Hengistbury Village

[Morrus]

This is an experimental attempt at crowdsourced setting design.

[wiki]NPC Template[/wiki]


[h=3]The Setting[/h]
The setting is a village called Hengistbury (population: 150 approx). It's initial influence is the area of Haranshire in the [wiki]Night Below[/wiki]
campaign. The setting will be sandbox in nature, and consist of a village and its surrounding area. It's not designed to "break new ground" or be "edgy" in any way, and will likely be unashamedly cliched. This is not a bad thing.

The county is fairly rustic and self-sufficient, and gets little interference from the nearest city which is some 300 miles away.

[h=1]Settlement Stat Block[/h]
[template]Pathfinder Settlement
| name=Hengistbury
| type=Village
| alignment=NG
| corruption=+1
| crime=-3
| economy=-1
| law=+2
| lore=+0
| society=-3
| qualities=Insular, Rumormongering Citizens
| danger=-1
| government=Overlord
| population=150
| npcs=[wiki]Lord Pemberton[/wiki]
, [wiki]Lady Sybill Pemberton[/wiki]

| basevalue=500gp
| purchaselimit=2,500gp
| spellcasting=3rd
| minoritems=2d4
| mediumitems=1d4
| majoritems=-
[/template]

[h=1]People[/h]

• [wiki]Alina Faustina[/wiki]
  , cleric of a Sun god (see [wiki]Servants of the Sun God[/wiki]
  )
• [wiki]Brand Folstar[/wiki]
  , a ranger retained by Lord Pemberton, is a large and easygoing bear of a man who is proficient in staff and bow. He spends most of his time patrolling the environs, looking out for dangerous animals and the like. He has full legal authority outside Hengistbury, but is superceded by the constable inside the village itself.
• [wiki]Cordon Gandstars[/wiki]
  , lay priest of a Sun god (see [wiki]Servants of the Sun God[/wiki]
  )
• [wiki]Finius Anvilson[/wiki]
  , acolyte of a Sun God (see [wiki]Servants of the Sun God[/wiki]
  )
• [wiki]Lord Pemberton[/wiki]
  rules the village from a small keep (predictably named [wiki]Hengistbury Keep[/wiki]
  ) on a hill overlooking the settlement. He is also lord of the nearby, smaller village of [wiki]Thornbury[/wiki]
  , a few miles upriver.
• [wiki]Three-Fingered Jake[/wiki]
  is an itinerant bard who wanders through every few weeks performing in exchange for food. Most news of the wider world comes from his visits to town.
• [wiki]Tillian Bricklebottom[/wiki]
  is a male halfling scribe, writer, translator and wine purveyor.
• [wiki]Ugg[/wiki]
  is a small hill giant that was befriended by the village some years ago. Ugg is not his real name, but he is affectionately called as such as he, somewhat clumsily, yet cheerfully assists with manual labor around town.
• The village maintains a single constable, and a small group of five militiamen under his command, including [wiki]Seven-Foot Dan[/wiki]
  and four others.
• Two former adventurers, [wiki]Cadwych[/wiki]
  and [wiki]Marrus the Sage[/wiki]
  , now have a famous and long-standing bitter feud. Nevertheless, their respective businesses are quite co-dependent.

[h=1]Groups or Organizations[/h]

• [wiki]Marakath's Fist[/wiki]
  was an adventuring group formerly composed of [wiki]Alina Faustina[/wiki]
  (alive), [wiki]Cadwych[/wiki]
  (alive), [wiki]Marrus the Sage[/wiki]
  (alive), [wiki]The Nose[/wiki]
  (missing; believed dead) and [wiki]Simple Sam[/wiki]
  (deceased).
• The [wiki]Mortimer brothers[/wiki]
  fancy themselves a "thieve's guild," but in reality the three young orphans Gord, Beej and Poke operate more as paid gossips.
• [wiki]Servants of the Sun God[/wiki]
  : the cleric, [wiki]Alina Faustina[/wiki]
  , the lay priest, [wiki]Cordon Gandstars[/wiki]
  , and the acolyte, [wiki]Finius Anvilson[/wiki]
  

[h=1]Places[/h]

• [wiki]The Angry Pixie[/wiki]
  is not really called The Angry Pixie, but the kids of Hengistbury refer to it as such. This is merely the home of [wiki]Tillian Bricklebottom[/wiki]
  , who happens to have an statue of an angry pixie to the side of his front door. Til is a writer, translator, and purveyor of fine wines whose services are for hire and whose wines are for sale.
• [wiki]The Bleeding Hart Lodge[/wiki]
  is a place where travelers can put down for the evening. Most of its business, however, comes from entertaining country-side farmers who come to town for market.
• [wiki]Cadwych's Curios[/wiki]
  is more than just a high-end pawn shop. It is also a covert meeting place for various organizations, including the constabulary and a fledgling thief guild (which, given the size of the town, consists solely of the three [wiki]Mortimer brothers[/wiki]
  ).

