Hammerfast: Gate Ward

Visitors to Hammerfast arrive at the Gate Ward, a small, walled off section of the town that once served as the living quarters and garrison for the necropolis’s living inhabitants. Today, the Gate Ward is Hammerfast’s doorstep, a place where visitors and residents mingle to conduct business. A bustling market unites traders from the Nentir Vale with those from beyond the Dawnforge Mountains. The Hall of Justice reminds the folk of Hammerfast and all its visitors that the dwarves lack any tolerance for troublemakers and criminals, yet this neighbourhood is also a haven for smugglers, thieves, and rowdies.
To many travelers, the Gate Ward is Hammerfast. They have no need, and probably lack permission, to enter the other wards. The rowdiest and most chaotic of the wards, the Gate Ward is the ideal place to go if you’re an adventurer seeking a job, a thief in need ofa fence, or a hothead in search of a brawl. The town elders accept that some level of illegal activity is inevitable in any settlement. They just hope to keep it confined to the Gate Ward.

Individuals

• Tenkar Stoneshield
• Quila Stoneshield
• Tras, human sergeant of guard at Eastgate
• Ferdin Fellhammer, warehouse captain of the guards
• Sleepy Fennick, gnome quartermaster of the garrison
• Beldrin Longbeard, Lawmaster and Chief judge
• Boltac Glodreddi, owner of Boltac’s Goods
• Rondal, human Rondal’s Inn
• Tarras, elf bard, Rondal’s Inn, raven pet
• Therai, half-elf owner of Arcane Star inn
• Nemeia, half-elf owner of Arcane Star inn
• Urgak, half-orc manager of the Tenement
• Dara Swiftriver, head of the Swiftriver Clan
• Tharn Swiftriver, scout and explorer
• Hugo Swiftriver, Swiftriver Clan's historian
• Toren Woodstone, dwarf tinker
• Therd Woodstone, dwarf tinker
• Gelmon Woodstone, dwarf tinker
• Milo Longfathom, halfing owners of the Foundation Stone
• Graal, human Foundation Stone bartender
• Krank, human Foundation Stone bouncer
• Graff, human Foundation Stone bouncer
• Hara, elf, Foundation Stone knife thrower
• Xert, human Foundation Stone
• Kubosho, Kara Tur human that lives at the Foundation Stone
• Trell, elf bard that spends time at the Foundaiton Stone
• Henduhra Lawspeaker, Sua Hill dwarf
• Dannis Lawguardian, Sua Hill dwarf
• Thanhilla Farsight, Sua Hill dwarf

1. West Gate

Two massive towers flanked by steel doors reinforced by a portcullis control the ebb and flow of traffic through the West Gate. A squad of four guards watches this gate at all times. Visitors to Hammerfast are directed to the Revenue Hall, where they must register their goods and pay any appropriate fees for conducting business in the town.

2. Revenue Hall

This plain stone building houses Hammerfast’s tax collectors. Charged with assessing a 1 percent fee on all trade goods and treasure brought into Hammerfast, the bookish dwarves who work here have the tenacity of bulldogs and the manner of prosecuting attorneys. In their eyes, every traveler hides taxable goods until proven otherwise. They keep careful records, and have a reputation for honesty despite their demeanour.

3. Hammerfast Guard Tower

A number of guard towers dot the walls of Hammerfast. Each tower is 30 feet tall, with three stories and a cellar, and each has a squad of six guards on duty at all times. The cellar holds supplies, such as dried food, water, and ammunition. The first floor features a kitchen, mess hall and lounge, the second floor holds living quarters, and the third floor and roof are used for observation. Each tower has either a catapult or a ballista atop it.

4. Hammerfast Empty Towers

Hammerfast was once much more heavily defended, as the long ago dwarf halls of distant lands supplied warriors, weapons, material, and money to defend the burial grounds. Today, the town lacks the resources to staff each tower. The empty towers also each have either a catapult or a ballista atop them, but they have no guards assigned to them unless the town faces an attack. The town guard is supposed to patrol the empty towers, but unless a high level of alert has been issued, only the most dedicated guards walk through them on a regular basis.

5. Gate Market

A number of colourful tents and stalls stand in this open area from early spring to late fall. Only in the winter, when snow chokes the Trade Road, does this place fall quiet. Merchants from across the Inner Rea hes, dwarves from Hammerfast, and visitors to the town crowd this location, seeking exotic goods and unmatched bargains. If it’s produced anywhere in the region, it’s for sale here in the market. Tarras, an half-elf bard, performs nightly at Rondal’s Inn, as well as in the Gate Market and at the Foundation Stone.
Currently, the Gate Market is home to a large group of refugees who have fled from Fultar's recent conquest of the Sua hills, which are to the southwest in the Barony of Atlan on the border of the Barony of Mabon.  The leaders of the refugees include Dannis Lawguardian, Henduhra Lawspeaker and Thanhilla Farsight.  The majority and more wealthy refugees have found places to reside in the homes of friends and distant relatives, public houses and buying or purchasing homes within the Hammerfast: Craft Ward, Hammerfast Lore Ward and Hammerfast Trade Ward, stirring resentment among the native dwarves of Hammerfast.  

