Banderez
Banderez exists because nowhere else wanted it. Once a smuggler’s waypoint established in 2433 AK atop the ruins of a much older logging camp, it has become a magnet for drifters, outcasts, and the quietly desperate. Its position near the Shambling Plains makes it dangerous, but also useful — a place where roads are thin, enforcement weaker, and eyes often pointed elsewhere. Law is technically under the crown of Aul’Daran, but in truth the king’s authority barely reaches here. With both the baronial seat and magistracy vacant, the town is loosely held together by a makeshift council of influential locals: Darron Northmere, a retired soldier-turned-watchman; Veyra Winterbourne, keeper of the Wyvern’s Rest; Garrik Coalvein, elder dwarf and smith; and Roderic Starreach, a frail itinerant priest.
Banderez’s greatest threat comes from its surroundings. The Shambling Plains breed strange predators and restless dead, and shadows sometimes move at the edge of the wooden palisade beyond torchlight. Travelers vanish at alarming rates. The old logging tunnels beneath the town are unstable, and rumors speak of forgotten things left behind from before the Pale Wars.
The Aul’Daran Rangers maintain a semi-abandoned lodge north of town. Though not officially active, rangers of the Night’s Hand sometimes use Banderez to lie low after delicate missions. Most locals know not to ask questions — Banderez functions best when questions are scarce.
For smuggling, Banderez is ideal. The coastal road tolls push caravans to take the inland backways, making the town a natural exchange point for contraband, fugitives, and unregistered trade. Its factions remain small and transient; no large guild or organized criminal enterprise wants to invest effort here. Banderez is a place where things fall apart — and where any spark of power is quickly smothered by the environment itself.
Demographics
Population: 635 (59% Humans, 11% Halflings, 8% Dwarves, 7% Elf-blooded, 6% Orcs- blooded, 3% Gnomes, 2% Goblins, 4% Other)
Banderez is a patchwork of peoples, a refuge for outcasts, drifters, and those who’ve escaped worse fates. Humans form the majority, but halfling traders, dwarven craftsmen, and the occasional orc or goblin laborer find uneasy acceptance here. Differences are overlooked so long as work gets done and no one draws unwanted attention from outside powers. Most live day-to-day, repairing what they can and enduring what they can’t. For all its roughness, there’s a strange camaraderie in Banderez, a mutual understanding that survival is a shared effort.
Government
Banderez technically falls under the authority of the Kingdom of Aul’Daran, but in practice it is nearly self-governing. The barony has been vacant for years, the keep abandoned, and the crown has yet to appoint a noble to claim the holding. Similarly, the town’s magistrate seat remains unfilled. In their absence, leadership rests informally with four respected locals:
Darron Northmere, de facto watch-captain and arbiter of disputes
Veyra Winterbourne, influential innkeep and organizer of relief efforts
Garrik Coalvein, senior dwarven smith and voice of the crafting families
Roderic Starreach, wandering priest and moral guide
Together they form a loose council, though none hold official titles. Their authority is practical rather than legal, earned by necessity and maintained by community respect.
Architecture
Banderez is a patchwork of decay and desperation. Most buildings are wood and clay, patched with whatever materials residents can salvage. Roofs sag under thatch, walls lean at odd angles, and doors never quite fit their frames. In the Commons, sturdier structures mix timber with stone, echoing what the town might have become under proper leadership. The Keeps district features half-timbered homes and the ruins of the baronial keep — once proud, now weather-worn and overtaken by crawling vines. In the Hollow, homes are little more than improvised shelters built from scrap wood, canvas, and scavenged planks. Banderez looks like it could collapse — yet somehow, it never quite does.
Districts
The Keeps
The Keeps remain Banderez’s most visibly aspirational district, though the years have stripped away much of its intended dignity. Half-stone and half-timber houses lean wearily toward winding cobbled lanes, their cracked plaster and rotted beams betraying how long ago the last true noble set foot here. Dominating the skyline is the Ruined Baronial Keep, an abandoned fortress of empty arrow slits and broken battlements. Children whisper that hidden tunnels beneath the keep once led to the Riverbed, now dry and used more often by smugglers than by fleeing nobles, though no one dares explore the depths to confirm it. Despite the ruin around it, the Starreach Shrine endures in a quiet corner of the district — a humble stone structure tended by ageing worshippers of the Twin Lights, its candles flickering bravely against drafts that whistle through the cracked windows.
