The Warden
"Oh aye she's helped once or twice, and tells a fair tale when she has a mind, but what's she doing up by the ol' tower is what I want to know. It ain't canny having some stranger sitting up there watching." - Matthew Mugwort
A little less than 20 years ago, the folk of Bree-hill noticed smoke up by the collapsed watchtower on top of the hill. A few Bree-wardens were sent to investigate and found that someone had constructed a simple hut on top of the hill right against one wall of the old tower. . The owner of the hut was an old weather-beaten woman, but still hale and hearty. A search of the town laws failed to discover any that she was breaking, and as she didn't seem to be bothering anyone, she was left in peace. Eventually, people took to calling her The Warden, using the ancient title that had once belonged to the keepers of the tower before it was a ruin.
Folk will occasionally encounter the Warden in the lands around Bree-hill or in the Chetwood, but so far as any can tell she spends most of her time up by the tower, only occasionally coming into one of the towns of the Hill. She knows many terrific tales of far off lands, and much useful lore about herbs and beasts, and is sharp-eyed despite her age. She's warned of approaching trouble - wolves on the hill and such - and people sometimes seek her help when sicknesses prove beyond the skill of local healers. Her house has improved over the years through gifts from those she's helped, and she seems content to stay there. No one knows why she came or why she stays, and she will not answer questions about herself, but she doesn't make trouble, and she occasionally offers aid, and that is about all the Bree-folk ask.
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