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Message: <blockquote data-quote="eleran" data-source="post: 3841033" data-attributes="member: 26319">Winterheath*my goal here was to not include anything the PCs would not know as residents of the town*Winterheath is a small town with a population of roughly 1200 residents.  It lies alongside the River Sarbrun and at a T crossroads.  This placement makes Winterheath an important center of trade in the region.  To the west, 5 days ride along Trader's Road and 9 days upstream by river is the town of Herenmar, which lies on the shore of the Northwind Sea, an inland lake.  To the east, 3 days ride is the outpost known as Feldon's Keep.  This rugged town lies along the river just after a waterfall which makes boat travel impossible past this point.  To the South, a week's ride along the King's Road, lies the city of Innisfree, the seat of government, such as it is for this region.  The river at this point is a quarter of a mile or so wide.  Its current is too swift to make swimming any farther out than a few feet practical.  Across the river lies the untamed area known as the Wildlands.  People speak of this area in hushed whispers as if saying it aloud would bring the denizens of this barbaric place swooping into town en masse.  Some nights during the summer months, great screams and howls can be heard from across the river.  At other times sounds even more frightening can be heard.  It is a place parents tell their children scary stories about to dissuade them from ever wanting to travel there.  Winterheath is overseen by Baron Restenford and his family, which consists of 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls.  The Baron is a widower, his wife having died during the birth of their last child.  The Baron and his family live in a modest keep located along the river's shore.  It is designed to be a place of safety for all in the town during times of trouble.  It was built by the Baron's grandfather, the first Restenford to carry the title.  Winterheath is primarily thought of as a human town, although examples of all races can be found here.  A Hafling village known as Squatter's Gulch is connected to the town at its southwest corner.  Although the halflings try to remain autonomous, they owe their safety to the protection of the Baron's men in times of real trouble.  Eladrin are a fairly recent addition to the residents of Winterheath.  Little is currently known about them or where they come from, so far they have showed no hostility and have proven themselves to be stalwart and trustworthy citizens.  Some townsfolk still give them wide berth because so little is known about them, but the days of outright rudeness and prejudice against them have subsided.  Dwarves seem to have always been living in the town.  Gone are the people still able to remember when Dwarves first arrived here, but it is surmised that there is a community of them somewhere in the not too distant area.  Most of the Dwarven residents know the truth of the matter but few of them are willing to talk about it.  Tieflings form an entire subculture within this community.  Everyone knows they exist, but none will admit to knowing any.  They don't tend to go out in public, at least as far as the public knows.  When an obvious tiefling is sighted it often leads to fights, verbal or physical.  The townsfolk, in general, do not trust them, and do not want them around.  The strange thing about this behavior is that no one can give you a reason why they are held in such low regard.  The climate of Winterheath is temperate, with warm, but not usually hot, summers and very cold winters with a lot of snow.  There are weeks at a time where the town literally shuts down because of the overabundance of snow and the vicious stinging cold.  Sometimes during the coldest parts of the winter the river freezes over hard enough to allow raiders from the Wildlands to travel across on foot and threaten the good folks of Winterheath and the nearby roads.  Although, at the time of this writing, this has not happened in almost a decade.  An area of note near Winterheath is the Silkwood, so named because several years ago it became inhabited by a group of spiders who have slowly increased their domain in the woods making them inhospitable to anyone that doesn't want to become a tasty meal.  Any travelling near the Silkwood are amazed at the sight of an entire forest seemingly swathed entirely in spider webs, in some spots the underlying trees are totally imperceptible.  Tales have spread thru town of a ruined tower to the southeast of town a couple of days ride.  But no road goes there so it is considered much too hazardous of a trip to attempt.  Tales mention that the tower is a vestige of a long ago dead civilization.  But no one seems to know anything about it's former inhabitants.</blockquote>

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