Unreviewed Baruungat

[Mishel]

BARUUNGAT

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OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create an updated entry for Baruungat, and reflect the changes in time from the first entry.
• Image Credit: Sora
• Canon: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Links: Baruungat

SETTING INFORMATION

• City Name: Baruungat
• Classification: Market Township
• Location: Monastery
• Affiliation: Jedi Enclave of Monastery
• Population: Moderate
• Demographics:
  
  • 28% Seoularian – Still the cultural backbone of the town, especially among farmers, herbalists, and land stewards
  • 10% Selonian – Primarily involved in water systems, agriculture, and hatchery work
  • 9% Kiffar – Spiritual and artisan contributors, many tied to seasonal clan rotations
  • 8% Arkanian – Focused on craftwork, mechanical repair, and specialized brewing or trade logistics
  • 7% Atrisian – Continued influence on local education, culinary arts, and cultural guilds
  • 7% Echani – A quiet but growing population, some descended from early refugees, others traveling from Yundrasa
  • 5% Twi’lek – Active in merchant activity, music, and inter-settlement trade
  • 5% Mirialan – Often seen in healing, herblore, and spiritual observances
  • 3% Miraluka – Respected teachers, spiritual guides, and sensory weavers
  • 3% Keshiri – Arrived post-Bryn’adûl; many work as stonemasons, musicians, or traders in river-goods
  • 2% Tintinna – Known for cheese-aging, cart repair, and joyful storytelling at seasonal markets
  • 2% Sakiyan – Frequently work in preservation, scent-based food curing, or medicinal distillation
  • 1% Clantanni – Small artisan cluster; known for beadwork, windchimes, and soft textile trade
  • ~5% Other – A blend of wanderers, monks, and offworld traders who stayed
• Wealth: Medium - Baruungat’s economy is centered on sustainable agriculture, artisan goods, and seasonal trade. With the end of Confederacy oversight, trade agreements now favor local autonomy, allowing the town to benefit directly from exports. Moonberries, fireplums, millet, dairy, and Baruunmoon Brew are regularly sold to outposts along the Veiled Crossing and to offworld buyers via Maurius trade routes. Ice, once exported through the Confederacy, is now reserved for Baruungat’s own use or traded directly with local Jedi enclaves and distant desert worlds via guild-led caravans. While not wealthy, the town enjoys economic balance and spiritual abundance.
• Stability: High - With no major conflicts and strong ties to both the Jedi Enclave and local tribal communities, Baruungat enjoys a period of relative peace. Local law enforcement, a mix of trained town guards and seasonal watchmen, handles most disputes, with Jedi from the Ridge occasionally stepping in for mediation or healing intervention. The speeder port has expanded connectivity and emergency response, helping maintain order without military oversight. Travelers are welcomed, especially pilgrims or scholars seeking spiritual rest or ecological knowledge.
• Freedom & Oppression: Relaxed and Open
  
  • Baruungat is a free and culturally diverse town, governed by a village council composed of elders, trade representatives, and seasonal tribal delegates. The Jedi presence is spiritual, not authoritative. Force-sensitives are respected, not feared — and nomadic peoples retain their seasonal rights to graze, trade, and labor. Offworlders are asked to observe local customs (such as shrine respect and tea rituals), but no draconian laws are enforced. Unusual crafts, performances, and Force practices are not uncommon — provided they bring harmony rather than chaos.
• Description: Once a quiet mountainside village, Baruungat has blossomed into a thriving market town nestled in the mists of the Seven Guardians Range. It is often the first sign of warmth and food for those descending the frozen Veiled Crossing. Mist winds carry the smell of sizzling cabbage dumplings and barley stew from the cart vendors. Lanterns sway along the stone paths, while nomadic herders barter under the awnings of the Commons Pavilion. The sound of wind chimes and flute music fills the air, mingling with the rustle of thranta wings overhead.
  
  Children dash between shrine posts, watched over by elders sipping tea beneath flowering trees. A Selonian fisher sells veilfin trout by Mirrorbrook, while a soft chorus rises from the Windcall Shrine above.
  
