Northvale

Northvale is a small mountain hamlet on Caldor Isle, in the northern part of the world of Zillarum. A few dozen wooden houses and buildings of various sorts make up Northvale, which has a population of about 100 people. The houses are simple, with wooden, and some tiled or thatched, roofs and a small a spring, surrounded by a ring of trees, sits on the eastern border. The mill on the northernmost edge of the hamlet is set on a hill that overlooks the valley that gradually rises into the towering mountain that dominates the center of the island. The surrounding land, about a mile or so, is farmed, some of the crops being sent to the nearby port town of Seyda, on the isle's eastern peninsula. The village is mostly self-sufficient, but trades a good deal with Seyda.
The smells of fresh-tilled earth from the farmer's plots, fresh fish and salt air from the coast to the south, livestock from the nearby barns and pastures, sawdust from the mill, and the like fills your noses as you pass through various parts of town. They are accompanied by the soft creak of a water wheel as the mountain stream flows through the northern part of town, as well as whistling wind blowing through the trees over the mountains and up from the sea. At times the sound of a hammer and saw is carried on the air down from the hill, along with the occasional moo or cluck from farm animals.
Northvale has a simple, democratic government, led by an appointed mayor who presides over a council of elders. Apart from the trade with nearby Seyda, the Northvale is independent of any cities, confederacies, city-states, and so on. It is peaceful and there is little more than petty crime. It has no need of permanent defenses, though one could imagine the townsfolk might form a militia if need be. By the central common there is but a single general store for any material goods, and a few folk sell things like fish and bread and trinkets or offer guest rooms to any travelers, who are more-often-than-not a traveling merchant or journeyman. A single, small temple staffed by a few priests sits next to the large Goddess Statue in the middle of Northvale.
Other than that, Northvale is wholly unremarkable, though, according to legend, the mountain to the northeast is home to the Earth Dragon, Tervus. That is just a story, however, as no one alive has ever seen a dragon. It doesn't keep children from dreaming, though.

Demographics

Humans
Notable NPCs:

• Bertram Buckmunn (Mayor)

• Yngis Buckmunn (Mayor's son and friend of party)

• Jencho Fairprice (general store owner)

• Mival Evenwood (priest), Kester Highhill (acolyte), Eva Ramondo (acolyte)

• Grant Strongbeam (sawyer and Bud's adoptive father)

• Terry Minarah, Nantun Westra, Vondis Silifrey, Clerebold Nolah, Gunter Marsk (woodsmen)

• Manfred Amblecrown (traveling merchant)

• Hulmarra Borr (journeyman)

Government

Democratic, mayor and town council

Infrastructure

• mayor's house

• general store

• temple and statue

• store houses

• spring

• mill

• workshops

Geography

Notable features include a hill, cliffside, river, spring, surrounding forest, mountain, and caverns to the north.

Maps

• 

  Caldor Isle

  The isle of Caldor, home to the Earth Dragon, Tervus.

Type

Hamlet

Population

100

Location under

Caldor Isle

Owner/Ruler

Bertram Buckmunn

Characters in Location

• Bertram Buckmunn
• Grant Strongbeam
• Jencho Fairprice
• Kester Highhill
• Mival Evenwood

Related Reports (Primary)

• Session 1: Humble Beginnings / Descent Into the Earth Dragon Cave