Rothlene

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File:Rothlene.jpg

• 1 city, 1 town, 3 villages
• City of scribes, authors, and printing presses
• Lakeside grove with a private estate of a mad Arcanist who wears the scars of terrible experiments with pride
• Spring fed lake is polluted with magic experimentation
• Lush fields of agriculture, primarily for creating fabric and paper
• Small southern marsh
• Western wastes with an ancient statue monument known by many names
• High quality road system

Template:Breadcrumb Shards > Acrolon > Mercatia > Rothlene

File:Mercatia-rothlene.png

Overview

Rothlene (Nortongue \ˈrɔθlin\) is named for its short but strong river. Lore about Rothlene is thorough and accurate. It is highly civilized, well mapped, and studied by scholars and historians. It's two biggest mysteries are The Witness and

History

In the early Shattered Age, this island was known as Kildedain (Nortongue \ˈkɪldɪˌdeɪn\ for fountain). In the latter half of the Shattered Age, this island became known as Fontillia (Imperial, \fɑnˈtɪlliə\ for fountain).

Populations

Rothlene has a population of 24900, across 1 city, 1 town, and 3 villages. High quality roads connect all of the settlements.

Geography

Rothlene is entirely flat land, with rich soil in most of it. There is a lake in the northern center of the island. It is fed by a powerful spring. It leads to the Topaz Reach through a short but incredibly powerful river. In the western center of the island is a patch of dry, brittle loess.

Economy

The town and villages of the islands must import their produce from Valdossa and Kopakita, but produce enough fish for their local needs. The hills and cliffs have quarries of limestone that satisfy their local building needs, as well as exports to Rothlene. Their exotic fish attract travelers to their local markets. There are also gem mines in the cliff wall, which are exported to Mercatia City.

Features

The Witness

Standing on the central western shores of Rothlene is a massive (20+ m) quartzite statue of a man. Its origins are lost to history, and so it goes by many names, expressing the many myths and legends around its origin. Its names include:

• The Witherking: Said to be a tyrant pirate king who ruled with such cruelty that even the land rejects his image.
• The Orphan of the Loam: Used a lot in poetic references. Believed to be a symbol of something taken from the land that was never returned.
• The Bound Prophet: An account found in Imperial texts. Accounts hold that it depicts a prophet who foresaw The Fall and was silenced. The statuew as built after The Fall in his memory.
• Suthmar's End: The oldest known legend, from Nortongue traditions. Said to be a giant of Fury turned to stone by the Shard Gods.
• The First Merchant: A cautionary tale told by merchants about a man who tried to buy the island from the sea, cursed to stand forever as a failed negotiator.
• The Admirer: A famous bardic song about a man who loved Anastasia and dared to woo her. Spring itself rejected him and erected the statue as a warning, cursing the land.
• The Witness: A fringe theological perspective, says the statue represents someone who saw something that was never meant to be seen, and the Shard Gods petrified him to preserve the witnessing.

The statue itself is an incredibly dense, gray quartzite. It represents a tall, gaunt human man standing rigidly upright. His arms stretch out before him, two hands wrapped around the top of an unadorned staff that touches the ground. His eyes are deep-set hollows. His expression is hauntingly stoic. His garments are loose fitting robes worn in an unusual fashion. He wears a crown of antlers wrapped around his head, which has long braided hair. One of his feet is bare and the other wears a sandal.

The Needle of Sarn

A white stone tower stands on the southern shores of Thunderwake Lake. It is named The Needle of Sarn, though there is little agreement about who Sarn was, other than an ancient magic wielder of some kind. The current inhabitant of The Needle is Ulvin of the Eyes, a mad Arcanist who locals say can see everything that happens on the island. Farmers swear that they have seen him on the balconies of the tower, and that he casts no shadow.