D&D 5E SKT - Yakfolk Village makes no sense.

[twofalls]

So I try to have things make enough sense in my fantasy games that the sense of suspension of believe isn't strained too much. We are still a ways from it, but my party will eventually be pursuing the Vodindod and Duke Zalto, and the Yakfolk village just makes no sense. I may have to just cut it entirely out. The homlet is far north of the perpetually frozen zone, and not only that they are high up on the side of a mountain, yet a waterfall runs through the village and they grown grain and food as well as raise livestock, and keep slaves in outside (iron no less) cages overnight. Has anyone addressed this? A miserable little slaver village isn't going to have a mythal to magic up a sunny environment, and beyond that, being so remote and far from civilization how the heck did they acquire and feed so many slaves? I'm puzzled by this and am thinking about rewriting all of it, but am open to other ideas to save myself some work.

Anyone?

 

[cbwjm]

Add in hot springs that keep the place warm enough? Maybe there are volcanic vents that also heat the area, kind of like an underwater vent that provides warmth for life to thrive. Unless the slaves are integral to the story then I'd probably remove them completely since that takes out the problems of feeding and sheltering them. This might not be a perfect way of explaining it, but during the game I'd bet that it is good enough for the players.

 

[Eltab]

Put the exhaust from the Fire Giant forge at the bottom of the slope where the farming terraces are. A little bit of magic: the heat creeps along the ground instead of rising straight up. (Maybe a "heat 'irrigation' system"?) The crops are still cold-weather and subpolar plants but at the warm end of their tolerance. Still the cold end of demihuman tolerance, though.

Add a few carefully-placed groves of pine trees which help some to hold in the heat.

 

[ccs]

I just moved the whole mountain/village/dungeon somewhere more convenient. Theres plenty of mountains in an FR map to pick from.
Oh look, it played exactly the same.
But then MY FR is not the same as the TSR/WotC FR....

 

[Demetrios1453]

I've run groups through it twice, and you know what, not a single player has stormed out due to their suspension of disbelief being violated. Or, for that matter, given any indication, verbal or otherwise, that it bothered them in the least.

But if you need it, either the fire giant settlement or volcanism/geothermal activity (which would explain the location of said fire giant settlement) are simple answers.

 

[twofalls]

I've run groups through it twice, and you know what, not a single player has stormed out due to their suspension of disbelief being violated. Or, for that matter, given any indication, verbal or otherwise, that it bothered them in the least.

But if you need it, either the fire giant settlement or volcanism/geothermal activity (which would explain the location of said fire giant settlement) are simple answers.

My players aren't children, no one would storm out, or even question it most likely, however we are all educated professionals and it would be noticed even if not commented upon. Making believable environments the norm helps with accepting those things that aren't the norm (fighting inside a volcano, or an ice cavern) when the time comes and makes them feel extraordinary because the world that they are in usually makes sense. This is the expectation I have created in my game, and I've found that it works very well.

 

[twofalls]

Put the exhaust from the Fire Giant forge at the bottom of the slope where the farming terraces are. A little bit of magic: the heat creeps along the ground instead of rising straight up. (Maybe a "heat 'irrigation' system"?) The crops are still cold-weather and subpolar plants but at the warm end of their tolerance. Still the cold end of demihuman tolerance, though.

Add a few carefully-placed groves of pine trees which help some to hold in the heat.

I like this idea particularly well and will run with it. Thank you for your input.

 

[twofalls]

Unless the slaves are integral to the story then I'd probably remove them completely since that takes out the problems of feeding and sheltering them. This might not be a perfect way of explaining it, but during the game I'd bet that it is good enough for the players.

I was thinking on this problem last night as I was laying in bed drifting off and decided that the best way to handle it without moving the entire location would be to change the slaves from human/demi-human to humanoids. That many human slaves would be difficult to explain in this remote inhospitable region, but humanoids are pushed to the fringes of habitable territory. Also, many are content living underground whereas humans being forced to live prolonged lives of labor entirely underground would become useless rather quickly. It also solves the food issue as I can use the old trope of fungal caves, which isn't particularly realistic, but will be accepted by the players.

 

[Quartz]

Put the exhaust from the Fire Giant forge at the bottom of the slope where the farming terraces are. A little bit of magic: the heat creeps along the ground instead of rising straight up.

I like this idea particularly well and will run with it. Thank you for your input.

No magic needed: geothermal heat works just fine. Maybe there are many fissures. Think Giants' Causeway. Of course, clever players might come back later and cause a massive landslide...

 

[FrozenNorth]

Put the exhaust from the Fire Giant forge at the bottom of the slope where the farming terraces are. A little bit of magic: the heat creeps along the ground instead of rising straight up. (Maybe a "heat 'irrigation' system"?) The crops are still cold-weather and subpolar plants but at the warm end of their tolerance. Still the cold end of demihuman tolerance, though.

To be honest, given the placement of the village, that is what I already assumed was the case.