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thewatchau · 3 years

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Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Roabeál

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them.

Other Posts in this Series:

Minor Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Cnocrann • Loburn • Begdor • Fadáite Sólas • Iolla Sanitariums • Airceann Bridge (Town) • Roabeál

Posts Related to this Series:

Regional Capital: Fionport • Watch Locations: Domhainn Outlook Outpost, Iolla Beacon Outpost

Related Series: House Schneeplestein Masterlist

In This Post

Summary

Name Origin

Culture

Trivia

Summary

Roabeál is a large town located in the Costageal Plains of House Schneeplestein. Built during the Waldren Occupation and located on the road between Cordoire and Fionport, this is one of the more urbanized settlements common to the region.

Name Origin

The origin of Roabeál’s name is murky. “Beál” literally translates to mouth in the Feadhainn language, which could mean the mouth of a river or could metaphorically refer to the beginning of something. However, “roa” does not have a direct translation, as far as we are aware, though it bears similarity to “rua,” which means red. Since the town was built during the Waldren occupation, it’s likely that this is a bastardized attempt to create a place name similar to those in the area, all of which have names derived from the Feadhainn Language. Alternatively, the town could have had a longer name with a clearer meaning, which has now been forgotten.

Culture

Roabeál is a town that values hard work and excellence, small enough that everyone knows about everyone, yet close enough to a few major cities to offer many great opportunities to the younger generations.

Trivia

Roabeál is Bard Emily Keyes’s hometown, where the rest of her family resides to this day. She visits occasionally (her favorite part of coming home is telling her younger sister stories about life in The Watch), but the intense environment still gets to her sometimes, and the bard usually prefers curling up in her small room at Fort Stiofán to the bustling house in Roabeál.

While the origin of Roabeál’s name is unclear to those living in the world of The Watch, there is a much clearer origin for its name in the meta. For context, Emily Keyes is both the author of The Watch AU’s self-insert character and her pseudonym. While her first name is Emily, her true surname derives from the word “red” in a different language. Thus, Roabeál does mean “red beginnings,” referencing its role as Emily Keyes’s hometown and, in turn, Emily Keyes’s relationship to the author.

#Emily Keyes #Roabeál #House Schneeplestein #The Lands of The Watch #Costageal Plains

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thewatchau · 3 years

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Settlements in House Schneeplestein: Fadáite Sólas

Other Posts in this Series:

Minor Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Cnocrann • Loburn • Begdor • Fadáite Sólas • Iolla Sanitariums • Airceann Bridge (Town) • Roabeál

Posts Related to this Series:

Regional Capital: Fionport • Watch Locations: Domhainn Outlook Outpost, Iolla Beacon Outpost

Related Series: House Schneeplestein Masterlist

In This Post

Summary

Name Origin

History and Purpose

Summary

Fadáite Sólas is a town located in the Iolla Cliffs, of House Schneeplestein, Duilintinn, perched at the point where the sloping foothills of the Southern Mountains finally begin to level out into the grassy plateau immediately west of the cliffs.

This town has one major feature: the secondary hub of the Lifeworker Institute, which connects the main hub in Fionport with the dozens of sanitariums that lie to the east of Fadáite Sólas.

Name Origin

Fadáite Sólas is the first place you’ll see when traveling to the Iolla Sanitariums, either as a patient or to visit loved ones residing within. It’s a sight that evokes complex, bittersweet emotions, reminding you of the circumstances that lead you here, the blessing that you and/or your loved ones are able to receive such care, and, for visitors, the joy that you will soon see those loved ones again. Upon leaving, it’s a sad reminder that those loved ones can’t return home with you, not knowing when you’ll be able to visit again.

Hence, the name evokes both the heavy reminder of that lost time and how long the residents stay in the sanitariums, as well as the positive reasons why they would choose to stay there in the first place. “Fada” means “a long time,” “aite” simply means “place,” and “solas” means “comfort, consolation, solace, contentment, delight, and joy.”

History and Purpose

Fadáite Sólas is a relatively new location, hence the longer name, not yet shortened by time and convenience. It was established specifically to serve as a point of contact between the sanitariums and the Lifeworker Institute. However, it quickly evolved into a launching point for medical professionals, arriving residents, and visitors traveling to the sanitariums.

Today, the town functions as a massive reception desk for the rest of the Iolla Sanitariums. The guild hub within the town holds every record ever produced by the sanitariums, though they rarely share any of that information.

