FARROW'S REST

Settlement Overview

Farrow's Rest is a ramshackle township that has become a beacon of hope in the frozen wastes—not through wealth or military might, but through an unwavering commitment to community and compassion. Built in and around the wreckage of an ancient skyship that crashed during the early days of the calamity, the settlement represents both the ingenuity of the old world and the resilience of the new.

The skyship's rusting hull, partially embedded in the frozen earth at an angle, serves as the settlement's most distinctive shelter. While not as massive as the legendary floating fortresses that once drifted in the skies above, the vessel is still substantial, perhaps two hundred feet in length, with a cargo hold, crew quarters, and navigation deck largely intact. The survivors have constructed a crude wooden palisade around the wreckage, enclosing a collection of makeshift structures that huddle against the ship's lee side for protection from the wind.

History

The Crash

In the chaos of Year Zero, as the Endless Winter descended and civilization collapsed, skyships—the flying vessels that once connected the empire's cities—fell from the sky one by one. Whether due to failing magic, destroyed docking ports, or desperate attempts to flee to warmer lands, these vessels met tragic ends across the frozen wastes.

The skyship that would become Farrow's Rest was a cargo-and-passenger vessel called Windchaser, en route from a northern city when disaster struck. Ice formed on its levitation crystals, and arcane engines sputtered in the unnatural cold. The crew managed a controlled crash landing in what had been a temperate valley along an old trade route. Of the thirty-seven souls aboard, the crew, passengers, and refugees the captain had taken on, only nineteen survived the impact.

These survivors, led by a former imperial quartermaster named Garrett Farrow, made the fateful decision to remain with the wreck rather than attempt the deadly journey to established settlements. The ship's hull, though broken, provided better shelter than anything they could build, and the wreckage contained tools, supplies, and salvageable materials. Garrett Farrow's philosophy was simple: "We welcome all, for we were all once desperate strangers ourselves."

Garrett died in the settlement's third winter, frozen while distributing the last of his own rations to children. His name endures in the settlement he founded.

Growth Through Compassion

Over the thirty years since the crash, Farrow's Rest has grown from nineteen crash survivors to a thriving community of eight hundred. Unlike High Hearth with its closed gates or Winter's Retreat with its knowledge hoarding, Farrow's Rest has always maintained open arms. Refugees, wanderers, traders, and the desperate have all found shelter here, contributing what they can to the communal effort.

This openness has made Farrow's Rest both beloved and vulnerable. The settlement has survived numerous bandit raids, brutal winters, and near-starvation, sustained by the belief that community is the only hedge against dying alone in the frost.

Geography and Climate

Farrow's Rest sits in what was once a temperate valley along an ancient trade route, now a windswept expanse of ice and permafrost. The crashed skyship provides some shelter from the worst northern winds, and the valley walls offer minimal protection from the elements. However, the settlement lacks any geothermal heat source, making it significantly colder than fortified bastions like Frosthold or High Hearth.

The surrounding terrain is treacherous—frozen ground, scattered debris from the crash, and fields of ice that can crack unexpectedly. To the north lie the ruins of several pre-calamity villages, now dangerous but resource-rich scavenging grounds. To the south, the old trade road still provides a navigable (if perilous) path to other settlements.

Governance

The Council of Elders

Farrow's Rest has no formal government, no written laws, and no hereditary leadership. Instead, the settlement is guided by a Council of Elders, a rotating group of seven respected community members who make decisions by consensus. The Council meets in what was once the captain's cabin aboard the Windchaser, a surprisingly well-preserved compartment that serves as the settlement's council chamber.

Current Council members include:

• Elder Mira Thornhall (age 62) - Former merchant, manages trade relations
• Elder Bram Coldiron (age 58) - Blacksmith and metalworker, oversees repairs
• Elder Yasmin al-Hadir (age 55) - Healer and herbalist, tends to the sick
• Elder Torvald Grimsson (age 67) - Former Legion soldier, organizes defense
• Elder Sienna Ashwood (age 51) - Scavenger leader, coordinates expeditions
• Elder Krist Prismsong of the Adamant Spire (age 142, Glasgrim) - Lorekeeper and mediator
• Elder Thorne Embercore (age unknown, Emberforged) - Engineer and architect

Decisions are made through discussion, debate, and ultimately a show of hands among all adult residents. Every member of the community, regardless of ancestry or origin, has a voice in major decisions. This radical egalitarianism has caused friction with more hierarchical settlements, but it remains Farrow's Rest's defining characteristic.