6. Hammerfast Warehouse

This warehouse holds the goods of merchants who stay in town for a short time. Merchants park their carts or stack their crates, barrels, and sacks in these warehouses for storage. A squad of at least five guards watches this place day and night. Local traders or traders staying for an extended period of time keep their goods in the Trade Ward to the north.

7. Hammerfast Stables

This long, low building holds the horses and beasts of burden that belong to merchants visiting Hammerfast. One of the stalls houses a white mare left here almost a decade ago by an The Order of the Swordmaidens of the White Oak paladin. The paladin has long since disappeared, but she left behind enough cash to keep his mount in food and water for another twenty years.

8. Gate Barracks

Town guards not assigned to a specific tower are garrisoned here. The barracks is a two-story building. The first floor features a mess hall, chambers for officers, and a kitchen. The second floor consists of a large dormitory. The cellar is filled with weapons, armour, and other supplies.

9. Hall of Justice

The Hall of Justice is an imposing stone building has a broad flight of stairs leading to its double doors. Statues of Moradin – one depicting him as a smith, the other showing him garbed for war – flank the entrance. This two-story building has a court, holding cells for prisoners, and a hall of records for the town. Tax disputes, along with criminal cases, are tried here by the town’s justice of the peace, a young dwarf named Beldrin Longbeard.

10. The Arcane Star Inn

The Arcane Star is awooden, one-story building is painted a bright blue. The glowing symbol of a star hangs above the door. The Arcane Star has eight large rooms, six upstairs and two on the first floor, which cater to upscale travelers. The Star’s rates are 2 gp per night.  Nemeia and her husband Therai own this place.

11. Boltac's Goods

The dwarf Boltac Glodreddi, brother of the murdered tax collector Tathik Glodreddi, sells adventuring gear such as rope, everburning torches, and ammunition in this shop. Boltac can also arrange for the purchase of commoner magical items. He expects half the listed price for an item up front, up to two weeks to acquire the item, and the second half of the price on delivery.

12. Rondal's Inn

This austere building houses a cheaper alternative to the Arcane Star. Rondal, a dour human who makes a point of keeping his nose out of his guests’ business, caters to merchants, travelers, and others who stop in Hammerfast for a short time. He offers 18 small rooms, each with two bunk beds, for a rate of 5 sp per night.  Tarras, a half-elf bard, performs nightly at Rondal’s Inn, as well as in the Gate Market and at the Foundation Stone.

13. The Foundation Stone

The Foundation Stone is the most popular tavern in Hammerfast for adventurers and other ne’er-do-wells, the Foundation Stone plays host to mercenaries, explorers, and roughnecks. Anyone who needs to hire adventurers for a job heads to the Foundation Stone.

14. Tenement

This stone building was once a barracks, but it has since been converted to a low-cost, long-term living space. Merchants who expect to spend time in town, or folks who want a cheap room to call home, can pay per week for a cramped sleeping chamber. There are forty such rooms available in this two-story building, with each room basically a cell with a small bed. Urgak the half-orc manages this place for the dwarves of Hammerfast. He lives in a small apartment in the tenement’s basement and relies on a spiked club to keep the peace when drunken or rowdy tenants get out of hand.

15. Swiftriver Clan Home

This small, stone building is packed to the rafters with the nearly two dozen halflings of the Swiftriver Clan. Loud, boisterous, and lacking any sense of tact. The halflings work a number of menial jobs in town, serving as maids and butlers to some of the rich families in the Merchant Ward and as staff in the inns and taverns.

16. Swiftriver Manor

The Swiftriver Clan acquired a second property in Hammerfast. The younger, unattached members of the clan live here. They welcome halflings and gnomes in for drinks and gossip, but tend to rebuff other folk.

17. Halfling Square

A small fountain of a leaping fish stands in the middle of this square. The elders of the Swiftriver Clan gather here to sip tankards of mead and exchange stories.

18. Three Brothers’ Shack

This rickety wooden building is home to three dwarf brothers: Toren, Therd, and Gelmon Woodstone. They were tinkers and woodworkers in their youth, and still perform odd jobs around town for spare coins.

19. East Gate

Traffic heading into and out of the Inner Reaches passes through this gate. Tras, a human warrior, commands the guards here. He dispatches a scribe to escort merchants and anyone else with taxable goods to the Revenue Hall (Location 2).