<aside> ➡️ also known as 'the Steps'
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"When I was younger, I climbed these steps every year, just for the thrill of it; until the last time, when I realised that if I walked down, I would never come up again. So I stayed. There's no better view in the whole world."
- Remembered Kjorden Keeper to children who complete their first ascent up the Steps
The smallest of the human settlements, Spring is set atop one of the southernmost peaks of the Tall Watch, nestled in the remnants of a Fjölmine outpost. With a natural source of fresh water, various wildlife and pre-built walls, it makes a sturdy and useful home - but it has little room, and does not accommodate those on the Great Walk as well as the other settlements due to being difficult to get up to.
Fortunately for the humans, since the Fjölmine lost the outpost, they have been unable to make any successful attempts to retake it due its defences. However, since the birth of the current Azlyðine, they have been making more and more incursions farther southward, reclaiming lost territory, and many feel it is only a matter of time before the Fjölmine set their sights on Spring.
The average age is much older than other settlements, with the oldest and most frail kept safe here, but the ages still range greatly; many of the youngest humans grow up in Spring. There are few hunters, here, as most feel more useful on the Great Walk, and those that stay usually double as scouts and defenders.
Though there is no strict government, as in most of human culture, the settlement looks to their elders for guidance. These are often people who came to the Steps before their time and remained there, such as those with mobility issues or severe wounds, as they know the Steps better than the often-rotating other groups of humans. Warstory Torinn Elder, Spring's representative in the Rule of Five, for example, retired to the Steps after only thirty-four summers when both their hands were taken in a skirmish with Felicine.
The location of the settlement is, in itself, a defence; set at the top of a high mountain, Spring is hard to get to, let alone mount an attack on. Although a ring of Fjölmine-constructed stairs - thus the nickname 'The Steps' - trail around the mountain to the outpost above, they are easily defended from an altitude.
Those in charge of food here are the most adept of all the settlements at preserving foodstuffs. They are particularly good at smoking meats, and have developed pickling with vinegar made from a grape-based brandy. During the migrations, a fair few of the Galtbjörn are slaughtered and brought up to the settlement to be preserved, along with other perishable vegetables and fruits, so that the migration will have rations to make it to Summer regardless of the health of the herd or success of scavenging.
As Spring used to be a Fjölmine outpost, there are many leftover weapons and armour - many of which go to the elder hunters when the caravans come past every year. Little remains of these treasures, but a few of the more curious humans stay to study them and find their particular uses. There are areas for easy storage, here, especially for food, also due to it being built as an outpost.
The most important resource here is the mouth of a freshwater spring - access to a consistent, low-effort water source is rare. The mountain also hosts a variety of wildlife, the most popular of which to eat are goats and various fowl, and plenty of wood for building or for smoking meats.