Economy and Resources

The Scarcity Economy

Like all settlements in the Eternal Frost, Farrow's Rest operates on a subsistence economy where food, fuel, and warmth are the only currencies that truly matter. The settlement is chronically poor by wasteland standards: they have no geothermal vents, no abundant food stores, and no significant military force. What little they have, they share freely.

Primary Resources:

• Scavenged Materials: Regular expeditions to nearby ruins bring back metal, tools, preserved food, and fuel
• Salvage from the Skyship: The vessel itself is slowly being cannibalized for materials—metal plating, intact mechanisms, crystalline components
• Courier Services: Farrow's Rest serves as a crucial waystation for couriers traveling between major settlements
• Trade Hub: Despite their poverty, the settlement is a nexus for small-scale barter and information exchange

Food Sources:

• Small mushroom farm in the ship's cargo hold (supplemental at best)
• Ice fishing in a partially frozen stream to the east (seasonal and dangerous)
• Preserved food from scavenging expeditions
• Trade with passing merchants and hunters
• Communal rationing and distribution

The Silver Company Loan

In Year 27 of the Eternal Frost, facing a particularly brutal winter and dwindling food stores, the Council reluctantly accepted a loan from the Silver Company to purchase emergency supplies. This decision haunts the community. The loan's terms were stringent, with compounding interest in pure silver; a currency the settlement can barely acquire. Failure to meet payments could result in the Silver Company foreclosing, seizing the settlement and its people as indentured servants.

This debt hangs over Farrow's Rest like a blade, forcing the community to balance their generous nature against the cold calculus of survival.

Notable Locations

The Windchaser (The Hull)

The crashed skyship dominates the settlement. Though not enormous by the standards of the floating fortresses, it's still an impressive vessel—approximately two hundred feet long with a forty-foot beam. The ship crashed at an angle, with its bow embedded in the frozen earth and its stern elevated about thirty feet in the air.

Notable sections:

• The Captain's Cabin: Council meeting chamber, still contains old navigation charts and instruments
• The Cargo Hold: The largest interior space, converted into communal sleeping quarters and a small mushroom farm
• The Crew Quarters: Divided into family dwellings, separated by hung blankets and salvaged partitions
• The Navigation Deck: The highest accessible point, used as a watchtower and signal post
• The Engine Room: Workshop for Bram Coldiron and Thorne Embercore, who study the skyship's failing levitation mechanisms

The hull provides better insulation than wood or canvas, though ice still forms on interior surfaces during the worst cold snaps. The ship's metal skeleton creaks and groans in high winds, a constant reminder of its precarious state.

The Palisade Wall

A circular wooden barricade constructed from scavenged timber and ship debris surrounds the main settlement. Standing roughly twelve feet high, it's crude but functional - high enough to deter casual raiders and reinforced with salvaged metal plating at weak points. Four guard posts mark the cardinal directions, manned in rotating shifts by exhausted volunteers.

The Hearthfire

The largest communal fire pit, located in the central square between the hull and the palisade. This is where the community gathers for meals (when there's enough food to share), meetings, and the rare celebration. It's kept burning day and night when fuel permits, a symbol of the settlement's commitment to keeping the light alive against the darkness.

The Scavenger's Waystation

A two-story wooden structure built against the skyship's starboard side, serving as inn, tavern, and meeting place for traveling couriers and scavengers. Run by Helga Ironfoot (age 49, human), it's the only place in the settlement where travelers can pay (in trade goods) for a semi-private room and hot meal. The Waystation doubles as the settlement's rumor mill and unofficial job board.

