Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #273

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #273 

October 1st, 2023 

• Number: 273 

• Name:  Deep Dive on a Site of Interest: The Sinking Lands of the Narrows – Part 7 

• Location: Central Narrows southwest of the City-State of Carasta 

• Population (approx.): 153 (Hunter’s Beach) 

• Brief: The southeastern portion of the Sinking Lands slowly rises and forms the foothills of the Taop Hills that enclose Taop Bay. The rolling hills are covered with small woods, old and new farmsteads and a dozen or more small settlements, usually a half-day to a day’s travel apart, typically centered about manor houses once ruled by landed Knights and lesser Nobles of old. Over the centuries the population has ebbed and flowed with events of the area both environmental (disease, monsters, storms and the like) and Kinmade (raids and consolidation). The folk of the hills, mostly hunters, foragers and herders, are an independent sort and don’t take kindly to the attempts at nation-building by up-and-coming local minor Lordlings. Once such group of families lives their quiet lives on the slopes that overlook the pebble beaches of the Taop Bay. 

• Anvia Broadfeast, 75, female Dwarf, is the proud owner of Hunter's Choice Butchery. She has short purple hair and green eyes. She exercises every day to have a toned body. Anvia wears old clothes to work and a full-body apron. When she goes out in the evening, she dresses in slick skirts and beautiful tops. Her favorite weapon is the bow and arrow, which she practices daily. 

• Hunter's Choice specializes in cuts of meat from unusual animals. Anvia got the plan to sell this meat when one of her hunter friends, Perar Mandred, 55, male Human, had venison left at the end of the season. Anvia talked with Perar and others and started the business. She now buys various fish and game and sells them at her store. 

• Anvia is married to Torrim, 86, Dwarf. Torrim creates unique dishes from butchered meat and fish and sells them to the local dive, Hunter’s Rest. The two of them live in a lovely house in Taop Hills above the settlement. They have no desire for children but like taking care of their various nieces and nephews. Their favorite vacation is to go hiking along trails in the local area. They also enjoy playing board games together. 

• Geography: Hunter’s Beach (location 6 see below) is a small fishing and hunting settlement on Taop Bay about 20 miles north of Reaver’s Rock (#22). It is about 30 miles southwest of the growing realm of Antus “The Gatherer” Peregrine (#28) but he has yet to take interest in their corner of the bay. Several hunting trails connect the coast to the Sinking Plains to the northwest. Hunter’s Beach is an irregular collection of wooden cabins of various shapes and sizes on the slopes above a narrow pebble-covered beach on the bay. The largest building, the local dive “Hunter’s Rest,” was built upon the stone foundations of an ancient, ruined manor house of some long unknown Knight or Lord. The inhabitants are a mix of hunters, shepherds and fisherfolk (a small “fleet” of 4 boats) collaborating to survive. The various “businesses” are named by the locals, but barter is the coin of the realm.