Willow's Hollow

Willow's Hollow

One of the oldest standing human settlements outside of Torica or High Reaches, Willow's Hollow was founded by those who were unable to secure employment within High Reaches, and did not feel comfortable among the Lakoi of Torica. Much of the population was made up of Halmorian poor, with little job skills, and very scarce resources. For much of its early days Willow's Hollow was a rough place to live, disenfranchised, and forced to scrounge together enough food to feed the inhabitants, it attracted the worst sort of leadership, and bred a hard group of people. Its only saving grace being its location, a remote ravine, not often traveled and easy to defend. With High Reaches such a rich and obvious target, the people of Willow's Hollow lived outside the purview of most of Eramere's coming and goings.

Willow's Hollow was the first to come under the protection of what has become known as the Croulous, or Crimson Crusade. It began when a woman of middle age, some say fitting the description of a notorious bandit, came to the town, declaring it under her protection. Few took such a boast seriously until an entire Karr raiding party, a rare but dangerous sight, was slaughtered in the night before they reached the outer farms. Several less impressive incidents, as well as a few altercations with some of the rougher elements of Willow's Hollow, began to give people hope that times were changing for Willow's Hollow. Those hopes were truly realized when the war hero Bertrand Croulous arrived with a small but well trained group of men, to act as a legitimate guard and militia force. Willow's Hollow is now a small but relatively wealthy town, one of the few whose population remains predominately human, of Halmorian descent. The Crimson Crusade remains based out of Willow's Hollow to this day, bringing a good amount of trade to the region.

Willow's Hollow has weathered the last few centuries just as they have for much of their existence, with stoicism and a shield wall. Halmoria never really attempted to invade the well defended Hollow, deeming it not worth the effort. When the Nexus was destroyed they weathered that too, and redoubled their efforts patrolling the roads, defending the common folk from the ever present mundane threats of Eramere. The Crusade has continue to grow in both strength and reputation, and has had to repel several concerted efforts by ambitious Karr leaders to try and wipe them from the map.