Respis is a typical small town on Pagaton. Three centuries ago it was a farming community surrounded by cereal crops, with animals grazing on the higher ground. Now most of the farms are abandoned and derelict, and the community has shrunk to about a quarter of its previous size. Those that remain have managed to change their crops to hardier varieties or work in necessary supporting industries. The town is constructed mainly in timber, using TL4 techniques and heated by nothing more sophisticated than open stoves. Many houses have fallen into disrepair or collapsed entirely, and those that remain have been given extra insulation in the form of lightly built structures over the walls and roof, stuffed with plant matter and ribersfrom the coats of animals such as the hardy sheep that now form the majority of herded animals.

The town tells a story of the growing ice-age. This was clearly once an attractive valley with a temperate climate. Extensive rainfall was far more of a problem than cold and buildings were constructed accordingly. Modifications were made using whatever materials were available, resulting in ugly, jerry-built structures which are inconvenient to live and work in. Most houses have either an external insulation layer held in place by supporting frameworks or a windbreak around the outside, sometimes with a lean-to roof. Extensions around the main door are common, creating a secondary outer doorway to help retain heat. The overall impression is of desperation and poverty.

Most houses had a vegetable garden, as is common in low-tech communities, but today the area around the town is taken up with additional cultivation. Fields down in the valley were abandoned long ago as too difficult to maintain, so most cereals and vegetables are now grown in small plots close to the town. Herds of sheep graze the higher ground, replacing less hardy animals which died off as the climate cooled. The change from modest agriculture to subsistence farming was gradual but absorbed most of the resources Pagaton had available and is not really sufficient to support the population. Grain arrives by train every few days, imported through the starport/maritime port from those areas where it is still easy to grow.

DERELICT STATION (1)

The railway is a single line, with a passing loop to the west of town. In its heyday the town had platforms on both sides of the track, with the north one used for passengers. This was a comfortable, stone-constructed building long ago but has since collapsed and been plundered for materials. Little is left but the decaying remains of the concrete platform and a mound of snowcovered debris. There was once a metal footbridge at the eastern end of the platform but it is long gone, with only rusted stumps of the supports surviving.

SURVIVING PLATFORM (2)

The southern platform was originally intended mainly for goods and survives out of necessity. Passenger facilities are non-existent and the old loading gear has been replaced by a wood-fired steam crane and conveyor belt. This leads into the upper level of the granary behind the platform.

GRANARY (3)

The granary is a much-repaired stone building used to store cereals and other foodstuffs. Facilities are minimal; this is a storage area only. Offices and similarly unnecessary areas were allowed to decay or plundered for their resources long ago. The western end of the building has a tall grain elevator which connects to the station conveyor.

NORTH SIDE (4)

The north side of the town is mostly abandoned. A few stubborn householders keep their homes patched with materials from the least derelict others. These are mostly in a narrow strip at the very northern edge of town and their inhabitants are mainly shepherds and loggers operating on the north side of the railway tracks. The rest of the area is a mess of collapsed buildings and mounds of debris with a few semi-intact structures. This would be a treacherous place to try to land a spacecraft but that might not be apparent from the air.

SOUTH SIDE (5)

Most of the town’s 200 or so inhabitants live on the south side of the railway. The majority are small-scale farmers, with a handful of businesses here and there. The only stone building is the town smithy; everything else is made of wood.

COLD MARSH (6)

The river that once flowed along the bottom of the valley is now a sluggish, half-frozen marsh which broadens into a shallow lake, or a collection of icedover ponds, depending on the temperature. The lower part of the valley can be hazardous, especially where mud or water is covered by thin ice.

LOWER EAST VALLEY (7)

The eastern part of the valley was once the best arable land. The remains of farms and steads can still be made out among the scraggy grass and stands of bushes. Near the town, the land is cultivated with hardier crops than once grew here, whilst the more distant parts have become wild and are used for sheep grazing.

UPPER VALLEY (8)

The upper valley slopes gently for some distance, then rises more steeply in a manner suggesting ancient glaciation in the area. Forest has reclaimed the upper slopes and is encroaching downward into the grazing lands. Most of the town’s wood comes from this forest.

RESPIS HIGH RIDGE (9)

The high ridge is the tallest of a series which rise towards the eastern end of the valley. Most are unremarkable but the high ridge was once the site of a copper mine. The rail tracks to and from it was still passable, although in a few decades the track bed will have degraded too much to be useable. The line ends at the old mine site, where a few buildings still stand. Useable machinery was removed decades ago.

THE RAIL YARD (10)

The single-line railway through town has a wide passing loop to allow trains moving in opposite directions to pass one another. It has not been used in years and the small maintenance building associated with it became unnecessary around the same time. Nevertheless, the stone-built structure is in good order. It has been maintained by its owner/resident since she bought it around 30 years ago.