mods (roadmaps) wrote in coachseat, @ 2011-01-16 06:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! plot post, location post |
Plot Post #4: Welcome to Romania!
General Information Arrived in Sighetu Marmatiei, which you can find numerous pictures of set to terrible pop music on youtube (like this), which has a small wizarding community. They are now set to travel into rural Maramures (which Anthony Bourdain can explain much better than I can here at 2:00). Specifically, they're in Breb. DEs and Order both after the Diadem of Ravenclaw, located in Cachtice Castle (not the ruined one -- the one that's been moved by vampires). Order. Order members are currently hiding in the woods trying to get their footing. They're gathering troops, making a camp, trying to find leads about vampires, figuring out who's spying on the ministry, and etc. Frank informs them that the Death Eaters and Ministry are both out for them. They know what's in the box Regulus delivered is a Horcrux (through hints Voldemort let drop, stating he would be back if something happened and to continue efforts to take over England), but they're unsure what it looks like. Eventually, they decide to stop by the Romanian Dragon Santuary in hopes that someone there will know where they can find a vampire. There, they meet Florin, who supplies them on information about Mihail, a local vampire hunter and inn owner. Dumbledore, meanwhile, has fucked off to England (he only killed Voldemort, no big). Hogwarts is left in the Ministry's hands. There, he's gathering information and leads. Order plots what to do and what they know here. Death Eaters. Previously hiding in the woods trying to get their footing. They were gathering troops, making a camp, trying to find leads about vampires, figuring out who's spying on the ministry, and etc. Augustus, however, has set them up in a muggle hotel. He also informed them that the Death Eaters and Ministry were both out for them. They know what's in the box Regulus delivered is a Horcrux (through hints Voldemort let drop, stating he would be back if something happened and to continue efforts to take over England), but they're unsure what it looks like. Looking for clues, they stumble onto Ruxandra Szekely, a former vampire hunter and Evelina Marijke Grigorescu, a vampire. They also make contact with Helena Sanguina. They prove they're connected to Voldemort by showing them their dark mark. Order plots what to do and what they know here. Ministry of Magic. The MoM is after both Death Eaters and Order members mentioned here, although they don't know which are which are associated with which organization. There are reports that they've been seen in Sighetu Marmatiei and fled to rural Maramures after Voldemort's death. They know Remus is a werewolf. Aurors have been instructed to bring those individuals back to England dead or alive. Alive, however, is preferred for questioning. In England, they encounter Isolde, a former resident of Cachtice castle who was sealed into a cavern and left to starve to death after siding with muggles. Eventually, they'll end up getting leads about the Order near the Romanian Dragon Santuary and go there in hopes of running into them. Ministry plots what to do and what they know here. Journalists. Rita reveals that Remus Lupin is a werewolf causing Rhoslyn to seek Remus out. Vampires. The Romanian vampires (with the exception of very few -- usually found in more populated areas) are connected to Cachtice castle and stick together. They're headed by Helena Sanguina. Evelina is usually the first sent out after victims. They're getting their chat on here. All About Maramures Maramures (pronounced mara-moorish) county was formerly part of the historical region of Translyvania, but is now located just above it in north-northwestern Romania. Forty-three percent of Maramures is covered by the the Gutâi, Ţibleş, and Rodna Mountains, which make up part of Eastern Carpathians. The rest of the county is covered in hills, plateaus, valleys, and crossed by the Tisa River and its main tributaries: Iza, Viseu, and Mara. Because of this geography, Maramures has been relatively isolated from the rest of the world. When the Roman emperor Tragan conquered the region that is now Romania in 106 AD, the Romans never crossed the range of mountains that surrounds Maramures. As such, Maramures' culture remains free of Roman influence and is strongly traditional in many villages. Traditional gender roles are still in place and traditional clothing worn occasionally if not daily in the villages. Men wear ridiculously small straw hats that look like an inverted straw funnel; the women wear boldly striped woolen aprons front and back. Each village has its own colors for aprons and style for hats (some straw, some felt). Budesti, for example, is a highly traditional village where neither a divorce nor abortion has never been recorded. Tradition wooden architecture is still in use and new churches and houses are build using the same style and construction techniques that have been used for hundred of years. One exception most often seen is the tin roof on houses in place of wooden shingles. Many houses have woven fences and nearly all of them have ornamental wooden gates with a mixture of pagan and Christian symbols carved into them. The bigger and fancier the gate, the more prosperous the owner is. Maramures' society is largely unscathed by the industrialization campaign carried on during Romania's communist period. Farm machinery is virtually unknown in Maramures' pastoral society where ploughing, planting, harvesting, and hay making and handling are mostly done through manual labour. Horse-drawn carriages are one of Maramurians' main means of transportation as well as used plot the fields and transport the harvest while the remainder is done by hand. Except during the winter, almost everyone will be carrying a pitch fork, rake, hoe, shovel, or scythe over their shoulder as they walk down the village roads. In the field you'll see men cutting hay with a scythe while women (EDIT: Contrary to whatever