillwrights down the line to update their own charts.
- Lisak, Kettlewright (5/5/7): Not much metal is forged in these lands, but the metal that is, is forged here at Lisak’s. It lies near the center of town, a compact dome of stone with vents and openings that vaguely resemble the shape of a face. On clear nights the warm glow of the forge serves as a beacon for travelers, and the steady column of smoke climbing and curling above paints the star-filled sky in streaks of black and violet-gray.
- … and more!