Welcome to Gaia! ::

Torihakuki Village has fallen on hard times. The only reason it's even still in existence is the fact it's the only way station between Eiyoh and Souun. One it sat on the edge of a great forest that stretched along the river that ran through the area. Tori River was one of the smaller rivers in Konan, a braided flow that was seasonal in nature, and so it was the first to dry up. Torihakuki was once known for it's timber industry, as well as berries, fowl and fresh water fish. There once was a type of quail that ran freely in Torihakuki, which was it's main export. The quails were very good to eat, and their feathers were very soft and used for expensive pillows. Half the quail harvest was exported to the Capital City. The quails are also the reason their village is called what it is, they would hunt the birds in the grasslands and shallow trees of the forest.

Unfortunately with the drying up of the river, the entire area has turned from a verdant grass and forest land into a chaparral area, with short, tough bushes, short grasses and very small animals like lizards. The closest on can come to a desert without being in an actual desert. The water for the village is pulled from deep ground water, through wells and pumps, but it is only enough to drink, not enough to irrigate fields. All there food is imported, and their main business now is caring for travelers going from the Capital to the Western City. The large village of 250 people is now only at 50, mostly people there to take advantage of travelers with exorbitant prices, or because their family has been on that land for generations and they are stubborn.

The village was quite large at one time, with several lodges for the men who would come seasonally for the quail and trout harvest. Many of the outer building that were once farms and family houses are vacant and ruined by the hot winds that now blow through the area. Two lodges that have room to rent and good food still operate in the center of the village, on is a very nice place that caters to the noble and high merchant going between the two big cities (It costs 100 Mon a night, but if you have the money it's well worth it), the other a cheaper, rougher inn that helps the less reputable (A charge of 30 Mon, and with the conditions it's a total rip off.) There is a large town store that deals with most of the trade that come through, and since Torihakuki no longer has any exports, the prices in the town are very high. Water is also costly since there isn't much of it, and while villagers are given whatever they need, visitors are required to pay a fee to the town to drink the water, (30 Mon) and triple that if they have horses that need to drink as well, (which most do considering the near waste land there area has become.) A bit away from the main heart of the village are several homes that are still inhabited. Older members of the community, people who live there because it is there home, not to make money, will often take in lost people or those down on their luck for free, remembering back to the tradition of the village to be kind and forgiving. 5 of the homes are lived in by people such as this, most of them elderly, with the remaining 5 houses belonging to the people who run or work in the inns and store. The local headman (He only goes by the name of Tsung) of the village is also the owner of the well to do in, and he lives in a walled manor, just outside the ring of small houses, complete with a bathing pool and garden. Money he makes from raping (monetarily) the travelers that go through. An offshoot of the underground economy of Souun runs the other inn.

The town is arrange in concentric rings, the middle being the two inn and the store, the smaller 10 house in a ring around that, then to the west along the road is the large, walled manor. If something isn't done soon to fix the world, then this village won't be able to survive much longer.