There is a town, Greysteel, away from the main commerce routes near one of the great stands of forest in the world. This town has aspirations of becoming a city of a sprawling empire, but has not yet been able to capitalize on those aspirations because the woods surrounding the south, west and east of the town are said to be filled with orcs, gnolls and goblins of all types. And the river to the north has many outlaws and pirates. Also there are many smugglers that frequent the area that dodge the taxes of the city fathers impose to raise money to pay for the defences of the city and pay for the army. The leader of the area is wildly unpopular because he has put an income tax on the residents of 25% in addition to other taxes. He says that the taxes are due to outlaws, the pirates and smugglers, and the humanoids attacking caravans and he is using the money to pay for town defences. This is true. There is a new stone wall around the town, and there is an actual paid military in the town of 200 trained persons. Hey are trying to combat smuggling but are having little impact. There is also a bounty placed on all humanoids. 1sp per pair of goblin ears, and 1gp/pair of Gnoll, hobgoblin and Orc ears. The bounties rise to 5 and 25 for ogre and giant ears. The result has been a rise in young people heading out into the unknown for a few years, some coming back with bounties, but many not coming back at all.
There are 5 villages in the area tied to the town through many relations, as they are the frontiers of the town. Nulb, Homelet, Orlane, Hookhill, and Bissel.
Homelet, moathouse law abiding, low smugglers. NG, LG, CG, N
Nulb, temple, smuggler base and pirates. CN, NE, LN, N, LE
Orlane, clearing past forest to south, swamp to the south. NG, NE, N
Hookhill or Bissel has a ancient tower nearby whose confines are a mystery
Other location has a ruin in the area perhaps, also there is a slaver in the area perhaps.
The area is dominated by a large old growth deciduous forest. There is a tributary to a tributary to the Great River to the north. It is navigable by small boats and barges. Not far away by larger boats.
The people of the land are mostly good or lawfully aligned NG, LN, and N. the ruler of the area is the LE grandson of the founding family the keep at the centre of town dates from then.
The neighbours of the region are not human necessarily. In fact, to the South there is an Orcish Matriarchy on the other side of the forest proper. There is another human settlement to the North, where the original lord and most of the residents claim ancestry. NG, N, LN They are about five days travel from the town and are not interested in the town at all. There is a prosperous town to the west where the river widens.LN, LE, N. To the east is a wilderness that is populated by small bands of freeholders and humanoids, CE, CN, CG, N.
North to the Right
West most is Nulb, then Homelet, Orlane, Bissel, Hookhill. Greysteel is on the river.
Greysteel Keep was founded on a hill overlooking the Banebrook a little over a century ago. Lord Greysteel was sent to keep an eye on a evil temple that the forces of the King in distant Jarda had defeated. The King supposed that if the area was settled by good folk, there would be plenty of vigilant eyes to notice another rise of evil. Lord Greysteel built a keep, and several fortifications to keep an eye on the temple. At first the outpost received a lot of attention and tax collectors were a seasonal occurrence, then less until during the reign of the second Lord Greysteel they stopped coming altogether. The first Lord Greysteel was the faithful administrator of the area for 23 years. The first decade he built and established the keep and town and three forts closer to the temple. Each of the next two years he founded a village and encouraged settlement there. First Homelet, then Nulb, Bissel, Hookhill, and lastly Orlane. It was shortly after that last village that the first lord died. The second Lord continues to follow the path his father set for him but for not understanding the reason, for he had not been alive for the battles. Twenty years into his tenure support from Jarda dried up and within a few years the Forts were allowed to fall into disuse. The second Lord died during a tour with his family of the villages when the party was attacked by a strong force of humanoids, about forty years ago, he was survived by his youngest son, a mage, the family’s black sheep.
Rumours persisted for years that the Lord had engineered the ambush on his family and that the pogrom on humanoids was meant to get rid of the evidence. The new Lord was the last of seven children.
