Malacanan

Small Town: Population 1,170 (63% letheni, 16% lynoxi, 12% human, 10% vesperkin, 9% other)

History

Founded in the Upheaval period, Malacanan is a cozy little town with friendly people. Originally established due to its convenient proximity to a large forest, the mountains of the Great Divide, and a river flowing to the Gulf of Liborius and the Yzerid Desert, the town is known not for the goods it produces, but the ruins that lie underneath the town itself -- the Lendar ith Eluwin. These ruins were discovered only about 800 years ago, but continue to confound archaeologists, as the civilization the city once belonged to remains a mystery. The Antiquarians' Guild has maintained a presence in the town pursuing ongoing research, but progress has been slow, as the ruins still contain potent magical defenses that are beyond the guild's skills. Artifacts recovered from the ruins have resisted attempts at identification, and the language that appears on the ruins' buildings has yet to be determined.

The ruins have drawn interest from many, including those who are magically inclined. One such wizard, a Letheni man named Verniel, once studied these ruins and provided protection to the town in the wake of increased Goblin activity, even eventually teaching some classes at the Lontharram ith Solaneth. However, about 700 years ago, local Goblins launched an assault on the town, killing dozens. The Goblins converged on Verniel's tower, and Verniel unleashed a powerful spell that turned the Goblins surrounding the tower in ice, shattering them, but also killing him and covering his tower in permafrost that remains to this day. The town honors Verniel's sacrifice by planting and tending to flowers around the ruins of his tower, but they have long since picked his tower clean of anything valuable. Many of his possessions can be found in the townsfolk's homes. Local Goblins avoid the town now, preferring to attack travelers on the road instead.

Government

Malacanan falls under the jurisdiction of the magistrate of Eldham, Eldar Kildana. Though Eldar coordinates funding and defense for Malacanan, providing Enforcers to the town, the Great Divide separating Eldham from Malacanan means communication can be slow. As a result, Malacanan has a local administrator that handles the day to day logistics, as well as coordination of trade and defense. The administrator of Malacanan is a Letheni woman named Fanith Devanar. The locals are content with Eldar's oversight, but have begun to think Fanith isn't quite cut out for her role, as she has on numerous occasions lost track of finances and over-collected taxes, or taken too long to respond to Goblin attacks on the road. Fanith is young and inexperienced, so she has been given some grace, but locals are becoming irritated by her carelessness.

Economy

Malacanan's primary income comes from a wealth of common resources, such as coal, iron, silver, and copper in the mountains of the Great Divide, as well as various types of stone. They also have a large supply of tree resin and sap, which they use for a large variety of purposes, even using the food to make sweet syrups that they use for their food and export; an expensive luxury, but well worth every silver. The most unique export Malacanan has to offer is its variety of specialty cloth and clothing made from them. The locals have taken inspiration from the architecture and murals in the Lendar ith Eluwin to create designs not seen anywhere else. The clothing looks exotic and merchants have shown great interest in it, selling it all over Arak and even in The Commonwealth, though the Dwarves oddly enough don't seem that interested.

Notable Locations

• Marnam ith Verniel - Often one of the first things approaching travelers see, this tower located just outside the town walls to the south was once home to a Letheni wizard of moderate renown, named Verniel, who was known to have studied the Eluwin ruins underneath the town. The tower has sat destroyed since around the time of the formation of the Synodical Republic just about 700 years ago after the wizard in residence thwarted a Goblin raid, but in doing so unleashed a spell which destroyed both the Goblin horde and his tower, covering it in permafrost that remains to this day. The tower has long since been picked clean of anything valuable, with the wizard's belongings being scattered across the homes of the residents of Malacanan.
• Lendar ith Eluwin - The Eluwin ruins, named for the Letheni woman who discovered them, are the ruins of an ancient city located underneath Malacanan. Much is unknown about the ruins, including whether they were underground to begin with, or if they sank. However, the largest unknown is what civilization the ruins once belonged to, as though the ruins have an aesthetic that resembles Dwarven architecture, many findings in the ruins cast doubt on them belonging to the Dwarves. The ruins still have many magical defenses in place that have made progress in exploring them slow, but the city proper has been mostly excavated.
• Lontharram ith Solaneth - One of the only establishments of its kind in Arak, this public school was established within two decades of the discovery of the Lendar ith Eluwin when public interest in the ruins rose sharply, but the locals had limited experience in the skills needed to understand what they found there. The townsfolk pooled their resources to purchase books from merchants passing through town and hired a Letheni woman named Liawin Colasta from Mythwell to teach all who wished to learn in classes that anyone can attend. The school is funded through public taxes, and children attend until they come of age so that they will be well-rounded. The school also has local tradesmen who offer courses to train locals in valuable skills in case they wish to pursue a new trade. Outsiders can attend classes for a small fee.

