9. The Manner-House of The Baronet of Brine
the village and surrounding landscape. The manor is an impressive structure and the grounds are well groomed and maintained. A statue of Syldina, the demi-god and heroine of the northern wilderness,
stands in the center of the family’s grounds. Local townspeople are welcome to worship and leave
offerings by the statue, particularly during the celebration of Salmanay.
The Von Saulter family is one of the oldest in Thatchum. They established their wealth and
position through the salt trade in the Principality of Brine. The Von Saulter family was recently invested
10. Traders’ Tent
He erects a large tent and his presence in the marketplace creates excitement and stimulates local
trade. Quinari will normally use these opportunities for clandestine reconnaissance and to gather
information and intelligence he can sell for the right price. His tent carries all manner of things including (but not limited to) rare spices, clothing, antiquities, art, sculptures, books, and scrolls.
11. The Pine Grove
holy site devoted to the faith of Silvanus. Numerous faces have been carved into the trees and the rocks
symbolic of the worship of Green Man. The grove also contains a fairy ring of stones with an
altar at its center. Beyond the altar a cave extends into the rock and connects to a labyrinth of passages
underneath the town. Some say the Pine Grove is the resting place of a powerful magical relic devoted to the faith of Green Man.
12. Statue of Bormanus
A great statue of Bormanus, the demi-god of salt and minerals, is the first face to greet visitors to
Thatchum. His statue looks like a roughhewn golem, with the alchemical symbol of salt set within the
symbol of earth upon his chest. The statue stands on a large dais with the inscription “No one shall sit below the salt” carved into the stone. There are normally effigies of Bormanus, bottles of brine, or salt chunks laid at the base of the statue.
As part of the celebration of Salmanay, the festival that marks the beginning of the New Year, locals
construct large balls of salt, tar, and thatch to light aflame beneath the statue and roll out the gatehouse
at midnight. Rolling the balls through the gatehouse symbolizes the “entrance” into the New Year.
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Salmanay |
13. Statue of Syldina, Demi-God of Winter
The statue of Syldina, the demi-god of the northern wilderness, stands majestic and proud on the lands
of the Von Saulter estate. Syldina, the Winter Warrior as she is called by the townsfolk, appears as a tall,
redheaded shield-maiden armed with a spear, shield, and a stoic gaze.
Like Herne the Hunter, Syldina was a worshipper and the chosen of Silvanus in life. She champions
the Northern Wilderness and its peoples. Archers and those who hunt and range across the far forests
of the Northern Reaches also worship Syldina. Her symbol is a spear with feathers or severed head
attached at the base. Valdghar and Syldina are allies.
14. The Gleaming Sword
Izog Hillside, a dwarf originally from Citadel Silver, is one of the most skilled weaponsmiths in the
Northern Reaches. Hillside normally has a small number of dwarven and human apprentices that
scurry about his workshop. His shop is highly organized and clean, a reflection of the perfectionism Hillside applies to his work. He specializes in traditional dwarven weaponry like the hammer, two-handed hammer, hand axe, and battle axe. He always has a selection of broadswords and spears, as they are the most popular weapons among human warriors in the Northern Reaches.
PC Artisans may begin as members.
15. Burgoyne’s Metalworks
The smithy known as Burgoyne’s Metalworks is a busy place. The blacksmith services Thatchum, but
also neighbouring villages who require his services. Malcon Burgoyne is a fourth generation blacksmith and is well respected amongst the townspeople. Malcon is a master craftsman and can forge unique dungeoneering items given time and coin.
PC Artisans may begin as members.
16. The Swords of Fortune Mercenary Barracks
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Captain Tenneal |
The Swords of Fortune, the mercenary guild in Thatchum, is based in an aging tower located
just west of the main gatehouse. The tower serves as their barracks and base of operations. The
guildmaster, Captain Tenneal, is a veteran warrior and serves as the instructor for new recruits.
Training activity normally takes place outside the tower during daylight hours. Tenneal recruits and
trains unskilled labourers to work as porters, guides, torch-bearers, and men-at-arms. Weapon training
emphasizes the broadsword, or spear, and shield. Ranged weapon training typically focuses on the
sling, light crossbow, or longbow for more advanced learners.