[h=1]Environs[/h]

• Hengistbury is situated on the banks of a winding river.
• Some 200 miles to the East, a red dragon dragon resides in its volcano lair, [wiki]Skull Mountain[/wiki]
  .
• The nearby [wiki]Fogmoor[/wiki]
  , on the other side of the river, is a swamp infested with small lizardman tribes. It is also believed that a werewolf roams the moors.
• The [wiki]Weirwood[/wiki]
  is populated by fey, some capricious and some not. A stone circle, known as [wiki]Weirhenge[/wiki]
  can be found in the center of the forest.
• About 10 miles away are the ruins of [wiki]Brockendale Castle[/wiki]
  which, according the local legend, is haunted. However, the giant spiders lurking amidst the outer ruins are enough to keep the curious away.
• There is, of course, a wizard who lives in a tower located on an island in the river about 5 miles downstream. The wizard is rarely seen, but his servant [wiki]Hunchbacked Roland[/wiki]
  (who is neither hunchbacked or named Roland) is seen in Hengistbury most weeks purchasing supplies.
• The area south of the Weirwood and west of Thornbury is pastoral farmland. Many families grow crops that are carted into Hengistbury on the weekends for market. It is not uncommon for the town's population to double for an afternoon at the height of harvest season.

[h=1]Regional Map[/h]
Below is a rough regional hex-map so far.

 

[Halivar]

Will 5 militiamen be enough? IIRC, almost every able-bodied man in Hommlet was a volunteer member of the militia. Or is that just full-time militia?

 

[Morrus]

Will 5 militiamen be enough? IIRC, almost every able-bodied man in Hommlet was a volunteer member of the militia. Or is that just full-time militia?

I assumed they were the "cops". In times of war, I guess the lord would have to raise an army from the villagers.

 

[Halivar]

I assumed they were the "cops". In times of war, I guess the lord would have to raise an army from the villagers.

That sounds about right. In medieval Germany, many members of the volunteer militia would practice drills in the town square on Sundays after church. This was usually the extent of their participation in the militia outside of war.

 

[Morrus]

You think a 150 pop village can support a thief guild and "various covert organizations"?

 

[FreeXenon]

Perhaps they only meet here and operate else where?

 

[Halivar]

You think a 150 pop village can support a thief guild and "various covert organizations"?

No. I meant to take that (the "covert") out when I saw the population was teeeeeny-tiny. And by "fledgling" I meant to say 4 or 5 young pickpockets with aspirations beyond their means.

EDIT: Hrmm... I should maybe write something up on that.

EDIT EDIT: Wait! You already did. The Mortimer Brothers! I love it. I have to know who they are.

 

[Gilladian]

shops in the village?

using this site: The Domesday Book - Medieval Demographics Made Easy

I generated the shops for a normal 150 person village in a hilly temperate region. This is what I came up with:
1 barber
1 butcher (chicken)
1 cooper (barrel maker)
4 clergy
1 copyist/scribe
1 fishmonger
1 hatmaker
1 jeweler
1 lawyer
1 noble household (we know who they are already)
1 rug-maker
1 saddler
1 shoemaker
1 water carrier (Ugg?)
1 wineseller

 

[FreeXenon]

Tillian 'Til' Bricklebottom (Scribe/Wine Seller)

I have no idea how to add a page to this wiki. My mind is boggled. I kind of took care of the Scribe/Wine Seller position here.

Tillian, an older male halfling (~ 45 yrs), is a talented scribe and writer, and speaks 7 languages (Com, Dra, Dwa, Elv, Giant, Gob, Pri), as well as being a purveyor of fine wines. He has an arrangement with Three-fingered Jake where Jake will look out for any wines that he hears of and sometimes arranges for a sale/purchase for him, and Tillian gives him some of his poetry and stories to regale locals with.

Wine Seller: He has contacts in several of the area's settlements who listen for any sellers of wine. People who know wine may seek him out for the more obscure types of wine. His expertise and sales of wine are his primary source of income. He does not get a lot of business, but when he does it is enough to take care of his needs for a month or 3.

Writer: His primary passion is words. He loves to write poetry and stories and fancies himself a writer. He has even written a play under a pen name "Riddles McDragonne" titled "Three Knights of the Saddle" that was popular in a larger city a few years back. He always chuckles when he thinks about the rather candid and yet raunchy moment in his writing career. He would blush if anyone in his community knew that he had penned that. The popularity of this play is what allowed him to start his interest in wines.

Scribe: He enjoys translating documents between languages. He finds joy in working with obscure and old dialects and may pay a pretty penny for interesting documents in obscure dialects. His services as a scribe and translator are for hire as needed, but he has no desire to travel due to his age and his desire for comfort. If there was a significantly obscure or historical piece to work with, and it was located in a really safe and comfortable place, he might consider traveling.


History

Tilliian found himself settling Thornbury for quite a few years after having lived a rather adventurous life in the big city. He moved to Hengistbury from Thornbury to avoid potential marital issues, as in not wanting to marry a persistent suitor. He packed up all of his things in a single cart and then started his journey to Hengistbury under the cover of night. He has been here for a few years now and has not heard from her yet, and for that he is thankful. She is a nice enough women, but he is not really looking to settle down and have little kids running around breaking his bottles and messing with his velum and ink.

He lives in a comfortabel cottage in town which bears a small statue of an angry pixie to the side of the door, and has his wines stored in wine cellar under lock and key.

 

[Morrus]

FreeXenon, to add a page simply click on "Add Page" in the menu.