Brewton

Nestled in the wooded foothills of the southern Highpeak range, Brewton is a mid sized town with a population predominantly of halflings. Brewton is governed by a halfling family known as the Bigbrews, who are a family of stout halflings who built the town of Brewton around it's brewery. The head of the The Bigbrew Family, Barnabus Bigbrew, is the current governor of Brewton and is beloved by the people. Brewton is best known for its Bigbrew Brews, a delicious ale brewed in the city using ingredients produced by the nutrient-rich fields nearby. The ale is so good that visitors from all across the Kingdom of Illargos and nearby regions flock to Brewton to get a taste of the delicious brew which is sold at the town's largest Inn; The Tipsy Tippler. For such an idyllic town the atmosphere is far from tranquil. The people are openly friendly and take great pride in their work and once the work day is done you will find all of the taverns in Brewton full to the brim with tipsy workers.

Demographics

Brewton is inhabited predominantly by halflings but with a fair scattering of humans and elves and the rare instance of an exotic race. The people are friendly toward outsiders who visit the town but due to the strict population limit set on the town by the The Bigbrew Family, it is difficult to find races other than halflings who have taken up a permanent residence.

Government

Brewton is governed by the The Bigbrew Family, a family of stout halflings who perfected the recipe for the best mead in the Kingdom of Illargos. Brewton is ruled by the current patriarch of the family Barnabus Bigbrew who is beloved by the people. Barnabus delegates the day to day jobs among his family members mostly, his brother Benedict Bigbrew runs the largest and most famous tavern in Brewton; The Tipsy Tippler. Benedict's son Benny Bigbrew is the captain of the guard, Barnabus' niece Bethelda Bigbrew runs the Bigbrew Brewery where the famous Bigbrew Brew is brewed, and the administration of the town is handled by Reeve Gigglestump Tip-n-sip-n-slosh a gnome who is an honourary member of the The Bigbrew Family.

Defences

Military

The military defenses consist of a town militia which has a barracks on the western side of the village. The town guard are lead by Captain Benny Bigbrew.

Natural Defences

To the north and west of Brewton is thick forest land which makes it hard for all but a small force to move unhindered, while to the south and east the flat is open and flat so the town can spot enemies from a long distance as they approach. The river that runs around the south western side of Brewton is wide and runs fast enough to present a danger to those who would try and swim across. There are two bridges into Brewton which can be held easily while the townspeople evacuate to the forests.

Industry & Trade

Typical Citizen Professions

• Farmer - Due to the variety of fauna that Brewton's fertile fields can support, a lot of the people find their employment in the farming industry and the jobs range from planting and reaping fields to animal husbandry and beekeeping.
• Brewer - Due to the high demand for the product, a good number of brewery workers are needed to continually produce Brewton's biggest export; Brewton Brew
• Weaver - Weavers take the raw materials from Flax farming and produce fibers which are then made into linen for clothing. Some weavers specialise in making linen and some specialise in using linen to make clothing, the most common type is the former with raw linen being shipped to cities as a trade good.

Imports

• Manufactured Goods
• Metals

Exports

• Alcohol - while Brewton is know for its Bigbrew Brews the Brewery also makes sweet wine of a commendable quality.
• Food Crops & Cereal Grains
• Raw Linen