Membership Fee: 10gp. PC F may begin as members.
RUMOURS
1. Pomplemoouse the Prestidigitator, a newly apprenticed magic-user, has come to Thatchum to find a party and seek the magical treasure said to exist in HighFell. He can be found recruiting in The Wanton Wench.
2. Guldurn, a local sheep-herder, has been missing for three days. He was last seen near the Henge of
Lost Souls.
3. Allinbroch, a wizard in the tower of the Mystics, is sponsoring an expedition to HighFell. He is offering gold and equipment to those who would brave the journey.
4. The salt harvesting station called Endtown was recently attacked by frogfolk from The Great Salt
Reach. The Briny Brothers Caravan Company has offered 50gp if they are hunted down and brought to justice.
5. Derrick Von Saulter is recruiting a small force of sword-arms to track and kill a raiding party of wolfkin that is harassing caravans between Thatchum and Woodvale. He can be found in his estate house in town.
6. A tribe of goblins is hiding and raiding from deep within the Timberland of Gheal. Praed Greenleaf,
the druid of Silvanus, is recruiting some stalwart adventurers to deal with the goblins.
7. A barrow mound was recently discovered in the Fargone Forest northeast of the Henge of Lost Souls.
Tales and legends say barrows are filled with grave goods and lost treasures.
Principality of Brine: Towns and Villages
Threshold (City)
Population: 25,021 (10,021 within the walls)
Demographics: Any (Primarily Human)
Political Structure: Hereditary Kingship (King Lothric IV Brightore)
Industry and Trade: Financial, Political, and Trade Capital of the Northern Reaches
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King Lothric IV Brightore |
Threshold is the capital of the Northern Reaches. Five years ago (819 AI), the city was attacked by a horde of monsters from the Black Peaks. The army included orcs, goblins, and hill giants who nearly leveled the city and destroyed the stone fortifications. The warriors of Threshold, alongside support from the high clerics and wizards, barely repulsed the horde. Currently, only half the city is habitable. The rest remains under construction.
Thatchum (Village)
Population: 596
Demographics: Human, with some Dwarves, Half-Elves and halflings
Political Structure: Baronetcy (Von Saulter)
Industry and Trade: Primarily Salt, in addition to Sheep, Honey Mead, and Lumber. Regional Trade
Center with the Free City of Threshold.
Woodvale (Hamlet)
Population: 435
Demographics: Human, half-elves, elves, and halflings
Political Structure: Von Saulter Reeve: Handel Bjornson (Human Fighter)
Industry and Trade: Lumber, Mead
Woodvale has a population that approaches the size of Thatchum. The hamlet is defended by a wooden
palisade and earthen embankments. The town survives primarily as a way-station between Thatchum and the northern villages of Inverbarren and Lyndisfar. Woodvale’s primary industry is lumber
logged from the Fargone Forest. The lumber is then forwarded to Thatchum and transported to the Free
City of Threshold. The hamlet of Woodvale has an ongoing feud with “The Black Teeth” a wolfkin
tribe that lives along the eastern edge of the forest. Lumberjacks and those foraging in the woods are
routinely ambushed.
Lindysfar (Hamlet)
Population: 327
Demographics: Humans and half-elves with some
elves and halflings
Political Structure: Council of Village Elders
Industry and Trade: Primarily Lumber with Fur Trapping (Beaver, Muskrat, Giant Ferret) and Livestock (Sheep) and Agriculture (Corn)
Lindysfar is one of the northernmost hamlets in the Northern Reaches. Just as Endtown represents the
western frontier, Lindysfar represents the northern edge of civilization – and the word civilization
is used loosely. The village has a rough mix of fur traders, trappers, hardy frontiersmen, rangers,
brigands, criminals-on-the-run, ruffians, and a few acclimatized barbarian families.
