The vineyard in Rinkaiel

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Graybeard
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The vineyard in Rinkaiel

Post by Graybeard »

Kincaide (or, if you prefer, Rhett) asked me for a quick description of the vineyard/winery that the Sorensens (i.e., Gewehr...) recently "negotiated" to buy on the outskirts of Rinkaiel. Others might find it interesting, so here it is, with the caveat that I'm not an expert on viticulture, but ...

Setting first. Rinkaiel, you will recall, is a seaport on the north coast of Farrel, generally crescent-shaped around a harbor. The vineyard (the winery is integral to it, although the liquor store is in Rinkaiel itself) is on the southwestern outskirts of town, on gently rolling terrain (wine grapes like to grow on southern exposures) between the city and the forest that makes up the sparsely-populated (and ... available for adventures ...) northern part of Farrel. The "shack" where some of the action has occurred, no longer part of the vineyard itself, is at the extreme south corner of the property, right where the forest starts (and rises into hills to the wild south of town). A small stream runs seaward through the shallow valley near the southwestern boundary, heading generally north-northwest before turning toward the harbor somewhere beyond the vineyard. Wikipedia thoughtfully :-) provided a photo that gives the general idea, although Layla's property is much smaller than this and the hills beyond are covered with forest rather than fields and houses, at least to the south.

The vineyard is on the classic European model, and comparatively small, less than a quarter of a mile square. The property is broadly square to rectangular and "faces" the northeast, rather than due north or south or east or west. It has forest to the south; farm land to northwest and east; and the beginnings of city to the northeast. The access road runs SE-NW along the front of the property to a lane leading to the farmhouse where the hack arrived. This sits on a small local high point maybe 50 or 60 feet above the shack -- originally just a design feature of the vineyard (so that the grapes could have the down-slope to the south), but Gewehr Wraiths are born tacticians, and Layla, Faye and Joe instantly recognized the advantages of a house that commands the surrounding terrain. There are small trees near the house. Again, Wikipedia to the rescue; Layla's house isn't anywhere near this nice, but the general idea of house rising above the arbors should be clear.

I haven't really thought through most of the out buildings (the "winery" part of the operation), but they would generally surround the house, on the northeast side of the property, maybe a bit concentrated toward the north corner. They would include a couple of sheds for equipment storage; one or two buildings that contain crushers and wine presses, one of which being where Kalin found his odd, menacing artifact; another building for storage during primary fermentation; and the wine cellar itself, cut into the hill beneath the house. Most all of these would be in decidedly poor repair. The notion of the winery as a "tourist destination" never occurred to the previous owners, so there are none of the public-oriented facilities you find at modern commercial wineries.

One final note: Layla has no idea what her neighbors are like. Feel free to invent some. :-) If anybody is more knowledgeable about wineries than I am, feel free also to fill in this sketchy description of the buildings there.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: The vineyard in Rinkaiel

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC I figured a few visuals might help people's imagination: http://www.citypictures.org/r-europe-14 ... d-2225.htm & http://canberragrapes.com.au/?page_id=17 pretty, aint they? /OOC
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Graybeard
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Re: The vineyard in Rinkaiel

Post by Graybeard »

Jack Rothwell wrote:OOC I figured a few visuals might help people's imagination: http://www.citypictures.org/r-europe-14 ... d-2225.htm & http://canberragrapes.com.au/?page_id=17 pretty, aint they? /OOC
Yes, that's the general idea, although the house in the Rinkaiel vineyard isn't nearly as large as in that first shot, and it's considerably more run down. The Sorensens will fix that in time; patience...
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