Windmere Farms

“The Breadbasket”

“We feed the Aetherium. Without us, everyone starves. Never forget that.”
—Elder Marna Stoneheart

Quick Reference

Windmere Farms - The Breadbasket

Overview

Windmere Farms isn’t a single location—it’s a confederation of twelve small islands clustered together, each dedicated to agriculture and collectively producing 40% of the food consumed in the Bright Reaches. These hardworking farming communities operate on principles of cooperation, seasonal labor, and mutual defense against the constant threat of Rot-Beast attacks from the southern Murk.

Life here is simple, honest, and hard. Farmers wake at dawn, work the fields until dusk, and gather in communal halls for meals and folk music. The islands are connected by short airship routes (15-minute flights), allowing workers to move between harvest sites and families to maintain social bonds.

Windmere’s strategic importance cannot be overstated: Skyport Eos, Ironhold, and dozens of smaller settlements depend on its grain shipments. If Windmere falls to Rot or Beast attacks, mass starvation follows within months. This makes the farms both invaluable and vulnerable—everyone needs them, but few prioritize their defense.

The farmers themselves are proud, practical people who view their work as sacred. They follow old traditions, honor Constellation of the Forge (patron of creation and growth), and maintain a culture of collective responsibility. Elder Marna Stoneheart, their elected leader, constantly negotiates with larger settlements for better prices and military protection, knowing that Windmere’s survival is everyone’s survival.

Geography and Structure

The Twelve Islands

Primary Islands (3 largest, 150-200m): 1. Stonehearth: Administrative center, Elder Council hall, central market 2. Grainfield: Wheat and barley production (largest output) 3. Greenhaven: Vegetables, orchards, livestock

Secondary Islands (6 medium, 80-120m): 4. Rootvale: Root vegetables (potatoes, turnips) 5. Meadowlight: Pasture, dairy cattle 6. Millstone: Grain processing, storage silos 7. Orchard Isle: Fruit trees 8. Vineyard Crest: Grapes, wine production 9. Beanpatch: Legumes, nitrogen-fixing crops

Tertiary Islands (3 small, 50-80m): 10. Shepherd’s Rest: Sheep, wool production 11. Chicken Run: Poultry, eggs 12. Herbgarden: Medicinal and culinary herbs

Inter-Island Travel: Small airships, sky-bridges (rope and plank), short flights (5-20 minutes)

Agricultural Characteristics

Soil Quality: Excellent (enriched over generations)

Water: - Natural springs on 8 islands - Rainfall collection systems - Irrigation networks

Climate: - Bright Reaches temperate - Stable conditions - Ideal for farming

Threats: - Rot-Beasts (increasing attacks) - Crop disease (managed) - Weather (Aether-Storms rare) - Market dependence (vulnerable to price manipulation)

Key Locations

Elder’s Hall (Stonehearth Island)

Description: Central meeting place, government seat

Function: - Elder Council governance - Dispute resolution - Market price setting - Defense coordination

Council: - 12 Elders (one per island) - Consensus-based decisions - Elected by farmers (5-year terms) - Led by Elder Marna Stoneheart

Atmosphere: - Practical, straightforward - Long debates (farmers are thorough) - Fair outcomes (collective interest)

The Great Barn (Grainfield Island)

Description: Massive storage facility, architectural pride

Capacity: 500 tons of grain

Function: - Post-harvest storage - Processing preparation - Emergency reserves

Significance: - Symbol of prosperity - Food security for entire region - Target for theft (guarded)

The Central Market (Stonehearth Island)

Description: Weekly market, inter-island trade and socializing

Timing: Every seventh day (tradition)

Activities: - Farmers sell surplus to each other - Merchants from settlements visit - Livestock trading - Social gathering, matchmaking, music

Atmosphere: - Lively, friendly, essential - Business and community merged

The Watchtowers (All islands)

Description: Defense structures, Rot-Beast early warning

Number: 18 total (1-2 per island)

Function: - Scan for incoming threats - Signal other islands (flags, mirrors) - Coordinate militia response