A rare touch of refinement appears in Ridgebourne Jewels, where Calissa Ridgebourne’s delicate silver and gemstone work contrasts starkly with the district’s decay. Her shop, modest but tidy, is a reminder of what the Keeps once aspired to become. The surrounding streets, though quiet, still carry a memory of old prestige; moss drapes over stone archways, and old gardens run wild in forgotten courtyards. Even in ruin, the Keeps exude a shadow of dignity — a place that has fallen far, yet refuses to forget what it was meant to be.
The Commons
The Commons hum with disorganized life, a tangle of wooden structures and clay-walled shops packed tightly around the market roads. Here stands The Wyvern’s Rest, run by the ever-composed Veyra Winterbourne, its quiet rooms and warm meals attracting caravan guards and travellers who prefer peace over spectacle. Only a short walk away, the Jabberwock roars with laughter, music, shouted boasts, and the occasional crashing chair — the true social engine of Banderez where rumours and coin change hands in equal measure. Nearby, the stout dwarven Coalvein Forge glows day and night as Garrik Coalvein and his apprentices hammer salvaged metal into workable tools, nails, pot-hooks, hinges, and the occasional weapon. The rhythmic pounding serves as the heartbeat of the district.
Across from the market square stands Meadowstride Stables, a tidy halfling-run operation offering hardy plains ponies that can withstand the rough tracks and unpredictable threats of the surrounding wilderness. The air around the stables carries the scent of hay, leather, and well-kept animals. Further down the lane, Greenbottle Provisions is crammed floor to ceiling with salted goods, rope bundles, dried fruit, and the kind of eccentric supplies only Pella Greenbottle could justify stocking. The district’s fringes host two import dealers: Northfield Curios with its southern trinkets and mysterious pottery shards, and Hayweather Imports, where dented foreign metalware and odd fabrics find new purpose. Mistglen Herbs, with its racks of drying leaves and fragrant oils, offers comfort to the sick and knowledge to the desperate. At the edge of it all stands Redfern Fletcherworks, where Toren Redfern crafts dependable bows and straight-flying arrows. Together, these places create a lively if chaotic heart to Banderez — a district worn thin but still defiantly alive.
The Hollow
The Hollow sprawls like a settlement built out of refuse and stubbornness, its shacks balanced on rotten supports and its narrow alleys shifting after every storm. This is where the town’s poorest and most desperate gather, constructing homes from mismatched planks, scavenged carts, and the remains of long-abandoned buildings. In the centre stands The Guzzling Host, a tavern that smells of spilled ale and rough tempers. Its dirt-streaked walls and creaking beams give shelter to gamblers, drifters, and those who prefer questions not be asked. Tarris Goodharbor presides over it all with bluster and shrewd eyes, brewing alliances and debts as readily as he pours his questionable beer.
South of the tavern sprawls the Hollow Market, an ever-shifting bazaar of patched tarps, scavenged stalls, and bold vendors selling everything from herbs pulled from the woods to “liberated” goods with suspiciously fresh ownership marks. Past the market lie the Old Logging Pits, deep scarred depressions left from the settlement that pre-dated Banderez. These pits are treacherous, filled with broken timbers and sudden drops; more than one drunk has stumbled into their depths. On the outskirts sits Oakbottom Salvage, where Darra Oakbottom organizes scrap into towering heaps of potential, Hammerdell Leathers, Naldra's pride and joy and Mirewood House, a sagging flophouse accepting anyone who can spare a handful of coins. Though the Hollow is rough and lawless, its people hold tightly to their own sense of community — a mutual understanding forged out of hardship and necessity.
