Ertingen, Thalfang and Ostrach

Excerpts from: ‘My Wondrous Voyages in Wissenland: The Land and its Merry Folk’ by Marcus Streinhold

‘My Wondrous Voyages in Wissenland: The Land and its Merry Folk’- The Barony of Sonnefurt- Marcus Streinhold

And now we come to the Barony of Sonnefurt, Wissenland; the domain of Baroness Katarina von Heisenberg.

The Merry Folk

The people of the Barony call themselves Sonnefurters, even if they live in the surrounding towns and villages. Generally a pleasant people, the warmer temperature of the south makes the people a lot more agreeable and easy going. The Sonnefurters are typically country folk, despite the large town of Sonnefurt and all that is associated with it.

Most Sonnefurters work the land as farmers, shepherds, fisherman and workers in the vineyards. Their days are dominated by their work and as such interruption to the flow of life is not well appreciated. The Sonnefurters are particularly independent, even for Wissenlanders, due to their history of oppression. As a result, influence from Nuln is widely disliked and like the Baroness, the Sonnefurters do not hold the Countess in high regard. They are wary of strangers from ‘the North’ as they do not trust their motivations for coming to the Barony, seeing them all as tax collectors or minions of evil overlords. Despite this, they are warm and welcoming towards those that are obviously foreign, like the large amount of foreigners and mercenaries who pass through the Barony, as they relate them to Dieter Wulstberg, the famous Marienburger who saved the Barony from Kreutzhofen influence.

The Towns and Villages

The towns and villages of the Barony are often overlooked in favour of the large town of Sonnefurt by most outsiders, and just looking into the quirks of the townspeople does not give a wide picture of its merry folk. Detailed below are the general stereotypes of the people who live in these outlying settlements.

Ertingen-Those in Ertingen are generally regarded as the closest to the townspeople of Sonnefurt. The ferry that links the towns does not realistically travel very far, and the two towns can see each other clearly. In fact, the two towns are often mistaken for one town divided by a river by visitors, and this is where it earns its rarely used name of ‘Little Sonnefurt’.

The people of Ertingen, or Ertingers, however, fiercely reject this interpretation, flaunting their later acquisition from Kreutzhofen as a fact of this. They see themselves as more down to earth and outside of the politics of Sonnefurt. This is true, as there are significantly fewer merchants in the town and the rich people of Sonnefurt even regard Ertingers in the same light as the Dockers of their own town. Contrary to this opinion, they are not as rough and oppressed as the Dockers and are actually pleasant people.

In fact, Ertingen is probably the nicest town outside of Sonnefurt in the Barony, and I actually preferred it to Sonnefurt itself, finding it more agreeable and a true country town, rather than one tainted by Nuln. This is what makes Ertingen a favourite with travellers, and the town has many inns, taverns and hotels for those who don’t want to stay in Sonnefurt, or want to be on the north side of the river.

As well as a rivalry with Sonnefurt the town also harbours deep resentment for Thalfang, as Thalfang is generally regarded as the Barony’s second town, due to its marginally higher population. Thalfang are the perpetuators of the image of ‘Little Sonnefurt’ in an attempt to link them with the rich, snobbish Sonnefurters.

Thalfang- Those in Thalfang, commonly known as Thalfangers, or simply ‘Fangers’ , are commonly regarded as country folk, despite living in the second largest town in the Barony. They are mostly farmers, and do not see a lot of travellers due to the distance they have to keep from the river due to the flood at the fork of the Soll and the Aschen rivers. As such they are seen as more hostile to outsiders and as a generally gruff folk.

Thalfangers are also the most superstitious of all the Sonnefurters, especially as regards Lacothea, the minor Goddess of the River Soll, due to the floods and the fact their livelihood depends on the river. Their superstitions are also exemplified by the common myths of ‘the Hermit of the Aschen Hills’ and ‘Mad Edgar of Thalfang’, and most of the feast days are times of great celebration in Thalfang, and the town holds the biggest festivals for even the most minor of days in the whole region, resenting the apathy of the rest of the Barony.

‘Fangers’ like to flaunt their superiority over Ertingers and are actually the ones who keep up the rivalry, as Ertingers were once fairly indifferent to Thalfangers, until Thalfang’s population expanded marginally with the movement of refugees from country homesteads into the protection of the town after the Dark Year.

I didn’t linger long in Thalfang, only staying a night, and feeling the disapproving eyes of the residents due to the way I dressed and my evident links to Nuln. As such, there are hardly any places to stay, the taverns do not have many bedrooms and there is only one inn. The people seemed friendly to each other, however, but conversation dissipated when I walked into any establishment.

Ostrach- Ostrachers are known as the poorest folk in the whole of the Barony and have been since the end of the Dark Year. As a result, the town is almost completely militarised, for one of the only available profitable jobs is the army. Ostrachers therefore are a very hardy folk, the older generations are hardened by their time in the army and the youth have grown up on tales of heroism and a strict daily life enforced by the discipline instilled by their parents.

There is little in the town in the way of shops, but Ostrach is known for having the most taverns, inns and hotels per person in the whole Barony, and in the whole of South Wissenland. This gives the Ostrachers a reputation of being alcoholics and wasters. However, many of the local people do enjoy taking advantage of the delights of ‘Alcoholic’s Avenue’

The Ostrachers are the proudest Sonnefurters of them all, owing to their role in the defence of the Barony. They are fierce supporters of the Baroness and were actively involved throughout the years in resistance movements against the Kreutzhofen rulers. They fiercely keep the history of the Barony alive through many folk tales, songs and ballads that resound from the inns and taverns each night, and Ostrach bands are always well received in the city, at the taverns and the theatre.

I honestly do not remember a huge amount of my time in Ostrach, except for the huge throbbing pain in my head the next day. Evidently, the people were fairly welcoming and I do remember enjoying learning the songs, although for the life of me, I cannot remember a word, though reports tell me I sang along at the top of my lungs. Despite the rough exterior of the townspeople of Ostrach they do know how to have a good time, and it is worth spending some time with them to learn more about the Barony that one would find out anywhere else.