Townmaster's Hall
A large bell tower rises up from the center of town over the village green from an building which looks like an auditorium. It rises three stories up, and from it you can see a single sentry pacing around the belfry. A large message board is posted on the building's doors featuring varying notices, most weathered and almost illegible.
A single notice, written in common and clearly more recent than the others, bearing the town's seal and an indecipherable signature, reads "REWARD!!! Orcs near Wyvern Tor! Those of a mind to face the orc menace should inquire within."
Entering the double doors of the building and passing under the bell tower itself and through a small anteroom flanked by two locked doors, the building opens into a wide stone auditorium under a pitched wooden roof. What looks like they may have at one point been neat rows of benches have been scattered and mostly pushed against the wall, with some seemingly flipped. At the sound of your entrance, a heavyset and nervous looking human man sits bolt upright, seemingly startled and whipping his head towards you. He fiddles with a set of glasses before sighing exasperatedly, tittering quietly to himself as he straightens his vest, gathers a set of papers and quill and begins scrawling something before rising to his feet and moving to approach you. He speaks with a slight stutter, but his words seem genuine. "Welcome, friends! I haven't seen your faces around town before- who might you be and what brings you to the Townmaster's Hall and our fair village?"
Purpose / Function
The townmaster's hall is built to serve as a meeting place, shelter, and jail for the townsfolk, as well as hosting the town's meagre armory. It offers a gathering point for the town on major holidays, and is where the townsfolk go to get important records such as property claims, births, deaths, and is where townsfolk go to adjudicate their disputes. The hall doesn't see much action, as the generally sleepy town of Steppehaven has very little pressing official business, and even the town militia which ostensibly operates out of the Townmaster's Hall armory is little more than a few old men and adolescent boys who gather once a week to train with antique weapons and occasionally make patrols of the town after dark. In recent months the Townmaster's hall has become the de facto home of Harbin Wester, who has taken to squatting in his ceremonial office, and who some disgruntled townsfolk claim has effectively claimed the usually empty Townmaster's hall as his home.
Alterations
In recent months Harbin Wester has effectively turned the Townmaster's office into an additional set of living quarters. While intended to serve only as a ceremonial space for official duties, Harbin has added a bed, has hung laundry from the rafters, and has generally made himself at home.
Architecture
The townmaster's hall has sturdy stone walls, a pitched wooden roof, and a bell tower at its front through which visitors enter the main meeting hall. The bell tower itself is the tallest point in Steppehaven standing at three stories tall, and is made out of stone (much of it scavenged from Steppehaven Manor), and features a single large cast-bronze bell.
An antechamber beneath the bell tower opens into the main meeting hall, and open space, which can comfortably fit about 250 people for town meetings, and also connects to two side rooms opposite one another. The first of these rooms is the town 'armory,' really only a locked supply-closet like room featuring a few rows of dusty spears, shields, and light crossbows, some dented and ill-fitting helmets, and some rigid bows and sheafs of arrows and quarrels. Opposite the armory, another lockable wooden door opens to a hallway connecting to a pair of iron-barred cells which serve as the town's jail.
The main meeting hall is a large square room two stories tall with a smooth wood floor, a vaulted ceiling and exposed support beams supporting the shallowly pitched roof, and narrow windows near where the walls and roof adjoin and rows of benches sit pushed flush against these walls, clearing an empty space in the center of the room over which a few simple iron chandeliers hang. At the back of the room is a small step-stage, along with a back door.
At the very back of the building is a small room on the second story which serves as a ceremonial office for the town master, and houses the various records which the town needs kept.
Defenses
The townmaster's hall was not built with defense as its primary function. It has two points of entry, the main doors, ten feet wide and built of wood, which are generally left open, as well as a smaller backdoor at the rear of the building of normal size, usually barred. The building's outer wall is made of sturdy stone which can delay most attack, and the only windows on the structure are almost under the eaves of the roof itself and are well above any access from the ground. The armory within the building and jail are both reasonably secure behind heavy locked doors, and the jail cells themselves feature a second set of locks on the outside of the cell door. The bell tower is not a particularly effective firing point, though it does provide a good vantage point from which one can see the entire valley.
History
The townmaster's hall was built shortly after the end of the Darkehoff terror, when the town put serious effort into rebuilding and revitalizing itself. It was seen as a symbol of the new Steppehaven, and the tower was a point of particular pride.
Tourism
Although Steppehaven has no functioning government, the townsfolk gather yearly in the hall to elect a townmaster who serves as a judge in minor disputes and keeps the records, such as crop yields, land sales and property claims, demographic information, and tax information, as well as who represents them to whatever noble authorities arrive. Aside from these administrative functions, townsfolk use the hall as a gathering point for major town meetings and holidays and little else.
Founding Date
1512
Type
Ministry / City hall
Parent Location
Owner
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
Comments