History

The history of Brewton is tied to that of the The Bigbrew Family. Years ago, halflings made their homes in burrows dotted throughout the The Arbor forest but that changed when the The Bigbrew Family perfected their recipe for the tastiest ale. When then human colonists lead by Illargo Volnarios met with the halflings of The Arbor, they stumbled upon a member of the The Bigbrew Family who generously gave them a taste of their perfected brew. The colonists enjoyed the delicious ale so much they asked to bring a few barrels with them on their journey unfortunately because the Bigbrews were home-brewers they didn't have any more to give. The colonists instead invited the Bigbrews to join them on their journey and offered them a place amongst them where they decided to settle. The Bigbrews politely refused, they couldn't leave their comfy forest home and the fertile land which allowed them to grow the quality ingredients which went into making their ale, instead they promised the humans that when settled they could return to The Arbor to trade for more barrels of Bigbrew Brew. Over the next few years groups of humans would visit the Bigbrew burrows and trade with the halflings for their barrels of ale. Eventually one of The Bigbrew Family an ambitious young halfling named Billiam Bigbrew travelled back with the human traders to their settlement; the small hamlet which would become Illiad. Billiam was inspired by what he saw the humans were able to build, and returned to the Arbor years later with a plan. He took a team of halflings and built a large brewery on the edges of the forest, close by to a river and the fertile lands where crops grow strong. They also set up living quarters for the workers of the brewery and a small village began to form. Years later in 1127, Brewton grew to be the size of a town and the Bigbrews began to worry, if the town continued to grow they would encroach on the farm land where their ingredients were grown so Billiam Bigbrew, now the patriarch of the family, put in place the Law of Preservation which put a strict population limit on Brewton in order to cease the expansion of the town. The Law of Preservation is still in place today and is maintained by the governor of Brewton Barnabus Bigbrew. In 1151, Brewton was invited to join the Kingdom of Illargos and after stipulations from the halflings were accepted, the town became part of the Kingdom. In 1366, Barnabus Bigbrew took over from his predecessor, Bartimaeus Bigbrew and governs to this day.

Points of interest

• Bigbrew Manor - Built on a hill in the northwest of Brewton stands Bigbrew Manor; the ancestral home of The Bigbrew Family since Brewton's founding.
• The Tipsy Tippler - The illustrious Brewton Inn where travelers can find fine Arbor-grown foods, talented entertainers who perform nightly, and the kingdom-famous Bigbrew ale.
• The Bigbrew Brewery - Heralded as the heart of Brewton, the Bigbrew Brewery is where Brewton began.
• Brewton's Flowerlands - Due to its proximity to The Arbor and the town beekeeping industry, the fields to the south of Brewton are a vibrant and picturesque landscape of a wide variety of beautiful flowers.

Architecture

Brewton is a town of brightly coloured half timbered buildings with a characteristic second-storey overhang and streets of hard packed earth which wind gently through the main causeways of the town. The inhabitants mostly live on the upper floors of their homes in a wide apartment style room split to serve various functions; a Brewton townhouse has the living rooms, study, and bedrooms all upstairs while the kitchen can be found on the ground floor, with a basement dug out to serve as a larder. The halflings who built Brewton used wood harvested carefully from The Arbor nearby to construct the frames of their houses and then filled in the space with a wattle and daub filling in between the timbers, this was to limit the amount of wood needed as they didn't wish to cut down too many trees from the forest.

Geography

Brewton is located in the forested foothills south of the Highpeak Range, west of The Arbor forest. The town is situated on a lazy incline northward and undulates with low grassy hillocks while a mountain-stream fed river flows down from the north-eastern side of town and curves around to the south eastern area. To the north and west of Brewton are forest lands which give way to the foothills and then mountainous landscape of the Highpeak Range, while to the east the land is only just flat enough to farm the huge variety of crops and animals that Brewton is able to due to its proximity to The Arbor forest. To the south of Brewton is the main road into the city which is flanked by grassy planes bursting with varieties of flower enriched by the fertile soil and kept pollinated by the creatures which make their homes therein.

Natural Resources

Brewton's has incredibly fertile arable land which provides excellent conditions for almost any kind of plant to grow from grapevines to berry bushes. The halflings of Brewton have seized on this oppurtunity to farm all sorts of crops that the rest of the Kingdom cant grow.

Maps

• 

  Brewton

Founding Date

1127

Type

Town

Population

2,000

Location under

Central Midasfjall

Included Locations

• The Tipsy Tippler

Owner/Ruler

Barnabus Bigbrew

Ruling/Owning Rank

Baron

Owning Organization

Kingdom of Illargos