  Baruungat is not a place of spectacle — it is a place of stillness, skill, and sacred routine. A town of warm stone, rough wool, and deep roots, it offers rest to the road-weary and belonging to those who linger.

POINTS OF INTEREST

• Skyreach Roost: Once intended as a regional speeder port under the late Viceroy Tellu, the project was quietly abandoned after her passing and the withdrawal of Confederate interests. The structure was repurposed by local thranta ranchers into a roosting and dispatch point for their aerial herd. Now known as Skyreach, it serves as a landing site for thranta couriers, messengers, and supply flights connecting Baruungat to farms, shrines, and highland enclaves across the lower slopes of the Seven Guardians Range. Though modest in scale, it remains a vital piece of local infrastructure — a quiet reminder that even unfinished plans can find purpose.
• The Ice Works: Seasonal ice-mining operations draw seasonal workers into the frozen peaks above town. Heavy labor with high turnover, the best workers are kept through the off-season, but most are hired fresh each year.
• Watchtowers & Firewatch: Strategically placed towers along town walls and mountain slopes. Lanterns guide travelers at night and act as beacon signals. Firewatch outposts, staffed by locals, help prevent wildfires and settle minor disputes before they escalate.
• Agricultural Zones:
  
  • Whisperwind Fields – Originally these fields were simple cabbage farms near the nomadic encampments. Over time the crops began to differ, and a variety of produce became available. Wind chimes mark the corners of each row, and prayer flags are sometimes tied between pea trellises to protect the crops from blight. During harvest festivals, the tribes paint radishes with faces and leave them as offerings to the land.
    
    • Snowheart Cabbage – Frost-resistant, tightly layered, pale green with a subtly sweet crunch. Used in dumplings, broths, and tea-pickled sides.
    • Purpleback Radish – Long, tapered root with a mild peppery bite. Can be eaten raw, pickled, or dried into chips for travel.
    • Jade Mustard Greens – Deep leafy greens with healing properties, used in stir-fries and infusions.
    • Stonevine Peas – Hardy legumes that climb trellises. Their pale pods are slightly sweet and rich in protein, good for soup stocks and grain pairings.
    • Ghost Garlic – A pungent root grown beneath trellis rows. Has a smoky aftertaste and is used both in cooking and in traditional warding sachets.
  • Crescent Hill Farms – Curving along the western ridge like a scythe in the land, Crescent Hill Farms is one of Baruungat’s oldest and most carefully maintained agricultural zones. The soil is sun-kissed and well-aerated, with gently sloping terraces fed by a diverted stream from Mirror Lake and seasonal mist from the Veiled Crossing. Overseen jointly by local farming families and nomadic partners, the crescent terraces are a symbol of nourishment and continuity. The air in Crescent Hill Farms carries the scent of barley, sun-warmed millet, and drying rice straw. Wooden prayer plaques hang along the irrigation gates, etched with thanks for rain and soil. You can hear the low hum of work chants drifting across the terraces, joined by the rhythmic thump of threshing sticks. During festivals, ribbons are tied to the central fig tree on the topmost terrace, and it’s said that if the barley bows in the wind, the spirits of the land are listening.
    
    • Carrin Millet – A versatile, quick-growing grain eaten in porridges and flatcakes. Used as sustenance for locals, thranta, and orbaks.
    • Bluebarley – A soft-hulled barley with a creamy, nutty flavor used in the making of Baruunmoon Brew and barley tea. Its husks are also used in warm bedding mats.
    • Black Jade Rice – A dark, glutinous short-grain rice that grows well in the shallow terraces after early rains. Rich in minerals and used in temple meals and festival sweets.
    • Red Kabu Turnips – Deep red, slightly sweet turnips eaten raw, pickled, or grilled. Leaves are stir-fried or dried for soups.
    • Lotus Scallions – Long, pale-green scallions with a subtle floral note. Used in nearly every local dish and known for their cleansing effect.
    • Gingerbark Root – A spicy rhizome grown at the lower corners of the fields. Often dried and steeped in teas or ground into pastes.
  • Snowheart Orchards – Tucked into the higher terraces where the mountain air begins to thin and the mists linger longer, Snowheart Orchards is a serene stretch of fruit groves known for its crisp, frost-kissed harvests. The cooler climate, combined with high-altitude irrigation and Force-sensitive cultivation techniques, produces fruits with unusually rich aroma and flavor. Worked primarily by local families, with seasonal help from the nomadic tribes, the orchard is both an economic pillar and a site of quiet spiritual rites. The orchards are hushed but alive — leaves whisper in the wind, and chimes hang from tree branches to keep birds from stealing fruit. Stone markers bearing old script line the pathways, and in the spring, the flowering boughs fill the orchard with a snowy bloom that gives the area its name. During the First Frost Festival, children walk the paths with lanterns carved from persimmon shells while elders ring small silver bells to thank the land for its sweetness.
    
