Thursday 23 December 2021

Goatsmeadow





































Have as good a holiday as possible everyone or else.
 
New start village for the current campaign. 

So the previous map was a 30-mile wide hex, this is a close up of the village area and creeps into the western hex which is boggier with lots of creeks and water. A few things might beg the question and attract interest from players. Also worth noting is the border between kingdoms which is pretty loose. Bandits, nomads and shepherds cross it regularly and the border is a looser notion to villagers than the nobility would like. 

d12 Local Occasional Events
1 Herders report a sneaky lone wolf stalking goats
2 Some scruffy bandits have been camping in the area watching a road
3 Vermin menace d6 1=locusts 2=rabbits 3=flies 4=mosquitoes 5=seed eating bird 6=slugs
4 An illness sweeps the village brought by a trader
5 Large merchant caravan stays, offering deals and keeping locals busy
6 A travelling entertainer comes to visit for a d4 days, someone local falls in love
7 Priest warns all about d6 1=naughty spirits 2=declining morality 3=witchcraft 4=undead seen wandering from the old Forgotten City graveyard 5=saw ominous cloud 6=beware of dragons
8 Adventurer party arrives and stays a d4 weeks to explore the lost city
9 Chariot of a noble passes d4 1=messenger 2=hunting trip 3=millitary patrol 4=mysterious foreigner on urgent business 5=mysterious noble hunting someone 6=rich wizard seeking lore
10 Some have seen strange lights in distance by night
11 Village assembly meets d4 1=resolve local dispute 2=anounce a feast 3=planning on local improvements 4=reallocating garden plots
12 Someone local reports having funny dreams then starts acting secretive 

Village Detail
Pop 40-60

Buildings all mud-brick and some fired bricks with bitumen roofs often with plants and a pleasant rest area on the roof with a shade cloth. When hot people often sleep up here and with a breeze in mosquito-free. Local wood ok for fire but terrible for craft. Woven reeds and palm leaves are common for all kinds of uses from mats, dors, fishnets, huts

The village headman 
Ansudad is appointed by the assembly of all adults over 50 and a few honorary invited locals like the smith, priest, trader, druid, innkeeper and schoolmaster. Ansudad is bossy and disliked but nobody else really wants the job. He and the redsmith run the militia. The assembly is typically a dozen. They meet in the hall which is also used for community events, occasional work and goats in bad weather or attack.  

The Trader Abu-Sin friendly supplying farm goods but most money from passing traders, adventurers and occasionally visiting soldiers. There are some second-hand weapons, ropes, sacks, lamps and other handy adventurer needs. He lives with his young nephew Anu-Sin who wants a wife but his uncle is holding out for a rich older widow. Abu-Sin was a thief long ago 3rd Lv and his nephew has learned the basics at 1st Lv. He lends money which has made him unpopular with locals. He won't rip off locals but may traders he may never see again.

The Redsmth Adan and his two sons, daughter and wife work here helping the forge, gathering fuel and also making clay goods and direct communal brick making days. Spears, daggers, javelins, knives, shields and a few helmets are on display. Swords and other weapons are made to order and take a week. Adan's wife Sundi is quite influential with local women folk and knows all the best gossip. She occasionally makes religious devotional figurines of clay to commemorate lost families. They have an abhuman Bull man Kloris who helps with bellows and hard labour they found as a child. Adan is a 2nd Lv fighter.

Grain Silos are mud-brick beehive-shaped and one has a dove house on top. Collective owned by the village. There are great ancient milling stones used a day a week. Barley, chickpeas and lentils are mostly kept. Beehives and date drying racks are nearby.

Half Moon In is a circular tall building with gates and a courtyard. Most smaller caravans park inside with one VIP room 1sp, 12 smaller 10cp rooms for one or two and stables for animals and basic workers 1cp. Shugmog the innkeeper, his wife Shuri, his two daughters and his youngest son work here with two servants. The in has an old one-eyed cat people like. 

