Wednesday 27 December 2017

Grogstop Gully






































So I'm compiling all my village stuff and making a PDF shortly so Im also detailing my setting villages. There are a few bugs on this but the version i put on flickr and the PDF will be mostly fixed. S above the centre next to the well is a farmers house and mentioned by proper name in text below. Im probably doing more depending on response.

This is a kind of former murder hobo stop but the civilising influence of organised crime, cults and the heavy handed nobility have made it a successful trading town and some people even get some farming and wood working done too. Decent folk don't really live here.

Local Area
Ghastly Moors
- a lonely sloping area of thick grass, heather and streams. People hunt by day but by night it is haunted by terrible sounds and screams. Thankfully some scared cliffs separate it from the village. There are some old caves and pre human carvings on the cliff and holes where treasure hunters looked for hidden tombs
Goatwood - thick scrubby ill kept wood where wild goats graze and goatmen dance and chant by the full moon. bandits once lived here but they moved into the village years ago 

Lesser Marsh - milder marsh where people fish and a few hermits and inbred families live
Glenmarsh - a swampy marsh with scraggly trees where lizard men and frogmen fight and secretive cults meet

Eelpond - a dark small lake swarming with eels and catfish that occasionally tear apart a sheep. Fishermen come for the eels and fish to smoke and trade
Corpse Wood -a small patch of spindly trees marked to be cut in the future and a popular place to dump bodies
Bleak Woods - a dark and spooky woodland that local children fear. Hunters are trying to get rid of the wolves
Patch Wood - a wood of various trees planted three generations ago by the woodworkers of the village. Some come to gather nuts but the squirrels have been getting bigger and meaner

Lantern Wood - a gloomy wood popular with the woodcutters but by night strange lights are seen within

Northside

Village Common - where cheaper visitors camp and occasionally carny folk set up here or there is a market or country fair. The fair is considered corrupt and substandard and the carny folk are thuggish con men. Once every few years goblin traders run a night market selling strange goods. Some villagers graze their goats and sheep here in between
Haunted House - overlooking the marsh this two story old house has driven away squatters and settlers and some say a witch or ghost lives inside

Squire Drizzle - is a drunken pretentious farmer who employs homeless vagrants and orcs on his farm
Rental Cottage - often hired by visiting mobsters, murder hobos or criminals laying low from the city, 1sp per day
Coach Inn - is run by the Barony and nobody messes with it. Many say the Innkeeper Master Braddon is a member of the secret police as are some of his staff. Messengers, better off travellers and carriage travellers stay here. Most of the male staff are large and capable of throwing out drunk adventurers and the housemaids are always smiling and asking questions, 1sp per day or a gp for VIP rooms
Smith Farm - is a small run down farm  run by the feuding sons of a recently vanished farmer
Well - large public well with horse troughs where visitors and locals get water. Many farmers have there own small wells and creeks are common. Some say there is something funny in the well
Wonder House - Vance karg a travelling carny boss set up here and employs 2d6 horrible carny freaks and entertainers at any time. For a copper you get a tour and with a silver you get to meet them. Sleeping with the freaks costs a gp. He also sells wondrous colourful energy and healing potions and drugs 


Westside
Jack's Place - is a seedy cheap grog shop where murderers, thieves and prostitutes meet. He denies it is a business and claims all visitors are his friends. The Sheriff gets a cut and doesn't bother with it. This was the first local business that formed the nucleus of the town. Jack was a bandit leader who was pardoned for turning in local gang leaders
Village Idiot Shack - the village has had quite a few idiots in recent years for good luck but most killed themselves by accident. They latest one is on trial
Granary - where farmers bring grain where it is taken by waggon train to the city
Sheriff house - Sheriff James is the brother of the mayor (also the magistrate) and employs two bailiffs each with two beadles to enforce obvious breaches of town etiquette. Of late the beadles have been orcs

