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10:41, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Fairhill: People and Places of Note.

Posted by DM PawnFor group 0
DM Pawn
GM, 177 posts
Thu 28 Oct 2021
at 05:42
  • msg #1

Fairhill: People and Places of Note



Fairhill is a small, peaceful village of over 400 souls dwelling atop the largest of several gently sloping hills about 10 miles north of the Tradeway, with another 400 or so farmers, homesteaders, and ranchers spread across the surrounding countryside.

A frontier village, Fairhill maintains a standing guard of about 25 soldiers. There is always at least one group of four guards making a circuit around the perimeter of the village and another similar group stationed in the central market. At night the guards light a number of fires that ring the village perimeter and double their patrols. In addition, the village maintains two guardhouses along the road as well as a hilltop guard tower.

Arlen, a retired adventurer and now magistrate, governs the village with a stern but fair hand. Though several other shrines are present, Pelor is the patron deity of Fairhill and this hilltop temple is the most prominent. Thus, many in Fairhill recognize Radiant Servant Shandril, Priestess of Pelor, as the true leader of Fairhill. She is quick to downplay any such talk and openly supports Arlen as magistrate and Baran as Captain of the Guard. Accordingly, there is little political strife in Fairhill, as Arlen, Shandril, Captain Baran, and the tavern owners all work together for the common good.

All this to say, Fairhill is a peaceful town and has not had any real troubles with bandits or monsters. That is, until recently…

For the past several weeks, orcs have appeared in the vicinity the outer farms and roads of Fairhill. Every villager has heard the story of the village family who was raped and mutilated on the road leading from the village to the Tradeway just a few days ago. All villagers have heard about the gnoll attack on the Tradeway about a week ago. Rumors of a vampire in an old, ruined keep run rampant, and the peace that the villagers once enjoyed is seemingly at an end.



Notable Locations and Persons

1. Tower of the Guard: a stone watchtower where the garrison monitors folks approaching the village. Captain Baran, a stern man with reddish hair, a well-trimmed beard and mustache, and most immediately noticeable, a missing right hand, maintains his residence here. Barian's lieutenant, Lauriel, is often found here as well.



2. Magistrate Arlen’s House: One of village’s few stone buildings, and though considered opulent by Fairhill standards, this home would at best be an average dwelling within a city like Bard’s Gate. Magistrate Arlen lives here with his wife, Ginia, and daughter, Sirya.



3. Magistrate’s Guest House: Similar in design to Arlen’s house, this house is slightly smaller and normally used by relatives of the magistrate, passing nobles, or important visitors, though it is often empty.


4. Temple of Pelor: A wooden building with a peaked roof, this open one-room with magnificent stained-glass windows contains a stone altar decorated with the carving a radiant sun. A silver crucible rests upon the altar and this is used to sacrifice wine or wheat from the harvest or to bless a person with fertility. Shandril, the elven priestess, is often found here.



5. Shandril’s House: Though Shandril has been given a house indicative of her status in the village, she lives here grudgingly. She much prefers to stay in the temple and is more often than not found there.


6. Shrines to Other Gods: Several small, covered shrines with small statues of other Good and Neutral deities are located to either side of the Temple of Pelor. Only Kath, an exuberant, joyful, and quite large Cleric of Avandra, lives in Fairhill on a permanent basis. The other shrines are maintained by Shandril, Kath, and villagers.



7. Guardhouses: The Village Guard maintains two fortified stone guardhouses along each road leading into the village. Three guards are stationed here at any given time.


8. Central Market: here, farmers and merchants gather at great tables under the sun and sell all manner of goods.


9. The Drunken Cockatrice Inn: Run by Glarian, the female half-elf innkeeper. The bar is clean, the ale fresh, the hearth-fire roaring, the food well cooked, and the rooms reasonably priced. The inn has three stories, reached by beautifully crafted wooden-railed stairs, and a total of 12 rooms to rent. Rooms cost 2 gold pieces per night, meals 2 silver pieces—a bargain considering Glarian’s cooking is famous as far away as Bard’s Gate.



10. The Cask and Flagon: Cheaper and less clean than the Cockatrice, Tarnen, an elderly innkeeper who used to adventure long ago but who no longer possesses any of his prior skills operates this inn. The inn is poorly maintained and consists of a large common room with a fireplace, a large kitchen, and a storage room in the rear. The food is substantially worse than the Cockatrice. The common room has four booths along one wall with curtains that can be drawn for privacy. Tarnen’s four dogs normally sleep on the floor of the common room and beg at customers’ feet for table scraps at mealtimes. To the side of the room, a set of railed stairs allows access to the upper level where the eight individual rooms are located. Tarnen charges 1 gold piece per night for a room and 1 silver piece per meal.



11. The Tavern of the Three Kegs: This tavern also stables horses for travelers at 1 gold piece per horse per day, plus 2 silver pieces per day for feeding. The ale here is local product and is outstanding, though expensive (1 silver piece per pint). A surly, fat halfling named Perik runs the tavern. Luckily, his halfling waitress, Dalia, makes up for Perik’s lack of charm. The tavern does not have any rooms for rent.



12. Smithy: Voril operates the village smithy. He is a competent smith and with enough time can craft or repair simple armor. Heavier armor such as ring and plate mail is normally beyond his ability. Voril has been despondent lately and has not made anything in his forge for several weeks.


This message was last edited by the GM at 13:46, Mon 15 Nov 2021.
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