A Brief Overview of Meatha

A quick look at the major regions of Meatha (and as a bonus, some Hirelings). If I ever put this setting in a zine or book or something, expect a number of NPCs, locations, and plot hooks to be added.

Meatha is the largest settlement in the Fair Isles, with a population of 2,007 people within the bounds of the city; counting the outlying freeholds and crofts and small farming settlements, increase that number by around 3,000, at least a quarter of whom might be in town on any given day. It lies at the mouth of a valley, facing southeast over the ocean. The upper stories of many buildings jut out over the cobblestone streets. North, the road out of the city turns from cobbles to crushed stone, passes the surrounding farms, and crests the hill into the dense and antique forests of Inismyr.

Note that there are few people on the islands; any player-characters born in Meatha will know everyone else in the city at least by sight, and a good number of the outlying folk.

1. The Green

A few memorials. Large rotunda for music concerts. A few shaded walks. Also used for public celebrations and fireworks. A few stalls selling food and drink are scattered about even on non-festival days. Originally, it was a place for the villagers of the first settlement to keep their livestock in the night and used for market trading, but as the town expanded it became ornamental in nature.

2. The Hill

Now taken up entirely by the High Kirk (also known as St. Esda’s, or St. Tanelen’s Cathedral), which has expanded over the centuries from a small chapel on a rise.

3. Heatherdocks

This ward sees most of the seaborne trade of Meatha, primarily small boats from folk from villages along the coast. It also has a number of inns and taverns, the headquarters of the City Watch.

Watch Officer. HD 1+1, AC 9, Morale 8. Top hat, blue coat, whalebone whistle, truncheon.

4. The Castle

Castle of Fiony, Duchess Meatha. Original structure was a wooden and earthwork structure built by the Kirkfolk when they first landed.

5. Glassdocks

Tight-packed buildings, mostly homes and shops with a few empty warehouses; since the Long Winters, trade with the rest of the Isles has faded. Also has the glass shops and manufactories, as well as the well-known bookseller, Hollick's. The docks are still used for sending out fishing boats and the occasional pleasure-boat. The sections closest to the Green and Smallstreet have several well-appointed shops and taverns.

6. Smallstreet

Formerly a shantytown until it burned down about two hundred years ago. Now an open square, mostly cobblestone, but a few trees and shrubs are scattered about as well as some benches. Statue of Scathia of the Companions. Often used for coronations, concerts, and the like, as well as being the place where outlying farmers come to trade fruits, vegetables, crafts, and so forth at the open-air market (excepting, of course, on Sunning and some festival days). Popular with street performers. On most days, much of Smallstreet is a chaotic and constantly-shifting maze of wooden stalls and sheds.

7. Middleend

The more affluent dwell here, and it also holds the Opera House.

8. Wide Market

Mostly homes and shops. It also has Meatha’s water-wheels, used for making paper, crushing rock, cutting stone, grinding grain, and so on.

9. Lost Orchard

Host to Meatha’s orchards, apiaries, and berry fields (primarily strawberries and blueberries).

10. Riverside

Originally larger, founded as a shantytown by newcomers leaving their islands to huddle in Meatha during the Long Winters; population has decreased, and now most of the old homes and structures are fallen or sunken, hidden under the bluegrass and moss and ferns.

n. Hirelings & Retainers

There are seven willing people of this type in Meatha, though it is likely that characters will encounter further available folks of the sort as they travel. The identities of those seven are intentionally undefined, but to offer some ideas:

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