The Surrounding Area
The lands beyond Banderez’s fence reveal the harshness that defines the frontier. Northward stands Fallow Pines Lodge, the long-silent Aul'Daran Ranger outpost, its timbers weathered and its fires long extinguished except for the occasional return of a wandering ranger checking the grounds. Westward sprawls the Riverbed, a once-flowing lifeline now dry and carved into a twisting smuggler’s path leading toward safer roads far from tax collectors’ eyes. Not far from the road sits the Forgotten Well, its stones ancient and worn, whispering of structures far older than Banderez or the logging camp that preceded it.
To the east lies the unsettling Shambling Plains Verge, where grass thins into brittle stalks and the wind carries strange metallic scents. Shadows move strangely there, and even seasoned travellers hesitate to approach. South and beyond the treeline, the remnants of old industry linger in the overgrown ridges and half-buried clearing scars. These surroundings shape Banderez’s identity just as much as its crowded streets: a precarious bulwark between civilisation and the hungry wilds, where the next threat could rise from the plains, the woods, or the forgotten past.
Defences
Banderez is protected more by endurance than by strength. Its defences are crude but familiar to those who live with danger as a constant companion. A makeshift wooden palisade surrounds the settlement, built from scavenged logs and repaired whenever storms, beasts, or opportunistic raiders damage it. The wall is uneven and poorly anchored in places, but it serves its purpose against wandering creatures from the Shambling Plains.
A volunteer militia forms the town’s primary defensive force. These men and women are hunters, labourers, and tradespeople armed with whatever tools they own — axes, spears, cleavers, slings, and the occasional rusted sword. Their lack of formal training is offset by their deep familiarity with the terrain and the predators that roam near the plains.
The Aul’Daran Rangers maintain a small outpost north of Banderez known as the Lodge of Fallow Pines. Though seldom fully staffed, the rangers remain the most capable defenders in the region. They do not involve themselves in the town’s law or disputes, but they watch the movements of beasts, track threats approaching from the east, and sometimes leave discreet warnings for the militia. Their presence, though quiet and infrequent, has spared Banderez from dangers that would otherwise go unnoticed until too late.
Banderez survives because its people know how to adapt, how to hide, and how to stand their ground when there is no other choice.
Trade and Industry
Banderez’s economy is a patchwork of odd trades and frontier necessities. With little metal and few skilled artisans, most tools are wooden, clay, or salvaged. Smuggling and unregistered trade form the lifeblood of the town. Hunters bring game from the Braggard Woods, while small farms cling to the rocky western edge. Merchants who want to avoid the coastal tolls pass through, bringing coin and cheap goods. Though poor, Banderez remains an essential link between the coast and the plains.
Hunting & Trapping: Game from Braggard Woods supplies meat, hides, and bones for tools.
Claywork & Pottery: Most household goods are fired from local clay due to metal scarcity.
Backroad Trade: Smugglers and caravans avoid tolls by using Banderez as a waypoint.
Foraging & Herb Gathering: Locals collect rare herbs on the plains’ edge.
Salvage Work: Ruins and abandoned homesteads provide lumber, scrap, and tools.
Factions and Guilds
Banderez is too poor, too unstable, and too transient to sustain organised groups such as thieves’ guilds, mercenary companies, or political societies. The only structured group tied to the town in any capacity is the Aul’Daran Rangers although Aenwyn Starflower's Troupe can be found in town from time to time.
Aenwyn Starflower's Troupe
Aenwyn Starflower’s Troupe is currently staying in Banderez for only a brief respite. They arrived three days ago after escorting a merchant caravan through a stretch of forest where corrupted beasts had been sighted. The troupe has taken rooms at the Wyverns Rest rather than the Jabberwock, preferring its quiet order to the latter’s chaos—even if Bram and Selka have been spotted drifting toward the Jabberwock on noisier nights. Aenwyn herself has kept a low profile, speaking quietly with Veyra Winterbourne and observing Banderez with her usual poised caution.
Though the townsfolk appreciate their presence, the troupe is not here on official business. They intend to rest, repair equipment at Garrik Coalvein’s forge, purchase supplies, and gather what rumours they can before moving west toward reports of missing travelers near the old woodland trails. Aenwyn has made it clear they will not linger long, but her watchful gaze suggests she is measuring more than she lets on—perhaps the mood of the town, or perhaps the tremors of trouble on the horizon.
