Skara Brae
Skara Brae, the city of Sprituality, is located west of Britain. Skara Brae is the name for both, the city and the island the city has been built on, and over the time Skara Brae has developed into a starting point for various sea-faring expeditions. The town itself is similarly spacious like Yew, but despite this fact it forms a real town with shops, schools and homes – all connected via stone paved roads.
Magic in Skara Brae is focused on enchantments of the mind and spirit dealing primarily with communication and understanding. Spells that permit empathy or the transmission of emotions are taught by the mages on the island though many wizards who study more conventional sorcery also come to the island to exchange magical formulae.
Although magic is respected and appreciated the main portion of the population of Skara Brae is formed of farmers and rangers, the latter are well known all over the realm. The land around Skara Brae is very fertile, and there is scarcely and agricultural need that cannot be fulfilled by the town. Many farms and farmlands can be found around the town of Skara Brae, cultivating crops, cotton, vegetables and fruits, and all those farms are protected by the rangers, who have founded a lot of guilds in and around the town of Skara Brae.
Additionally to their agricultural good which are sufficient to be exported to many other towns, the engineers of Skara Brae are very skilled in the art of building ships – in fact they are only second to Minoc. Indeed, many apprentice shipwrights of Minoc come to the wonderful town of Skara Brae to found their shops and exchange their knowledge with the engineers of the island.
The most common class of Skara Brae are of course the rangers. Almost every citizen in Britannia has heard of the rangers of Skara Brae at least once, and in fact they are said to be excellent in using their bows as weapons, and additionally the trained rangers of Skara Brae are extremely skilled in the art of survival. There is no element, including water, that causes the rangers severe problems, which makes them valuable fighters in forests, on plains and on the endless blue sea.
Not only skilled rangers can be found in Skara Brae – Skara Brae also teaches and trains new rangers. Many young warriors visit the town to improve their skills with the bow, but also they long to learn about the survival skills the experienced rangers have to offer – not to mention that the population of Skara Brae is extremely literate in coping with the different animals, climates and vegetation. If humans can be compared with other races, the people of Skara Brae would definitely match the cliché of nature-loving elves.
The biggest problem of Skara Brae is to protect the ships which leave the island. This problem rarely effects the ships heading back to the island, but many ships heading north, west or south are attacked and plundered by pirates or sea-serpents. Recently Skara Brae has started to import naval weapons to better the situation, but no long term effects have been noticeable since then.
As the town is relatively rich but isolated, Skara Brae is a very popular goal for pirates who often infest the island. However, the lands are raided far less often then new ships are hijacked, which might be the merit of the rangers trying their best to protect the town and its surroundings. With little in the way of a navy (at least so far) there is not much that can be done to stop the pirates, which is why some say the best shipwrights work in Minoc and Britain.
The governmental system of Skara Brae is a simple council system with a chairperson to decide on ties. There is no real policing body, as the rangers generally enforce laws, as directed by the council and the senior ranger actually residing on the island. All in all, though, the population of Skara Brae is very tolerant respectful towards all kind of creatures, and therefore the live on the island of Skara Brae is most of the time peaceful and harmonic.
Skara Brae’s biggest allies are Jhelom, whose mercenaries often find work on the surrounding seas, and residents of Yew, who share similar cultures and attitudes towards nature.
Skara Braens are extremely concerned with cleanliness, for they believe that relieving the body of physical and material worries makes for better concentration of the spiritual entity. This belief is not only respected by extremely clean streets but also by cleanliness of the body: no citizen of Skara Brae will wear dirty clothes, and regular baths are more or less a must. Body mutilations (like piercings) are abhorred and although they are not forbidden people with pierced ears will be pitied, if not shunned.
The citizens of Skara Brae detest the idea of living creatures (including plant life) as empty shells, believing instead that each shell actually houses a spirit. Spirit is defined as the ethereal culmination of the intellect as a compassionate yet rational entity. Considering the existence of ghosts and other undead it is hard to refute their claims.
In Skara Brae everything that improves the well being of the spirit is permitted, and even more, encouraged. Keeping in mind thought that the body is the shelter for the spirit the general tolerance and allowance stops where the body – or the spirit – is hurt or injured. Therefore the people of Skara Brae mostly stick to the laws and rules that are valid everywhere in Britannia – although they do so because they think that they are right and good, and not out of loyalty.
The traditional forms of art are practiced in Skara Brae, but the overall focus is on attempting to represent the spiritual ideals of intellect and emotion. As of yet, nothing satisfactory has been achieved, though most current attempts have been through music and oral presentations of prose and poetry since it was decided years ago that visual mediums - paintings and sculpting - cannot get past representing the corporeal form.
A Ranger’s Town, by Marilynn Bergon, Journeyman Scholar
The salty wind of the sea is playing with my hair and I take a deep breath of fresh, clean air that tastes a little like fish, when suddenly the shore of Skara Brae appears in front of my eyes. I have travelled for a long time, and for a short moment I am almost disappointed of the sight.
I shake my head and tell myself that I did not come to Skara Brae in search for luxury, and when I get closer I see that the town indeed is beautiful. The streets are paved with stone, and they are very clean, and the dock that gets larger and larger is built of wood and looks perfectly new as well. The houses, the few I can see from my position on the ship, are a mixture of stone and wood.
It does not take long and my journey comes to an end, I have arrived in Skara Brae. I am curious, and so I quickly take my pack and with insecure steps I walk down the plank to feel solid ground beyond my feet for the first time – since when? I cannot remember, it has been some time.
I shout some greeting words to the captain of the ship, and then I can wait no longer – I want to explore the town that I have chosen to be my new home, at least as long as I can learn and study here. I walk through the streets and much to my surprise, me, the stranger, is greeted by many passers-by. They look at me, and in their looks I can read that they know that I am not an inhabitant of their town – and I can read that it does not matter to them.
I follow the streets for a while, without a certain goal in front of my eyes, and suddenly I reach a training ground for archers. A man is there, dressed in a tunic and trousers, holding up a wonderfully crafted bow and shooting an arrow to the target. The arrow hits the centre with ease, and two little boys, one blonde and one with brown hair, excitedly dance around the man. “I want to try too, please let me, Papa!” one shouts and the man pets the hair of the boy and smiles. “I will show you, son, I will show you!”
They notice me and wink, laugh and smile, and one of the boys runs to me and with a huge grin he asks: “You are new to Skara Brae, aren’t you? Can you shoot an arrow? If not, you need to learn!” Without caring for me confused face the boy takes my hand and leads me over to his father who smiles at me warmly and hands me the bow. “Just try, you would not be in Skara Brae if nobody told you to try yourself in the art of archery!” He grins when the arrow I shoot misses its target.
“Are you here to get trained?” I nod and answer his question with yes, but that I want to train my spirit and not my fighting skills. He smiles at me and then tells me in a manner like if I have said something really dumb. “Miss, if you want to train your spirit, you need to train your body. Your body is the home of your spirit, don’t forget that!” He once again smiles at me and then adds with an almost apologizing smile: “I am Meran, and our house is just over there.” He points into a vague direction. “So, if you do not have any better plans yet, would you like to join me and my boys,” he points at the two children with a proud look in his face. “Would you like to join us and have some food and a talk?”
Still impressed of the general harmony and friendliness of Meran all I can do is nod, and so I follow my new friend, and maybe teacher, down another clean street.