    • Starveil Persimmons – A bright orange fruit with soft, sweet flesh and a faint cinnamon note. Dried into sun discs, eaten fresh, or simmered into celebratory stews.
    • Mirror Pears – Named for their smooth, pale skin and reflective sheen. Crisp with a floral finish. Used in teas, jellies, and as altar offerings during equinox rites.
    • Crimson Jujube – A small, date-like fruit eaten raw or candied. A favorite travel snack and believed to calm nerves during long journeys.
    • Frostblossom Plum – A pale blue-hued plum that only blooms after the first frost. Slightly tart and highly prized by bakers and wine makers.
    • Tanglevine Kiwi – Grown on spiral trellises built along orchard walls. Their fuzzy, deep green flesh is a favorite in cool-weather salads and sweets.
    • Spiritleaf Flowers – Grown at the base of the trees, these ghost-white blossoms are harvested only at night and distilled into oil for anointing, meditation, or lighting orchard lanterns.
  • Emmarq Plains, Okonora Steppe, Ingerlita Plains, Long-tailed Pastures – Reserved grazing lands shared seasonally with nomadic tribes in exchange for labor and seasonal yields.
    
    • Emmarq Plains: The Emmarq Plains are a gently sloping, verdant expanse southeast of Baruungat, nourished by irrigation channels that flow from nearby Mirror Lake. These plains are among the most productive agricultural zones in the region, worked jointly by local farmers and nomadic tribespeople who arrive with the planting and harvest seasons. The Emmarq Plains breathe with a quiet rhythm — water trickles through carved channels, palm fronds rustle in the breeze, and the soft call of field-birds echoes across the rows. Farmers move in meditative patterns, their wide-brimmed hats nodding with the slope of the earth. The scent of damp soil, sweetroot steam, and flowering gourds lingers in the air. It is a place of still labor and sacred routine, where even the wind seems to respect the pace of the harvest. The Plains are crisscrossed by wooden footbridges and stone aqueducts, with wind flags marking field boundaries. During the equinox, lanterns shaped like gourds float along the ditches as part of a local rite to honor the lake’s generosity. Thanks to the lake-fed moisture and fertile blacksoil, Emmarq supports a variety of crops that are essential to both daily sustenance and regional trade:
      
      • Mistsoy – A high-protein legume with pale lavender beans, used in stews, pastes, and travel cakes.
      • Moonbloom Gourd – A pale green squash with sweet, nutty flesh. Roasted, stewed, or carved for seasonal festivals.
      • Sweetroot Beet – A purple-veined root boiled for natural sugar, sauces, and dried into chewy strips.
      • Mira Palm – A marsh-adapted palm tapped for flower wine and palm oil. Fronds are used in weaving and roof-thatching.
    • Okonora Steppe: A wide, breezy upland between the Snowheart Orchards and Iceworks, the Steppe is more rugged but sunlit — ideal for grains, pulses, and medicinal plants. It is more exposed than the Fields, relying on windbreaks and drought-resistant species. Steppe farms are marked by wind-stilled prayer stones. The fields echo with birdsong and the soft creak of drying grain racks. Jedi pilgrims often visit to gather Silverflower during bloom season.
      