The Remembrance Wall

A section of the skyship's outer hull where names of the dead are carved into the metal. It began with the names of those who died in the crash but now includes every soul who has perished in Farrow's Rest over thirty years—hundreds of names etched in crude letters. Elder Krist maintains this memorial, and visitors often leave small tokens or frozen flowers at its base.

The Salvage Yards

Scattered around the palisade are organized piles of scavenged materials: twisted metal, broken machinery, salvaged wood, and other finds from expeditions. Thorne Embercore meticulously catalogs and sorts these materials, determining what can be repurposed for repairs or trade.

Culture and Daily Life

"Everyone Contributes"

The foundational principle of Farrow's Rest is communal survival. There are no freeloaders; everyone contributes according to their ability. The elderly teach children, the skilled train apprentices, the strong labor, and even the sick help with light tasks when able. This collective ethic has created a tight-knit community where bonds of mutual obligation run deep.

Openness to Outsiders

Unlike many settlements that view strangers with suspicion or hostility, Farrow's Rest welcomes travelers and refugees. The gates are open to any who need shelter, though newcomers are expected to contribute to the community if they stay longer than a few days. This policy has made Farrow's Rest a known safe haven for the desperate, though it has also made them targets for those who would exploit their generosity.

The Skyship's Legacy

The Windchaser itself has taken on an almost mythical quality for those born in the settlement. Children play in its corridors, lovers meet on its deck, and the elderly speak of the ship as a benevolent guardian that "chose" to crash here rather than in the open wastes. Some residents swear the ship's spirit still watches over them, pointing to the way its hull shelters them from the worst winds.

Music and Stories

Despite, or perhaps because of, their poverty, the people of Farrow's Rest maintain cultural traditions that wealthier settlements have abandoned. Evening gatherings around the Hearthfire often feature songs, stories, and remembrances of the old world. Elder Krist is particularly valued for their ancient memory, offering perspective that spans centuries.

One popular song is "The Ballad of Garrett's Choice," which tells the story of the settlement's founder choosing to share his last rations with a stranger's child.

The Courier Culture

Farrow's Rest has become a hub for couriers, the brave souls who carry messages and small packages between settlements. Couriers are revered in the community, their news from distant places treasured. The settlement offers free lodging and meals to any courier, recognizing their essential role in connecting the scattered remnants of civilization.

Military and Defense

Farrow's Rest has no standing army, only a volunteer militia of approximately fifty able-bodied fighters. Their equipment is salvaged and mismatched, a patchwork of pre-war arms, improvised weapons, and scavenged armor. Training is informal, usually led by Elder Torvald drawing on his Legion experience.

The settlement relies primarily on:

• The Order of the Last Light: A Lance of Vindicators passes through roughly every three months, often staying for several days to rest and provide aid. Their presence offers crucial protection and medical assistance.
• Community Defense: Every adult is expected to help defend the walls in an emergency, and most know how to use at least a crossbow or spear.
• Strategic Alliances: Friendly relations with passing courier groups and scavenger bands provide informal security networks and early warnings of threats.

The settlement's greatest defense, ironically, is its poverty: there's simply not enough here to make a full-scale raid worthwhile for most bandits. Additionally, attacking Farrow's Rest would earn the enmity of the Order of the Last Light, a deterrent most raiders respect.

Notable Figures

Elder Mira Thornhall

The de facto leader of the Council, Mira was a prosperous merchant before the calamity. She remembers the old world vividly and carries both the wisdom of experience and the grief of loss. She manages the settlement's trade relations and negotiations with outside factions, including the increasingly tense communications with the Silver Company. Mira is pragmatic but compassionate, often serving as mediator between idealistic and hardline council members.

Thorne Embercore

One of the few surviving Emberforged in the region, Thorne was a construction and repair golem before the fall. They have an engineer's mind and a craftsman's soul, fascinated by how things work. Thorne's study of the Windchaser's levitation mechanisms is partly practical (salvaging useful components) and partly academic (understanding lost magical technology). Their metal and wood body makes them immune to cold, allowing them to work outside in conditions that would kill a human in minutes. Younger residents sometimes fear Thorne, but most value the Emberforged's tireless efforts to keep the settlement standing.