Additionally, since the locations of the sanitariums are absent from most official maps of Duilintinn, anyone wishing to visit a resident of the sanitariums needs to stop at Fadáite Sólas first. After explaining who they want to visit, a guide from the secondary Lifeworker Institute guild hub in the town will escort them to the corresponding location (assuming the sanitarium in question is not under any form of quarantine). Obviously, some people will probably start to remember the route after a few visits, but they still won’t be let into any of the sanitariums without a guide from Fadáite Sólas’s Lifeworker Institute hub to vouch for them.

#The Lifeworker Institute #Fadaite Sólas #Iolla Sanitariums #Iolla Cliffs #House Schneeplestein #The Lands of The Watch

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thewatchau · 4 years

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Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Loburn

Other Posts in this Series:

Minor Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Cnocrann • Loburn • Begdor • Fadáite Sólas • Iolla Sanitariums • Airceann Bridge (Town) • Roabeál

Posts Related to this Series:

Regional Capital: Fionport • Watch Locations: Domhainn Outlook Outpost, Iolla Beacon Outpost

Related Series: House Schneeplestein Masterlist

In This Post

Summary

Name Origin

History

Layout

Trivia

Additional Art

Summary

Loburn is a booming town on the road from Fionport to Iolla Cliffs in House Schneeplestein, Duilintinn. A well-respected place for doctors to study and patients to get checked up on their way to and from the Iolla Sanitariums, Loburn was the childhood home of Ivy Paris and Charles Greenwood-Paris.

Name Origin

Loburn is a shortened form of the town's original name of Loinnearach Burn, which translates to “clear water.” Depending on who you ask, the name was chosen as a metaphor referencing Loburn’s role as a place of healing and rest, or references the clear stream that runs near the town.

History

Loburn started out as a simple stopping point for travelers along the road between Fionport and the Iolla Cliffs. Originally, the "town" consisted of nothing more than an inn and a small medical practice within the Paris family home, run by Ivy and Charles's father Cyril Paris.

However, when Lord Schneeplestein was titled and House Schneeplestein was born, Loburn swiftly grew into a busy, prosperous town. Over the course of 25 years, Cyril and his wife Helen Paris got to watch the town grow from barely a few buildings into the well-known respite for the sick and weary it is today.

Layout

There’s farmland south towards the Airceann River, mostly root vegetables. However, most of Loburn's resources come from wagons on their way to and from the Iolla Cliffs, which trade with the town for medicines and other goods.

Loburn's older buildings are built in the white stone, clay tile style of Waldren Occupation architecture, while the newer ones are built from wood and stone. Among the locations featured in Loburn are a guard barracks, place of worship, town hall, two inns on opposite ends of the town, a school, several medical practices, a business district, several taverns, and residential housing.

The inns have ground floor rooms set aside for sick patients on their way to Iolla Cliffs, both for easy accessibility and to avoid the stares (or vulnerable immune systems) of healthy patrons.

A small, chalk-based stream runs near the town, notable for its fast, crystal clear flow.

Trivia

Loburn was created by tumblr user @theshapeshifter100

Additional Art

Layout of Loburn by @theshapeshifter100

#Loburn #Cyril Paris #helen paris #Ivy Paris #Charles Greenwood Paris #Charles Greenwood-Paris #The Lands of The Watch #House Schneeplestein #Costageal Plains

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thewatchau · 3 years

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Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Airceann Bridge (Town)

Other Posts in this Series:

Minor Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Cnocrann • Loburn • Begdor • Fadáite Sólas • Iolla Sanitariums • Airceann Bridge (Town) • Roabeál

Posts Related to this Series:

Regional Capital: Fionport • Watch Locations: Domhainn Outlook Outpost, Iolla Beacon Outpost

Related Series: House Schneeplestein Masterlist

In This Post

Summary

History

Summary

Not to be confused with the Airceann Bridge itself, the town called the Airceann Bridge is located immediately north of the actual bridge, where several roads traveling towards Noefrach, Runners' Haven Outpost, Cordoire, Fionport, and across the bridge itself intersect.

History

The Airceann Bridge is an extremely vital piece of infrastructure in Duilintinn, built to cross the Airceann River along the border between House Schneeplestein and House Jameson. The Airceann Bridge is the only way to access the Iolla Cliffs by land. The only aquatic route is through Reaper Cove, which is very dangerous and only known and used by members of The Watch. As a result, the bridge is extremely busy with people coming to and from the Iolla Beacon Outpost and Iolla Sanitariums.

As a result, a collection of taverns, trading posts, and other businesses began to take advantage of the traffic flowing over the Airceann Bridge as time passed, slowly creating a bustling little town. While the constant traffic of passing travelers makes for good business, the hilly incline where this town is located limits how many entrepreneurial business owners are willing to set up shop in the region. However, despite the architectural challenges, many traders, craftsmen, innkeepers, etc. have made the Airceann Bridge their home.

