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Campaign Locations

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Quilla

Preamble - Quilla was developed from the works of one of my favourite authors to be the home city of one of the principal PCs. The player was brand new to the system, and it was a convenient hook. As the backdrop to an ongoing war, the player in question found themselves surprised to be heartbroken!

The heart and soul of the Cincorian Protectorate, Quilla is a marvel of engineering by both gods and mortal men. Built almost entirely of wood, each timber felled is ritually blessed by a thaumaturge-priest of the forest gods, and a new sapling planted in its place in the lands adjoining the great expanse of the ancient forest. Based around an ancient motte and bailey, the settlement changed when the alliance with the forest spirits came into being. As a centre for commerce, the military and the ersatz priesthood of the nation, Quilla is a temple, a barracks and a market all in one. The gifts of the gods are apparent in this remarkable town, however. Although much of the oldest construction has a foundation of stone and earth, the rest of the buildings are wooden. Old supports are seen to bloom with new life – one enterprising merchant is known to have his home and store built of late-blooming fruit trees. With subtle geomancy practiced over several centuries, the very town has become a Manse, directing and controlling the powerful Wood Essence that permeates the land in this most ancient of regions.

The Keeper of Keys for Quilla is officially the Margrave, who sits at the centre of a feudal society. Serfdom exists, although freedmen are often granted status akin to that of minor landholders. The major landholders that are responsible for those beneath them are those of the Morio, O-torono, and Tsurugi. The Hiraku family ranks with them, and in fact supplies the current Margrave.

The autocratic title of Margrave is passed down patrilineally – usually. It can, and has skipped into another family because of an affair or marriage, although it always stayed between the major four families so far.

The Hiraku and Tsurugi families were originally Kasland migrants, looking for a place to practice their more animistic beliefs away from the rising influence of the Immaculate Philosophy to the north and east. The O-Torono family joined them shortly after the Contagion, leading the remnants of another Kasland citystate south into the forests. In the face of Primordial magics, the disease seemed to halt, but little could be done to help their erstwhile cousins across their northern border.

The Morio family is of interest because their rise to fame is somewhat more recent in comparison with the other families. Morio, an outcaste Dragonblood came from the north, about a century and a half following the Contagion. His skills became legendary during the Klarnorian Wars, and he in fact entered the forest alone to broker a deal with the local elemental courts, decrying the loss of forest land and attendant sacrifices. It was this deal that eventually gave rise to a deal called the Compact of the Green Banner, in which the inhabitants of the region would give due reverence and homage to the spirits and creatures of the woods, and that in time of need they could call on the spirits for protection in much the same way. This rested on the fact that the call would be issued by a “Prince of the Earth”. Of the three Forest Walkers, Far Manioch has been most lenient in interpreting this stipulation, although Mendicant Yew and Rootless Sycamore are far less likely.

With the end of the recent invasion, Quilla is in the midst of a refugee crisis. While the new contract with Lookshy is helping with the retraining of troops, much of their time is spent on disaster relief and rebuilding deeper in the hinterlands. The woods have become more hostile to travellers, although the fact this secures the southern borders even more has not been lost on the leaders. Several towns in the south are now little more than barracks surrounded by shanties. The priests of the Compact are aggressively recruiting in order to tend to the spirits and the people, and their ambassador has been unable to contact the forest-walkers since winter. Several hundred residents from the south of the river have gone missing, and the displaced are at the end of their tether.