Half-lost on the Mistral River's inside bend, Yanthara is often misplaced on maps due to shifting oxbows, stubborn river fog, and locals who deliberately move waymarkers to avoid taxmen. Grey reeds and willow thickets; peat smoke; eel racks; a low bell tolling through mist.

Older than Fort Valiance itself — Caledrians staked wattle huts here almost 400 years ago for flax and eel. The name comes from Yan-tharagh (old Caledrian): “between-branches,” referring to braided channels that part and rejoin.

A clan council of household heads, chaired by an elected Chieftain of the Bend. Three Oath-stones govern life: Hospitality, River-rights, and Silence — no one names hunting trails or side-channels to outsiders.

Disputes settled by “braid-day”: three elders weave a willow braid; each knot marks a concession accepted by both sides.