#Airceann Bridge #that tag just refers to both town and bridge now i guess #good luck yall #i mean hey #the real world is full of confusing town names #so its realistic right #Iolla Cliffs #Airceann River #The Lands of The Watch #House Schneeplestein

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thewatchau · 3 years

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Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Iolla Sanitariums

Other Posts in this Series:

Minor Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Cnocrann • Loburn • Begdor • Fadáite Sólas • Iolla Sanitariums • Airceann Bridge (Town) • Roabeál

Posts Related to this Series:

Regional Capital: Fionport • Watch Locations: Domhainn Outlook Outpost, Iolla Beacon Outpost

Related Series: House Schneeplestein Masterlist

In This Post

Summary

History

Residents, including a section on mental healthcare

Security

Experimental Treatments

Architecture and Layout

Additional Art

Note: Currently, there are no canonical amount or locations of the individual Iolla Sanitariums. They are scattered over the Iolla Cliffs, never going past Fadáite Sólas to the west (black dot #1) and staying a distance away from Iolla Beacon in the east (black dot #2).

Summary

The Iolla Sanitariums are a series of medical facilities located in the Iolla Cliffs of southeastern House Schneeplestein, Duilintinn. They are managed by the Lifeworker Institute.

History

People from other houses send their ill to House Schneeplestein for a variety of reasons- after all, that’s where the best doctors in the kingdom are- but especially when their loved one needs constant care in order to recover or, heaven forbid, be comfortable in their final days.

Not only is House Schneeplestein full of doctors, but the environment itself is good for recovery. The salt in the air along the main coastline and the clear mountain air of the foothills and cliffs to the south are great places for people to visit and recover from various illnesses. None of the other houses have a combination quite like this; House Jameson is too rainy, House Marvin is too humid and low-altitude, House Jackie is too hot and just plain dry, and House Brody’s three regions are basically all of the above (south-west is hot and dry, north is rainy, and east is humid saltwater wetlands where no one can really live anyway). So House Schneeplestein is definitely the place to go when the doctor recommends some “different air."

Of course, the main draw is the doctors. If the doctors of House Schneeplestein can’t save you, no one will, but by God they’ll try their hardest and make sure you’re in as little pain as possible. To care for such patients, doctors even set up practices down in the Southern Mountains, further from the hustle and bustle of Fionport.

Many of these locations have evolved into tiny villages that could be compared to modern day resorts or historical sanitariums (not to be confused with sanatoriums, aka the setting of every hospital horror movie/game ever). Depending on the location, a single doctor or a group of doctors will care for a small group of patients. Some of these patients will only visit for a short time, while others who stay for the rest of their lives, however long that implies. Eventually, these locations were officially termed the Iolla Sanitariums and standardized as an official aspect of the Lifeworker Institute’s work. While doctors working at the Sanitariums are not required to be affiliated with the Lifeworker Institute, the majority are, and those who aren’t are still required to abide by the Institute’s policies.

After a raid upon a quarantined sanitarium in January 1615, in which The Watch nearly jeopardized quarantine efforts by rushing to the sanitarium’s defense, the Lifeworker Institute and the Watch formed a system of communication using the large bells inside and outside of each sanitarium to prevent future incidents. By ringing the bell a certain number of times, the inhabitants can inform Watchers of various dangers, allowing them to defend the facility from any immediate threats without causing long-term harm.

Residents

While there are also hospitals in House Schneeplestein's capital of Fionport (located along the coast of Loch Domhainn), but if it becomes clear that the patient will require constant care for a long period of time, they are sent to these small, isolated sanitariums.

These small patient settlements never reach populations over 100, and most have no more than 25-50 patient residents at a time. All but two are designed to house patients of all ages; one specifically cares for children and another is exclusive to the elderly.

Individual facilities of the Iolla Sanitariums function like small communities. There is a strong sense of comradery among the patients of each facility, which is extended to the dedicated doctors and staff who live on-site.

Depending on the specific sanitarium and its purpose (i.e. are the residents contagious/immunocompromised or not), visitors might be able to spend time directly with their loved one, either accompanying them in their daily routine or by sitting in dedicated rooms for seeing visitors. However, in some cases, visitors are still separated by some sort of barrier (physical or magical) to prevent the spread of disease in either direction. Finally, the most heavily quarantined facilities don't allow visitors at all, but those are rare.

