Richemulot

Richemulot

A land where life is centered around seemingly egalitarian, urban life, Richemulot is a nation based more on merit than material wealth. The citizens are able to leave mostly clean lives without fear of the overt oppression or abuse of other lands. Yet beneath this facade of opportunity and equality, corruption festers like a hidden tumor. From the sewers beneath the streets to the closed doors of the elite, wererats and other horrors eat at Richemulot in secret.

Situated in the east-central Core, Richemulot is a land of pristine forests and sun-dappled places full of massive trees and fragrant shrubs and forbs. The mighty Musarde River winds through the domain, providing a vital trade route. The landscape is largely undeveloped, broken only by isolated cottages and farms, because most of the land's population is concentrated in its three large settlements. While travelers may not encounter a a single soul in rural Richemulot, the cities are bustling with people. Strangely, these ancient settlements retain an empty atmosphere; vacant houses, shops, and other structures hint that the cities could support up to three times as many inhabitants.

Not even the Richemuloise know why their cities stand abandoned; the original inhabitants of these silent avenues are a mystery. Regardsless, they were marvelous builders. The narrow streets are lined with beautiful facades of creamy stone, though the buildings are chipped and worn in places. The high rooftops are covered with thin, square wooden shingles and dotted with narrow, soaring spires. The cities are further blessed with elaborate sewer systems that twist deep into the earth. Richemulot's climate is temperate but mild; heavy snows are a rare occurrence in winter.

Major Settlements: Morgitny, Pont-a-Museau, Ste. Ronges

• Idyllic countryside—lush forests, gently rolling river valleys, open farmland and pastures.
• The Musarde River is the backbone and lifeblood of commerce, flowing south.
• The Silent Fields: Farming heartland west of the Musarde, where vineyards, pastures, and fields of rustling grain break up a wooded floodplain.
• Hundreds of shallow, overgrown ponds dot the Silent Fields, often accompanied by windmills built of smooth river stones.
• The Gasping Lake likes in the heart, murky waters concealing bountiful fish.
• Reputation as brigand country, with known infamous mercenary companies such as the Bitter Flame and the Serpents of Doom, hole up here.
• The House of Sages: densely forested region set on a limestone plateau east of the Musarde—steeped in esoteric strangeness, dotted with isolated farms and cottages. Clearings strewn with lichen-encrusted cobbles, hermits’ caves in low hillsides, and the crumbling ruins of castles, abbeys, and towers. 
• The Road of Whispers is the only true highway, cutting through the land and through all three major cities. Merchants, mercenaries, and pilgrims perpetually crowd its length.
• Lifestyle: Unlike in other realms, destitute poverty and decadent opulence are rare sights. Most lead modest, comfortable lives—the people could be said to characterize “both highborn taste and lowborn character, the sort of boorish indulgence that characters the merchant class in other realms.”
• Immigration swells every year, fugitives, heretics, and simple commoners seeking opportunity. Richemulot promises a roof over one’s head and a second chance as in no other land, but those who would accept such gifts must have the cunning to keep them. Despite the enticing veil of success that hangs over the cities, many Richemuloise are drowning in debt, run into the ground by the vicious competition and ruthless business practices of their neighbors. Though Richemulot has no true serfs, it has a hidden lower class in the form of indentured servants, who wear the same clothes as their neighbors but have little hope of ever recovering self-sufficiency.
• City architecture: narrow flagstone streets, cream-colored stone buildings tower two to four stories high, facades are chipped and worn and often encrusted with woody ivies and scaly lichens. 
• Natives give fresh coat of whitewash to the door and window frames of occupied buildings every year.
• Rooftops are conical or steeply gabled, typically finished in thin, square wooden shingles the color of charcoal. Narrow, soaring spires pepper the skyline.
• Ancient walls, bridges, and aqueducts are common. Public gardens and other green spaces are overgrown and neglected and are often associated with vermin. 
• The Church of Ezra: The Richemulot See is the most powerful stronghold of the Home Faith outside of Borca, but it has a symbiotic tie with the nobility and its loyalty is divided. The Mordentish sect has a smaller presence and smaller foothold on the populace.

The Law: Hereditary aristocracy. Richemulot is dominated by the Reinier family of Pont-a-Museau and informally ruled by its matriarch, Jacqueline Reinier. Jacqueline is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant and ruthless Richemuloise nobles, and fewer of her subjects would argue that the domain's fate could be in more capable hands. Indeed, while Jacqueline is undeniably conniving and conceited, she has a strong patriotic streak and believes firmly in a vision of Richemulot as a powerful nation with its own identity. She encourages outsiders to settle in the domain, asking only that they own a weapon and swear fealty to Richemulot itself. She has no community militias, but Jacqueline expects all Richemuloise to be prepared to defend the realm, especially against the ever-present threat of Falkovnia.

     The hereditary nobles of Richemulot have absolute control over most aspects of daily life in the domain. Aristocrats arbitrate civil disputes and regulate trade, and enforcers retained by individual noble families keep the peace. The nobles exercise their authority lightly, however. Power can be a transitory thing in Richemulot, and few nobles want to risk overstepping their bounds and finding themselves disgraced by a vicious rumor.

Pont-a-Museau

Pont-a-Museau is nestled at the slight bend in the Musarde River, where it joins with the River of Sacrifices. Towering levees, up to fifty feet high, stand on both riverbanks, protecting the city from flooding. Massive stone bridges connect either shore to an aggregation of man-made islands, each also supported on a freestanding levee.

• Ruled by the "Grande Dame," Lady Jacqueline Reinier.
• Lord Jules Audrix is the Commander of the Casque Safran, the most powerful of the watchman groups.
• Docks are at water level; a network of ramps, switchback stairs, and pull-driven platforms allow cargo and passengers to reach street level easily. Drawbridges on the major causeway permit vessels on the Musarde to navigate freely past the city.
• Businesses include fine blacksmiths, tinsmiths, shipwrights, apothecaries, and workshops where distinctive cheeses, sweetmeats, and confections are made. 
• Streets are narrow and labyrinthine, especially in the southern districts.
• The Plaza of Stars is a thronging market where Vistani can be found.
• The Academy of Richemulot offers training in philosophy, literature, linguistics, and natural science.
• The Cathedral of the Ordained Plague, built upon the remains of an ancient bathhouse, is the headquarters of the Church of Ezra. 
• Chateau Delanuit, the Reinier estate, is situated on its own island at the center of the city.
• Inns include the Fat Black Rat (wealthy), the Smoking Tallow (common), Dérivant de Pétales (Drifting Petals) (common to rich)