Culture

Malacanan has been steeped in mystery and intrigue for centuries, with the ruins below the city captivating the imaginations of every resident and traveler who visits. What little the locals have been able to understand of the culture of the civilization that once dwelt below has been incorporated into the culture of Malacanan's people. The most obvious way this shows is in the artisan goods produced by the town's craftspeople, most notably their clothing, which incorporates the writing and aesthetic of the artifacts found in the ruins below. Some have noted the writing's similarity to the written form of Aurum, the language of magic, which further reinforces the idea that it may have been connected to an early Dwarven civilization. The ruins' architecture has many flowing shapes, like wind or water visualized, carved into them, and these patterns have been used in artisan cloth produced by the town and clothing designs. Visitors to the town have taken just as much interest in these strange ruins, and the town offers tours of the ruins for a small fee.

Because of the mysteries of the Lendar ith Eluwin, the locals have spent a great deal of effort in cultivating a system of education so that they can continue to investigate the ruins, and so that their children can become well-rounded and pursue professions elsewhere if they wish. The townsfolk have pooled their resources to purchase a large library of books that are stored within the Lontharram ith Solaneth, free to use, but which must stay within the school's walls. The town's taxes pay for the education of its children, and adults can attend classes teaching various topics at night after they are done with their jobs. There has been some interest from outsiders, with many expressing desire to adopt this system elsewhere. Outsiders are permitted to attend classes for a small fee.

There are a handful of foods unique to Malacanan, the most notable of which is their syrups, which are produced from the sap of the trees in the forest to the north. This syrup is used as a sweetener in many baked goods, including the most popular, Tesinaharis; a bread with a strong aroma that is sweetened with the syrup causing it to rise much more than a normal bread, making it airy and delicate. It is often topped with a fruit jam, some Charatekethi powder, and crushed nuts. Another popular food is Shalisi Bethan, which is a pastry made by spreading a hazelnut paste seasoned with cinnamon onto a dough coated in butter, rolling it up in a spiral, and baking it. It is then topped with a reduced sauce made from syrup and a local grain alcohol.

The most celebrated day of the year in Malacanan is Reka ith Kiduneth on the final day of Aellen, during which the children attending classes at the Lontharram ith Solaneth research a topic and give a presentation on it for the rest of the town. They are encouraged to research topics that have not yet been solved, but in a small town, there are only so many topics to research, so some have been presented many times; but the locals never tire of hearing these presentations, seeing it as a mark of pride that their children are learning things that they could one day use to change the world. The children are often given gifts by their parents on this day.

Defenses

Though the town has enough stone that they could make stone walls to protect the town, the town's buildings are quite spread out and it would be a much larger effort than they are willing to commit to, so the town is simply protected by wooden palisades. The local Goblins can scale these quite easily; however, their best defense are the totems placed at intervals around the palisades. These were created by Verniel, and when Goblins are within range, the eyes on the totem glow and they give off an alarming sound. However, the totems consume a good deal of static Flow to function, and thus using higher order spells may not be possible in their vicinity.

Crime

Malacanan faces a rather unique form of crime in the form of smuggling of artifacts from the Lendar ith Eluwin. It is rare for a resident of the town to be caught stealing from the ruins, but outsiders have to be monitored carefully during tours to ensure they do not take a piece of the ruins with them. Things as innocuous as pottery can be sold at a high price to collectors, and items of a magical nature are priceless. There are a handful of buyers from Reshyk interested in studying these magical artifacts so they can determine whether or not the ruins belong to the remnants of an ancient Dwarven civilization. For this reason, the ruins are kept under heavy guard by the Enforcers all day and night.