Rim Square

**Rim Square (Acron)** is a small town situated in the Outer Rim where you begin and live your life, from your childhood years that made you first realize the injustices of the Hegemony, up until the pivotal moment at the Fourth Harrowing when your rebellion began.

## Description

Rim Square is a small town situated on the outskirts of the Rim, close to the borders between Shayard and Wiendrj. The current aristarchs are the Keriatou. The town is home to several noble Houses, and over three hundred helots, along with the tradesfolk and yeomen. A local group of Alastors and an Ecclesiast also reside here, with several Diakons working under the Ecclesiast to serve in the helot camps.

### Locations

Rim Square is a implied to be small sized town, home to several noble Houses. The most prominent of these are the Keriatou, the local aristarchs of the district. Other notable houses include the Pelematou, known for its casual cruelties towards the helotry; the de Rose, an old, respected House that is reasonably kind to its helots; the Tarakatou, a House that is noted to have friendlier overseers and a scion known for his bookishness. An aristo MC may have their family be counted among these nobles—the MC's House will be notably impoverished, owning little more land than the area just outside the estate. They contain a small vineyard and a goat herd, and the two upper levels of the estate contain an extensive library. Each House can afford to house a different number of helots in proportion to their wealth.

The Naos Xthonos is occupied and ministered by an appointed Ecclesiast. During the Fourth Harrowing in Chapter One, the current Ecclesiast is hieros Zebed. In the Religion Background, this Ecclesiast used to be hiera Olynna, before she was replaced by hieros Zebed due to the former's transgressions against the Karagond Canon. Most religious ceremonies are celebrated here, including the Helsday Mass, weddings, namings, heritances, and others.

The town of Rim Square is where the free folk reside. This mostly involves yeomen, tradesfolk, and local establishment owners, such as Iarla, who owns a local wineroom. The local tax collector, Bleys the Telone, also lives in the town. An Alastor garrison is stationed nearby, with a billet of fifteen Alastors. In the Nationalism Background, the garrison was briefly commanded by Gellard.

The agora of the town is a large open plaza where Harrowings take place. Helots gather at the plaza as the last rites of each sacrifice are recited, before the selected helots are fed into the Harrower. Due to the size of the town, there is no permanent Harrower. Instead, the visiting Theurges will bring their own Harrower for the occasion.

### Fourth Harrowing

During the events of Chapter One, the MC faces the dilemma of a band of helot children succoring a fugitive. No matter your relationship with Breden and the group of helots, you are forced to decide whether to stand up for them, or to try and keep quiet. If the MC does nothing, or makes the wrong move when attempting to stop the Harrowing, they are immediately silenced by Theurge Chirex, but instead of being fed to the Harrower, you are instead locked in the Keriatou dungeon with Breden and your father, with a masked noble later breaking you out.

If you successfully manage to stop the Harrowing, you can decide how to deal with the Alastors, and later on, the town. If a communal trial is held, then several helot elders will judge the Alastors, with the MC deciding the outcome of their fates. Alternatively, a charismatic MC could persuade the vengeful crowd to spare the Alastors and one of the Theurges. This will limit the Anarchy created immensely, but requires you to have credibility with the helots on top of your charisma. Finally, the Alastors can be violently suppressed, with the methods ranging from standard violence, to brutally feeding the Alastors into the Harrower.

After the Alastors are dealt with, the MC will next have to decide what to do with the town. If a peaceful option was chosen, then the MC can decide whether they leave the town alone, or to plunder either the market or the noble estates, or both. If a violent option is taken, then the helot mob will require charisma to quell their anger in order to prevent the town from being sacked; alternatively, they can be encouraged to plunder the town instead.