Thornkeep - Places

1. Town Green

The center of Thornkeep is the town green, an open patch of ground at the foot of the road leading up Brokenhelm Hill to the baron’s castle. Several of the oldest and most reputable businesses of the village can be found here, and those Thornkeep residents merry and well-connected enough occasionally organize festivals or celebrations on the often muddy field. From time to time, citizens who want to make a particularly pointed statement leave their enemies here at night, bound, beaten, unconscious, or dead, and in plain sight of the whole village. By morning, if these victims are lucky enough (and still alive, for that matter), some kindhearted local might agree to free them from their restraints, though more often they are left to their own devices, since few would seek to get caught up in any gang politics.

2. Greenforest Inn

One of the oldest buildings in town, the Greenforest is a respectable inn and taphouse with fieldstone walls and finely carved woodwork adorning its posts and eaves. The proprietor is Shandar Tulman (Human Male), a balding, middle-aged man with a mustache like a bristle brush. Shandar’s wife Jalia (Human Female), a lean and sharp-tongued woman, is widely regarded as the best cook in town. Their young niece Drusta is the Greenforest’s stable hand; she can be hired to run errands or carry messages in town for a handful of coppers. Servers Vess (Human Male) and Edders (Human Male) work the inn’s crowded taproom each night.

3. Thornkeep Bindery
4. Tardin's Trading Post

Fur trapping is an important industry in the Echo Wood, and many trappers sell their pelts at Tardin’s Trading Post. Tardin (Half-Orc Male) is a loudmouthed bully and braggart whose orc heritage accounts for his short temper. He surrounds himself with a small band of thugs who found trapping and woodcutting to be too much work. It’s an open secret in Thornkeep that Tardin is behind the Ironjaws, a new “guild” (more properly a gang) with aspirations of extorting a hefty cut from anyone who isn’t strong enough

5. Hap Thistledown

6. Blue Basilisk Hall

This new fieldstone building is the headquarters and barracks of the Blue Basilisks, a small company of mercenaries under the command of Ariane Redderfin, aided by her favored lieutenant Mirashi Verlon (Human Female). A prominent handbill board by the door features a collection of job offers, bounties, and notices—Ariane is more than happy to collect a few gold pieces by helping potential employers find the muscle they need, even if the Blue Basilisks aren’t interested themselves.

7. Torra Stoneframer's

8. Greenfoot Provisions

The leading grocer and provisioner of Thornkeep is Nessa Greenfoot (Halfling Female). Mistress Nessa is a hardworking, no-nonsense sort and a sharp bargainer. She buys the produce, milk, cheese, eggs, and meat of local farms and pastures while importing flour and other staples from nearby towns.

9. Echo Woods Arms

10. Igmar Dusthelm's

11. Haric's Saddlery

12. Serianna’s Livery Stables

A recent immigrant from Razmiran, Serianna Naal (Human Female) founded her business with the profits of a successful dungeon expedition. She is a natural equestrian who likes horses more than most people, a stickler for details, and known as a hard bargainer.

13. Graveyard

Thornkeep has had many problems with restless dead over the years, since it’s unfortunately rather common for people to die violently and then be buried without the proper rites. Ghouls and wights arise in the graveyard from time to time, posinga deadly threat to nighttime travelers along the Dagger Road and to townsfolk whose homes are nearby. Brother Eldrast of the Shrine of Battle is looking for volunteers willing to seal the old vaults and perform proper funerary rituals, hoping to put an end to the undead problem.

14. Fraston Orchard

Row after row of well-tended apple trees stand at the foot of Graveyard Hill. This is the farm of Niles Fraston (Human Male), a reclusive fellow who lives here with his wife Berienn (Human Female) and their two children. They have been in Thornkeep for many generations, and make a point of keeping out of other people’s business.

15. Shrine of Battle

Long abandoned, this small shrine was repaired and renovated by Brother Eldrast (Male Dwarf), a dwarven priest of Gorum. The cleric lives in a small set of rooms behind the shrine with his servant, a stooped old man named Murfin (Male Human) , and a young acolyte named Taronnel (Human Female).