      • Carrin Millet – A versatile, quick-growing grain eaten in porridges and flatcakes. Used as sustenance for locals, thranta, and orbaks.
      • Redvein Sorghum – Tall, bronze-stalked grain with sweet sap and high fiber. Used for brewing and ceremonial grain tossing.
      • Lantern Beans – Named for their bioluminescent seeds that glow faintly at night. Believed to carry dream-visions; used in both cuisine and ritual teas.
      • Silverflower (medicinal herb) – Pale blossoms used by Jedi healers. Said to lower fevers and aid emotional clarity.
      • Ironroot Yam – A dense, starchy tuber that grows sideways and helps retain soil moisture. Often roasted in open fires during nomadic gatherings.
    • Ingerlita Plains: This lush grassland supports thranta grazing and rotational plots of feed grain and high-protein forage. Ingerlita is dotted with stone water troughs and painted obelisks that help thranta navigate landing spots. Farmers wear wide straw hoods and use flags to signal herding movements.
      
      • Skygrass – A bluish-green native grass rich in nutrients, loved by thranta.
      • Foambarley – A softer barley strain with thick hulls, used in feed and for brewing Baruunmoon.
      • Golden Lentils – Grown in between grazing cycles; nitrogen-fixing and used in thick soups.
      • Suncap Mushrooms – Grow on shaded bark and beneath thranta dung piles; considered a delicacy when fire-seared with garlic.
    • Long-tailed Pastures: These wind-swept plains are ideal for orbak grazing, rotational legumes, and spiritual grain rites. The name comes from the long grass that tangles and sways like tails in the wind. Pastures are peaceful and open, with distant bells tied to orbak yokes and farmers guiding them with carved staffs. Children often play games where they braid the moonclover into long tail-like ropes.
      
      • Moonclover – A soft, bluish legume crop with edible leaves and blossoms; beloved by orbaks and often included in morning prayers.
      • Suncrest Chickpeas – Pale orange and red-flecked, used in stews and savory cakes.
      • Highland Oats – Grown primarily for orbak feed but also toasted for breakfast dishes.
      • Ridge Basil – A spiced herb with long, furled leaves; said to increase clarity when burned. Used in incense and seasoning.
      • Rainthorn Hedge – Grown along borders to protect the fields; its berries are edible and used in jams.
• Grettawa Moon Hatchery: A sustainable aquafarm supported by Maurius traders. Provides local fish and aquatic produce. Result of recent inter-regional trade facilitated by Skyreach Roost. Born of inter-regional trade agreements with Maurius and built with sustainable intent, the Grettawa Moon Hatchery is a vital aquafarm dedicated to cultivating freshwater species for local food security and offworld exchange. Constructed with Maurian bio-filtration systems and local stone architecture, the hatchery seamlessly blends innovation with tradition. Its ponds are fed by tributaries from Mirror Lake and Mirrorbrook, and partially regulated by runoff redirected from nearby Emmarq irrigation flows. The hatchery supplements the naturally occurring fish of Mirror Lake with carefully introduced species, providing greater variety without compromising the ecological balance.
  
  • Silvercrabs – Slow-growing, shelled crustaceans with a sweet, pearlescent flesh. Known for their restorative qualities and frequently used in healing broths.
  • Whisperprawns – Pale-blue prawns named for the faint vibration they emit in water. A local delicacy served steamed with lotus scallions or flash-fried in barley flour.
  • Veilfin Trout – Native to Mirror Lake, bred here for ceremonial use and high-protein meals. Their translucent fins are considered auspicious.
  • Glassbelly Eels – Introduced from Maurius; long, flexible fish used in preserved rations, pickled dishes, or smoked for festivals.
  • Lantern Mussels – Bioluminescent-shelled mollusks cultivated for both food and alchemical ink. Their glow fades only after death, making them sacred to some local rites.
  • Dewscale Carp – A hybrid strain bred through local and Maurian knowledge. These broad-finned carp secrete a natural mucilage used in salves and ritual cleansing baths.
• Skyhoof Ranches: Known collectively as the Skyhoof Ranches, this stretch of land houses the two main breeding grounds for thranta and orbaks in the Naharyar region. Though separated by fencing and terrain, both herds are raised with deep respect for tradition, balance, and their place in local ritual and livelihood.The ranches ring with quiet energy — the thrum of wings above, the low thunder of hooves below. Ranchers mark time by the cloud cover and hoofbeat, not clocks. Skyhoof is a place of harmony, where wind and earth meet — and where even the youngest rider knows: to command either creature, you must first earn their trust.
  