Aul'Daran Rangers
North of Banderez lies the Lodge of Fallow Pines, a small and weather-worn outpost of the Aul’Daran Rangers. The lodge rarely hosts more than a handful of rangers at any time, as most are scattered across the borderlands tracking threats or exploring abandoned routes. Despite their low numbers, the rangers remain the most respected and capable individuals tied to the town’s safety.
Locals view them with quiet reverence. Rangers seldom enter Banderez unless resupplying or delivering a warning, but their presence is felt in subtle ways: footprints around a beast carcass found near the walls, a marked tree indicating danger, or a ranger briefly glimpsed at dusk along the treeline. They expect nothing from the town in return, and Banderez has long learned not to pry into their business.
NPCs in Banderez
Major NPCs
Minor NPCs in Banderez
Calissa Ridgebourne
Human, Female, Jeweler
Description: Graceful and reserved, Calissa has honey-gold hair braided with fine silver beads. Her hands are delicate, her face soft and tired but still lovely.
Speech & Mannerisms: Gentle voice, hesitant pauses; avoids confrontation.
General Information: Jeweler of Ridgebourne Jewels. Crafts fine silver pieces and restores damaged gemstones. Keeps to herself, still grieving a lost lover.
Darra Oakbottom
Halfling, Female, Salvager
Description: A wiry halfling with sharp features, mud-brown hair in a perpetual tangle, and hands constantly coated in dust from rummaging through salvage piles.
Speech & Mannerisms: Talks while working; rarely maintains eye contact.
General Information: Oversees Oakbottom Salvage. Knows where every scrap in Banderez came from. Has an uncanny knack for finding exactly what someone needs — eventually.
Elowyn Moonfen
Human, Female, Import Merchant
Description: Graceful, dark-haired, with rings under her eyes from long nights inventorying goods.
Speech & Mannerisms: Slow, thoughtful cadence; drifts off mid-sentence when thinking hard.
General Information: Sells spices, inks, and fabrics. Often buys trinkets from travelers that others consider worthless.
Fenra Tealeaf
Halfling, Female, Herbalist and runs a stall in the Hollow Markets
Description: A round-cheeked halfling herbalist with wind-tangled auburn hair and clothing perpetually dusted in pollen. Her bright green eyes sparkle with mischief and curiosity.
Speech & Mannerisms: Speaks softly but quickly, often sniffing the air or turning to examine plants mid-conversation.
General Information: Fenra collects herbs from the Braggard Woods’ safer fringes, selling poultices and tinctures to locals and travellers. She knows every hidden patch of healing fronds and poison weeds near Banderez, and quietly supplies the Aul’Daran Rangers with salves when they pass through.
Helgrin Ironmantle
Dwarf, Female, Caravan Guard and Ruffian
Description: A barrel-shaped dwarf with braided russet hair and a perpetual scowl that hides a surprisingly dry sense of humour. Her heavy leathers are reinforced with salvaged scrap-iron plates.
Speech & Mannerisms: Gruff, direct, and fond of clicking her tongue when annoyed.
General Information: Helgrin works as a part-time caravan guard and part-time caravan thief, depending on who’s paying. She avoids harming locals but has a reputation for “misplacing” goods belonging to out-of-towners who disrespect the people of Banderez. The Aul’Daran Rangers keep a wary eye on her—but haven’t intervened yet.
Kelira Mistglen
Human, Female, Herbalist and owner of Mistglen Herbs
Description: Tall and slender with smooth, pale features, soft grey eyes, and long dark hair tied with dried herbs. Smells faintly of mint and juniper.
Speech & Mannerisms: Soft-voiced, patient, often pauses to choose precise words.
General Information: Herbalist of Mistglen Herbs. Offers remedies, salves, and quiet counsel. Some say she senses illness before it appears. Rumoured to have distant druidic ancestry.
Markel Sandbarrow
Human, Male, Bookbinder and local historian
Description: A lanky middle-aged man with thinning blond hair and hollow cheeks. His clothes hang loosely, patched repeatedly, and he smells faintly of old paper and pipe ash.
