Willowshore
Willowshore is a logging village in the remote reaches of Shenmen, deep in the Specterwood forest.
Demographics
73% humans, 6% aiuvarins, 4% halflings, 4% kitsune, 3% elves, 3% tengu, 2% nagaji, 5% others
Government
Appointed governor
History
Monks of Sangpotshi led by Zhi Hui founded the Tan Sugi Monastery in 7020 IC and founded Willowshore nearby, first to support its construction and then to facilitate trade between the monks and the outside world, with the two connected by a long, winding trail known as the Pilgrim's Path. Zhi Hui died in 7054 IC, and amid the town's transition to logging and discord among the Sangpotshi monks, the monastery was effectively abandoned by 7060 IC.4 In 7062 IC, a group of loggers from Sze that included the son of Sze's leader Chou Mingxia5 attempted to harvest ancient sugi trees at the monastery's site, but returned to town as hostile undead. The townsfolk fended them off in a deadly battle later known as the Night of Broken Blades. The abandoned monastery was subsequently regarded as cursed and avoided, though many of the town's residents remain faithful to Sangpotshi. Shenmen eventually deployed lumber lords to the village to support Imperial Lung Wa's need for lumber, and set about making infrastructural improvements to grow it into a town, including bridges and a dam. However, with new settlers came divisions of class, unwanted aristocratic tourists, and forced seizures of the town's sustenance. Among its most renowned exports were its fulus, which were coveted by adventurers.
Geography
Willowshore lines both the northern and southern shores of the Ceiba River, known as the Northridge and Southbank, respectively. The town's residents often find themselves split into factions along the two banks, with the hilly northern region settled after the empire of Lung Wa claimed control, and the forested southern region composed of residents who worked on the monastery or were recruited by it to settle the town. The town is surrounded by hinterlands of the Specterwood forest and is near the Ceiba River's confluence with its distributary, the Duyue River, to the east, as well as the Dragonfly Creek to the south. A 20-mile trail connects the Tan Sugi Monastery, located to the northwest, to the town, while other roads connect Willowshore to the Moon Marsh wetland to the north; the village of Foxhollow three days' travel to the northeast; Karahai and the Sea of Ghosts to the east; and an apple tree-lined road leading to villages several days' journeys southward. The Gossamer Mountains are many miles to the west. The nearest major settlement is the city of Sze, to which the town's lumber lords departed after the collapse of Lung Wa.
Maps
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Willowshore
- Abadar Shrine
- Abandoned Estates
- Bones of the Forgotten
- Dawnstep Bridge
- Dock
- Downtown Willowshore
- Fisheries
- Industrial District
- Lady of Souls
- Luo and Laws
- Mercantile Street
- Mother’s Coil
- Second Best
- Spider Gate
- The Ceiba-Duyue Exchange
- The Cerulean Teahouse
- The Great Willow
- The Hand of Spring
- The Leshy’s Saloon
- The Mushroom House
- Willowshore Dam
- Woodraft Lake
Comments