11. Carpenter’s Shop

The Carpenter’s Shop in Nulb stands as one of the last symbols of honest labor in a town overrun with thieves, slavers, and cultists. Nestled along the muddy thoroughfare near the docks, this two-story wooden structure serves not only as a workshop but as the home of the Edrek Family, the town’s only skilled woodworkers. Despite the rise of bandits, pirates, and the growing influence of the Temple of Elemental Evil, the shop continues to function, adapting to the dangerous new world Nulb has become.

The Carpenter’s Shop & Dock

The shop is a two-story log building with a hillside basement workshop. The ground floor is a workspace filled with planks, sawdust, and tools, while the second floor serves as the family’s home.

Features & Services

• Woodworking & Repairs: The only place in Nulb where boats, carts, and structures can be repaired.
• Hidden Basement Safehouse: A concealed space beneath the workshop where Leika stashes supplies and documents.
• Boat Repair Dock: A small dock where damaged vessels are fixed—sometimes used by pirates for quick patch jobs.

Surviving in Nulb

The Edrek Family treads carefully through the murky politics of Nulb, avoiding direct involvement in its criminal underworld while staying useful enough to avoid becoming targets.

Connections & Politics

• Temple of Elemental Evil: They avoid the Temple’s agents but cannot refuse work for them. Beyard crafts hidden compartments in wagons for smugglers, all while gathering information.
• Lady Nysera Krivaltis (Iron Talons): Leika and Nysera share a complicated past—Nysera suspects Leika is more than just a carpenter’s wife.
• 1. Waterside Hostel of Nulb (Crimson Reapers’ Base): Beyard has been forced to repair furniture and wagons for the Crimson Reapers. He hates them, but knows better than to refuse.
• Otise’s Smithy: Beyard has an unspoken alliance with Otis of 2. Otises Smithy and Stable , another craftsman disgusted by the state of Nulb. They occasionally exchange information.

Religious Views

The Eldreks are followers of The Old Faith, believing in the balance of nature and the inevitability of cycles. However, in the growing shadow of the Elder Elemental God, Beyard has begun questioning whether the world itself is tilting toward darkness.

Adventure Hooks

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• "The Last Nail" – Beyard offers the party a hidden message inside a wagon he is forced to build for the Temple. Can they deliver it before it’s too late?
• "A Family in Chains" – The Crimson Reapers decide to take the Edreks hostage after Beyard refuses to craft a hidden vault for stolen goods. The party must intervene before the family disappears.
• "The Spy’s Refuge" – Leika knows a crucial secret about the Temple but needs the party’s help to smuggle her children out of Nulb before she acts.
• "The Assassin’s Past" – Nysera Krivaltis demands to know the truth about Leika, forcing the party to decide whether to protect her or expose her past.

Conclusion

The Carpenter’s Shop is a relic of old Nulb, a place of skill and tradition in a town sinking into lawlessness. The Edrek family is balanced on a knife’s edge, caught between serving the criminals that run Nulb and finding a way to escape before it’s too late. Will they survive, or will the tides of darkness sweep them under like so many others?

DM-Only Section: The Carpenter's Family Secrets

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Despite their outward appearance as simple woodworkers, the Edrek family has accumulated hidden wealth from years of skilled craftsmanship and strategic planning.

• Beyard’s Hidden Cache: Under a loose floorboard in the workshop, Beyard keeps 8 gold coins, 40 electrum coins, and a fine silver dagger—his last resort should he need to bribe or defend his family.
• Leika’s Emergency Funds: In the hollowed-out leg of the kitchen table, Leika has 15 platinum pieces stashed away, reserved for escaping Nulb if necessary.
• Sorina’s Locket: A small silver locket, worth 60 gold pieces, given to Sorina by her mother, containing a hidden map of a smuggler’s route out of Nulb.

Leika’s Growing Fears

Leika is becoming increasingly concerned about the rising influence of the Temple of Elemental Evil and the danger it presents to her family.

• Escape Plans: She has been quietly gathering intelligence on the safest routes out of Nulb.
• Beyard’s Reluctance: While Leika wants to flee, Beyard remains tied to his home and business, reluctant to abandon everything he has built.

A Dangerous Decision Looms

Beyard and Leika are at a crossroads—do they stand and fight against the creeping darkness in Nulb, or do they risk everything to escape before it’s too late?

• Potential Allies: If they stay, they might seek out Otise or resistance sympathizers.
• Strategic Importance: The Carpenter’s Shop is one of the best-built structures in Nulb—it could serve as a hidden stronghold against the Temple’s forces.

Beyard’s Carpenter Shop by 3orcs

"Love is the lighthouse in the darkest storms."

Ownership & The Edrek Family

Beyard Edrek – The Carpenter of Nulb

Age: 41, Human (Oeridian) A broad-shouldered, sun-worn man with calloused hands and deep-set eyes. His graying black hair is always covered by a leather work cap. A man of few words, he lets his craftsmanship speak for him.

• Personality: Stoic, pragmatic, and fiercely protective of his family. He believes in hard work over violence but is not naive about Nulb’s dangers.
• Motivation: Survival. Beyard does not trust the Temple, nor the criminals who now control Nulb, but he understands that open defiance means death. Instead, he works quietly, keeping his head down, while secretly planning an escape for his family.
• Combat Skills: Former mercenary-turned-craftsman; skilled with a hand axe and a heavy crossbow. He keeps his old gear hidden beneath the floorboards of the workshop.

Leika Edrek – The Hidden Blade

Age: 38, Human (Flan) A lean, auburn-haired woman with sharp eyes and a quiet intensity. Unlike most in Nulb, she carries herself with an air of discipline and precision.

• Personality: A former agent of the Viscount’s spies, Leika has abandoned her past life for family, but her instincts remain razor-sharp. She is secretive, observant, and deeply distrustful of the Temple.
• Motivation: To protect her children and find a way out of Nulb before the town is fully consumed by darkness. She has begun hiding coin and supplies for an eventual escape.
• Combat Skills: A trained assassin and former scout, Leika still practices with knives and poisons, keeping her skills sharp should she ever need them.

Children of the Edrek Family

• Verek (17) – Works in the shop but secretly dreams of becoming a warrior. Trains in secret with a stolen sword.
• Sorina (15) – An apprentice carpenter, highly skilled, but eager to explore beyond Nulb.
• Lorran (10) – The youngest, fascinated by the strange visitors to Nulb, listens in on conversations he shouldn’t.

Type

Workshop

Parent Location

Nulb

"Nulb may be rough, but folks like Liberty keep it from falling apart—literally and figuratively."

Liberty the Carpenter by 3orcs