Speech & Mannerisms: Soft-spoken, hesitant, often wringing his hands. Forgets what he was saying mid-thought.
General Information: Markel is Banderez’s closest thing to a historian, keeping records in a sagging shack stuffed with scrolls. His knowledge of the town’s early smuggler days is unmatched, though he is extremely reluctant to share anything that might endanger him—or the few friends he still has.
Naldra Hammerdell
Dwarf, Female, Leathersmith
Description: A stout, square-shouldered dwarf with a dark auburn braid and strong arms built from years of leatherwork. Her face is plain but kind, smudged with dyes and tanning oils.
Speech & Mannerisms: Speaks in short, practical sentences; snorts when amused.
General Information: Runs Hammerdell Leathers with stubborn diligence. Known for fair prices, durable gear, and surprisingly sharp instincts about people’s intentions. Locals trust her work — and her judgment — more than most officials.
Ormella Coalbraid
Dwarf, Female, Salvager
Description: Lean for a dwarf, with tangled black hair streaked grey and bound in a crooked braid. Her eyes are quick and calculating, always scanning for salvageable value.
Speech & Mannerisms: Rambles when excited; mutters inventory lists under her breath.
General Information: Often seen in Oakbottom Salvage, buying junk, selling repaired tools, and occasionally uncovering forgotten contraband. She knows more town secrets than is comfortable — without ever meaning harm.
Pella Greenbottle
Halfling, Female, Provisioner
Description: Cheerful and bustling, with curly brown hair and a smudge of flour seemingly always on her cheek. Quick-moving and sharp-eyed, she carries herself with infectious energy.
Speech & Mannerisms: Talks quickly, often repeating herself when excited.
General Information: Proprietor of Greenbottle Provisions. Knows every supplier within a day’s walk and can acquire almost anything with enough time. Protective of local children.
Perric Tallstag
Human, Male, Local hunter and member of the Aul'Daran Rangers
Description: A tall, wiry hunter with sun-leathered skin and prematurely greying hair. His sharp blue eyes miss little, and his hunting leathers show years of careful repair.
Speech & Mannerisms: Speaks in short, clipped sentences; pauses frequently to listen to distant sounds.
General Information: Perric hunts game along the safer stretches of the Shambling Plains border. He is respected for his knowledge of local beasts and their moods, though he refuses to enter deeper wilderness after losing two companions there. Despite the trauma, he warns travellers willingly when danger stirs.
Seriel Caskford
Human, Female
Description: A tall, sharp-featured woman with raven-black hair tied in a tight knot. Her cloak is stitched from mismatched fabrics, giving her the look of a traveller who never quite settled in.
Speech & Mannerisms: Quiet, deliberate, and watchful; observes rooms before entering them fully.
General Information: Seriel rents a small room in the Commons and claims to be a carpenter, but rarely works. Locals assume she’s hiding from someone—or something—and the Aul’Daran Rangers seem to recognise her but have never said why. She keeps to herself, but helps when someone is truly in trouble.
Tobyn Hillfoot
Halfling, Male, Messenger Boy
Description: A wiry, fleet-footed halfling with sandy curls and bright hazel eyes, always wearing an oversized pack loaded with notes, parcels, and snacks pilfered from friendly vendors.
Speech & Mannerisms: Rapid-fire chatter, constantly bouncing on his toes. Interrupts himself with new thoughts mid-sentence.
General Information: Tobyn serves as Banderez’s unofficial messenger boy, darting through alleys and shortcuts no one else remembers exist. He overhears everything, though he rarely understands its significance. Rangers occasionally rely on him for quick deliveries, and smugglers tolerate him because he’s too small and harmless to bother silencing.
Toren Redfern
Human Male, Fletcher
Description: A lean, weathered man with calloused hands and sharp cheekbones. His grey-streaked hair is cropped short, and his eyes are steady and cool.
Speech & Mannerisms: Rarely speaks unless necessary; inspects every arrow with ritual precision.
