Description

Balroch, the City of the Five Hills, is a collective of interlocking ring-forts woven around the Henge, the Great Temple of Leana. It is here the clan chieftains of these highland domains meet to deliberate. From the Five Hills, the patchwork of stone-walled pastures known as the Stanelaw stretches in every direction over the rugged, misty landscape. It's people are honest and pragmatic pastoralists, though cautious and gruff around outsiders. Many burrowfolk and humans call this enclave home.

The Great Temple

Balroch is the home of the Great Temple to Leana, the Goddess of Justice and Order.

Demographics

The population of Balroch is primarily comprised of Human and Burrowfolk.

Weather and Landscape

The land of Balroch is one of endless rolling hills, grassland valleys, some rocky terrain/tundra in the north, and high sea cliffs to the west. The weather here is most often rainy and windy.

Aesthetic

Balroch takes its inspiration and influence from Medieval and Iron-Age Scotland, Anglo-Saxon England, Rohan from The Lord of the Rings with Celtic and tartan patterns being a common motif in their clothing of layered browns and off-whites.

Industry/Economy

Due to the relative isolation of the region, Balroch has had to become self-sufficient in many regards. What trade does occur here is mostly for tools and metalwork from the mountains and finer goods from the other realms. Blaroch's economy instead relies mostly on pastoralism. The rugged hills make excellent pastures but difficult farmland. As a result, sheep and goats are a common sight in the heights as well as herds of cattle in the lowland valleys. These herds provide Balroch with wool for its famed textiles, meat for its smokehouses, milk for its cheesemaking, and hides for its leatherwork. To better protect their livestock, the ancient people of Balroch built the Stanelaw, a patchwork of square stone-walled enclosures across the landscape. Many visitors to the region have likened it to an immense grid ordering an otherwise disorderly land.

Government

Before its fall, Balroch was governed by a Clanmoot compromised of several family clans. Each of these Clans had a Thane who met with the other Thanes to make decisions for the city. Below the Thanes, members of the Clans followed a strict societal code born out of tradition and the necessities that the harsh northern landscape provided. Each Clan owned a certain amount of land around Balroch and was expected to maintain that land for the betterment of all the Clans. Shepherds of the Clans were respected almost as much as the Thanes and watched over more of the day-to-day life for the people of Balroch.

Primary mode of transportation

Getting around Balroch and its lands is primarily done by horse and cart via dirt roads.

Is this Enclave Fallen?

Balroch is fallen. Rumors of a dark, lingering threat preying on the city from the west emerged before losing communication.