School House
has a dozen boarders living here to learn scribal and literacy skills. Once a week there is a class for older locals who have taken up reading. The classes are taught by four apprentices who in turn learn wizardry from Master Zuul a 5th Lv wizard. The apprentices all avoid drinking and mingling with locals mostly studying and teaching.

Adad Shrine
is maintained by a priest 3rd Lv Mushu who blesses the herds and preys for good weather. He is always warning everybody and has a full suit of scale armour and a bronze goat-headed mace. He helps the militia and provides healing and advice. Mushu was sent here for some error in the city but is happier here.

Buzzard Creek was modified to drain into the millpond and herders bring animals here several times a day in summer. It's quite pleasant with grass, gardens and some palm trees. There are fish in the pond.

Family homes
are buildings with 6-12 inhabitants and 2-3 rooms and roof gardens.
1 Mountain clan are goat herders and hunters and have six large guardian dogs
2 Mountain Clan and is the home of the smiths extended family who mostly work in gardens
3 Storm Clan are the poorer extended family of the trader and mostly are gardeners
4 Hydra Clan are from a tribe over the border and are gardeners and care for the water supply, their family includes Granny Hydra a 4th Lv druid cultist of Ningizzida who heals, blesses crops and helps treat livestock. Her daughter Arasni is the local Midwife and skilled non-magical healer. They have lots of small pet snakes and a 4m long python to keep down rodents. This clan also have some dealing with kin over the border and the dragon cults to the east. They have improved the village gardens and are well-liked  
5 Sky Clan and Ansudad the village heads family home. A bit fancier and he has a healthy large family but no sons to take his place yet but has six daughters he watches like hawks. His wife and daughters brew local beer and supply the inn and are the best bakers in town. Despite being a grump the women folk constantly work around him.

The various clans are from different settling migrants and this polyglot village is mixed and open-minded, their common mixes in lots of tribal and foreign words. The mountain clan are older and more traditional herding former nomad clan (they have stories of own city long ago destroyed by dragons). They moved here 40 years ago. The Storm clan are from the city merchant classes and came here for country life away from an inter-clan vendetta only five years ago. Selling goods to adventurers and traders has worked well. The Hydra clan came from over the border a score years ago and have helped the village thrive. The druidic cult of Ningizzida and Adad have different holy days and no conflicts but think they are the best. The Sky clan have come from a larger town and are bakers and brewers who arrived ten years ago and got the assembly started and built the hall. They have an idol of Anu in their home with urns of their ancestors ashes buried under it, 

d12 Local jobs need doing for petty cash
1 Fetch some good wood from over far meadow and creek
2 Catch and possibly cook vermin d4 1=birds 2=rats 3=huge locusts 4=rabbits
3 Help prune trees and bushes and vines
4 Gather grass in bundles for the inn stable
5 Carry water to the Adad shrine for a ritual
6 Dig several new latrine pits
7 Gather goat dung and spread on garden beds
8 Picking fruit and vegetables
9 Gather firewood
10 Gather clay from the local pit and make bricks with moulds
11 Help muster goat heard for seasonal blessings and inspection
12 Help slaughter goat and some birds

Militia drills are commonplace and a 4-hour stint weekly for all able-bodied but the elders still come and watch

d12 What can you do for fun around here?
1 Music and dancing common in village and more often in the inn
2 Fishing is popular especially for old men, women prefer bird trapping
3 Hear elders tell stories
4 Adad shrine or the Druid conduct daily rituals
5 Go to school and learn the basics of literacy or read or chat with scholars
6 Hunting d4 1=rabbits 2=deer 3=boar 4=angry wild bull
7 Militia drills and training, target practice, wrestling, weekly training and beers
8 Make something to practice crafts or to sell to travellers
9 Go for a ramble  in the wilds looking for trouble or opportunities
10 Visit another village or nomads camp
11 Explore a cave or ruin
12 Explore the Forgotten City

2 comments:

  1. I really like this. I like the detail and mixture of people. A very good base village.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes - hopefully easy to manage and players will no doubt spend time away once famous and the local ruins all explored. They could easily end up in charge too.

      Delete

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