Walungan

Walungan is a peaceful place where superstition runs beneath the surface. The people respect the land and its gifts—salt, fruit, herbs—and in turn speak of ancient river spirits and orchard fey in hushed tones. Farmers leave offerings at old stone shrines tucked among the orchards, and riverfolk tie blue ribbons around oars and moorings for luck.

Textiles woven in Walungan often bear motifs of rivers, leaves, and salt crystals, while folk songs recount stories of love, loss, and the river’s slow wisdom.

Greater Lord Evan Keel is known across the region as a steady hand in uncertain times. Appointed by King Ricard Saxum, Keel is fair-minded, contemplative, and deeply respected by the people. He’s a rare noble who walks the streets without a guard, listening to farmers, weavers, and herbalists alike. While he lacks military cunning, his strength lies in diplomacy, justice, and wise counsel. His modest estate overlooks the river and is built from pale stone and riverwood, much like the heart of the town itself.

Despite its low-median economy, Walungan is industrious and self-sufficient, thriving off the land and river. Its economy relies on the balanced production of agriculture, salt mining, textiles, and herbal medicine.

Agriculture & Orchards

• The eastern orchards are vast and well-tended, producing a variety of fruits including pears, apples, plums, figs, and rivergrapes.

• The region is famous for its Pearblood Nectar, a rich crimson syrup fermented from blood-pears, prized by nobles in Port Istrett and Silvesi.

• Orchard wines and preserves are commonly traded in nearby towns and occasionally shipped downriver for larger markets.

Salt Mining

• Beneath the Sapphire River, natural salt deposits are mined using narrow shafts and flooded tunnels.

• Salt from Walungan is unusually blue-tinted, earning the nickname Sapphire Salt. It is believed to have mild healing properties and fetches high prices in places like Port Korsen and Silvesi.

• The mines are labor-intensive and dangerous, and some suspect the miners are secretly aided by dwarven engineering from remnants of nearby mountain settlements.

• The Salt Barons (a collective of wealthier mine-owners) have growing influence over trade pricing and regulation, which sometimes puts them at odds with Greater Lord Evan Keel’s fair policies.

Textiles

• Walungan is home to numerous weaving families and dye-crafters.

• Textiles are made from river flax and mountain wool imported from Temel and Betah, then dyed with herbal pigments from local flora.

• Designs are simple but elegant, with a reputation for durability. Traveling traders buy bolts of Walungan cloth to sell in the capital.

Medicinal Herbs & Apothecary Trade

• The Hollow Herbarium serves as a center for herbal medicine production and training.

• Local herbalists grow and forage a wide array of plants with curative, calming, and invigorating properties.

• Remedies and tonics from Walungan are widely respected for their natural potency. Many are exported to Silvesi, Port Istrett, and even up north to Rakipta.

• There is a quiet black market for rare herbs, including a few banned substances with hallucinogenic or necrotic effects.

Despite being a smaller town, Walungan has a tightly woven network of craft guilds, trader caravans, and merchant houses, all essential to the town’s industries. Some of these groups cooperate; others are bitter rivals.

The Salt Barons

The Salt Barons are a powerful collective of wealthy mine-owners and investors who control the rights to Walungan’s salt mines. While Greater Lord Evan Keel governs the town politically, The Salt Barons wield immense economic influence—and often push back against any regulation that threatens their profits.

Originally formed to coordinate mine safety and trade logistics, the Barons have evolved into a full-blown merchant oligarchy that controls pricing, export routes, and labor contracts tied to the salt trade.

They are deeply divided, however, between the Old Salt Barons (descendants of the original mine founders) and the New Blood (self-made traders and investors who bought their way into the ranks). This internal tension keeps the Barons in a constant state of political maneuvering.

The Orchardmen’s Guild

• Oversees harvesting, preservation, and transport of all fruit products from the eastern orchards.

• Known for colorful sashes and ceremonial tools like fruit-inscribed blades and wine horns.

• Works closely with Rakipta for timber-fruit fermentation barrels.

• Recently lost two groves to the Withering Blight, causing political tension with town apothecaries.

The Loomwalkers

• The local textile weavers’ guild, famed for their Riverweave Cloth.

Run by Mistress Vanarelle Hemble, a no-nonsense matriarch and former city councilor.

• Extremely insular—doesn’t allow foreign weavers to operate in Walungan without sponsorship.

• Employs "Pattern-Minders", subtle spies who guard weaving secrets and dye recipes.

House Carowmere

• A noble merchant family based in Port Istrett, with a small outpost in Walungan.

• Specializes in exporting medicinal herbs and importing rare luxury goods.

• Uses Walungan as a satellite hub for high-quality, low-volume shipments to aristocrats.

• Has begun buying up old orchard land—raising suspicion from both the Orchardmen and The Salt Barons.

The Hollow Herbarium Circle

• More of a loose academic circle than a formal guild.

• Composed of herbalists, druids, apothecaries, and a few hedge mages.

• Produces salves, potions, incense, and sometimes experimental tinctures from deep river reeds.

• Secretive about its research journals, and rumored to have ties to the Feywild.

The Binders’ Syndicate

• A neutral trade-broker collective that mediates contracts between the other factions.

• Keeps records of all large sales, imports, and exports. Operates like a bank, notary, and accountant’s office all in one.

• Led by the elderly and blind Archivist Ulrem, who’s said to remember every deal in town.

• Greater Lord Keel relies on them for monitoring illegal trade.