Mental Healthcare

There are a few specific sanitariums that focus on providing different sorts of mental healthcare. I’d imagine that someone might stay in one of those sanitariums in order to receive intensive therapy or if their family and friends aren’t capable of providing enough of a support network for various reasons (hopefully relating to inability and not lack of desire to help).

In cases where someone just needs a dedicated caretaker to help them, but otherwise is not a danger to themselves of other and doesn’t need regular medical attention, the sanitariums prefer that someone from the patient’s home community rise to the task and offers caretaking classes to those who want to help their loved on, but aren’t sure how. However, if that isn’t possible, they are willing to take patients who need caretakers into the sanitariums as well; they just prefer not to, both for the sake of the patients and to preserve the facilities and resources for people who require the assistance of a medical professional.

However, I could also imagine cases where the patient actually wants to stay in a sanitarium because they feel more at home around people who struggle with similar mental illnesses and people who have dedicated their lives to understanding how their brain works, and feel that feels more like their ‘place in the world’ than wherever they were previously, but I’d guess that a lot of people would prefer to have the help of someone from their already discovered ‘place in the world’ as a caretaker, rather than moving away to a sanitarium.

Security

Due to health concerns, many of the sanitariums (especially those under quarantine) choose not to hire guards. Not only does this leave these facilities an easy target for robberies (or worse), the lack of guards makes it difficult to enforce visitation rules when over-zealous loved ones, ignorant of the fact that those rules exist for the safety of the residents and the visitors, insist on seeing a resident.

While the bell policy instituted in early 1615 (see the end of the History section) allows for these sanitariums to receive aid during major threats and addresses the former of these issues, it doesn’t address the latter.

Therefore, as an additional layer of security, it is forbidden by national law to create a map showing the locations of the individual Iolla Sanitariums, either for public use or private distribution. The only people who officially know the location of these facilities are stationed in the town of Fadáite Sólas, which holds the secondary hub of the Lifeworker Institute specifically tasked with managing the sanitariums.

For this and many other reasons, the town of Fadáite Sólas is a critical element of the sanitariums’ security. Not only does the guild hub within the town secure and manage every record ever produced by the sanitariums, but it has evolved into a launching point for medical professionals, arriving residents, and visitors traveling to the sanitariums.

Not only does this policy protect the privacy, dignity, and peace of the residents and doctors of the sanitariums, but it also allows visitor traffic to be carefully controlled. Almost like a massive reception desk, anyone who wishes to visit the Iolla Sanitariums must first pass through the town of Fadáite Sólas and receive a guide from the Lifeworker Institute after being carefully vetted. With the sanitarium locations kept under wraps, all visitors will need this guide from the guild hub to show them the way to the correct sanitarium, who will also supervise them to make sure they follow all of the health and safety rules. Obviously, some people will probably start to remember the route after a few visits, but they still won’t be let into any of the sanitariums without such a guide to vouch for them.

For more information, see the previous post on Fadáite Sólas.

Experimental Treatments

Verified scholars and doctors with multiple credentials and letters of recommendation from the Lifeworker Institute can visit these places and ask for volunteers for experimental treatments among the terminally or chronically ill.

Recently, Watchers in Iolla Beacon Outpost have also been granted permission to conduct similar research, so long as they work alongside and under the supervision of one of these vetted medical experts.

Architecture and Layout

While some of the Iolla Sanitariums were built from the remains of Feadhainn Era architecture, the vast majority were built specifically for their modern-day purpose.

This hospice in France (c. 1400) gives you a pretty good idea of what I imagined the medical facilities for the terminally or chronically ill in the Iolla Cliffs to look like. These places are a place of rest and comfort for people who need constant care, so I like how the entire facility is a single, interconnected building.

Granted, the tiles and cross-lattice architecture feels more like House Jameson’s architectural style than House Schneeplestein’s, but in a way, that kinda works. The Iolla Cliffs are directly adjacent to the eastern parts of House Jameson and within a few day’s journey of Noefrach, so it makes sense that there’d be some cultural overlap like this.

Most of the sanitariums consist of a central courtyard enclosed on all sides by the interconnected building mentioned above. All of the facilities needed to care for the residents of the sanitarium are located within this structure, including wards, treatment areas, and visiting spaces. Very few residents are cooped up in rooms all day. Those who can are encouraged to spend some time in the courtyard each day to get some fresh air, stretch their legs, and mingle with the other residents. Patients who are bedridden, but otherwise able to handle spending some time outside, are wheeled out in chairs or beds as well.

Within the building itself, the wards where the patients stay are very simple. The beds are in lines from head to foot, with heavy drapes for privacy. This allows nurses and doctors to go down the line in order to easily distribute food and care, while allowing patients who can't otherwise get out an opportunity to socialize.

