Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #220

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #220 

August 9th, 2023 

• Number: 220 

• Name:  Deep Dive on a Site of Interest: Along the Trave-Inari Highway - Part 3 

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

• Population (approx.): 12 plus guests
  

• Brief: The route of the Trave-Inari highway is mostly a straight run a bit east of south from Reston to Southport except where interrupted by local geography. One such spot is just south of the northern border of Inari County. A sharp west-east ridge cuts across the path of the highway, the land to the south about 100 to 150 feet above the land to the north. Initially the road detoured 10 miles to the east to skirt around the ridge. The Merchants Guild nudged the Builders Guild for a solution and the “Little Lift” elevator was built to carry wagons up the ridge. (The Dwarven builders have never said where there might be a matching “Big Lift.”) 

• Katnyl Lightbrow, 172, Dwarf, is an innkeeper near the "Little Lift" on the plains of Inari County. She is portly, short, and always has a wink and a smile. She has long chestnut brown hair that she wears curly with ringlets down her back. Her face has a smile, but her eyes seem melancholy. Katnyl wears a long plaid skirt and a puffy blouse. While she cooks, a full-length apron keeps her clothes neat and orderly. She abhors trouble and keeps a cudgel underneath her baking table. 

• Katnyl owns the Plaited Beard Inn, a comfortable place to stay for anyone having business in this area of the prairie or in need of a snack while waiting for the lift. Katnyl started this business eighty years ago and has kept people returning for her pastries and daily loaves of bread. She loves to cook, but her passion is baking many delicious items. People come to visit and use the inn as a place to do business near the "Little Lift." 

• Katnyl loves talking to people and greets travelers with a pint of ale and a sample of her bread 'on the house.' Most people stay and have complete meals. Katnyl's two sons, Krumnus, 45, and Benmar, 38. Help manage the rest of the inn. Katnyl is melancholy because her husband of fifty years died six months ago. Katnyl is friendly with other farmers and ranchers in the area and hopes to encourage even more people to stay and perhaps form a settlement of sorts. 

• Geography: The “Little Lift” is a platform 20 feet square, large enough to raise a half dozen horses, two small carts or a large wagon or carriage. The lifting mechanisms, built into the stone of the ridge, are controlled from two small huts at the top and bottom. The operators, members of the Travellers Guild, now stay at the Plaited Beard Inn just north of the elevator. It takes several minutes for the elevator to ascend and descend the face of the ridge.