Sandpoint
Sandpoint is a small town in the north of Redwick. Years ago it was one of the primary harbours for the export of lumber from the Everglades, but as the forest has become more dangerous, most logging operations have left the town.
Like most areas in Redwick, Sandpoint is a diverse town; with many non-human refugees fleeing persecution in neighbouring baronies coming to settle in the coastal town.
The Town
A simple, relatively peaceful town with all the color and common oddities one expects from a tightly-knit community, Sandpoint sits at a point on the Dragon Coast at the edge of the Everglades forest.
Wood buildings and cluttered docks line the town’s natural harbor, while farms and the manors of wealthy citizens dot the surrounding countryside. During the day, fishing, farming, lumbering, glassmaking, and shipbuilding occupy most of the townsfolk, who commonly retire to their homes by way of Sandpoint’s tavern.
A theatre makes an unusual attraction in such a small community, but Sandpoint’s true landmark is the Old Light, a lighthouse of ancient origins that lies in ruins. A relatively peaceful town, devoid of many of the dangers of a true frontier town and intrigues of a sprawling city, Sandpoint has nonetheless had its share of troubles.
The fading scars of a recent terror still linger, a time most folk refer to as the Late Unpleasantness. Just over five years ago, a madman stalked the streets of Sandpoint, killing dozens. Known as Chopper, the killer’s month-long terror ended bloodily when an eccentric local artisan was revealed as the murderer and killed during his attempted capture.
Adding to the pain, during the course of the murders, a local noble, Alden Foxglove, was accused of the murders and an angry mob attempted to lynch him, burning down his mansion and several others in the process.
Emerging from the shadow of these events, though, Sandpoint has healed and rebuilt, with many townsfolk viewing the coming dedication of a new church as a symbolic end to the healing and return to normality.
Demographics
A welcoming, largely unprejudiced community of colourful locals call Sandpoint home. Presented here are but a few of the town’s most noteworthy residents.
Kendra Deverin: Town mayor. Deverin has been the Mayor of Sandpoint for almost 8 years, and is a woman of vision. Under her rule, Sandpoint has implemented many policies that has kept it from falling to ruin. After taking the position, she approached the wealthiest land owners and offered them a seat on a local council to help impact policy. This was good for the land owners as it allowed them to pass legislation that helped them increase their wealth, but their financial contributions allowed Deverin to keep the town afloat.
Dorian Winterheart: Grandiose dwarf actor, gadabout, and proprietor of the Sandpoint Theatre.
Dorian came to Sandpoint less than a year ago with a small sum of gold he won from some disreputable gentlemen in a card game in Langdale. He immediately purchased an old warehouse and began converting it into the Sandpoint theatre.
The townsfolk were suspicious of him at first, being a dwarf, but once he began hiring local tradespeople to help with the repairs, most people accepted him.
There are still some unknown people who graffiti the theatre with anti-dwarf statements and break windows, but overall Dorian is happy here.
Belor Hemlock: The gruff but protective town sheriff. Having an affair with Lady Kaye, proprietor of the local brothel.
Giselle Anwen: Half-elf ex-adventurer and proprietor of the Green Dragon Tavern and Inn.
Giselle is a tall, thin middle-aged woman with long, red hair tied up in a bun. She has a quick wit and ready smile. She wears a simple blue gown and linen apron stained with many years of alcoholic residue.
The townsfolk may be suspicious of the new adventurers come to town, but Giselle welcomes all with a bright smile, knowing new customers, however they may seem, are an opportunity.
Gowan Anwen: Cook, Butcher, and Husband to Giselle. Gowan is wider and shorter than his wife, with a leather apron over a large belly. A thin circle of curly black hair rings his bald head. Like his wife, he is jovial and outgoing.
Gowan spends most of his time in the kitchen, accessed via a door behind the bar. The players may hear him talking to his wife through the door, or meet him once the blacksmith comes in.
Becca: Green Dragon Serving Girl, daughter to Giselle and Gowan.
Becca is a teenage girl, which means she’s basically an adult as far as any of these people are considered. She’s thin, wears a blue dress like her mother and has her father’s curly black hair. She does all the odd jobs around the inn, she takes orders, serves the food, cleans, does a little cooking. While her parents are both open and jovial, she acts like a little tyrant, chastising anyone who spills drinks or slops food or tracks in mud.
When she takes orders she typically says “What d’you want?” with one hand impatiently on her hip. This draws a “tch” from her mother and, when asking the players, will cause her to smile with fake sweetness and ask “what will you be having?”
Caroc the farmer: Caroc is a thin, old man with a pointed, weasel-like face. He squints perpetually and is suspicious of strangers, especially pathfinders. His son joined the pathfinder company and was killed in the war with the Stone Dwarves, so he has a dislike of both pathfinders and Dwarves. Member of the town council
Maddoc the Farmer: Father of Simi.
Maddoc is another old man with a shock of short red hair. He sits with Caroc. The two have known each other decades and while Maddoc is not as suspicious, neither is he particularly friendly.
Where Caroc is quick to speak and quick to judge, Maddoc rarely talks, but when he does he is the voice of reason. Former member of the council.
Pascoe and Talwyn. Pascoe is a youthful-seeming middle-aged man with an open face and optimistic bearing. He sits at the table with his young daughter. Together they count out the profits from the day’s sales. Some silver and copper sit on the table between them.