Tumblr user @theshapeshifter100 (who took these photographs) also toured the inside of the hospice, with these observations:

“Right, this is part of the largest ward, free beds, curtains on both sides so that private procedures could be done, bed warming pans. Fireplace at the end and about thirty beds lining the walls. Tables along the middle for meals (if the patients could leave the bed).”

“This also is a more private ward you could pay for. Fewer beds, similar rooms for the elderly.”

“There was also a room with large windows and a low ceiling for the gravely ill, basically the ones who weren’t going to make it. Lower ceiling made it easier to heat the room; the basic idea was that their final days were comfortable.

“I am under the impression there was also a ward for the ‘frantic and distressed’ (mentally ill), just in a different building.”

“Different sections of the hospital had their own equipment, which was engraved with the symbol/initials of that section so there wouldn’t be any mix ups.”

This fits what I imagined when first developing the idea for the Iolla Sanitariums, that there’d be different facilities for different types of treatment. At the time, I said there would be at least one for the extremely elderly (i.e. a nursing home) and one for children (i.e. a pediatric hospital). Since then, I’ve also mentioned the possibility of at least one facility specifically for mental illness patients.

I’m torn about whether there are or aren’t separate sanitariums for terminally ill and chronically ill patients. On one hand, those are two different problems. Terminally ill patients are trying to live comfortably before the end, sometimes while also trying to delay that end for as long as possible. Chronically ill patients don’t have that threat of death hanging over them, but other than that… the goal is still to help them live a comfortable, fulfilling life despite their health problems. My internal debate is whether intermingling the two would help or hurt morale among the patients and if there is even any treatment overlap between terminal illnesses and chronic illnesses in the first place.

Additional Art

The Iolla Sanitariums can be seen in the background of this sketch of Iolla Beacon Outpost. Note that the image is not to scale, nor does it represent the canonical amount or locations of individual sanitariums.

#Iolla Sanitariums #House Schneeplestein #The Lands of The Watch #Fadáite Sólas #Iolla Cliffs #The Lifeworker Institute

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thewatchau · 4 years

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Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Begdor

Other Posts in this Series:

Minor Settlements of House Schneeplestein: Cnocrann • Loburn • Begdor • Fadáite Sólas • Iolla Sanitariums • Airceann Bridge (Town) • Roabeál

Posts Related to this Series:

Regional Capital: Fionport • Watch Locations: Domhainn Outlook Outpost, Iolla Beacon Outpost

Related Series: House Schneeplestein Masterlist

In This Post

Summary

Name Origin

History

Layout

Trivia

Additional Art

Summary

Begdor is a booming town in the center of House Schneeplestein, Duilintinn, near the intersection of half a dozen roads traveling to Cordoire, Fionport, Fort Stiofán, and other major settlements in the kingdom.

Name Origin

Begdor is the common-tongue spelling of the Feadhainn town name “Beagdoire,” which means small copse. The alternate spelling was popularized during the Waldren Occupation.

History

Prior to House Schneeplestein's founding, Begdor used to be a stop for travelers coming to and from the port city of Fionport. The settlement mainly consisted of temporary market stalls, which could be rented by traders hoping to catch people before they get to the city.

Since then, Begdor has grown rapidly. As Fionport becomes increasingly urban and populated, Begdor has turned into a prosperous suburban offshoot of the massive port city. With its easy access to almost anywhere in the western half of Duilintinn, Begdor is especially popular among traders and merchants.

Layout and Architecture

Begdor is an older town, whose architecture originates from the Waldren Occupation. Modern additions to the town attempt to imitate the original style, with varying levels of moderate success.

As travelers have settled in Begdor from the outside in, two residential districts have grown up haphazardly on the northern and southern edges of the town.

The central area contains most of the planned, organized architecture in the Waldren Occupation style (or its imitations), such as the original inn, communal place of worship, and schoolhouse. Since Begdor is one of the larger towns in the region and extremely accessible to the surrounding area, this school also teaches students from multiple smaller towns in Begdor's vicinity and is quite large.

The space remaining in this central area has been set aside for future development of whatever infrastructure might be needed as Begdor continues to grow.

Begdor's farmland is mostly to the northwest, towards the Guardian River (even though that’s a good day’s ride away), mainly raising root vegetables and some hardy lowland sheep. The nearby copse is home to mostly scrubby trees that don’t grow particularly tall.

Trivia

Begdor was created by tumblr user @theshapeshifter100

Additional Art

#Begdor #House Schneeplestein #The Lands of The Watch #Costageal Plains

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