16. The Thirsty Ogre

This disreputable tavern is much rougher than the Greenforest Inn, and so outlaws, goblins, barbarians, and the less savory sort of mercenaries make up most of the Thirsty Ogre’s clientele. The evenings are filled with bawdy songs, boastful challenges, and drunken brawling, and it’s not unusual for blades or spells to settle matters that get out of hand. Anyone who sets foot in the Thirsty Ogre is assumed to know what they’re getting into, and those who aren’t looking for a fight would do well to stay away from the notorious establishment. The proprietor of the Thirsty Ogre is a retired adventurer named Toomdar (Half-Orc Female), who was a harddrinking brawler of legendary proportions back in her day. Toomdar has a bad knee and a missing right eye, but she can still knock most opponents flat with a single punch. The barkeep is a fat, grumpy bear of a man named Red (male human), and the servers are Greldos (Human Male) and Mariele (Half-Elf Female)

17. The Briarwarren

The wide dell to the southwest of Brokenhelm Hill is filled with a particularly large and tough variety of briar known as “goblinbramble” that grows in the danker parts of the Echo Wood. The area, known as the Briarwarren, is home to a small tribe of goblins known as the Brambleclaws, who have lurked at the edges of the human settlement of Thornkeep for generations. Small, twisting, tunnel-like paths wind through this tangled mess of thorns, concealing entrances to underground dens and goblin nests. By scavenging other folks’ refuse and taking on jobs that others don’t want, the goblins of the Briarwarren are reasonably useful to Thornkeep. For the goblins’ part, regular trade with the humans of Thornkeep has made the Brambleclaws rich and comfortable—for goblins, anyway—and most of the tribe want to keep things the way they are. However, every now and then a drunk doesn’t come home, some livestock vanish, or a warehouse not properly locked up gets looted during the night—goblins will be goblins, after all.

18. Goblin Bazaar

A small clearing just inside the edge of the Briarwarren serves as the goblins’ marketplace. Here the Brambleclaws peddle whatever small valuables they find (usually by looting corpses left in the streets, or committing petty thefts around town). If a traveler has lost something in town, it’s a good bet that sooner or later it will turn up here.

19. Filero Dundaban

20. Arno's Sawmill

Established by an enterprising human lumberer a hundred years ago, Arno’s sawmill remains the center of Thornkeep’s lumber trade. The sawmill buys raw timber from Thornkeep’s woodcutters and loggers, and sells sawed planks in Daggermark, Fort Inevitable, and Fort Riverwatch. The sawmill is still owned by the Arno family, and is currently under the management of Warrick Arno (Human Male).

21. House of the River Lord

This small wooden shrine, dedicated to the god Hanspur, stands by the banks of the Echo Stream. The attendant of the shrine is an aged priestess named Keeper Idara (Human Female), who has been here more than 30 years. Hanspur’s tenets appeal to the common folk of Thornkeep more than Gorum’s do, so Keeper Idara is well liked and respected among many of the ordinary people of the town. However, few of them have much coin to spare to maintain the old shrine, which is falling into disrepair.

22. Callanro House

This roomy cabin was built about 15+ years ago (4705) by an “adventurer” named Jasra Callanro. Shandar Tulman of the Greenforest Inn currently owns the house, and he tries to rent it out from time to time. Few guests stay in the house after the first new moon, because it is claimed to be haunted.

23. Firla Parr's Farm

24. Thornkeep Mercantile

Built just last year (4719), by its owner Yunar Barask (Human Male) Thornkeep Mercantile is a general store and trading post, with a pair of spacious warehouses nearby. Easily the single largest business in the village, Thornkeep Mercantile takes the lion’s share of the trade in provisions, clothing, tools, and supplies. Barask’s wagons do a steady business with nearby towns, and of course never seem to be set on by the bandits and highwaymen who plague other traders in the area.

25. Kevith Glaziers

26. Brodwyr's Smelter

27. Eliseera's Farm

Formally the Barewater Apple Farm. Now owned by the former owners young widow Eliseera Barewater. Half the unmarried men in town seem smitten by the beautiful and rich (by Thornkeep standards) widow.

28. Hunters' Lodge

This rustic cabin is the headquarters of the Hunters’ Guild of Thornkeep, and the home of the huntmaster, Jaervon Mardesal (Half-Elf Male). The place is both roomy and surprisingly comfortable. The main room is filled with animal pelts, hide rugs, and spectacular trophies, including the mounted heads of a black-feathered owlbear and a dire wolverine. A number of Thornkeep’s trackers, hunters, trappers, and guides belong to the Hunters’ Lodge, although only a handful are within the Lodge at any given time—their work is out in the far reaches of the Echo Wood.

