White Willows pt3

The Villages

All around the canton are villages and hamlets. Most of the hamlets are minor, just a few extend families living near one another for protection and support. They rarely contain any services and the best adventures might hope for in one is a water beet stew and a night in the barn.

The villages are a bit more of an interest to adventures. The term village is an important political one as it is assigned by the Lord Viscount and allows each village to raise its own militia that serves as their town guard. Each village serves as regional power centers, and contains goods and services one might expect from any civilized area like taverns, inns, temples, blacksmiths and some shops.

Jamesson Redoubt

Situated in the Wytchwood Forest Jamesson Redoubt is inhabited mostly by hunters, loggers, and hearty forest folk. Jamesson Redoubt was found recently (just over 30 years ago) during the Boggie Pox when a mercenary captain escaping the chaos and turmoil of the Patchwork Kingdoms took his company and a small train of supporters into the Wytchwood Forest. Finding a large clearing in the forest complete with its own spring (connected to the Nadir Aquafer) the company set up shop to wait out the pox in isolation. One of their first orders of business was to build defenses from the Spiderlings and other forest residents who saw the company and its entourage as intruders and easy prey. A simple moat and a wooden redoubt from stacked logs was built around the settlement. After the pox much of the company left, back to the easy money and intrigues of the Patchworks, but left the fortification behind. The few that stayed some brooked friendship with the local hunters and forest residents becoming a hub and safe haven. Not strong enough to stand on its own the settlement was soon incorporated into the White Willows canton, thanks primarily due to geography and the Lord Viscounts promise of a lasses-fare touch. This village has a strong independence streak and has often come to heads with the Lord Viscount and his decisions (in particular with the Traveling Judges). Unlike most of the canton slavery is not acceptable here (It is still legal, the village cannot do anything about that but slave masters and slavers often find themselves on the wrong side of the whip).

Local business and services include: Smoke and Fire Smokehouse, Moonlight Tavern (common quality inn), The Unbroken Branch (Forester and Tracker Guild/Hunting lodge), Head of the Boar Inn (poor quality inn), DeLoric Animal Trainers (bears and dogs)

Froggy Bottom

Situated on the southwestern edge of the Whippoorwill Mire is the village of Froggy Bottom and is inhabited by the hard-working and frugal bog farmers and hunters who make their living off of the marshy land. The town looks a bit run down, its buildings moss covered and many with a slight lean. Many of the buildings are on stilts and the ‘road’ in the center of the villages is nothing more than series of wood planks atop the mud. The village is in a perpetual cold drizzle and its people only seem to smile when there is a hot beverage in their hands. The village is known for its herbalists most choosing to live here to get as close to the swamp as they can for all the rare ingredients that the marshy ecosystem provides. Froggy Bottom is also known for its frog hunters who sell peat smoked froghemoth meat and its valuable purified blubber. Beyond that the peat harvesting and cranberry farming round out of the bulk of the economy. Additionally since the loss of Esk bog-iron salvaging has had a boom.

Local business and services include: The Hop-On-Inn (common quality inn), The Floppy Frog (high quality tavern), Morgrensen Rendering, [[[TO BE ADDED]]]

Gog’s Downs

Situated in the eastern part of the Farmlands Gog’s Downs is a well-to-do farming village. The village is known for two things, its windmills and the large number of giant stone heads found under its fields. The heads range anywhere from 10 to 40 feet tall and are crudely shaped any many are missing parts. Many of the locals have converted the larger heads into buildings, their craniums hollowed out, windows in the eyes, chimneys in the ears and doors in the mouths. Enterprising peasants have even begun to grow ‘hair’ on the top of the heads, in the form of rooftop gardens. Besides the heads Gog’s Downs is a typical mill town. A series of large windmills grind the grains from the nearby fields into flour for trade and the local farmers come here to trade.

Local business and services include: The Head Rest (common quality inn), Hendon Mills, All-Gods temple (local gods + agricultural gods)

Qualmberg

The western most village in the canton, Qualmberg is the center of tobacco production. For three fourths of the year the village is small and quiet. There are few shops and services, a blacksmith, a stable, and an All-Gods temple. However in the fall during the tobacco harvest the village fills to the brim, its inns overflowing with traders and merchants from all corners of the continent seeking bundles of its precious leaf. During this time the village also hosts a fair bringing its population into the thousands. The population is mostly tobacco and other farmers with a disproportionally high number of Halflings in comparison to the rest of the canton. The Halfling influence can be seen in much of the towns architecture, much of the town is built into the ground in the form earthen shelters.

Local business and services include: The Smoke Ring (common quality inn), Broadleaf Stables, The Faire Grounds, All-Gods temple (local gods + agricultural gods + Halfling gods)

Meekava Village

This village is better known as ‘Stinktown.’ Located close to salt mines and equidistant from the ranching pastures of the Broken Hills and the fishing catches of Spruce Lake the village makes its way by the butchering of cattle, the gutting of fish, and the salting of their meats. The village is a rough place populated by butchers, cowboys, and sailors in various states of boom/bust.

Local business and services include: Hook and Hoof Tavern (poor quality inn), Meekava Salt Mine, Pismo Butchery, Hyde’s Hides Tannery, The Lonely Gaucho (common quality inn), the Salt Baths, All-Gods temple (local gods + mining gods + butchery gods)

Lakeside

This village is located in the far south east on the shores of Spruce Lake. The village is a sleepy one with daily life revolving around the fishing fleet and its daily trips into the lake for catch. Those few members of the village not involved with the fleet are lumberjacks who log the nearby Spruce Forest. Many of the buildings in this village are built from remnants of old ships.

Local business and services include: The Tridents Tipple Tavern (poor quality inn), The Yellow Pearl Dives and Salvage, The Fishers Guild, Ackadar Lumber mill, Copper Bottom Boatyard, All-Gods temple (local gods + water and fish gods + tree gods)

Harwich

This village is located in the far Northeast of the canton and is the center of its fruit production. Large orchards surround the village and it is known for two things its artists and its distilleries. All of the buildings here are brightly painted and many wind chimes hang in doorways. All sorts of breweries can be found here, from beer, to whiskey, to cheap hooch.

Local business and services include: [[[TO BE ADDED]]]