The Founding of Marika - Info and NPCs

moonblack · Jul 19, 2022

The kingdom of Tarnia had several difficult years in a row. Droughts led to poor harvests, which led to lack of enough grain and wheat, prices of food rising, and people turning to banditry out of desperation. But through the efforts of King Darmir and his wife Queen Serenia the crisis was brought under control and eventually overcome. The droughts have ended, food is plentiful, and people are happy once more.

But with one crisis over another looms on the horizon. There is a war raging to the north-east. So far it has not reached Tarnia's borders, but the King is worried regardless and has focused on fortifying the kingdom's north-east borders.

Meanwhile the Queen has focused on expanding the kingdom. To the west of Tarnia there is a significant amount of unclaimed land that has been left alone for centuries – until now, that is.

By order of Queen Serenia multiple settlements are to be founded in that area. And the first one shall be Marika – for now just a small village, but it is meant to become a large city - the capital of the new province. Once that is done the other settlements will be founded one by one. In time they will all provide food, lumber, and other resources, to better prepare the kingdom for future troubles, be it droughts, war, or something else.

But founding a new settlement and growing it from a tiny village to a large city is no easy task. It comes with all sorts of danger – both external and internal...

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This is the starting map of the area. More locations might get added or discovered during the game. Also, the stone bridges in the north and south show the locations of future settlements that have not been founded yet.

A few notes about the Dryad Empire in the west:
1) You will not be going there. The dryads do not like uninvited guests and so, according to Tarnia law, entering their lands without permission is considered suicide (of the “suicide by dryad” variety). And that's if you managed to survive crossing the Saria River, which is quite the challenge to begin with
2) Queen Serenia spoke with the dryads' ambassador and received confirmation that the empire is not interest in expanding east of the Saria River, so Tarnia is free to take over the area
3) The Empire controls roughly half the continent, plus numerous islands, big and small. There are rumors – so far unconfirmed and so most people do not take them seriously – about another continent, somewhere to the west, that is at least partially under the Empire's control.
4) Not all dryads are part of the Empire. If you meet any non-Empire dryads, treat them the same as any other regular NPC

Religion

The kingdom of Tarnia does not have an official religion. People are free to worship whatever gods they wish, as long as they do not try to force their religion on others – so no “converting” people at the point of a sword – and as long as their religion does not preach rebelling against the kingdom.

Queen Serenia:

You won't be meeting her any time soon, but if things in Marika go well she might come to check on the town.

Lord Edward and his wife Lady Victoria:

The two have been married for close to two years. Each of them belongs to a minor branch of a major family. Their marriage was arranged by the heads of the two main branches for political reasons. They both want to succeed in growing Marika, as this will allow them to become their own noble family instead of being viewed as pawns of their respective families.

Anya is a maid working for lord Edward's family.

The owner of The Singing Maiden.

Captain of the guards in Marika.

The person currently in charge of the lumber camp.

moonblack · Sep 12, 2022

A waitress working at the Singing Maiden.

An elven waitress working at the Singing Maiden.

A waitress working at the River Vixen.

Another waitress working at the River Vixen.

Works at the Sensational Elixirs potion store at the market.

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Relmora the Sorceress, owner of the shop Enchanted Marvels.

A druid helping Avella investigate some odd happenings outside Marika.

A lost housewife searching for a way back to Marika and her husband.

Owner of the cheaper potion store.

One of the recruits Lydia is going to train in using the bow.

One of the recruits Lydia is going to train in using the bow.

An elven mercenary.

Derrek, a former mercenary who has decided to try a job with a more regular pay (and relatively safer).

Erica, a pretty blonde who seems quite confident in her skills.

Iris, a pretty redhead. She seems to be taking this training quite seriously.

Margaret, an armored blonde who seems rather inexperienced.

Solana, a busty dark-skinned elf.

Tamara, another former mercenary.

Zoelle, yet another former mercenary.

A dryad living in the forest south-west of Marika. She considers the southern part of the forest her home.

A woman Ganith rescued from getting raped by a bunch of murderers.