Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #219

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #219 

August 8th, 2023 

• Number: 219 

• Name:  Deep Dive on a Site of Interest: Along the Trave-Inari Highway - Part 2 

• Location: Across the plains of Ceannar connecting the towns of Reston and Southport 

• Population (approx.): Varies 

• Brief: The plains of the Houses of Trave and Inari are home to many ranches hosting herds of cattle and riding animals. The pastures and ranges stretch for miles in each direction east and west of the Trave-Inari Highway. Trails and paths spiderweb outward connecting them to the rest of Ceannar. The horse traders are famed for supplying some of the finest steeds in the region to buyers for Ceannar’s outriders, nobles, merchants and discerning riders. 

• Keljor Springaze, 163, Elf, is a Horse Trader of famous Traven horses. He is short and has red hair with golden highlights from constantly being out in the sun. Keljor wears rugged leather pants and a quilted top. When selling horses, he adds a fancy vest that is made of fine linen and has intricate embroidery all over it. Keljor wears a long sword and is good with a whip.  

• Keljor's family has trained and traded horses for over a hundred years. They have several herds of wild horses from which they pull young mares and stallions. Keljor has eight brothers and two sisters, and the whole family prepares the horses for sale. He handles the sale of the horse and is careful that each horse goes to an owner who will take good care of the animal. He travels to various markets on the plains and sells his animals to primarily wealthy people. 

• The Springaze Ranch includes a spring, named The Druid’s Tree for reasons lost to history, on the prairie near the Trave-Inari Highway. This is where the year’s selected horses are held and evaluated for sale. Keljor lives in the huge circular treehouse with his wife, Keykalen, 150, and two daughters, Reydi, 17, and Holatris,4. Keljor is gone for weeks at a time and misses his family. He makes up for this by taking the family for week-long vacations on the prairie, where they go camping and run with the horses. 

• Geography: West of the Trave-Inari Highway is a singularly tall and ancient tree growing on a small rise above a natural spring. A stream begins at the south side of the pool and travels further south to join other waterways making their way west to Pearl Bay. At the base of the several hundred-foot-tall tree, with its wide and sheltering canopy, the elves of Springaze have built a four-story circular treehouse whose base is about 50 feet above the ground. It can be reached by either climbing the trunk, as favored by the family, or a draft-animal powered lift, preferred by visitors.