Helga Ironfoot

The proprietor of the Scavenger's Waystation, Helga is a former raider who turned her life around after being shown mercy by Garrett Farrow himself during a failed raid attempt. She runs the only "business" in the settlement, though she regularly provides free meals to those in genuine need. Her connections to the underworld make her an invaluable source of information about raider movements, black market opportunities, and rumors from the wastes.

Young Tam (age 30)

One of the youngest adults in the settlement, Tam has never known anything but the Endless Winter and approaches survival with pragmatic efficiency. Tam represents the new generation's worldview—less idealistic than the elders, more focused on tangible results. Tam is fiercely loyal to Farrow's Rest but sometimes questions whether the settlement's generous policies are sustainable in the long term.

Challenges and Threats

Food Scarcity

The settlement operates perpetually on the edge of starvation. Rationing is constant, and harsh winters push the community to the brink. The mushroom farm produces barely enough to supplement scavenged food, and hunting has become increasingly dangerous as game grows scarce and predators more desperate.

The Silver Company Debt

The outstanding loan threatens the very existence of Farrow's Rest. Payment deadlines loom, and the settlement struggles to acquire enough silver to meet even the interest. Captain Valerius and his Sterling enforcers could arrive at any time to demand payment or foreclose. This crisis divides the community between those who want to seek help and those who fear outside intervention will compromise their independence.

Iceclaw Raiders

The notorious Iceclaw Raiders occasionally probe the settlement's defenses. While Farrow's Rest has little material wealth, Raiders have been known to raid for captives to sell or simply for sport. The palisade has held against small groups, but everyone knows a determined assault would overwhelm their meager defenses.

The Echoing Silence

Travelers bring disturbing reports of the Echoing Silence: a phenomenon of supernatural quiet and madness consuming settlements. Some residents claim to hear strange whispers on still nights, though the Elders dismiss this as superstition born of fear and isolation.

Resource Depletion

The skyship itself is being slowly cannibalized. Every winter, more hull plating is stripped for trade or repairs. Eventually, there will be nothing left to salvage, and the settlement will lose both its primary shelter and its defining landmark. Plans to transition to more sustainable construction are hampered by lack of materials and expertise.

Structural Integrity

The Windchaser wasn't designed to be a permanent structure. Thirty years of wind, ice, and scavenging have taken their toll. Thorne Embercore warns that sections of the hull are becoming unsafe, but the community has no alternative shelter. One day, a major storm or structural failure could collapse the entire wreck.

Relations with Other Factions

The Order of the Last Light: Protective and fraternal. The Order views Farrow's Rest as an embodiment of their ideals—a community of hope and compassion in the wasteland. Lance-Captain Aldric Stormborn personally ensures regular patrol routes include the settlement.

The Iron Hand Regiment: Distant and contemptuous. The Iron Hand views Farrow's Rest as a foolish waste of resources, a settlement that coddles weakness instead of purging it. They've made no move against it (yet), but agents occasionally scout the area.

The Silver Company: Tense creditor-debtor relationship. The Company values Farrow's Rest as a minor trade hub and waystation, but they will not hesitate to foreclose if payment isn't made. Some whisper that the Company's interest extends beyond the debt—that they're searching for something specific in the skyship's wreckage.

The Children of Silence: Unknown. The settlement has not yet attracted the cult's direct attention, though refugees fleeing Silence-touched regions sometimes arrive seeking shelter with tales of horror.

High Hearth: Neutral trade partners. The wealthy dwarven settlement occasionally trades preserved mushrooms and geothermal-worked metal for scavenged components, though they view Farrow's Rest's open-door policy as dangerously naive.

Winter's Retreat: Cool but respectful. The Library Kingdom occasionally sends scholars to examine the skyship's magical engines and levitation crystals, trading knowledge for access. Some books recovered from the Windchaser now reside in Winter's Retreat's archives.

Black Ice Couriers: Friendly professional relationship. The mysterious courier network uses Farrow's Rest as a waystation, and the settlement benefits from their protection and information network. Some suspect deeper ties between Farrow's Rest and the Black Ice, but nothing is confirmed.