Inverbarren (Hamlet)
Population: 209
Demographics: Human with some half-elves and dwarves
Political Structure: Council of Village Elders
Industry and Trade: Mining (Iron, Silver, and Gold), Game (Deer, Elk), Livestock (Sheep)
Inverbarren is a small hamlet located on the edge of the Northern Reaches. Inverbarren, and its sister
village Lyndisfar, represent two of the northernmost villages and often serve as the point of first contact
with civilization for nomadic barbarian tribes (and the last point of contact for those seeking to hide).
The people of Inverbarren sustain themselves through small-scale metal panning and mining in the
streams at the base of the Skyfall Mountains and the Bluffs of Brine, as well as game and livestock.
Endtown (Thorp)
Population: 118
Demographics: Human
Political Structure: Briny Brothers Caravan Company
Industry and Trade: Salt
Endtown is little more than a series of shacks and huts that serve as a salt harvesting station. The
village was founded by the Briny Brothers Merchant Caravan Company to harvest and transport salt to
Thatchum. The industry has drawn a few hardy souls who eke out their existence in Endtown. With the
exception of the guards posted by the Briny Brothers there is no central authority. When attacked, the
villagers flee to Thatchum.
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The Middenmark |
The Prelacy of Middenmark
1. Eastdale 2. Kirkliston 3. Darkwood Forest 4. Westkeep 5. Citadel Silver (Silverhame)
6. The Spine 7. Dragon’s Teeth Henge 8. The Caverns of Archaia 9. The Forbidden Zone
10. Coal Hills 11. The Black Peaks 12. The Red Thicket 13. Raven’s Pass 14. River Isenduin
15. Threshold
Religion and the Gods
Old and New Gods: Anganach and Futurus in The Principality of Brine
The Ancient Ones, called the Anganach in The Northern Reaches, represent the elder gods.
Some believe they preexisted in the forests, swamps, and streams of the land – like Silvanus (Green Man), Cromm, Herne the Hunter, Valdghar, Malachai, Nergal, and Impurax. Others believe the first elves, or perhaps the first nomadic humans brought their gods with them. No one knows for certain.
With the founding and growth of the population of Threshold, new religions expanded into the Northern Reaches. These faiths are called the New Gods or the Futurus. The church of St. Ygg has been the most aggressive in establishing itself in Threshold and The Prelacy of Middenmark. The church has been less successful in more peripheral, and more traditional, regions like The Principality of Brine and The Duchy of Aerik. The clerics of St. Ygg are dismissive of the Ancient Ones and position them as backward and primitive. The folk of The Principality of Brine still consider it a good omen to wander across the face of the Green Man carved into a great tree or rockface in the wilderness.
Deities in The Principality of Brine
Arcantryl (Magus)
Goddess of Magic
Lawful Neutral
Symbol: A star within a star
Arcantryl derives her power from knowledge of the universe and existence. She believes in
understanding the structure of the cosmos and harnessing (and bending) that knowledge
to express magical energy. Instead of branching out immediately to the smaller
villages of the Northern Reaches, the clerics of Arcantryl focused on developing followers at larger
centers in select districts of the Reaches. These include the city of Threshold, Eastdale in The Prelacy
of Middenmark, Thatchum in The Principality of Brine, and Ironguard Motte in The Duchy of Aerik.
One might see a humble, or impromptu, shrine for prayer located in other villages.
Baracus (Irratus)
Demi-God of Wrestling and Athletics
Chaotic Good
Symbol: Two tattooed arms wrestling
Baracus appears as a large, very muscular athletic warrior with a jolly smile.
He is the demi-god of warrior-athletes, especially wrestlers. Warriors of all types and those who wish to
hone their bodies through personal discipline and exercise worship Baracus.
He is a gregarious and boisterous figure who lives large, drinks hard, and laughs harder. Baracus is
primarily worshipped in the northernmost expanses of the Northern Reaches where feats of strength are
common and wrestling is the sport of choice. He is closely associated with Crom.
Bormanus (Salus)
Demi-God of Salt and Minerals
Neutral
Symbol: The symbol of earth inside the symbol of salt
Bormanus appears as a roughhewn golem made of salt with expressionless blue glowing eyes. His worshippers include prospectors, miners, diggers, panhandlers, and those in related mining industries.
