Wether

Written by Esau Dm

Wether is a small town located in the Northern Isle on the South-East edge of the Gallic Desert. It cannot expand much more due to the Wether Bog and the local Horse Stud Farm.

Cats wander the unpaved streets between houses. Some cats are pets to the townfolks, and some cats wander wild - however it is hard to tell the difference, as neither are happy to be picked up, yet most like to be hand-feed.

Other animals, such as pigs, chickens, and a few goats, are kept in communal penned yards. The small horses are breed at the nearby stud farm.

The town is dusty and bland in colouring. The tightly packed housing seems similar to slums, like The Rookery in Farr City.

The single well, looks ancient and holds questionable water. The town's well is connected to a moat with small water wheel system in centre, bringing up more water. Past the water wheel the water is quite fresh - only little gritty at times.

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SILVER SHIMMERS

Magical Items - Low Magic Shop
Shopkeeper = Krystal (aka Gillian Gollan) - Human females wears beads, feathers as earrings, heavy coal eyeliner, colourful skirts - looks like flakey person pretending to be magical.

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Krystal is really powerful green hag.

Has a rainbow coloured parrot named "Remi" - who likes to dance.
In one corner of the quaint little store is stocked with trinkets, toys, holy symbols and other religious merchandise, that are all marketed towards children.
+ Smells most strongly of Jasmine incense
+ Potpourri - sold in woven pouches
+ Candles - various scents
+ Dream Catchers - made with Feathered Rabbit and tiny gems
+ Chakra tokens
+ Tarot readings
+ Beaded curtain into back room

CORKED

Potions
Owner = Jernos - Centaur male - well tempered yet grim
A dimly-lit store full of potions - that make a colourful array with smudged, unreadable labels. Those locked on the top shelves, look cloudy and clearly labeled with names - Jernos insists they hold the spirits of dead miners.

THE HORSESHOE SMITHY

Blacksmith
Owner: Musgan Rullik = Half-Elf male - very tall at 7'2".
Star-shaped forge.
+ Makes weapons of medium quality
+ sells exotic weapons - from Fogi Island, Malnax and Pelago Islands
+ Repairs carts and other vehicles - real talented
+ Cart wheel leaning against back wall

SWEET SENSE

Nursery
Owner = Gravel - Earth Genasi
+ will not let anyone inside the two glasshouses

ADORE THE FORGE

Blacksmith
Red Dragonborns = Wicint Tixiros and Quxist Biroth
Circular forge inside a building with high ceilings. There is no visible way to light the forge - the dragonborns do so themselves.
+ High quality weapons
+ make mining tools
+ messy work benches

YIPEE KI YAY KABOOMS

Fireworks
A fireworks store that has been almost completely blackened by numerous incidents. Run by a small Gnome inventor who is also an amateur undertaker (out of the back) - offers to use some of his bigger rockets to give miners a glorious send off.
Owner: Gnome male - green sparkling eyes - winkled skin - spikey grey hair - chews on a toothpick (as dares not smoke inside) - kind words - cries at every funeral

GLAD RAGS

Tailor
Owner: Sollia - Aasamir female - Sollia sings while she works - excellent pitch and tone
+ Mending to high standard
+ store smells of rosewater
+ customers can sit in waiting room where the sound of waves rolling onto a beach calm most people's nerves

THE PANTRY DOOR

General Goods - Foods
Owner = Inkaria - orange Tiefling - solo mother - friendly yet cautious
Her 11 year old son Dante - stocking shelves - deaf
+ Store is kept quite tidy and well dusted
+ Old food is given to the poor

FUR & FEATHERS

Animals and Eggs Sellers
Owner: Qaro - Firbolg
Specialists in small and under-sized creatures as animal companions and pets - like cats, birds, dogs, axolotl, mice, rats, spiders, etc - however, with enough money a person could adopt a more exotic creature.

TEA TOP

Teahouse
It is located in a lovely mud-clad cottage with a roof garden.
Ziarette - Gnome female - brown long hair plaited into a basket on top her head - light brown eyes - wears silver hoops in her ears

THE CRACKED FLAGON

Inn - Drinking tavern
The street out the back is filled with noxious smoke from a burning trash heap. Smoke wafts lazily around the sides of the building. The inn is a single storey half-timbered building, with a large cellar.
Accommodations consist of a single large room with wooden cots, thick blankets and straw mats without any fire.
Innkeeper = a short male half-dwarf named Tragimr - blonde beard and hair - dark brown eyes.