Funeral Chapel - services are held here administered by a cleric of the death god reverend Grimm and his acolytes
Graveyard - a walled public graveyard where buried travellers are entered and used by local farmers for generations. Some of the oldest graves predate human settlement and some prehistoric monoliths are among the monuments. At night the gates are locked and the walls have spikes to keep things inside. The gravedigger Sam is insane and usually gets help from the shrine acolytes and the village idiot if possible
Master Mortis - village necromancer helps travellers contact their lost friends and family and sometimes deals with petty spirits. He holds weekly seances for local women. He actually teaches several village youths as well the basics of literacy out of kindness to locals. The sheriff uses him to help find which homeless vagrant is guilty when a murdered body is found. He also helps embalming and other funeral services


Southwest 
Old Shack - this poorly sad shack is often rented by labourers or poor adventurers from the Mayor, 1cp a day

Farmer Tate - lives with his family and is relatively honest. His daughter married the sheriff so nobody bothers him
Old Murderer's Shack - a woodcutter lived here with his cannibal family and nobody wants to move in. Many fear the clan will return and the house is cursed

Farmer Jolly - a fat happy porcine farmer who convinces many travellers to stay and work for him while he eats and drinks and fornicates with women way too good for him. Someone accused him of being a devil swine but they died before producing evidence and his sons and wife now serve Jolly
Stables - where most people leave their horses and includes a blacksmith Ron while his wife Molly runs the business. They are protected by the mayor. 1cp a day and animals are for sale
Ruined Brewery -  was burned down by rival grog shops killing all the staff. Some say it is haunted. Rats and a d4 old retired murder hobos are possibly inside
Wood Wardens - a brotherhood of trappers who hunt unwelcome creatures like wolves, appease faeries and sell game and hides and plant trees. They worship the old druidic cult in the woods in secret
Farmer Drizzle - is a hopeless drunk ad his family are starving. The house is large but dilapidated and is full of scrawny kids. 
His children want to run away and join adventurers
The Red Barn - is shared by local farmers who take turns guarding it. Drizzle's sons work here and it is the only reason the family eat at all
Farmer Morgan - a strict churchman who leads worship among the farmers. He has raised several orcs and goblins as labourers and beats anyone in his house who shows impiety or swears

South East
Farmer Snaggle - some say he and his sons are part orc because of their terrible teeth and overbites. His clan are well known for the awful food they cook
Farmers Shrine - where farmers leave offerings to the harvest queen and prey for their crops and animals. Sister Donald runs it and visits local farmers for miles around
Orphanage - a charity house with up to twenty orphans, many taken from the city slums and sold to tradesmen and business owners and slaves and apprentices. New orphans come and go weekly and a strict regimen of beatings keep them in line. Master Eckart and Mistress Payne run the place and are regarded as moral pillars of the community. Orphans are for hire 1cp a day or you can buy one of 3d4 gp
Abandoned - rotting sheds where a family died a few winters ago

Carpenters and Lumberyard - a combination base for the timber industry loggers and carpenters sweatshop with many children working hard. The workers come and go often as do the managers and most are hard drinkers and fighters. The Mayor owns it
Bakery - a new business very popular that sells pies for workers at lunch and bread for the locals. Even orcs and goblins love them and he makes special worm and shroom pies for them. A few locals say only eat the eel pie and coarse black bread
Master Zoran - village wizard lives here with his lab, he often has students stay with him from the city who try and catch up with their studies. He is busy, scruffy and grumpy and most locals fear him. He occasionally hires adventurers to find demonic relics
Granny Flax - the oldest woman in the village lives off charity. She is grumpy and hates young people. In her youth she was in a gang in the city and had a rep for murder and mayhem. She was a adventurer and retired here for the cheap booze. She lets adventurers stay in her shack a cp per day
Abandoned - a family lived here and disappeared a few years ago, the roof leaks badly
Adventurers Shop - deals in second hand dungeon supplies and dungeon loot. Mr Drek runs it for a guild in the city who nobody messes with
Ruined Hall - was a beastmaster guild long ago who caught and trained strange beasts for gladiator pits in the city