General Information: Runs Redfern Fletcherworks. Supplies hunters, Rangers and sometimes smugglers. Holds strong personal codes and refuses to make shoddy work.
A rough frontier town clinging to the edge of the Shambling Plains, Banderez survives through grit, smuggling, and salvage. Isolated, leader-light, and haunted by old ruins, it endures through necessity, secrecy, and the stubborn will of its misfit residents.
Government: Informal council of influential locals; baronial and magistrate seats long vacant despite nominal Aul’Daran rule.
Population: 635 (59% Human, 11% Halfling, 8% Dwarf, 7% Elf-blooded, 6% Orc-blooded, 3% Gnome, 2% Goblin, 4% Other)
Languages: Common, Dwarven, Elven, Gnomish, Halfling
Religions: Twin Lights, various small shrines; no official faith. No organized religion holds authority.
Threats: Predators and undead wandering from the Shambling Plains, disappearances along the palisade and outskirts, unstable and partially collapsed logging tunnels beneath the town, rumored remnants from before the Pale Wars, bandit activity and opportunistic smugglers
Natural Waypoint: A crossroads for smugglers, travelers, and caravans avoiding official toll routes. Goods and information pass quickly through the area. Travelers can source common trade goods at normal price despite remoteness; +1 circumstance bonus to Gather Information about regional travel, trade routes, or illicit movement.
Salvage Economy: A crossroads for smugglers, travelers, and caravans avoiding official toll routes. Goods and information pass quickly through the area. Travelers can source common trade goods at normal price despite remoteness; +1 circumstance bonus to Gather Information about regional travel, trade routes, or illicit movement.
Aenwyn Starflower (Leader of the Starflower Troupe) A calm but formidable elven guardian who leads a small band dedicated to shielding common folk from corrupted beasts. Her presence brings rare protection to Banderez’s outskirts.
Darron Northmere (De Facto Watch-Captain) A weathered former soldier who holds Banderez together through grit and duty. Settles disputes, trains volunteers, and keeps a vigilant eye on the palisade.
Garrik Coalvein (Senior Dwarven Smith) Gruff, respected, and steady-handed, Garrik maintains Banderez’s vital forge and lends a stabilizing presence on the informal town council.
Merrin Goodbarrel (Halfling Quartermaster & Trader) Cheerful and resourceful, Merrin manages scarce supplies and arranges backroad trades. Knows which caravans can be trusted and which ones carry trouble.
Roderic Starreach (Itinerant Priest of the Twin Lights) A frail, soft-spoken wanderer offering guidance and rites. Near-blind but spiritually perceptive, he steadies tempers and eases fears in a town often left to fend for itself.
Tarris Goodharbor (Proprietor of the Guzzling Host) Smooth-tongued and opportunistic, Tarris runs the town’s roughest tavern while quietly brokering smuggled goods. Knows every rumor worth coin and every caravan looking to avoid the tolls.
Veyra Winterbourne (Keeper of the Wyvern’s Rest Inn) Soft-spoken and steady, Veyra runs Banderez’s quiet, lamplit inn, a haven for weary travelers. Known for her calm presence, she subtly coordinates aid and community support behind the scenes.
History
Banderez was founded officially in 2433 AK, repurposing the remains of an older logging settlement abandoned nearly a century earlier. Its location made it ideal for smugglers seeking to avoid coastal tolls, and in time huts grew into clustered homes, tents into taverns, and a stopover into a community. The Pale Wars left Banderez largely untouched, though refugees passed through in droves and left their mark on the town’s identity.
In 2467 AK, the local Aul’Daran Ranger lodge — known as the Lodge of Fallow Pines — went silent. Attempts to reach them failed, and the last message from the rangers spoke only of “shifting paths” and “voices beneath the roots.” Since then Banderez has grown more isolated, its ties to the north thinning with each passing year.
Though impoverished, Banderez persists as a fragile thread between the safer Xontar Coast and the dangerous expanses of the Shambling Plains. Its history is one of survival: not heroic, not glorious, but undeniably stubborn. The crown still acknowledges its existence, but without leadership or investment, Banderez endures mostly through grit and chance.
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