The Settlement of Pilor-Salath

Another day, another odd little town out among the fringes:

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Thanks to David Lewis Johnson for putting this one out there.

Out on the periphery of the Blightlands stands the hamlet of Pilor-Salath, an odd assortment of stacked homes. The hamlet, situated on a barren alkali flat, is partially stilted, as to withstand flooding. But everyone knows that the land has not been inundated since the Blight rained down on the land generations ago...

Some say the flats amplify the mental acuity of those who seek certain truths, whether due to strange geometries of the land, or from magical residue within the biting dust blown across the playa.

Samsul Quin, a desitiute cleric/seer lives in a suspended ball-hovel referred to as the Hive with his three wives.  Each morning he ejects the "three harridans" and meditates, awaiting the Word of Truth from a Rosartia, a goddess of things long forgotten.

His son, Ager Quin lives in two stacked balls on the ground level, below.  He, in turn, meditates in search of revelations from Attrecoppea, a goddess of very small spiders, who reveals small truths through the little black eyes seen gleaming in the shadows, or from beneath the cabinet.

Vyswar Veloje lives in an observatory perched atop the central apartment tower.  He watches for the return of a foretold comet, at which time he will lead his followers in a group ritual of self-immolation to ride the comet to the fabled Greensward Lands.

The Kroger Family lives in the Balanced House, suspended atop the stacked longhouses. They spend most of their time carefully rearranging furniture and knick-knacks to keep the house in place as they sing lilting hymns to Diit’Wentii, a god of minutiae. Dinner parties are a nightmare.

Near the center of the village is the 'tower hut,' the first structure of the community. It shows the architecture of a wet land, thatched and built on stilts. Its thatching is periodically refreshed by pilgrims visiting from humid, tropical lands.  An old woman named Semina crouches here, silently communing with Tlacotani, a god of sudden inundation. She hasn't spoken in years, but is ready to reveal one of the Ultimate Truths. Either that or request a long-desired delicacy.

Apartments fill the tottering tower at the right end of the settlement. They are filled with travelers seeking the wisdom of the resident ascetics, and individuals seeking revelation or insights from their own gods and prayers.

Anchoring the left end of the village is  Ume Polck in his cramped store. Each morning he opens his awning to let in the morning breeze as he sends his nephew Abelo with the oxcart hauling old brewery tuns to bring the village's water from a spring at the edge of the playa.

Rou Banwright, a blacksmith, stumbled upon the settlement during a blinding dust storm.  She remained to craft intricate fittings to suspend the walkways between the dwellings. They are light but sturdy in the desert winds. Rou is an avowed atheist, but her dreams are disturbed by songs in a thousand voices.

The community's halfling barber, Azid Tull, holds forth in a cubby within the balanced houses.  He believes that hair may be a conduit to evil spirits, and attempts to shave everyone's head, or at least leave them well-tonsured. Oddly, he has waist-long dreadlocks.

All deities supplied by Expanded Petty Gods

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