Pestal

*The grassy island south of Shoritch is the home of only a few farmers. Ruled by the Rogue King of the land up north, the subsidiary is almost suspiciously calm and rustic. Those who live there are very secretive, but my natural charms assisted in finding a talking partner.*

## Pestal

**As Described by Gloria Strider**

*Pestal is a fairly large island, nearly as big as Verzin. Yet, its population seems to consist of the fifty-odd sailors who export wares, and a couple thousand farmers tending to the immense worked land that stretches across the island. Gloria Strider is one of the farmers, and a former officer of the Rogue King’s tactical detail.*

### “How did Pestal become what it is today?”

The entire island has always been barren, until maybe a century or so ago. The King suddenly sent a group of druids out to the then-uninhabited place to enrich the land. Not a year later, we were ordered to sail an armada of ships loaded with seeds and tools to it, and afterwards transport farmers there.

The place has slowly become its own community, with many of the King’s servants becoming farmers right here when they retire from the force. Every single one of us is devoted to his cause until the very last moment, he trusts us on that.

### “What kind of culture has formed here?”

A simple farmers’ community, not much different from the commoners in Shoritch. We’re mostly older people, but there are progenating families here and there. When a kid’s old enough to live on their own, they are either sent off to Knifepoint to live a life on the mainland, or become farmer right here on the island.

There is always a slight air of mistrust in Pestal. It’s because we all know there’s more to this than just producing food for the mainland, we know for a fact Shoritch has more than enough farms on its own and the other countries don’t seem to need this much. If we had a powerful druid among us, we may be able to figure out if there’s something fishy going on under these lands, maybe a hidden facility of sorts.

My own suspicion is though that the Rogue King is using the food as it’s intended; to feed something. What that something exactly is, however, eludes me. The King is Human, I’m fairly certain of that, but he was around even before I was born, he lived through the time of great exploration and the Goblinoid invasion. I think somehow, he has achieved immortality. That does leave, though, why he only needed this farmland a hundred years ago.

### “Do the other factions know about this place?”

I think they know it’s there, but not that it’s used for this. We rarely get any foreigners here, you’re the first in over a decade. You may have noticed we’re not very open or welcoming, and the labour in the fields doesn’t help our mood.

This to an extent is also true for Shoritch. I don’t think anyone outside the territory of Knifepoint knows more than the same old ditty of this being farmland.

### “I’m hesitant to ask about any interesting landmarks here.”

You got that right. Beyond the trading port of Seyal, there’s nothing  but farmland and farms. Even the hills in the middle of the island have been covered in farmland. We’re meticulous workers though, so just before the harvest, when all the plants are in full bloom, you can wonderful stretches of coloured landscape, from green to yellow to blue, it’s all there. If you can manage to get yourself a flying contraption or some magic, you could view it from above to get an even more stunning sight.