Talwyn beams at her father as together they count their money. This is a ritual they perform. They never have enough money for anyone to think about stealing from them.
Pascoe’s wife, an Elf, died in childbirth, and now Pascoe’s only desire is to keep his young daughter safe and cared for.
Brother Altes: The human Cleric of the Three Sisters Church. Altes is in his fifties and was once an adventurer. He still wears his banded mail (which has clearly grown tight in areas) and a mace hangs from his belt, though he hasn’t wielded it in years. He has silver hair and light brown eyes.
Abalar Zantus: Sandpoint’s mild-mannered local priest.
Jago: The Blacksmith. A large man wearing a black leather apron over linen shirt and wool pants. He smells of sulphur and carries a heavy hammer. Member of the town council.
Titus Scarnetti: Scarnetti is one of the few people who has profited from the last few years in Sandpoint. By buying up and pushing out the other lumber operations, Scarnetti has gained a monopoly in the lumber trade in the area. He is renowned for his heavy-handed tactics, and bordering on law-breaking practices to eliminate his competition. Scarnetti’s latest controversy is petitioning the Mayor’s office to allow him to use pay the refugees that have arrived to the town as cheap labour, circumventing the town’s minimum wage laws. Member of the town council.
Ethram Valdemar: Harbour Master. Oldest of the town nobles. Valdemar has lived in Sandpoint all his life. His family built the docks that allowed the wealth to first flow through the town. In the decades since Sandpoint’s decline began, Valdemar has grown resentful of the town and he has become obsessed with restoring the town, and more importantly himself, to great wealth.
Valdemar has a bladder infection that causes him to get up multiples times during the night. He had become grumpy in his hold age, and has a particular distaste for Kendra Deverin and the (poor) non-humans she has attracted to Sandpoint. Member of the town council,
Ven Vinder: Owner of Sandpoint’s best-stocked general store. Notorious for finding speciality items. Sounds like Romanian old and shaky. Member of the town council.
Eliot Foxglove: Recently returned to the town after leaving during the Skinsaw murders.
Jacques Laroque: Charismatic Human Swindler. He talks a big talk but is an utter coward and will ALWAYS run if the option is available.
Timo Bryce: Female Halfling. Laroque’s assistant. In love with him.
Grahame Lesley: Human Local Commoner. Took part in Laroques drinking contest where he passed out. Had his arm broken while being questioned by Badaar.
Don Erwin: Human Stablemaster, Pete Rolf’s Husband. Mild Mannered and fair.
Pete Rolf: Human Commoner. Don Erwin’s husband.
Lady Petra Kaye: Owner of the Midnight Lounge, the local brothel.
Vuska: Vuska is a half-orc in the employ of Lady Kaye. She keeps the working girls and boys of the Midnight Lounge safe. Though technically a mercenary working a temporary contract Vuska has been with Lady Laye for almost 10 years.
Marcelin Ernst: Prostitute at Lady Kaye’s brothel. She is a kind hearted girl. She is killed in the night by Simi after she recovers her corporeal form after her deafeat in Whitespring Crypt.
Government
Kendra Deverin has served as Sandpoint’s mayor for the past eight years. Lawmaker, judge, and general peacemaker, Deverin has proven to be both an adept diplomat and stern hand when need be—skills likely honed during her youth in Langdale and adventuring in the region.
With a personal—some say sisterly— style of governing, Kendra holds the abiding respect of most of Sandpoint’s people, charming them with her fiery temper and tenacity for justice (as demonstrated during the Late Unpleasantness).
A council of several of the town’s most respected and affluent landowners aids Deverin’s work. While several councilmembers have their own agendas and visions for the town, the mayor’s no-nonsense attitude assures that council decisions ever work toward the common good.
Defences
Meting out the town’s good justice, sheriff and councilmember Belor Hemlock keeps watch over Sandpoint’s people. Held as something of a local hero, Hemlock is lauded with being the man who brought the serial killer, Chopper, to justice.
Although rarely faced with misconduct more severe than vandalism and public drunkenness, the sheriff is both a keen wit and a skilled swordsman, and openly proves both when the rare crime requires it. While the town’s chief enforcer, Hemlock knows the difference between the word of the law and its intent, and often gives those under his protection the benefit of the doubt.
Their sheriff’s work aside, Sandpoint’s people realize they must often fend for and defend themselves, especially on the outlying farms. In the rarest and most extreme cases— and even then thoroughly discouraged—mob justice is sometimes all that satisfies the outraged people.
Industry & Trade
Sandpoint was once a bustling trade town which handled the lumber exports for the entire region.
But due to a lack of crown funding for defence, and the growing danger coming from the Everglades, Sandpoint has become a poor town.
Geography
A rolling land of limestone escarpments, rugged tors, and verdant moors surrounds Sandpoint. Most who populate the area live off the land and sea. Numerous farms spread over the surrounding countryside, while the homes of fisher folk dot the coastal cliffs. Viable farming land is a coveted commodity around Sandpoint, as rocky hills and expanses of limestone pavements— uneven areas of flat rock—break the lush landscape.
And the ever-present threat of wolves, bears, and more dangerous creatures lurks in the dense woodland of the Everglades, which sits on Sandpoint’s doorstep.
