Florin's Cross
This settlement is basically a stone castle with a village built beside it. A palisade of sharpened logs built as an extension of the castle’s outer wall surrounds the village buildings. The castle flies the banner of Eastreach, a scroll and four coins under a purple crown. The stone-paved high road passes by the village gates, and a second road, made of packed dirt, enters the village gates directly from the south. A small river runs from the south near the dirt road past the settlement. The high road bridges the river just to the east of the village.
The small town of Florin’s Cross lies at the terminus of the Tantivy Road and a mere few miles from the more heavily traveled Coast Road. The settlement is an official possession of the lord-governor of the province, administered by the lord bailiff of Florin’s Cross. Lord Crothian Barne currently holds this appointed position, which allows him and his family to reside in the castle known as Florinfort. The fortified keep has a small outer bailey and is manned by a force of 10 archers and 15 footmen who always remain safely ensconced inside its defensive outer walls. The aloof ruler and his men rarely venture outside the secure confines of the keep that feels as if it were a world away from the townsfolk who established their own militia and town watch without any aid from their disinterested Lord Bailiff. Eastreach Province’s lack of oversight has allowed a flourishing smuggling operation to take hold within the sleepy settlement at the intersection of two commercial roadways. The residents use the small and shallow yet navigable Scaramouche River to hustle convicts, heretics, and outlaws to safety, while also safeguarding large cargoes and crops from inspection and taxation at the hands of Eastreach Province’s greedy robber-barons and corrupt tax collectors. Although these illegal activities are punishable by death, the townsfolk believe the province’s onerous tax burden and oppressive policies leave them with no other choice. Worse still, rumors suggest the Friendly Men, a local criminal syndicate, wants their piece of the action as well. Indeed, the seeds of rebellion sown in this small corner of Eastreach Province have given rise to rumblings about taking more aggressive and direct actions against the land’s most tyrannical knights and even its barons. Such talk can sometimes be heard in the Beard Inn, the town’s only tavern and inn where a group of local mimes known as the Tongue-Tied Fellows frequently entertain the crowd. The troupe of players with strange mannerisms and foreign customs seems oddly out of place in this establishment. Moreover, the men, who presumably traveled here from a distant land, stammer to explain why they came here or where they were going.
Settlement
Florin’s Cross, Village of
Type
Village
Owning Organization
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