An Introduction: Riffin Murch, Chapter 1, part 1

There are many important people that should be discussed when the subject of Heagate is brought up. For those who are new to my tales, let me catch you up, as they say.

Heagate was a town built in a valley, a valley surrounded by an incredible mountain range in the Kingdom of Tumunza.

A long time ago, there was a continent dominated by an immense mountain range. All the villages and towns were nestled at the foot of these great mountains and the sea's coast.

Somewhere in the center of the mountain range, the jagged rocks eased, the elevation leveled off and a beautiful plateau formed. This became the town of Heagate.

(Source: https://pixabay.com/en/architecture-old-stone-wall-3125886/)

Heagate was a special town. The people that lived on the land the mountains looked down upon had wars, racial tension, and rich and poor cultures, just as there are now. Heagate was different. Heagate was a melting pot of all the cultures. When merchants needed to travel from one side of the continent to the other, they could sail around, or cross over boarders on land, or travel through the mountains. As you can imagine, the last option was rough and presented many problems. There were tunnels and channels that led from one coast to another. These corridors were dangerous. Raiders would wait for merchant caravans. The profitable routes encouraged merchants to hire body guards to ensure safe passage. The more successful a merchant, the larger the transport, the more hired muscle he needed. Some of the most successful merchants had a payroll comparable to the King's; a private militia, if you will.

This dynamic was worrisome to the politicians, but had never yet been a problem. One such merchant would be one of the "important people of Heagate" we need to talk about. His name was Riffin Murch.

The Murch bloodline is very important in the stories I tell about Heagate, or Goblinfoot, as it is more affectionately known. The Murch name is also important to the more modern stories I tell about vampires and airships but that is for another time.

Earlier I mentioned the name, "Goblinfoot."

Legend has it that one night, Heagate was attacked by a band of primitive mountain people, "goblins" as the locals called them at the time. They were men, just like us all, but we often throw insults at those different than us, just because we don't understand their cultures. Intolerance is a trait sometimes hard to shake.

The goblins of the Tumunza mountains were generally shorter, lacked the sophistication in-landers had and were more apt to be aggressive. Their reputation was partially earned.

We're getting slightly off topic, but I feel this is important. There was a great invasion, the village of Heagate attempted to defend itself but the goblins had victory in their grubby hands. All was lost until a hero named Godri Herlison sacrificed himself and defeated the goblin horde. It was quite dramatic, as legends often are. To flaunt their victory and deter a possible repeat, the leadership of Heagate hung a severed foot from a goblin raider on a post at the outskirts of town. Until it rotted away, visitors to Heagate were greeted by this grotesque tribute and thus, the nickname 'Goblinfoot' was born.

The goblin raiders may not breeched the city walls had a particular merchant been home rather on the road.
Riffin Murch, the third generation owner of the Heagate Trading Company, whose body guard force rivaled the royal army, was away on a trading expedition. Combined with the Heagate militia, the goblin raiders wouldn't have stood a chance. Fate likes to keep things interesting.

Even though it seems likely Riffin Murch would become our antagonist, life isn't always black and white. We're just getting started...