The dwarves in the Wyvernwatch mountains southeast of Brindol have a number of mining communities. None have more than a few hundred people working and living there, but the various mines are quick to come to each other’s aid. In total there are probably 2500 people in these villages, almost entirely dwarves. This is the area’s only source of raw stone and metal ore.

This dense wood is northeast of Brindol. The Tiri Kitor call this forest home. These Elves & Eladrin are known to number over 1000, but no one can say for sure how many of them there are. These elusive people are known for their giant owl mounts and superior archery skills. This is the last place you want to go for wood or furs. The Tiri Kitor trade with others in nearby towns, but few outsiders are welcomed into their forest.

This light forest stretches from Dauth to Prosser, south of Brindol. It’s been heavily hunted and thinned out. The greatest danger here is usually bandits in hiding. Occasionally, rumors spread about ghosts in the woods, but it’s usually proven to be bandit tricks and traps to scare off good folk. There was actually a ghost in the woods some 40 years ago that killed a number of people. Bandits or ghosts, most people travel through the woods during the day and in large groups.

This forest lies west of Brindol, bordered on three sides by mountains or swamp. It is the largest forest in the area. Most wood and hunting goods come from this area. The Tiri Kitor have a presence here, but don’t protect it nearly as well as the Marth Forest. Most of this woodland is still wild, and home to all manner of beasts. Roads and humanoid trails generally skirt the edges of the forest. Rumors suggest that creatures from the Blackfens have begun to wander into the Witchwood.

This small town is THE river crossing for the Dawn Way (main east-west highway in the region). There was a stone, dwarven bridge here hundreds of years ago, but it was destroyed. The stone pillars are still visible in the river, but little remains of the bridge. A hundred feet downstream is the ferry crossing. A large barge floats here, attached to ropes and pulleys on both sides of the river. The river is 30 feet deep here, and the ferry is the only way to get wagons, livestock and such across.

The only other city of any significance in the region, Dennovar lies 100 miles east of Brindol on the Dawn Way. It too has an outer defensive wall of stone. Population 11,000. Dennovar has its share of farm land, but it also sits on a huge lake, Lake Ern. Seafood and water related products are common trade goods from Dennovar. Dennovar hasn’t been attacked by anything significant in hundreds of years. In fact, several of the gates are in poor working order, despite the lessons learned by most of the Vale forty years ago. A merchant council is the governing body.

Once a prosperous city and center of the kingdom of Rhestilor, Rhest is now a half-drowned ruin slowly sinking into the Blackfens (swamp). At it’s peak, the surrounding lands were well tended fields with levies, irrigation systems, and were clear for miles. Centuries of erosion and lack of attention have turned the farmlands into swamp. Rice and soybean fields are now overgrown with twisted trees, poisonous vines, and are crawling with snakes, crocodiles, and worse. Civilized people abandoned the place long ago. The only intelligent beings there now are lizard folk, if you consider them intelligent.

Jarmaan Keep predates the nation of Rhestilor. It was built on the remains of an ancient dwarven keep over 500 hundred years ago. During the reign of Rhestilor, the village around the keep grew into a town, then a city. When that great nation fell apart, the commanding officer, Kerden Jarmaan, claimed the keep as his own. It’s been in the Jarmaan family ever since, and at least one member of the Jarmaan family has sat on the council of Brindol, typically in a leadership position, without fail...