Guards: - Rotating duty (all able farmers serve) - Simple weapons (spears, crossbows) - Trained but not professional

Effectiveness: - Early warning works - Defense marginal (farmers, not soldiers) - Losses occur despite efforts

Economy

Production

Annual Output: - Grain: 2,000 tons (wheat, barley, oats) - Vegetables: 500 tons (diverse) - Fruit: 300 tons (apples, pears, grapes) - Livestock: 200 head cattle, 500 sheep, 1,000 chickens - Dairy: 50,000 liters milk annually - Wine: 10,000 bottles (premium quality)

Markets: - Skyport Eos (40% of production) - Ironhold (30%) - Floating Market (15%) - Other settlements (15%)

Pricing

Negotiation Challenges: - Sky-Guild tries to depress prices (maximize profit) - Windmere needs fair compensation (survive + defend) - Elder Marna skilled negotiator (holds firm)

Current Rates (per 100kg): - Grain: 15 Aether-Coins (fair) - Vegetables: 20 coins (seasonal variance) - Meat: 100 coins (premium)

Margin: Tight (20% profit after costs)

Economic Vulnerability

Dependency: - Must sell to survive (no alternative) - Cannot store indefinitely - Transportation costs high

Threats: - Price manipulation (Guild pressure) - Supply disruption (Rot-Beast attacks) - Competition (other farms emerging) - Climate shift (Aether instability)

Society and Culture

Farming Community

Values: - Hard work (respected above all) - Cooperation (survival depends on it) - Tradition (old ways proven) - Family (multi-generational farms)

Daily Life: - Dawn to dusk labor - Communal meals (social bonding) - Evening music and stories - Early to bed (exhausting work)

Celebrations: - Planting Festival (spring) - Harvest Festival (autumn, largest celebration) - Winter Solstice (rest and reflection)

Religion: - Worship Constellation of the Forge - View farming as sacred work - Prayers for good harvest

Social Structure

Egalitarian (mostly): - All farmers equal status - Respect based on skill, effort - Elders elected (temporary authority) - Wealth differences minimal

Family Units: - Multi-generational (grandparents, parents, children work together) - Arranged marriages common (practical partnerships) - Children raised communally (all adults responsible)

Youth: - Expected to work (young age) - Education minimal (reading, arithmetic, farming) - Some leave for cities (seen as abandonment) - Most stay (continuity valued)

Notable Residents

Elder Marna Stoneheart

Role: Council leader, chief negotiator

Age: 58
Personality: Tough, fair, protective of her people

Background: - Born on Grainfield - Lifelong farmer - Elected Elder 15 years ago (successful tenure) - Respected by other settlements

Challenges: - Negotiate fair prices - Secure military protection - Manage Rot-Beast threat - Maintain community cohesion

Quote: “We feed you. You protect us. That’s the deal. Don’t forget which side needs whom more.”

Torven Strongback

Role: Militia captain, defense coordinator

Age: 40
Background: Former Ironhold soldier, retired to farm

Ability: - Combat experience (valuable) - Training militia (improving defense) - Tactical knowledge

Challenge: - Farmers not soldiers - Limited resources - Increasing Rot-Beast attacks - Needs more support

Young Kessa

Role: Promising farmer, next generation leader

Age: 22
Personality: Curious, innovative, questioning tradition

Ideas: - New crop rotation (increase yield) - Better irrigation (efficiency) - Alternative markets (reduce dependency)

Reception: - Elders cautious (tradition works) - Peers intrigued - Potential future Elder

Current Situation (287 S.)