  • Thranta Roosts: Established by Jedi from Alderaan and Bespin nearly four decades ago, the thranta section of the ranch is focused on aerial transport, messenger relays, and highland patrol routes. The thranta, gentle and sharp-eyed, are trained to follow wind-paths marked by colored flags and chime posts. Some are bonded to Jedi, while others serve the Skyreach Roost network connecting farmsteads and outposts through the lower mountains.
    
    • Uses: Courier service, storm rescue, herd oversight, ceremonial flights during solstices
    • Care: Elevated platforms, wind-dampened shelters, medicinal teas brewed with jade pepper and ridge basil to ease altitude sickness in younger thranta
  • Orbak Grounds:In the lower pastures, the orbak herds graze freely across Moonclover-rich plains, used primarily by farmers, traders, and pilgrims traversing the Ridge paths. While slower than their flying cousins, orbaks are surefooted, emotionally perceptive, and commonly paired with younger Jedi during their early years of training. Local children often help raise the foals as part of community rites.
    
    • Uses: Pack work, mountain transport, agricultural aid, spiritual bonding exercises for young Force-sensitives
    • Care: Round-stone stables, carved salt licks, moonbloom gourd mash mixed with barley for highland nutrition
• Lantern Way: A spiritual path of remembrance — families light lanterns for loved ones lost, or wishes unspoken. It leads from the town square to the Veiled Crossing trailhead.
  
  • Moonthread Silkworms: Cultivated in warm terraces above the Lantern Way, these silkworms feed exclusively on fermented moonberry leaves, infusing their silk with a faint bioluminescent shimmer. The resulting Moonthread is woven into sashes, prayer robes, and musical strings believed to resonate more clearly with the Force.
• Seven Cups Teahouse: The town’s spiritual and social heart, known for its Tisane of the Seven Petals — a calming infusion brewed from Force-attuned herbs grown on Shōmyō Ridge. Locals, Jedi, and traders gather here to share dreams, poems, or sit in companionable silence beneath hanging paper lanterns. Musicians and storytellers are welcome; silence is never empty here, only patient.
• Windcall Shrine: An open-air shrine set into a rise overlooking the valley, strung with wind chimes, prayer-scrolls, and folded wishes that dance in the breeze. The Force lingers here in soft gusts, sometimes whispering names, fragments of emotion, or guidance to those who are open. Young sensitives often come here to learn control through emotional release and breath.
• Commons & Trading Hall: Baruungat Commons & Trading Hall: A central pavilion used for festivals, trade, and public deliberation. Farmers from Snowheart Orchards and Crescent Hill Farms sell fireplums, snowroot lotus, and moonberries here, while craftspeople offer bone flutes, prayer beads, and moon-thread sashes believed to repel dark energy. The hall also hosts quiet lectures by visiting Jedi and rites observed by the nomadic tribes.
• Mirrorbrook Pier: Fed by a tributary of the same spring system as Mirror Lake, this tranquil waterbody supports fishers who provide silvercrabs, whisperprawns, and veilfin trout — a translucent fish with shimmering scales used in celebratory stews and Jedi healing broths. Jedi pilgrims sometimes meditate here, watching ripples to receive visions or calm their minds.
• The Frozen Wing Inn: A two-story tavern with food, warmth, and a few rentable rooms. Favored by travelers, Ridge pilgrims, and off-duty Iceworks crew.
• Brightwood Tavern: Larger and more rough-around-the-edges than its sister inn. Located outside the town walls, it's the first stop for nomads and caravaners. It's rumored basement card games keep things lively every other night.
• Brightwood Brewery: Makers of Baruunmoon Brew, a dark, hardy ale fermented from Crescent Hill barley. Now exported beyond Naharyar, it's considered one of the region’s proudest local goods.

SECURITY
Medium - Baruungat maintains a balanced and respectful approach to security, shaped by ancestral vigilance, seasonal traditions, and its alliance with the Jedi enclave at Shōmyō Ridge. The town is not fortified in a military sense, but its people are watchful, organized, and resourceful. Defense focuses on community cohesion, environmental awareness, and early response over overwhelming force.

