Slate Pit

The main road heading into Slate Pit

Slate Pit is a small hamlet located in the county of Chrichheim. It is a small settlement, with a population of only about 160. Nevertheless, it is also the largest settlement in it's local area - which is commonly referred to as Cattìr (meaning 'cat land' in Old Chrich).

Slate Pit is located in the north-west of Chrichheim and the north-east of Cattìr - not far from the border with Glasheim. Interestingly, Slate Pit has strange seasonal day-night cycles. In the summer the hamlet experiences extremely long days, whilst during the winter it experiences the opposite - with only about 6 hours of actual sunlight. Theories as to why this happens range from a magical anomaly to Slate Pit's location in the world's magnetic field. There is even a local story about the land being cursed by a vengeful hag.

## **Characteristics**

### **History**

Slate Pit as a name has it's roots, unsurprisingly, in the Old Chrich language. It comes from the hamlet's original name "Slocsglèat", "sloc" meaning pit and "sglèat" meaning slate, before the name was 'commonised' into Slate Pit.

Evidence of settlement in and around Slate Pit dates back to the earliest human history in the Impireacht region, as evidenced by ancient axe heads and other artefacts. Tribal settlement is shown by the Slate Pit Roundhouse - which still stands mostly intact today. Slate Pit as we understand today, however, was only founded about 150 years ago - during the Imperial Restoration - as a slate-mining settlement. Since it's original founding the hamlet has been burnt down and rebuilt twice, once by an Orc raiding party and a second by religious fanatics, who disapproved of the "drunken and immoral activities" of Slate Pit's miners.

Fort Lymphad was constructed about a century ago, on the outskirts of the hamlet, for protection and remains garrisoned by a small military force today. It has proven to be a little but hardy fortification. More recently, Slate Pit has enjoyed a period of relative expansion as their slate-mining industry has finally proven itself profitable. Permanent stone buildings have replaced many of the older, wooden buildings during this expansion and Slate Pit's population has grown from about 40 residents to around 160.

### **Geography**

Slate Pit has quite a temperate climate, which tends to linger on the colder side, that rather bizarrely seems to have less seasonal weather variation than many other places in the county. The surrounding area's distinct lack of trees is said to reflect this phenomenon. On average, the winter months get no warmer than about 5 degrees whilst the summers are about 15 degrees at most. Rainfall is commonplace during the autumn and winter. Snowfall is known to happen in Slate Pit but this is not often heavy and typically short-lived - fortunately for the residents. High winds, on the other hand, are quite common.

For reasons unknown, the day-night cycle of Slate Pit is quite strange. Winter months are very dark, with the winter solstice only getting about 6 hours of daylight. In sharp contrast, the summer solstice gets a whopping 19 hours of daylight.

### **Economy**

Slate Pit's primary and perhaps only industry comes from it's slate mining. Much of this slate is taken from a singular network of mines and tunnels that can be entered and exited from only one pit - from which the hamlet take's it's namesake. This pit is serviced by a simple wooden lift. The slate industry in Slate Pit was originally not a profitable operation, however it has enjoyed genuine expansion and profit as county-wide architecture has made the use of said material more commonplace. In particular, Slate Pit provides plenty of material for Chrichheim's roofing.

### **Culture**

Some of the notable buildings in Slate Pit include: Fort Lymphad, the village hall, the mining station, the Slate Pit Roundhouse, and (of course) the slate pit itself.

Slate Pit has strong ties with Chrichheim's old traditional heritage.

Every Morning Star, Slate Pit holds a festival called Sus Abu Raich (meaning Up And Work), a fire festival which marks the end of the Yuletide season and a return to working life. Each festival involves a torchlit procession of costumed miners (known as guizers) parading the main road of the hamlet that culminates in the burning of a wicker imitation. This imitation is often a large man, symbolic of the miners quite literally returning to the earth, but other imitations have been used on occasion.