BROCKS BARN In more detail
Is a very small farming community situated 50 miles North East of the Citadel in the bottom of the RIVER LEIGH valley which is enclosed by the heavy forests on either side save for the pastures and arable lands adjacent to the river which carries barge traffic and also feeds the MILL.
The villagers themselves whilst of pleasant enough demeanour make it perfectly plain that enquiries about any of their number are not welcome at all and further attempts to ignore that warning might very well end unpleasantly. Ignore this at your peril.
My informants were a WOODCARVER who had taken Peter on as apprentice, and a wise woman HODSON and her equally adept husband who took it upon themselves to further his education quite considerably. All of these people spoke highly of and were equally concerned about his long absence having no ideas as to where he could have gone.
BROCKS BARN possesses a FORGE as well as a SADDLERY & STABLE for the needs of the draft horses and plough horses the farms require. There is also the woodcarver OLD SID that makes wooden toys which took on Peter as an apprentice, to the advantage of both (of which more anon).
The village possesses a TAVERN the NEW RIVER ARMS which offers food, drink and accomodation to cater to the drovers and carters and occasional bargees when their passage is delayed out of necessity. The tavern is also the village's official meeting place if needed and is otherwise the communal centre for all.
Despite the apparent proximity to the ridge way road known as the Kings Highway, Brocks Barn remains almost inaccessible by road save to its carter, thanks to the dense forests accessible only by faint trails or footpaths.
The BROCKS BARN WOODS as these adjacent woodlands are named, are the venue of a FORESTER whose duty is to ensure the area remains free of vagabonds and such predators as bears, wolves (and itinerant false prophets) that might seek to prey therein.
By and large Brocks Barn is a peaceful and prosperous settlement thanks to the industrious, if small, community of farmers, craftsmen and artisans in whose best interests lie its isolated nature and formidable natural defense offered by the surrounding forests and access limited to horse drawn barge traffic.
Despite the apparent isolation of Brocks Barn, especially from the Kings Highway, it is not in fact, quite as lonely as it may seem being accessible to the adjacent local communities such as Hoddes Town, Wyrm Ley and Harts Ford by a network of foot and bridle paths.
These make use of the heavily forested ridge ways, each community employing its own foresters whose duties are the same as those of the Brocks Barn example given. The foresters are all part of the same body of guardians which, paradoxically is largely equipped by the Citadel treasury apparently under the impression they exist for the Citadels benefit.
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