Deorsum
The village of Deorsum, hidden in a secluded moor that can only be accessed by those of "impure" blood (that is to say, nonstandard races). The village is home to a series of monstrous beings, just trying to live their lives, including: Werewolves, Vampires, and an invisible man (allegedly, no one has seen him).
The village does have an inn, The Hidden Flask Inn. it does a fair trade with the locals, but doesn't see a lot of visitors (few people travel to the town who don't intend to stay there permanently). It is also one of the stops of The Empty Mongoose Tavern, appearing every full moon in the town. When it is not the full moon, the Tavern reverts to a dilapidated shack.
Notable residents
Cerlur - A wealthy demon, he was formerly a servant of Gorzhor, the demon lord devoted to sloth. He guarded a portal to Gorzhor's realm in the basement of The Empty Moongoose Tavern, bound there until someone willingly released him. He grew very bored of this role over the centuries, and while he acquired much wealth, he couldn't really spend it anywhere, being bound to this one portal room. He abandoned Gorzhor's following at the first opportunity, and was released by The Lakewood Crew. He now spends most of his time in The Hidden Flask Inn, drinking and eating to excess and sleeping with loose woman who lack moral fiber.
Cristoff - A charming vampire, he often serves as the welcome party to new inhabitants of the village. He is very knowledgeable and kind to most folk. He is one of the leaders on the village council.
Eletha - A drow priestess, she was killed by a shambling mound after fleeing the Woods of Old Yudath with her lover Ornadacil. He would eventually bring her back to life, and in turn, she would restore his sanity and magical prowess.
Ornadacil - (also known as "Complicated" to the Lakewood Crew) Formerly an elf who fled persecution of from his kin in the Woods of Old Yudath. A sorcerer by trade, he fell in love with a drow priestess, Eletha, and this was enough to earn him a death sentence among his people. The pair fled to Western Dreconia, where they uncovered the blue shard of Dragonsbane in the outskirts of a deserted town formerly known as Deorsum. Recognizing it for what it was immediately, they planned to go south and sell it in the Kingdom of Samblar, which welcomed elves of all kinds. Unfortunately, the pair was killed by a particularly deadly Shambling Mound. It attempted to consume Ornadacil first, but the power of the shard kept his soul tethered to the creature, and he used the innate magic of the object to take full control of the mound. Unable to free himself from the body, and unable to heal his lady love, he bound her soul to a candle, in the hopes of one day growing in power enough to bring her back from the dead. Unfortunately, the candle was stolen from him and hidden away in The Empty Mongoose Tavern. Ornadacil kept her body preserved, hoping that one day he'd be reunited with the candle and be able to restore Eletha.
Ornadacil honed his powers and learned to use the power of the shard to do magic outside of his normal sorcery. By the year 1288 AYD, he was able to communicate with people by psychically speaking in their minds, and he was the great protector of Deorsum. He led the town, but left it's day to day operations to an elected council, as people still found him a bit off-putting. He also erected a magical barrier that kept people they did not want out of the town.
With the assistance of The Lakewood Crew (who traded the candle for the shard), he was able to bring back Eletha. Unfortunately, the loss of the shard robbed him of his intelligence. Thankfully, Eletha was able to use a number of permanent spells to restore his sanity, though he remains in the body of the shambling mound, he is as intelligent as he was in life, and with his old magical powers intact.
Thatcher - A gillman, he is beloved by all in the town for his generosity and good nature. He operates a fishing boat that he uses on the Well of the Water Wyrm, and brings back lots of fish to the town, which he gives to the people with no thought of reward. He considers it his duty to protect the waters around Deorsum, and spreads false rumors to the other fisherman on the Well that Deorsum is an island in the middle of the lake. He also has been known to rent out his boat to people seeking the village as a means to judge their character, people who have wicked intent often find themselves abandoned in the middle of the lake to drown. He has some arcane talent and is known to summon a great seal looking creature with tusks that he calls Kylanie.
He tried to drown the Lakewood crew by sinking his own boat with them in it after Matthias Stephen Alexander repeatedly acted poorly to him.
He is one of the leaders of the village council.
Zelsea - A medusa, she was imprisoned as a pet in The Stone Circle by Kade the Black until 1288 AYD when she was freed by the Lakewood crew. A powerful bardess, she helped them pilot Thatcher's fishing boat after they were abandoned in the lake. She decided to settle down in the village, figuring that she'd be more welcome there then most places, and often jokes about going into sculpting.
The Empty Mongoose Tavern
The Empty Mongoose Tavern was formerly an interplanar bar. It formerly had doors in numerous different planes and planets, but was mostly destroyed by the war between demons and devils. In more successful times, it could be found in different parts of Algaress on different days, but now it mostly appears in different demon realms, although when the moon is at it's fullest in the sky, it does appear in Deorsum, where a group of werewolves use it as a shelter to transform. When the tavern is not visiting a plane, it appears as an empty run down shack on its other stops.
The basement itself seems to be built like a large clock, the center room leads to several spinning rooms that then lead to twelve shrines hidden below the tavern.
Shrines
Shrine to Asmodeus: There is a single door labeled "To Hell", this leads to a shrine to Asmodeus.
Shrine to the god Azha: This shrine was wrecked and smeared with demon graffiti. While the priest Matthias was able to remove the graffiti, it will need more serious repairs and blessings before it can be a proper shrine.
Shrine to demon Basdedreal: This shrine seemed well taken care of, and had a ceremonial basin meant for sacrificing newborn children.
Shrine to the goddess Io: While it had seen better days, it was still in good condition and when Finola Brashtop put an offering in the plate, she spoke directly to the goddess there.
There were seven more shrines devoted to the following Demon Lords: Bofch, Gorzhor, Hizun, Qioch, Tiashur, Turzuoch, Veabahl
There was a final shrine that seemed to have been turned into a storage room full of gold. This gold was removed by The Lakewood Crew.
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