Heartwood of the Great Vale
Overview
The heartwood of the Great Vale is located in is in northern Summersend in the Navarr territory of Hercynia. Custodianship of the Heartwood grants an Imperial title; a seat on the Imperial Bourse; and a seasonal bounty of valuable weirwood
The Resource
The Great Vale in Hercynia contains large areas of precious weirwood. Although the area came under threat from Thule barbarians, the Empire maintained control of the Heartwood, albeit barely.
The Great Vale in Hercynia contains large areas of precious weirwood in northern Summersend. Although the area is threatened by Thule barbarians, the Empire has maintained control of the Heartwood, albeit barely.
No one knows if the legends of a pact are true, never mind what the terms of this supposed pact were. But the workers in Weirwater know some things are all too well; that there is something in the woods that is called The Valewoman, and that under every tree lies a corpse.
Sightings of The Valewoman go back as long as anyone can remember. Nobody knows who or what The Valewoman is, just that she is seen as a figure in the distance every so often, and is gone before anyone can get there. As she has been seen as long as the Weirwater Vales have been worked, tales abound as to the real reason she is there, but most point to the fact that whenever a tree has been felled, and the stump excavated, the workers find a corpse.
Sometimes the corpse is just bones amongst the roots, and sometimes it looks fresh enough to have just stopped breathing. No-one knows who they were, or how they got there (especially the fresher looking corpses). Just one truth; every tree stands atop a corpse. It is no surprise that, mentally at least, the workers of Weirwater Vales are some of the toughest in the Empire.
- Reference not assigned national, and Thimble
There are some scholars who travel the Empire, attempting to collect the legends of the various nations. Some of them have been to Great Vale, drawn by tales of a pact, terrible discoveries, and a mysterious figure that no-one has ever been able to identify. Most do not, for exactly the same reasons.
The legends tell of a pact made with Eternals, but no one person can say for certain that a pact was made, what was traded, or even that it is still in effect. What is known for certain is that the workers of the Great Vale make the same grisly discovery with the felling of every tree, and that something walks the woods that may not be Imperial.
Talk amongst scholars, both learned and ale-house, abounds about the pact. They talk about how, whenever a tree has been felled and the stump excavated, the workers find a corpse.
Sometimes the corpse is just bones amongst the roots, and sometimes it looks fresh enough to have just stopped breathing. No-one knows who they were, or how they got there (especially the fresher looking corpses). Just one truth; every tree stands atop a corpse. Some say that this is a sign that the pact is still in force. Others that the corpses are from some ancient battle and that if a hole is dug anywhere in the Great Vale at least one corpse will be found, regardless of whether or not it is under a tree. Most, however, believe they are victims of The Valewoman.
"The Valewoman" is the name given to the apparition that appears within the Great Vale sporadically. All that witnesses can report is that a figure appeared in the distance, far away enough for detail to be obscured. Almost all state that the only definable aspect of the figure was that the silhouette showed the figure to be wearing either long robes or a dress, hence the name ascribed. Despite countless attempts, no person has ever managed to get close to the Valewoman, never mind speak to her. At least, the alehouse scholars attest, spoken to her and lived...
It is no surprise that, mentally at least, the workers of Weirwater Vales are some of the toughest in the Empire. If they know anything, they stopped bothering to talk of it generations ago.
Shortly after the weirwood trees of Heartwood of the Great Vale were discovered the Imperial Bourse made strong overtures about ceding harvesting rights to the Empire. Overtures that were strongly rebuffed until the first trees were harvested, and the grisly contents of their roots were discovered, at least. A decision was made, pragmatic as only the Navarr could be; The weirwood was the Empires. That way, any pacts, any bargains, any oaths still in force would be with the Empire, as the Navarr had enough of their own.