Saturday, April 5, 2014

A to Z Challenge: E is for Elder, the Southern Quarter of Jarlsburg

The great city of Jarlsburg is split into four Quarters, with the Elder being the Southern one.
Elder is home to several neighborhoods, including Fromm (home to many Lonian cheese makers), Geode (a large continent of gnomish immigrants), McClure (owned primarily by the Angus M. Connor Company and leased to it's workers), and Gritt (an orcish neighborhood where outsiders should tread carefully).

Fromm and Geode are the oldest sections, both being settled within the first decade of the city being handed over to the Oleander Council.  In fact the Lonian immigrants proudly proclaim that the city invited them to settle, in an attempt to bring true culture to the place.

The Angus M. Connor Company opened which manufacturers toys, trinkets, and tricks, opened the Jarlsburg division seventy-one years ago and bought up or built large sections of homes for it's workers, who it leases the homes to.  While many balk at the tactic, there is a waiting list to join the Connor company and McClure has become known for it's private school that is only open to it's employees.

Gritt just came to be over the decades as multiple orc clans found that their own company was slightly less annoying as the company of non-orcs.  While many view it as slum, it is simply a reflection of orcish culture and there are many marvels to behold if you know where to look.  The most well known orc in the Gritt is Doctor Bok, a shaman who became famous two decades ago when his medicine saved the life of the Prime Minister Belladonna Malifaux's life when she was a child.  To this day, people from far and wide brave the Gritt for his medicines.

Amidst all of this hustle and bustle is the disturbing legend of the Wight of Elder, a malign spirit that has haunted the neighborhood for well over one-hundred years.  Legends say that Wight is the vengeful spirit of Serah Duvall, a midwife who was burnt at the stake after several Lonian infants disappeared one summer.  Yolanda maintained her innocence even while being burnt alive, which proved true, as a group of zendrian slavers were discovered to be preying upon the area.

Since then the Wight is said to appear several times each year and hundreds of deaths are attributed to her.  Local lore suggest that she may be driven off by nailing a giant slug (7" to 10" in length) to your door.  The Angus M. Connor Company has a division that nets a tidy profit each year from breeding these creatures.  The slugs, meanwhile have bred other folk lore that suggests gigantic rogue slugs prowl the back alleys.

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