Challenges

Rot-Beast Attacks Increasing: - Monthly attacks (used to be quarterly) - Larger packs (coordination worrying) - Losses mounting (people and crops) - Fear growing

Market Pressure: - Guild demanding lower prices - Windmere resisting - Standoff risks supply disruption

Labor Shortage: - Youth leaving for cities - Aging population - Work intensity unsustainable

Rot Proximity: - Murk drifting closer (gradual) - Rot-Clouds occasionally reach farms - Long-term viability questioned

Recent Events

Last Month: Major Rot-Beast attack - 3 deaths, 12 injured - Significant crop damage - Militia barely repelled

Last Week: Price negotiations with Guild - Heated dispute - Marna walked out (power play) - Guild reconsidering (needs food)

Secrets and Mysteries

The Enhanced Soil

Secret: Soil productivity artificially enhanced (pre-Shattering)

Evidence: - Yields impossible with natural soil - No degradation over centuries - Certain areas more productive (pattern)

Theory: - Pre-Shattering agricultural site - Enhancement still active - Farmers don’t realize (accept as blessing)

Implication: - System might fail eventually - Knowledge of its nature lost

The Migration Pattern

Secret: Rot-Beast attacks follow pattern (not random)

Discovery: Torven noticed (military training)

Pattern: - Attacks increase near certain constellation positions - Suggests beasts responding to stellar influence - OR Rot spreading systematically

Implication: - Can predict attacks (partially) - But pattern suggests intentionality - Beasts (or Rot) have purpose

Marna’s Deal

Secret: Marna negotiating with Black Sky Cartel (alternative market)

Reason: - Reduce Guild dependency - Better prices (Cartel offers) - Ensure survival

Conflict: - Cartel illegal (reputation risk) - Guild would retaliate (embargo) - Moral compromise (dealing with criminals)

Status: Considering, hasn’t decided

Farming Culture

The Farmer’s Creed

We plant seeds in floating earth. We trust tomorrow will come. We harvest what we sow. We feed those who cannot feed themselves. We are farmers. We believe in future.

Daily Rhythms

Planting Season (Spring): - Exhausting (dawn to dusk work) - Critical (entire year depends on it) - Communal (everyone helps) - Hopeful (new growth, new chances)

Growing Season (Summer): - Maintenance (weeding, watering, pest control) - Anxious (watching crops, praying for good yield) - Defensive (Rot-Beast attacks increase) - Preparation (harvest tools, storage facilities)

Harvest Season (Autumn): - Frantic (race against time, weather, Rot) - Critical (success = survival, failure = starvation) - All-hands (every able body works) - Celebration (if successful) or despair (if failed)

Rest Season (Winter): - Repairs (equipment, buildings, fences) - Planning (next year’s crops, improvements) - Survival (live on stored food) - Worry (will supplies last?)

Farming Traditions

First Seed Ceremony: - Elder Marna plants first seed (symbolic) - Community gathers (witnesses) - Prayer to Forge (strength) and Voyager (favorable conditions) - Feast (if supplies allow)

Harvest Festival: - Only if harvest is good (cancelled if poor) - Massive feast (rare abundance) - Music, dancing, joy - Thanksgiving (prayers, offerings) - Community bonding

Rot-Beast Vigil: - After attacks (honor those lost) - Bury dead (if bodies recovered) - Strengthen defenses (practical response) - Pray for protection (spiritual response)

Additional Residents

Kessa Brightsoil (Innovative Farmer)

Age: 29 Role: Experimental agriculturalist Specialty: New farming techniques

Innovations: - Crop rotation (increases yields) - Companion planting (pest control) - Irrigation improvements (water efficiency) - Rot-resistant varieties (breeding experiments)

Success: 20% yield increase (significant)

Reputation: Brilliant (but some elders resist change)

Secret: Studying pre-Shattering agricultural texts (from Archivists)

Old Torven (Veteran Farmer)

Age: 71 Experience: 50+ years farming Role: Elder, advisor

Knowledge: Traditional methods (passed down generations)

Personality: Conservative (resists Kessa’s innovations), wise (experience teaches), protective (of traditions)

Conflict with Kessa: Change vs. tradition

Compromise: “Test innovations on small plots. If they work, expand. If they fail, return to old ways.”