29. Harley's Mill

30. Halfway House

Typically home for a small gang of thugs and bounders from the taprooms of the Greenforest Inn or the Thirsty Ogre

31. Harley's Pond

Echo Stream always pooled under the bluffs of Brokenhelm Hill, but 25 (4695) years ago the miller Harley improved on the natural constriction in the streambed to create a large, permanent pond for her mill. Although Harley is long gone and her mill never turned a profit, she did good work damming the stream. The pond is home to a number of ducks and geese, as well as the occasional murder victim. Town folklore claims that a suijin protects the pond in Harley’s stead, but few are willing to explain how a kami might have made its way all the way over from Tian Xia to Thornkeep—and why it would choose this particular pond of all things to protect.

32. Wolfmane Encampment

On a wooded hillside northeast of Thornkeep proper lies the encampment of the Wolfmane barbarians—a half-dozen hide tents with cookfires, skinning racks, smokehouses, and working areas. This is not the home of the entire tribe, of course; there are scores, perhaps hundreds, of Kellid natives living elsewhere in the forest. But at any given time, a dozen or so Wolfmanes are here, trading meat, pelts, and carvings for iron tools, blankets, glass, and other things that are hard to find in Kellid camps. In addition, young tribespeople come to Thornkeep to sample civilized life for a time, often hiring themselves out as mercenaries or guards. Many of these youths travel widely for years before returning to their tribes. Chief Darioth Wolfmane leads the local band, and she can often be found here, trading news with barbarians from distant corners of the Echo Wood. Darioth occasionally extends the friendship of the Wolfmanes to individuals who earn the trust of the tribe. The thugs and outlaws of Thornkeep have learned to be careful about insulting or injuring someone the Wolfmanes regard as their friend, since the barbarians punish those who hurt their allies.

33. Brishtargera Greenbottle

34. Goldfire Tower

The home of the elven wizard Iliara Starcloak, Goldenfire Tower is a small round tower four floors tall, adjacent to a comfortable and well-built stone house by the shore of the millpond. The tower also serves as the headquarters of the Goldenfire Order, the wizards’ guild of Thornkeep. The guild holds formal meetings once a month, but other than that the Goldenfire wizards go their own way—the members maintain their own homes or rent rooms in or around Thornkeep, and generally work alone. The Goldenfire Order is a professional association first and foremost, with no great mission other than to look out for the interests of wizards living in Thornkeep. Iliara’s apprentice Timbor (Human Male), a young and studious fellow, serves as her secretary and the chief record-keeper of the Goldenfire Order. He greets all visitors to the tower and determines whether their business is worth Iliara’s time and personal attention. Newcomers are welcome to join the order at any time; the only obligation of membership is to refrain from physical or magical confrontations with other members.

35. Gatehouse

The main entrance to old Druscor Keep, this sturdy wooden gatehouse stands at the top of a winding causeway leading up from the town green. The stronghold is an improved motteand- bailey castle with a stone tower in the center and a thick wooden wall ringing it. The gates themselves are wide enough to admit an oxcart or wagon, and are covered with badly weathered copper sheeting to resist damage by fire. Baron Tervin’s guards typically shut the gates at sundown and refuse to admit anyone after dark Four of the baron’s soldiers normally guard the castle’s gates, under the command of Sergeant Zorda (Human Female) The gatehouse is not the only way in or out of the keep— there is a small postern gate on the northwest side of the wall. Though usually locked and barred from inside.

36. Keep Barracks

The wooden wall encircling Druscor Keep encloses a bailey with a small stable, a storehouse, a smithy, a kitchen, a barracks building, and the Baron’s Tower. A good-sized jail lies in the barrack’s cellar. A wealthy noble could easily house 60 to 80 soldiers in the barracks, but Tervin Blackshield makes do with a garrison of 30 mercenaries. The commander of the garrison is Captain Tarth (Human Male) The barracks also serves as the administrative center of Thornkeep. The baron’s two clerks maintain the town’s records. The senior clerk is a wizened old man named Garvin (Human Male) the junior clerk, a hardworking halfling named Jendra Rushkettle (Halfling Female)

37. The Baron's Tower

Baron Tervin Blackshield (Human Male) and his family live in the old stone tower of Druscor Keep at the heart of Thornkeep. A short flight of stone steps on the side of the tower leads to a sturdy door of iron plate in the second f loor. This floor is a goodsized hall where the baron entertains his guests on the rare occasion that he actually has guests. The baron and his family—his wife Ivis (Human Female), and his children Neria and Halst— live on the fourth floor. Usually four to six of the baron’s soldiers stand guard in the tower’s entrance hall, while a handful of servants and retainers go about the daily business of cleaning, cooking, laundry, and seeing to the business of the household.