Meridian is a quaint town located on one of the islands on the Lake of the Baronies. It's positioned right on the border line between Avilion and Eleutheria, and has served as one of the main neutral hubs of the region for a very long time. In fact, it is sometimes unofficially called the third capitol city of Tanglelight Forest.
Midday Meal Mayhem
Here, Midday Meal Mayhem takes place - a biennial festival and cooking show organised by the Fey. During it, differences are accentuated but ultimately put aside, and similarities and union are celebrated. Traditionally, a team from the Golden Barony and a team from the Purple Barony are the main competitors, but they are always accompanied by independent teams as well, as they all prepare extravagant and imaginative feasts, and determine which one is the best.
During the quest Taste the Rainbow, the Explorers' Guild of First Landing was invited to attend this event, as thanks for hosting the First Annual Lunar New Year Tournament; auspiciously for this group of adventurers, two of the Rainbow Knights were attending as well, as leaders of the Baronies' culinary teams. The Guild's team consisted of Ishka'tar, Saorie Tylmae, Scrambles and his Bacon, and Mesper Sorgowin.
Appearance and Layout
Meridian is situated upon a steep lakeside cliff, next to an imposing waterfall. It is a ruin of a bygone age, repurposed and rebuilt by the Fey. It used to be a castle with a supporting town, which can still be seen in the overall layout.
Marsyas steers the boat around the island, to get to the other side, and the town of Meridian finally creeps up into full view - an impressive affair, clinging to the steep cliff next to an impressive fountain. Even though it's dusk, the settlement is alight, and the sound of festive cheer overpowers even the roaring of the falling water.
There are four distinct tiers, with buildings squeezed together as much as they can be. Colourful windmills rise above them, and on the very top, where the main rock of the island ends, there is an imposing castle. Other, smaller neighbourhoods can be seen in the surrounding groves and upon other cliffs, too. - Viktor |
Meridian can be easily split into multiple ascending tiers. The lowest one is the town's heart, with its main plaza, shops, and housing. Above it are two levels of kitchens, storage areas, mills, restaurants, and all the accompanying buildings.
On the uppermost tier is the castle, which serves as lodgings for important visitors, and for teams competing in Midday Meal Mayhem; these rooms are similar to each other, but always subtly shift to fit the residents' personal preferences and aesthetics. The castle also contains the main banquet halls used during the event, and a spacious reception lobby.
Marsyas offers to accompany you partway up the town tiers, and serves as somewhat of a guide during this venture.
He leads you past the waterfall, then up the slope via a long, winding road, and then past the waterfall again, across the wide bridge and through the main gatehouse. You reach the Main Plaza of Meridian, bustling with activity. This is the heart of this grandiose affair, with market stalls, cafés, restaurants, and various entertainment facilities, but as expected, the festival has long spilled out of them, and into the busy, colourful streets. Here, the mist is much lighter, and dispelled by constant motion, but still it persists.
Next, Marsyas brings you higher, following narrow, almost claustrophobic passages, alleyways and corridors that slither between tightly packed buildings. Often, you need to wait for others to go through first, to avoid getting stuck in the middle, but the many winged Fey simply fly above you just as often. This is how you reach the tier dedicated to Storage sheds, warehouses, and similar structures where food and supplies are kept.
The next Meridian layer is where all that food is refined and prepared - Kitchens, mills, slaughterhouses, greenhouses, small gardens and orchards. This neighbourhood is still busy, but less so than other areas, and it is connected to the tiers below and above via grand pulleys and cranes, presumably to facilitate faster transport of goods. - Viktor |
There is a number of much smaller neighbourhoods on the surrounding cliffs and in the nearby groves, but they are far from notable, and mostly house people.
Minor locations of note include:
- Heidrun's large kitchen, full of cooking utensils, ingredients, and vessels; many of them are temporary animated by magic while she is cooking, since she doesn't have a kitchen maid. Heidrun's special cauldron, Croakpot, can be found here;
- The butcher shop right below it, run by Powrie. The lobby is kept in pristine, immaculate, almost clinical conditions. It has the main entrance from the streets, an entrance through a trapdoor on the roof that leads to the "Deliveries" room, and an entrance through Heidrun's kitchens. Through the "Staff Only" door, one can reach the dark underground abattoir. The "Deliveries" room, where customers can independently fetch their orders without interacting with the Butcher, contained a mass of cooked, spiced, mouth-watering meat, unfortunately spoiled and animated as a trap in the form of modified but failed Carrion Golems and puddles of living broth;
- One of the many cliffside groves that surround Meridian. An Epimeliad shepherdess called Lamaia can be encountered here. She was beseeched to part with a lamb by the visiting party. Close by, there are Children of Many Visions, a hive of intelligent Giant Bees, normal-sized ones, and everything in-between, that produce honey with hallucinogenic properties, that needs to be treated in a specific way before consumption. The hive is led by an Eeko;
- A large granary and bakery that contains wheat and similar crops; grain, beans, an assortment of nuts; and of course, baked goods. It is guarded and run by Khorasan, a feline Ovinnik;
- to be revealed.
Inhabitants
The town features a sizeable population of Leshies, Sprites (a lot of them are Melixies and Nykteras), Nymphs (mainly Maenads, party spirits; Alseids, protectors of the grain fields; Epimeliads, shepherds of flocks; Dryads and Naiads), Satyrs, and various other Fey.
Apart from the Purple and the Gilded Knight, other people of importance that were encountered here were:
Ampella of Visage, and Lady Nacrea of Dreamwaters with her familiar Nector, made an appearance too, as a part of the Eleutherian team, and Samira Moonwing was present with Avilion's team.
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