• Security Assets:
  
  • Village Guard & Firewatch:
    
    • Locally trained militia patrols the Commons, shrine routes, and agricultural fields.
    • Firewatch towers monitor for forest fires, mountain threats, or approaching trouble.
    • Staffed by civilians, nomadic scouts, and retired rangers from Maurius and Ridge-adjacent lands.
• Nomadic Sentinel Tribes:
  
  • Seasonal allies from nearby plains and steppes, skilled in stealth and long-range scouting.
  • Often stationed in the Okonora Steppe or Long-tailed Pastures during peak pilgrimage periods.
  • Use traditional signal drums, wind mirrors, and mounted patrols.
• Signal Towers & Lantern Beacons:
  
  • Stone watchtowers and wayposts line the Veiled Crossing and Ridge ascent paths.
  • Equipped with coded lantern signals, tuned windchimes, and mirrored sun-flash plates.
  • Used to alert Baruungat, Ridge, and highland settlements of environmental or hostile events.
• Force-Attuned Presence (Passive):
  
  • Jedi from Shōmyō Ridge visit regularly for trade, healing, and spiritual rites.
  • Their presence, though informal, deters most criminal intent and dark-side disruption.
  • Certain shrines and orchard groves contain kyber-warded stones that disrupt alchemical corruption or Force manipulation.
• Mirror Patrols:
  
  • Small canoe and platform-based patrols along Mirrorbrook and the Grettawa waterways, mainly for poacher and smuggler interdiction.
  • Staffed by fisher-families and Whisperprawn keepers trained in both netting and blunt-weapon defense.
• Skyreach Dispatches (Rapid Response):
  
  • Thranta couriers stationed at Skyreach Roost can reach Shōmyō Ridge, Maurius, or nearby settlements quickly in emergencies.
  • Used primarily to summon Jedi mediators, call for reinforcements, or issue storm/flood warnings.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Once a modest town carved into the fertile foothills of the Seven Guardians Range, Baruungat now stands as one of the most culturally and spiritually influential settlements in the Naharyar region. It remains governed by the Sunghyon line, descendants of the plains Khans, and continues to reflect the deep traditions born from the centuries of isolation known as the Four Hundred Years of Darkness.

Ruled now by the aging yet respected Khan Megetu Sunghyon, the seventh of his name, Baruungat was once little more than a cluster of farmsteads and shrines clinging to the Brightmoon Stream. Over time, refugees, mystics, nomads, and pilgrims settled at its base — and through resilience, irrigation, and stubborn faith, the town grew. Even as modern technology returned to Monastery’s skies, Baruungat retained its ancestral soul.

Its closest neighbors include the trade city of Maurius, a highland mining village to the east, and the revered Jedi enclaves of Monastery, scattered throughout the region such as the Shōmyō Ridge and the Temple atop the Middaleth Mountains. Though the Confederacy of Independent Systems has long since fallen, their influence still lingers in old structures and infrastructure—chief among them the now-localized Skyreach Roost, once intended as a speeder port but repurposed for thranta dispatch and mountain courier routes.

Baruungat’s survival and modest prosperity have always been rooted in its land and people.
Staple crops—millet, barley, cabbage, onions, radishes, and persimmons—remain a cornerstone of the regional diet. Herd animals graze in the Long-tailed Pastures and Ingerlita Plains, while ice harvested from the higher peaks was once exported offworld but now feeds Jedi healing centers and the local trade network.

The Brightmoon Stream, still the town’s lifeblood, runs into the Grettawa River and supports the Grettawa Moon Hatchery, a symbol of Baruungat’s ecological adaptation and its past alliances with the traders of Maurius.

Long before Jedi walked among them, Baruungat was a place of ancestor-worship, polytheistic shrines, and nomadic priest-herbalists who wandered the land offering wisdom and poultices in equal measure. Though modernity has crept in and the Jedi presence is strong, these ancestral rites have not vanished — they live in the wayshrines, the smoke of hilltop offerings, and in the stories whispered beneath carved hearthstones.

Some call Baruungat the Spiritual Seat of Naharyar, not because it commands power, but because it keeps memory — in wind, in soil, in prayer.