Homelet was founded first of the five villages. The sleepy hamlet is fairly prosperous with good land and fairly frequent travellers. The people are good and the people follow an agricultural Deity and a nature deity. These people have a number of rumours that have persisted. The one about the Lord’s gain of power is a persistent topic, but they think the best of their lord. There is some concern about Orlane, as more than one family has moved from there and to there. They talk about the old outpost a few miles to the west, and the tower in the woods at Hookhill. There is some discussion about the bounty on Humanoids, many feel that they should practice a live and let live attitude, particularly among the followers of the nature god and those of the Agricultural goddess are in favour. There is a similar split in ideas for the followers of the two religions. One thing they both agree upon is that smuggling is wrong and so is tax evasion, but still barter is the most common form of trade in the village and you can’t tax that.
Nulb is a different town. The people here are cut from a different cloth. They are closer to the abandoned temple and yet it is rarely talked about except indirectly as the cause of some misfortune. The creek that flows through the village is slow moving and deep as it is connected closely with the greater river beyond. A normal village with this situation would capitalize on the harbour and become a trading centre but not so here. The land is marginal but the village was founded to keep a close eye on the temple, something they do to this day. The bulk of the people still farm. But many are supplement their income with smuggling, piracy and hunting. Smugglers are typically people who are moral but need the income to stay a float. Many are leaving themselves open to blackmail, and many are being used this way. The river pirates operate far down river and chose their targets carefully. There is not much to offer them here because the area is so poor and backward, but the hidden cove is welcomed. The Pirates sell and pay their taxes at Nulb, but have offloaded all precious cargo at the local Haunted House. There are two sets of pirates here one set works for the Temple and the other is based out of the haunted house. The hunters are also agents of the Temple. They ferry information from the abandoned outposts and the temple using a few businesses in the town to coordinate. There are five factions in the town, Earth, Air, Fire, Water and the Greater Temple. It is no wonder that the principal faith in town is a deity of stealth. It is located in a pawn shop on the main drag, the temple is in the back. The Agricultural temple and the Nature grove are not well attended. Points of interest in the town include a large battlefield to the south and several large burial mounds in the centre where soldiers and enemies were buried and great heroes fell.
Orlane is a town in decline. The troubles that are affecting this town are large but come from one source. The people in this town are being being abducted and charmed and returned. The entire town is being subverted this way.
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The importance of faith.
Nine days in the week. Each month lasts 4 weeks, 12 months in a year. One week in the winter of holy observance, 441 days in a year. The week has two holy days one where the Red Sun covers the Yellow and one day where the reverse is true. Priests get a +3 bonus to saves on the day of domination and +1 on the Eve and day after. Three days there is no effect, when the other is in dominance, they get a Penalty of -3 and -1 respectively. They also receive a bonus spell on the dominant days and lose one on the reverse. Blue sun gods have none of this bonus but have an effect in the deep winter and high summer.
The deep winter the blue sun dominates during the Holy Week and in High Summer the blue is recessive. Holy Week they get a +3 and in the Summer -3. The Holy Week the Red and Yellow are both at disadvantage and during the High Summer, accept during Dominance the Red Sun the sky goes black and the stars come out, and during the Yellow, flowers close.
:):):):):):):):)
Some changes. The Village to the North-west will be called Saltmarsh, because there is a salt mine located above a mash on the river. The mine was discovered as the reason for the salty nature of the marsh and has been mined by the locals and sold to merchants and sent along the river as export. The river here is wider and more navigable than anywhere else in the area. The river is slow moving too. Small boat traffic can continue to Greysteel. There is a branch of the river that heads north some ten miles down the river and heads to the old Jarda. The series U1-3 can fit in here with little changes.
The Village of Nulb is next, located on a separate river system, which meets up with the larger river five miles west of Saltmarsh. The river is navigable for its length to Nulb but the river mouth is blocked by shifting sandbars. There is a abandoned fort overlooking the river manned by temple agents.
The next Village is Hommlet. Roads lead to Greysteel, Nulb, Orlane and, the Downs. The road to Greysteel splits off to Saltmarsh after a mile. Hommlet is a hub of sorts.
The Downs has a road directly to Greysteel, and one to Hommlet, which splits and heads to Orlane shortly afterwards.
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