Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #342

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #342 

December 9th, 2023 

• Number: 342 

• Name:  Deep Dive of Subjects of Interest: Of the Guild Masters and Master Crafters of the City-State of Carasta – Part 6 

• Location: In the Guildhalls and Workshops of the City-State of Carasta 

• Population (approx.): 411 (Halfwich) 

• Brief: Members of the Guilds can be found providing vital services or producing necessary products throughout the City-State and beyond. The individual Guilds support the members via robust training through apprenticeships, conduct regular inspections and evaluations of the quality of a member’s work and award the coveted designation of Master (and the rare and unheard-of designation Grandmaster) to Guild members with exemplary service and an extraordinary body of work. A settlement with several strong Guild members or a Master artisan or two can succeed where others struggle. The village of Halfwich, with its windmills surrounded by fields, has prospered and its bakeries supply many common foodstuffs as well as variety of unique delicacies relished by the coastal elite despite a local population one would not associate with finer fare. 

• Hanin, 48, Half-Orc, is a Master baker and an elite member of the Bakers Guild. He is tall and thick-waisted. His eyes are coal black, and his enthusiastic personality shines through them. His black hair is scraggly, so he always wears an orange wool cap. Hanin wears loose trousers and handsome shirts in the colors of the rainbow. His big white apron was a gift from his apprentice during the last holiday. He doesn't like to fight but knows how to use his fists in a jam.  

• Hanin's mother, Estrid, 70, female Human, taught him to bake as soon as he could reach the table. He loved baking and won over the local kids who teased him by bringing baked goods to school. Fresh out of school, he joined the Bakers Guild and became an apprentice for Caglar, 65, male Half-Orc. Caglar owns Beatin Dough Bakery. Since Caglar has no children to leave the store to, Hanin hopes to inherit the bakery. Five years ago, Hanin became a Master baker and has done many things to improve the Bakers Guild. 

• Hanin is married to Urisha, 44, female Half-Orc, a childcare worker. They have three children: Zuraz, son 17, Tanam, daughter 12, and Gizara, daughter 5. Hanin’s family lives in a large house near the bakery. Hanin loves fly-fishing and goes with his best friend, Belum, 45, male Half-Orc, once every other week to Loch Pitoloal. 

• Geography: Millenia ago a large Orc Hive covered a swath of the Narrows. The scouts of the Noldrunean Houses stumbled onto Orc territory as the nobles led their people to the south. A short and brutal war ensued leaving but a handful of Half-Orc and Orc survivors. They abandoned the underground workings of the hive and settled on the surface. Beating swords into plowshares, the remnants became proficient farmers and ranchers. Halfwich was founded well over eight centuries ago over the abandoned Orc hive about 2 days south of the coastal highway on a path that continues south to Loch’arbor (#63) on Loch Pitoloal. The surrounding farmland and pasture, dotted with windmills and grain silos, is a breadbasket for the City-State of Carasta.