Often his followers will carve small effigies from salt and leave them at his shrines and places of worship. The common people in Thatchum and Woodvale hold festivals of salt in his name.
Crom (Cromm Cruach)
God of Strength and Battle
Chaotic Good
Symbol: A silver crown over a mountain
Crom, or Cromm Cruach, is worshipped largely by warriors, mercenaries, and frontiersmen.
Crom is considered grim and gloomy. He prizes feats of strength, valour, and daring in battle. He rarely answers prayers. Instead, he prefers to watch resilient and resourceful warriors blaze their own path to glory. His followers use his name as a blessing, a curse, or in astonishment. Crom’s symbol is a crown atop a great mountain. The crown represents his position as the greatest of warriors. His followers, upon death, must climb Crom’s great mountain and stand in judgment before him. If they have been cowardly, or fled in the face of battle, Crom will laugh at them and cast them out. However, if a warrior has been stout of heart and died bravely he will be welcomed into the afterlife. Crom is often depicted as a barbarian with black hair and piercing blue eyes.
Denara (Pecuna)
Demi-Goddess of Wealth, Bureaucracy, Trade
Lawful Neutral
Symbol: Unbalanced scales of trade
Denara’s sphere includes the areas of trade, wealth, and administration. Her followers include entrepreneurs, traders, merchants, bureaucrats, and the wealthy. Denara is not as fickle as Fortuna. She believes in judicious treatment of wealth, the hierarchical distribution of capital, and lawful organization of trade and trade agreements.
Dogma (Illuminatus)
God of Knowledge, Scholars, Learning
Lawful Neutral
Symbol: A sunrise within a book
Dogma appears as an old, thin, grey-bearded man in a monk’s habit carrying a great book under his arm. The Learned One is the patron of those who seek knowledge and those who create new knowledge, such as scholars, inventors, alchemists, and mages. Dogma embodies the notion of enlightenment through higher education.
Syldina (Timereach)
Demi-God (Heroine) of the Northern Wilderness
Neutral Good
Symbol: Spear with severed head of a man
Syldina appears as a tall, redheaded shield-maiden armed with a spear and a stoic gaze. Like Herne the Hunter, Syldina was a worshipper and the chosen of Silvanus in life. Upon sacrificing herself
in a great battle against overwhelming odds, she was called upon to serve the Green Man in the afterlife. She champions the Northern Wilderness and its peoples. Archers, and those who hunt and range across the far forests of the Northern Reaches, also worship Syldina. Her symbol is a spear
with feathers or the severed head of a man attached at the base.
Valdghar (Sangdro-Libidus)
Demi-God of the Valdghardt, Nomadic barbarians, Bloodlust
Chaotic Neutral
Symbol: A woolly mammoth
Sages are unclear as to whether Valdghar is a distinct demi-god, or an aspect of Crom acclimatized to
northern warrior tribes and barbarians. Valdghar appears as a brawny barbarian with black hair and cold blue eyes. He wields a broadbladed battle-axe and rides a woolly mammoth into combat. He values strength, courage, and feats of arms. Sages believe he instills his bravest and most loyal warriors with an inspiring bloodlust. The barbarian tribes of the Northern Reaches worship him, and his totems, exclusively.
The Valdghardt barbarians consist of a number of small distinct tribes, such as Cougar Claw, Black
Wolf, Green Griffon, Three-Eyed Raven, Horned Stag, Great Moose, Blood Moon, and others. They
have their own dialect, totems, worldviews, and spiritual beliefs. The tribes are fiercely independent
and will occasionally ally themselves with neighbouring clans for security or war.
Vol (Draco Frigidus)
God of Evil Dragons, Dracoliches, Dragon Cults, and Dragonmen
Lawful Evil
Symbol: A rampant dragon
Vol is the god of evil dragons and their followers. He appears either as a draconian looking humanoid or as a great white dragon. Followers of Vol, called the Volsectum Draconis, are humans who support the machinations of evil dragons and their transition into undeath as dracoliches. Vol blesses his closest and most devout followers with transmutation into dragonmen, although very little is known about this process. Vol is dedicated to the destruction of human civilization in the Northern Reaches and, specifically, the Free City of Threshold.