Show spoiler

He is the brother of a murderous rogue (Gragid) - and keeps a hidden arsenal of exotic weapons and poisons of his behalf.

SPECIALS
Chestnut Bread and Bitter Cheese, Mug of Ale (5 cp)
Vegetable Stew, Mug of Cider (2 cp)
Smoked Mutton and Carrot, Tankard of Stout (12 cp)
Pottage, Mug of Beer (5 cp)
Vegetable Stew, Mug of Ale (3 cp)
Boiled Eggs and Artichoke, Tankard of Perry (11 cp)
Roasted Shallots, Mug of Perry (5 cp)

Market Square

Market Stalls
The sounds of people chatting, children's laughter, and animal noises. The smells of candles, soaps, foods, straw, pony manure, and some rubbish. Sights of colourful stalls, children on pony back, straw on the ground where ponies ride, and people moving as if in natural flow.
PLUS:
*Pony rides - on Gretta and Bertha
* ball toss at targets (2 cp a throw, or 5 cp for 3 throws)
* sweets stand: candy floss (pink, green, yellow, purple and blue = 2cp) - rainbow lollipop sticks (1cp)
* jester juggling (Austin Culpeper - human)

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THE FALBETTE STUD

Horse Stud - Animals and Eggs Sellers
Run by a Human-Tabaxi known only as Mushi = Mushi Mushroom is gentle to the horses and even sings to them.
Mushi is tolerant of people as long as they are being kind to the horses. He has a water spring and creek (that goes underground after 30 metres) in the middle of his property, which few people know about.

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History

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1109AG: The first building in the area was an Tavern called The Wether Stop - run by a Human family.

1139AG: The tavern was destroyed in a lightning strike - no members of the family survived.

1143AG: The tavern's foundations were removed and replaced by the Horse Stud Farm.
The Village grew up around the farm.

1262AG: The population grew to re-classify Wether as a Town.

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Geography

One of the natural sights of the Northern Isle is directly 15 minutes horse ride away from the South-East gate of Wether. It is a damp bog, known only as the Wether Bog.
It use to be 35 minutes away but has spread over the years.

The edges are fresher water, where the bog as overflowed.

It can be hard in places to tell the correct path. The ground may look solid - yet any foot pressed down into the soft ground, and the deep print left behind swiftly fills with slimy water - that is when the smell is released. The muck settles either side of the wooden path.

Occassionally hard ground is underfoot.

Bog ecosystems are diverse, delicate, and sometimes dangerous. Creatures of varying sizes and temperaments cover every inch of the landscape. At the top of the food chain are the fantastical monstrosities, lycanthropes, and other esoteric beings that stalk the bog - few of which are accommodating of outsiders stomping through their land.

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+ Many tiny buzzing insects hover above the water. They linger especially close to the Bog Beast.
+ in the fresher water at the edges of the bog live Crocoducks - has a somewhat undersized crocodile heads grafted onto a somewhat oversized body of mallard ducks.
+ hiding in amongst the clumps of tall grasses are Giant Slug
+ In the murky water live Swarm of Leeches
+ Living surrounded by large fungi are Noxious Toads.
+ ]Giant Alligators lurk in the shadows of the bog

Sludge Mephits

The rising sludge begins to separate into the shape of a thin, winged creature with a pointed face and long arms. Its features roil and move as gases bubble and burst from its surface. The creature’s oily, black body extend into wings, that stretch out as it heaves itself free of the grime.
It holds a small rift that opens randomly in the bog - to The Plane of Water. Three Great Water Elementals guard the area.

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TRAVEL:
* to Hyon = 9.5 hours
* to Bard Springs = approx 4.5 hours away - towards Hyon.
* to Castow = 6.5 hours

Founding Date

1143AG

Type

Town

Population

685 approx

Inhabitant Demonym

72% Tabaxi, 21% Dragonborn - rest mix of Human, Half-Dwarves and Half-Orcs.

Location under

Northern Isle