Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #263

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #263 

September 21st, 2023 

• Number: 263 

• Name:  Deep Dive on a Site of Interest: The Banks of the Red River’s Run of Taodeas  – Part 4 

• Location: Central Taodeas between the Tuton Maug and the Danthas River 

• Population (approx.): 350 (Red River Marketplace) 

• Brief: The land below the Forst Falls, south of the river, has been bathed in the mists from the waterfall for centuries due to the favorable winds of the region. The hills and dales feature all manner of farms, from acres of grains to neat rows of fruit trees and vines. The land has been contested for many years since the formation of Taodeas, with the current ruling Tribe, the Feebra, having been at one time part of both the Gotasi (#155) and the Danthas (#156) by either force or marriage or both. About 50 years ago, the Feebra Tribe managed to extract itself from its most recent entanglement (with the Gotasi) to rule the lands about the Red River, from the second falls (the Forst) to the junction with the Danthas River. Red Rivers Marketplace is the centerpiece of the upper Feebra lands, ruled by a council of Feebra elders including master vintners of Feebra Wines, a prized business of the tribe. 

• Orirrea Foodbreaker Oatwhisk, 21, female Goliath (akin to High Men but with perhaps Giantish blood), is an apprentice vintner near the Red River. She is tall, trim, and athletic. She walks with a limp because of the club foot she was born with. Her black hair is short and worn loose unless she is working. Orirrea's eyes are golden brown, and she has skinny eyebrows. She wears black leggings and a serviceable green jerkin when she works with the vines. Otherwise, she loves to dress up.  

• Orirrea is learning the craft of winemaking from her adopted parents, Brett Oatwhisk, 45, Human, and Kari Oatwhisk, 43, Human. Her parents own Feebra Wines. Orirrea has grown up around the vines but only took an interest in winemaking once she started drinking wine around age fourteen. Just a couple of years ago, Orirrea discovered she was a magician. She used her abilities on the grapes in the vineyard, and the results were terrific. But her parents found out and commanded her to stop. Orirrea is unsure whether she should stop or leave the vineyard and start her own winery. 

• Orirrea was born up in the Tuton Maug to a tribe of Goliaths. When they discovered she had a club foot, they took her to a nearby forest and left her for the wolves. Somehow, she ended up floating down the Red River, surviving the Cascade Falls to be found on the shore of Forstford. Now Orirrea lives with her parents and her pet dog, Fitt. She has several friends who work at the vineyard and go out together after work at the marketplace. Her best friend is Tessa, 20, a female Human. She has known Tessa for years, and they have many things in common. 

• Geography: The lands of the Feebra Tribe are divided by the lowest and largest waterfall on the Red River. The eastern half is called the Upper Lands centered about Red River Marketplace (location 4 see below). The village is 6 miles south of the river, on a road that crosses the river to the northwest and continues toward Blackstone Fortress and Gotasi lands. The road also heads a bit east of south toward the Danthas River and Danthas lands. As its name suggests, Red River Marketplace is centered around a year-round market for the produce of the area. At harvest season, there can be as many as fifty vendors about the central circle, attracting visitors from up to a week’s travel away. The upper Tribal Circle of the Feebra, a three-story circular building with a ceremonial space on the roof, overlooks the market circle. Permanent businesses stretch in an arc encompassing half of the circumference. The rest of the space is set aside for wagons, carts and horses.