June Content Update: Lost Colonies (Patreon)

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From the Files of an Assessor of the Iron League

Settlement Name: Low Rapids (Case 45)

Location: Second cataract of the Rustflow Rush, approximately six days out from Montfort along the Iron Road.

Established: Approximately fourteen years ago, at the behest of Master Florian, of the Furrier's Guild of Arnault - with the permission and endorsement of League Councilors R. of Kendrickstone, W. of Torinhall, L. of Rider's End.

Purpose: Settlement was intended to exploit seam of coal discovered in nearby hills. For this reason, a trail was cut from the Iron Road to an appropriate location for a settlement. Brush cleared for several marginal fields deemed sufficient to feed the necessary mining force. Market square, workers' quarters, homesteads for farmers, mining office, and hostel for visitors duly established. Sanctuary planned, but Watcher never took up residence.

Population (at height): Approximately 80, split evenly between miners and their families, and homesteaders and the same. Representatives from Iron League and Furrier's Guild both resident.

Reason for Abandonment: Coal seam proved more shallow and more difficult to exploit than expected. After eight seasons without meaningful return, site was deemed unprofitable by mutual agreement betwixt Furrier's Guild and Iron Council. Support was thus duly withdrawn.

Case Status: Resolved. Miners have moved on. Remaining assets divided and sold, with proceeds split between Iron League and Furrier's Guild as per previous contract. Approximately a dozen homesteads still remain on land.

Settlement Name: McMill's Bluff (Case 51)

Location: Rise over the former course of the Silver Stream, approximately two weeks out from Montfort along the Iron Road.

Established: Unknown, time of establishment predates the imposition of order or construction of the Iron Road. Local sources claim that settlement was founded by freeholder and adventurer by the name of MacKay of Amberhelm at some point approximately one hundred and twenty years ago, although such sources are obviously suspect and cannot be fully verified.

Purpose: According to local sources (see previous qualifications), the settlement was founded primarily around a large water mill founded by the aforementioned Mackay of Amberhelm. This mill served local homesteads, and eventually became the centre of a sizeable settlement. Services included several unguilded crafters, a trade office representing the regional interests of the League, and a full Sanctuary with Watcher in residence. Name of the settlement derived from gradual shortening of "The Village Atop Mackay's Mill's Bluff" over the course of multiple generations.

Population (at height): Approximately 250, mostly crafters and their families, or local homesteads considered resident within the settlement for administrative purposes.

Reason for Abandonment: Emergence of Silverspur Horror (Case 50) caused severe flooding of the Silver Stream, resulting in mill no longer being viable due to shifting of stream. Settlement gradually disbanded as homesteaders began seeking alternative facilities elsewhere along the Iron Road.

Case Status: Active. Iron League representatives have secured most of the remaining assets within the region, and are now seeking to either repurpose them to new ends, or relocate them to more profitable areas. Only remaining resistance to such measures derives from descendants of Mackay of Amberhelm, who are pursuing litigation in Montfort.

Settlement Name: Last Respite (Case 58)

Location: Approximately three days' travel west of the end of the Iron Road, in territory mostly unexplored and uncharted.

Established: Unknown, purportedly some time in the past thirty or forty years. Last Respite was an unofficial settlement mostly made up of those in the Iron Marches harbouring long-term disaffection with the presence and policy of the Iron League. As a result, records regarding its characteristics were either never made available to the Iron League, or were never composed in the first place.

Purpose: Last Respite served as a haven for those elements of society which disagreed strongly with the order imposed along the Iron Road by the League. As a result, it became a gathering-place for vagrants, disaffected former labourers, and other ne'er-do-wells. While allegations that the settlement had been used as a base by bandits have been common over the course of the settlement's existence, these accusations could never be substantiated with the degree of certainty needed to justify the expense of a sufficiently equipped expedition to restore order.

Population (at height): Unknown. Much of the settlement's population was transient or seasonal. Eyewitness accounts vary between 150 to 300 at any given time.

Reason for Abandonment: Unknown. Travelling merchants customarily serving the settlement reported to nearest authorities that the settlement had been found wholly abandoned. Evident signs of violent struggle had been discovered in the outskirts of the settlement, and several outlying homesteads had been found burned and laid waste. Discarded weapons and fired arbalest bolts in great abundance, as well as approximately three dozen bodies too damaged to identify.

Case Status: Resolved. After a comprehensive investigation, the Iron Council has concluded that the inhabitants of Last Respite have been the victims of a great misfortune resulting from their close collaboration with criminal elements, lax attitude towards brigandage, and unwillingness to cooperate with agents of the League. As a result, the Iron League bears no responsibility for the disappearance of the settlement's population. However, to prevent further such incidents, the Iron Council has adopted a more proactive policy regarding unofficial and unauthorised settlements within the Deep Marches.