Young Mara (Defender)

Age: 22 Role: Rot-Beast hunter (protects farms) Specialty: Tracking, combat

Background: Parents killed by Rot-Beasts (age 15)

Motivation: Revenge (kill every Rot-Beast), protection (prevent others’ loss)

Personality: Fierce, dedicated, traumatized

Reputation: Best hunter in Windmere

Secret: Enjoys killing Rot-Beasts (worries this makes her monster)

In-World Documents

Elder Marna’s Address (Community Meeting)

My friends, my family, my farmers.

We face challenges: Guild pressure, Rot-Beast attacks, declining yields, youth leaving.

But we’ve faced challenges before. We’ve survived. We’ll survive this.

How? By doing what we do: Plant. Tend. Harvest. Feed.

We’re farmers. We believe in tomorrow. We plant seeds today for harvest months away.

That’s faith. That’s hope. That’s who we are.

The Guild wants lower prices. We’ll negotiate. We’ll compromise. But we won’t be exploited.

The Rot-Beasts attack. We’ll defend. We’ll hunt. We’ll protect our land.

The yields decline. We’ll innovate. We’ll adapt. We’ll survive.

The youth leave. We’ll mourn them. We’ll wish them well. We’ll hope they return.

We’re Windmere. We’re farmers. We endure.

That’s what we do. That’s who we are.

Plant. Tend. Harvest. Feed. Survive.

Farmer’s Prayer (Daily)

Forge of strength, grant us endurance for this work.

Voyager of paths, grant us favorable weather.

Memory of seasons, grant us wisdom from past harvests.

Light of hope, grant us faith in tomorrow’s harvest.

We plant seeds in floating earth. We trust they’ll grow. We hope we’ll harvest.

Protect our crops. Protect our families. Protect our future.

We are farmers. We believe in tomorrow.

Kessa’s Research Notes

AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION LOG

Experiment #47: Crop rotation (wheat → legumes → fallow)

Theory: Different crops use different nutrients. Rotation prevents soil depletion.

Source: Pre-Shattering agricultural text (Archivist provided)

Implementation: Test plot (10% of field)

Results: 20% yield increase (verified over 3 years)

Elder Response: “Interesting. But risky. What if it fails?”

My Response: “It works. Data proves it. We should expand.”

Compromise: Expand to 30% of fields. If continues working, expand further.

Personal Note: Pre-Shattering people knew so much. We’re rediscovering slowly. If we had complete archives, we could double yields. Triple them.

But we don’t. So we work with fragments. And we improve incrementally.

Better than nothing.

Quest Hooks

1. The Defense: Protect farms from major Rot-Beast attack (combat, strategy, high stakes)

2. The Negotiation: Mediate between Windmere and Guild (economic conflict, both sides valid)

3. The Investigation: Discover why Rot-Beast attacks increasing (pattern exists, implications disturbing)

4. The Harvest: Help emergency harvest (labor shortage, race against time)

5. The Supply Run: Transport food through dangerous route (protect cargo, fight threats)

6. The Innovation: Help Kessa test new farming technique (experimental, might revolutionize agriculture)

7. The Missing: Youth disappeared, search in nearby dangerous areas (rescue mission)

8. The Plague: Crop disease threatens harvest (find cure, save crops, prevent starvation)

9. The Cartel Deal: Advise Marna on Cartel negotiation (moral complexity, practical necessity)

10. The Rot-Cloud: Incoming corruption (evacuate fields or defend them?)

11. The Hunter: Join Mara on Rot-Beast hunt (dangerous, necessary, possibly traumatizing)

12. The Tradition: Participate in farming ceremony (cultural immersion, community bonding)

13. The Youth Exodus: Address young people leaving (help them leave, convince them to stay, mediate)

14. The Guild Pressure: Resist Guild’s unfair pricing (organize farmers, challenge monopoly)

15. The Miracle Harvest: Crops growing unusually well (divine blessing or suspicious phenomenon?)

Related Topics

• The Bright Reaches - Region containing farms
• Outland Clans - Cultural affiliation
• Sky-Guild - Primary customer (and opponent)
• Rot-Hounds - Primary threat

“Every seed planted is an act of faith. Every harvest gathered is a prayer answered. We’re farmers. We believe in tomorrow.”
—Windmere saying