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Help me flesh out this village's history?
- Thread starter Buttercup
- Start date
It could all be a sham.
"Oh yes, our village, it's so poor, and terrible. Look at these ratty clothes! We have to go into the woods to find roots and berries because we can't afford food."
And it turns out that further back in the woods, they've got a massive diamond/gold/precious item mine, and they all live like the wealthy nobility, but they keep the village looking like a hovel so that bandits and more importantly, tax collectors, think that they're not worth shaking down.
"Oh yes, our village, it's so poor, and terrible. Look at these ratty clothes! We have to go into the woods to find roots and berries because we can't afford food."
And it turns out that further back in the woods, they've got a massive diamond/gold/precious item mine, and they all live like the wealthy nobility, but they keep the village looking like a hovel so that bandits and more importantly, tax collectors, think that they're not worth shaking down.
howandwhy99
Adventurer
A brand new town, Glass Hill rises out of the expansive forest without another hill in sight. Originally named Grass Hiill, as no tree is actually rooted on it, it has been renamed Glass Hill now human settlers have found it.
The settlers have come because of the very fine sand which makes up most of the hill. This sand makes exceptionally high quality glass. With its discovery only a few years ago, glassblowers have flocked to the site creating a village in the middle of the forest. Since then a steady stream of money has flowed into Glass Hill as glass products are exported.
Most homes sit on the wide hill to stay out of the potentially dangerous surrounding forest. There are rumors of dangerous animals within. Apparently, every month or so, a villager disappears. There are many theories on why this happens, but no one knows for sure and clues have been minimal. Sometimes sounds of an attack are heard. Sometimes bones and clothing are found. But never has an attack been witnessed. Rumors of wolves or possibly worse are rampant. Some folk even believe faeries are taking the missing people and have taken to leaving out offerings. To further confuse matters, some of the victims' remains have been discovered inside locked and barred homes.
A new clue may be found after the PC's are called upon to investigate. This latest victim's bones are found sticking out of the floor of their house. The dirt floor appears solid to any onlooker, if a bit torn up. As before, no other clues are readily available other than the doors and windows originally being locked. If and when a hole is dug, after a few feet down an entrance is found to a sandy tunnel below.
What's really going on?: Underneath Glass Hill is a family of Bulette-like creatures which excrete the fine sand the glassblowers use. While the monsters hibernate most of the time, they do wake up hungry and head towards the closest vibrations along the surface above. Smart enough to usually attack at night, they choose single villagers which are more easily overcome. Lunging up out of the grassy hillside, they normally swallow their prey in one bite and dig back down below packing the sand behind them so they are not followed or attacked.
You may want to wait off on the last clue as it could be discerned right away. Another good clue is having no attacks in homes with wooden flooring. Considering the nature of the beast, I doubt any open air entrance would be available. But if PCs really aren't catching on a failed escape tunnel might have collapsed in during an attack in the nearby forest. Have fun making the a lair map. Anything Indigestible is likely treasure within.
The settlers have come because of the very fine sand which makes up most of the hill. This sand makes exceptionally high quality glass. With its discovery only a few years ago, glassblowers have flocked to the site creating a village in the middle of the forest. Since then a steady stream of money has flowed into Glass Hill as glass products are exported.
Most homes sit on the wide hill to stay out of the potentially dangerous surrounding forest. There are rumors of dangerous animals within. Apparently, every month or so, a villager disappears. There are many theories on why this happens, but no one knows for sure and clues have been minimal. Sometimes sounds of an attack are heard. Sometimes bones and clothing are found. But never has an attack been witnessed. Rumors of wolves or possibly worse are rampant. Some folk even believe faeries are taking the missing people and have taken to leaving out offerings. To further confuse matters, some of the victims' remains have been discovered inside locked and barred homes.
A new clue may be found after the PC's are called upon to investigate. This latest victim's bones are found sticking out of the floor of their house. The dirt floor appears solid to any onlooker, if a bit torn up. As before, no other clues are readily available other than the doors and windows originally being locked. If and when a hole is dug, after a few feet down an entrance is found to a sandy tunnel below.
What's really going on?: Underneath Glass Hill is a family of Bulette-like creatures which excrete the fine sand the glassblowers use. While the monsters hibernate most of the time, they do wake up hungry and head towards the closest vibrations along the surface above. Smart enough to usually attack at night, they choose single villagers which are more easily overcome. Lunging up out of the grassy hillside, they normally swallow their prey in one bite and dig back down below packing the sand behind them so they are not followed or attacked.
You may want to wait off on the last clue as it could be discerned right away. Another good clue is having no attacks in homes with wooden flooring. Considering the nature of the beast, I doubt any open air entrance would be available. But if PCs really aren't catching on a failed escape tunnel might have collapsed in during an attack in the nearby forest. Have fun making the a lair map. Anything Indigestible is likely treasure within.
LostSoul
Adventurer
How about a simple answer.