Fin believes, that's not a picture of women. It's a hillside or something.) lift it onto drying racks with a wooden pitchfork. There are fields of hay as far as the eye can see and plum trees abound. Because of this way of living, it is common for families to have six to eight children and, in some villages, children represent more than half of the population. Romanians are naturally hospitable people and always eager to share stories of their village with travelers passing-by. You might even be invited into their home for a home-cooked traditional Romanian meal. Magical Community & Government The history of wizard Romania is linked strongly with that of magical creatures in Romania. Since the establishment of the Statute of Secrecy in 1749, the area's vampire population has exploded as they're offered protection under WTFeverhername is (see here for more information). While the Romanian ministry has put a lot of effort into trying to eradicate vampires in the area, they've been largely unsuccessful. While has caused most wizarding families in Romania (especially in rural areas) to relocate to other countries. Those left are largely involved in the protection of Romania's diverse array of magical creatures and keeping them hidden from the muggle population. This has lead to the establishment of the world's largest dragon reservation worldwide, located near Mt. Farcău (which is also home to Edelweiss, a protected species of muggle plant). It is also heavily guarded by muggle repelling charms. As a result, Romania has a very small wizard population -- mostly muggleborn (and as a result a small wizarding government). Romanian wizards live harmoniously alongside their muggle neighbors, often working as fortune tellers or local witches, which many muggles write off. See VAMPIRES: VAMPIRES & THE WIZARDING COMMUNITY. Vampires VAMPIRES & THE MUGGLE COMMUNITY Attitudes about vampires, known as 'Strigoi', differ throughout Romania. Rural areas are highly superstitious, while more urban areas see vampires as the product of an over-active imagination brought on by the tedium of farm life. Despite this, most areas of Transylvania (since this is the region where most vampire attacks are concentrated) follow the belief that vampires are real, and their inhabitants have taken some means of protecting themselves. Small villages are often surrounded by a ring of garlic plants, and almost all homes have ropes of garlic hanging over their doors and windows. Mixed in among the more mundane shops, one can easily find wizard and muggle owned shops that cater to the fear of vampires, selling everything from wooden stakes to talismans to bunches of dried herbs. Vampire-hunting kits can be found in most homes. However, their effectiveness is often highly questionable, as the Muggle community is rife with misinformation about vampires and most merchants are more concerned with turning a profit than providing legitimate protection. VAMPIRES & THE MAGICAL COMMUNITY In effort to protect the local population, the Romanian Ministry of Magic has deployed the greatest part of their vampire hunters to Maramures and surrounding areas. However, this has not been enough to successfully eradicate the vampires, and most wizarding families in Transylvania have relocated to other areas since the increase in attacks began after 1749. The region is therefore overwhelmingly muggle in population with the exception of a small community of wizards in Baia Mare. Baia Mare is frequented by vampires although they're unconnected to those at Cachtice Castle. Hidden between the muggle shops is a span of street called Peacure Alley, which caters to wizards much like Diagon Alley In more rural areas, wizards are rare to find. More often than not, these wizards are either thrill-seekers, vampire hunters, or have lived there their entire life and refuse to leave. Magical Flora & Fauna HAGS Hags, also called crones, are a savage sort of witch who employ archaic earth magic. Hags are able to turn themselves into a number of creatures and change the shape of things around them. In Transylvania, hags live on the far edge of rural towns, hidden out in the woods, and are known to kidnap humans out alone during the day. Though they can live on animal flesh, Transylvanian hags' diets consist mainly of humans, especially children. HINKYPUNKS Little one-legged creatures with the appearance of being made of smoke. The hinkypunk carries a light with which it lures travelers into bogs, where it tries to drown and devour them. TROLLS Residing in the Carpathian Mountains, the troll is a fearsome creature up to twelve feet tall and weighing over a tonne (2204.6 pounds). Notable for its equally prodigious strength and stupidity, the troll is often violent and unpredictable. Trolls generally converse in grunts that appear to constitute a crude language, though some have been known to understand and to even speak a few simple human words. The more intelligent of the species have been trained as guardians. The mountain troll is the largest and most vicious of its species and bald, with pale-grey skin. Trolls eat raw flesh and are not fussy in their prey, which ranges from wild animals to humans. GRAPHORN Also found in the Carpathian Mountains, the Graphorn is large and greyish purple with a humped back and two very long, sharp horns. It walks on large, four-thumbed feet, and has an extremely aggressive nature. Mountain trolls can occasionally be seen mounted on graphorns, though the latter do not seem to take kindly to attempts to tame them and it is more than common to see a troll covered in Graphorn scars. Graphorn hide is even tougher than a dragon's and repels most spells. DRAGONS The Romanian Longhorn and the Ukrainian Ironbelly are native to this region although numerous other breeds have been introduced. Unlike Ashe believes, wizards do not participate in aerial night-time jousts using them. More Resources http://www.flickr.com/groups/maramu http://www.accuweather.com/quick-look.a http://brooksabroad.blogspot.com/2007/1 http://www.somewheredifferent.com/roman |