Eastside
Madam Xarus - a fortune teller who also works on exorcisms and curse removal. She is a priestess of the traveller cult and looks after the merchants shrine. Most fear her and her brutish son
Farmer Grumble - a cantankerous pig farmers addicted to prostitutes
Traders Shrine - where merchants, travellers and shopkeepers come to prey for good business and safe travel. Madam Xarus is the priestess and her acolytes are prostitutes

Widow Gaunt - a mean old widow who lives with her huge black cat named devil
Squire Moran - a ex wizards bodyguard who is used to killing anyone who gets in his way. He runs his farm with no kin and employs orcs and a few beastmen
Butcher - Gregor and his wife Olga are a large muscular couple who love chopping up animals all day. He welcomes dungeon monsters for a novelty and hates the baker for not trading with him
Farmer Pitt - is a cousin of the mayor and reminds everybody. He even runs the village when the Mayor is away in the city. His family are well dressed and all haughty
Reptile Shrine - there was some trouble with this cult years ago but now the cult help keep the lizard men happy. Occasionally of late the frog men have been causing problems and some wonder if the frogs want a shrine too. The Priest Freder was a city dandy but has met the Naga goddess in the swamp temple and is very zealous about the benefits of man - reptile relations. He undercuts all other clerics in town for half price healing
Healer Tom - a cleric of a healing cult who helps but seems to be keeping an eye on the area. He often heals the poor for labour
Ruined Mill - this was burned down by a mob chasing a monster with torches a few years ago and the mayor will not repair it. Now mostly drunk youths and homeless vagrants use it


Village Centre

Mayor Gibble - runs the village and was deputised by the Baron as no nobles wanted the job. Apparently he was a adventurer in his youth and worked in the Barons household staff for decades. He has no family but has several surly servants and a occasional live in lover who comes and goes mysteriously
Village Store - run by Mrs Mimble with her elderly senile husband who sits on the porch telling fanciful stories and gossip. Locals get a discount travellers are overcharged
Pink Dragon Inn - a inn that has prostitutes of all persuasions and even some orcs. There are floor shows every night and exotic guest strippers. When short of talent Barny Grond hires the freaks from the house of wonders or gets some monsters polymorphed by the local wizard. His wife madame Grond keeps the prostitutes in line with a whip
Rental Cottage - most posh one of several rented by the mayor. This has servants and is two stories, 2gp a week
Dr Ewin - a doctor from the city who lost several patients with his experiments so now he lives here and uses captured monsters as test subjects and for vivisection. He often has guests from the city who watch his dissections and buy pickled monster parts. He also sells potions and poison derived from monster organs. He only performs abortions on living customers or sews up orc wounds because nobody else will.
Rusty Dagger Inn - a nasty inn used by bandits, thieves and travellers to and from Bloodsand beach. Staff get occasionally murdered and orc bouncers have been employed to protect them. 1cp to sleep on common room floor, 1sp for a room
Fox Brother Lodge - a fraternal order or cult from the city who wear fox masks and robes. They are thieves, sadists and dandies. A few locals and the Mayor are members but only the order really know. They have female and male members and various ranks. They claim to serve the fox spirit lord and mostly have feasts and get drunk. Some think they are responsible for local murders and poultry thefts. Many city guests come here where they are less scrutinised. Possibly they are a thieves guild for unbalanced gentlemen. Brother Mortimer manages the place and has several staff including a beautiful assistant Sister Fox and several large thugs
Rat Shrine - dedicated to helping keep vermin under control. The farmers stack copper pieces here for the rat acolyte who visits from the city weekly and stays with the mayor 

4 comments:

  1. Absolutely fantastic setting. By all means, please keep us updated on your finalized edit. Happy Holidays!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. cheers- turned out alot bigger than i thought

      is probably the nastiest big village

      not including all the coastal squid cult ones

      Delete
  2. Wonderful. I love the details. Can you put a scale on the big map?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. cheers, you can work it out from the inset detail map but yes - when i have done a few more villages will put revised ones on flickr

      Delete

I love and welcome feedback but not spambots
Good feedback and suggestions inspire me to write more