The Glass Hill has lots of glassblowers. But, for some economic reason that most of the townspeople don't understand, nobody wants to buy their glass anymore. Maybe someone else has their secret and is making glass closer to the city, thus cutting down on costs and selling at a lower price.
This simple circumstance leads to bitter rivalries between townspeople, the inflamation of old hatreds, etc.
And if you want to get all D&Dy, a half-dragon fiendish werebear doppleganger discovered the glassmaker's secrets and took them to the city.
The Glass Hill has lots of glassblowers. But, for some economic reason that most of the townspeople don't understand, nobody wants to buy their glass anymore. Maybe someone else has their secret and is making glass closer to the city, thus cutting down on costs and selling at a lower price.
This simple circumstance leads to bitter rivalries between townspeople, the inflamation of old hatreds, etc.
And if you want to get all D&Dy, a half-dragon fiendish werebear doppleganger discovered the glassmaker's secrets and took them to the city.
Jack of Shadows
First Post
Ok...
Glass Hill sits upon a large deposit of iron ore or because this is D&D, a large forgotten tomb forged out of iron. The tomb was covered ages ago by silt and sand that washed down from the mountains and built up atop the mound due the winds in the area. The tomb tends to act like a lightning rod for the storms the area sees regularly. As such the town now situated above attracts an unusual number of lightning strikes which turn the sandy surface into patches of glass. The town digs up the glass lightning strikes and exports the exotic looking pieces as sculptures to the far off city. Unfortunately a few citizens get caught at ground zero every now and then. It makes for a very electrifying local.
If you've seen the movie Sweet Home Alabama (I think that's the title) you'll know where this concept comes from. Well not the big iron tomb.
Jack
Glass Hill sits upon a large deposit of iron ore or because this is D&D, a large forgotten tomb forged out of iron. The tomb was covered ages ago by silt and sand that washed down from the mountains and built up atop the mound due the winds in the area. The tomb tends to act like a lightning rod for the storms the area sees regularly. As such the town now situated above attracts an unusual number of lightning strikes which turn the sandy surface into patches of glass. The town digs up the glass lightning strikes and exports the exotic looking pieces as sculptures to the far off city. Unfortunately a few citizens get caught at ground zero every now and then. It makes for a very electrifying local.
If you've seen the movie Sweet Home Alabama (I think that's the title) you'll know where this concept comes from. Well not the big iron tomb.
Jack
der_kluge
Adventurer
I like Thanee's. Perhaps Glass Hill isn't unfortunate at all, but some sort of feud between these two places has lasted for centuries (no one has any ideas why it started, but it has persisted), and now each place refers to other as "downtrodden" or "unfortunate" or "simplistic" or something equally demeaning.
Otherwise, the place is perfectly peaceful. Perhaps it was named after someone named "Glass" or perhaps there was a glassblower there who was famous and the town was named after him or something.
But if the PCs bring up why the town is unfortunate, it ends up pissing off the people of Glass Hill.
Otherwise, the place is perfectly peaceful. Perhaps it was named after someone named "Glass" or perhaps there was a glassblower there who was famous and the town was named after him or something.
But if the PCs bring up why the town is unfortunate, it ends up pissing off the people of Glass Hill.
Torm said:
Nod, that's what I was thinking when I heard unfortunate village of Glass Hill.
I'd make it a bit less obvious, for the players.
Glass Hill is known for the glass chunks found in the soil. It is rumored that treasures of the gods were dug up in the fields long ago, but none has been found for a generation of dwarves. The people of Glass Hill often suffer a strange sickness, a wasting disease that causes them to lose weight and vitality until they die, as hollow, boney, starving men. Miscarriages of man and beast are also common there. Yet still, they linger, for old habits die hard.
Secret: Site of a nuclear attack on a stronghold of the Ancients -- something like Weather Mountain or Cheyenne Mountain. The villagers have a secret cult of the Ancients, and are guarding the bunker below Glass Hill for their return. The villagers, over the generations, have lost most knowledge of the place's history, but the secret cabal of Elders know, and have the security code to the bunker. And if pushed, they may take the treasurers of the Ancients from their hiding place beneath the altar -- the magical weapons known as "phased plasma rifle in 40 megawatt range" and "emsixtin".
If you own the Stargate D20, and Glass Hill is the modern name for Cheyenne Mountain . . . you've got a whole side campaign starting right there.
Non-Evil Cult?
Nod, I had that thought too, but then I skipped off it: what's the point of wealth if you can't enjoy it?
Maybe there's another reason they want people to think they are unfortunate and not stick their noses in -- home of a cult. And how about this -- not an evil cult, for once, but just some group that's been surpressed in the past and doesn't want to be pogrommed?
domino said:
Nod, I had that thought too, but then I skipped off it: what's the point of wealth if you can't enjoy it?
Maybe there's another reason they want people to think they are unfortunate and not stick their noses in -- home of a cult. And how about this -- not an evil cult, for once, but just some group that's been surpressed in the past and doesn't want to be pogrommed?
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