| Latest Posts | Zaelia - The Town of Marronsol, Dracos
THE GUILD
Marronsol's citizens make up the ranks of the Guild. Within the walls of the Guilded Inn, you may find several familiar faces willing to take up arms and join you on a quest to better the lives of the townspeople. Be sure to check the wall beside the bar for posted job notices and help requests. . .. ... JOBS -- None available; check back in when the Guild is properly founded! -- . .. ... ROSTER - Ethan Leavitt - = - Role: Fighter/Knight - = - Experience: 0 - = - Afflictions/Wounds: 0 - = - Days to Heal: 0 - Leon Benoit - = - Role: Mystic/Bjornen - = - Experience: 0 - = - Afflictions/Wounds: 0 - = - Days to Heal: 0 - Harald the Dwarf - = - Role: Fighter/Barbarian - = - Experience: 0 - = - Afflictions/Wounds: 0 - = - Days to Heal: 0 - Ellaria the Elf - = - Role: Ranger/Hunter - = - Experience: 0 - = - Afflictions/Wounds: 0 - = - Days to Heal: 0 Please log in to add a comment. |
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For thematic immersion, consider Medieval France or Spain around the 1300s. Castles, cities, and towns are all close to each other. Trade is the predominant form of travel, and the vast majority of citizens in any given town will live and die there without ever leaving. They are poor, illiterate, and defenseless without greater powers helping them.
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The campaign will revolve around an "Adventurer's Guild" full of citizens of Marronsol who have taken up arms to save the dying town. With little to no combat experience, you will start as a low-level, hardly-skilled, basic peasant with aspirations to be something greater. Read this forum for CC, and use the "1.0" header where applicable.
Mechanics and CC: fabletop.com/forum/topic/6098.5/zaelia-mechanics-c...
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THE TOWN
Marronsol sits along a small river and was originally intended to be a nexus along a major trade route in the northeastern region of Dracos, in a country called Cursare, under the rule of King Gerard of the Fer-Ven Empire. Over time, King Gerard's forces were drawn elsewhere due to war, famine, and weather, leaving the roads surrounding this region without patrols, aside from town or city guards.
Now, only eighteen years since its founding, Marronsol and its 238 citizens face doom as the region is swarmed with hostility and covered in neglect. The King has bigger problems to solve, and the region's lesser towns can only go to the larger cities for help. Without road access or fealty to any of the nearby castles, Marronsol is alone.
( = ) Working town map: i.imgur.com/6QLaXxk.jpg
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THE BACKGROUND
Marronsol is one of several towns along central Cursare's "Evergreen Trade Route". At least, it was. When the region was aided by Gerard's men, nearly every town boasted its own barracks of the King's soldiers. Every caravan on the road was armed to the teeth. Every Inn and Tavern was well stocked with supplies and patrons. Marronsol was founded by Marquis et Seigneur Simon Bellegarde, a minor court noble from one of the region's larger city Lords.
The spot of the town was chosen by Bellegarde and his officials. Within two years, the increase of trade and travel seemed to promise riches to everyone within the wooden walls of the small burg. The Marquis saw to the construction of a tavern, a bold purchase so early in a town's lifespan. Then, only a year later, he personally bought the spot that would become Marronsol's first Inn. While the town was less than two hundred strong, it boasted an Inn meant for a city four times its size.
Marquis Bellegarde began tearing down wooden stakes to make way for impressive stone walls. The townspeople cheered on his every move. Marronsol's market was thriving; the blacksmith was turning away work and had already hired an apprentice. A temple was constructed. Four years from breaking ground, Simon Bellegarde was able to stand on the balcony of his Rauthaus-style nobility compound and overlook a booming economy in his own town.
And then, a terrible winter. Following it, a wet spring. Flooding. Famine. Plague. As quickly as Marronsol's luck grew, it vanished. War, to top it all off... Nowhere near the town, but near Cursare's capitol, meaning the safety of all the region's towns disappeared nearly overnight. The years crept by slowly, and towns held on as long as they could. Some were destroyed, their supplies hauled to nearby cities. Others managed to keep above water by leaning on trade. But the roads are long, dark, and frightening. Doctors are in demand and far from numerous.
Now, two years after the last trader has come through Marronsol, Marquis Bellegarde stands a broken man before his people, open to change, but unsure as to the method.
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THE LOCATIONS
( 1 ) The Odd Bat: Towns usually don't get taverns quite as nice as the Odd Bat. Constructed on a whim as Marronsol's popularity was rising, the building holds a stable and grain barn, as well as a makeshift brewery that some might say creates potable beer. Nathan Bonnet, a Halfling, owns the place with his family, and he named it after a strange animal that occupied the rafters for the first year of business. Now, Odd Cobweb might be more appropriate.
( 2 ) Bakery: Wilfrid Dubuisson's wife Maralyn begs the man nearly every day to give the place an actual name. His usual response is "Town's only got one bakery; folks know it's me when they ask". He's not wrong. If it's baked and it's good, it's found here. If it's baked and it's bad, you probably made it yourself at home.
( 3 ) Good Looking: Jean Flandin, a tailor, Aaron Batier, a barber, and Halfling Basile Bourque, a mercer, all make a living in the walls of Good Looking, a two-story domicile and shop for men and women. Old clothes and new, haircuts and bloodletting, fabrics and sewing, all under one roof. It remains one of the wealthier establishments in Marronsol, though it suffers the hardest from lack of trade.
( 4 ) Soles on Souls: Raymond Anouh is the shoemaker, and his shop stands opposite the town's temple, and on top of that he's highly religious. The name makes sense, and word is you get a discount if he sees you coming from the temple straight into the shop. Something about blessed feet.
( 5 ) Lavished Upon: Fiona Seyres is a delightful Gnome woman who makes jewelry from any number of shiny metals and gems. These days, she's just as likely to be seen hocking pebbles on a rope-woven bracelet as she is to sell rubies and sapphires inlaid on rings. The former sells better anyway. She's an astute appraiser and has dextrous hands, as well as a knack for tinkering as many Gnomes do.
( 6 ) Leavitt Bros Goods: Mathis, Gabriel, and Julian Leavitt live just behind trade street, near the river. Their shop is much more than meets the eye. Mathis is a mason, the town's only one. Gabriel works as a carpenter, and Julian is a candlemaker as well as an expert lute player. The Leavitt brothers' wives are well known for their cooking, though mainly stews, which are easy to make in large quantities, an advantage when you have six children in one house.
( 7 ) The Red Billows: Blacksmith Pascal Clerisseau is very good at his craft, even though his most often asked question by outsiders is "where is the blacksmith?" Pascal's forge shares a wall with the Dwarf Omer Mallet, a cooper next door, and unless you know Pascal's work, you'd guess his neighbor is the one shoeing horses and hammering metal all day.
( 8 ) Barrels By Mallet: Omer Mallet the Dwarf is an apprentice cooper and smith, better at the former than the latter. He was not one of Marronsol's first citizens but moved during the trade rush when Pascal Clerisseau was searching for an apprentice smith. As work dwindled, Omer took up other hobbies and found a niche for himself making barrels.
( 9 ) The Marronsol Market: Several family matriarchs spend their days here, leaving the farms to the men so they can haggle and barter produce for goods in the small square. Even after the trade road has disappeared, the market continues to be one of the town's staple locations. Wealth and goods are traded, but relationships and morale grow heartily.
( 10 ) All Souls Temple: Cursare has dozens, perhaps more than a hundred temples, but they are mostly found in cities. As is the trend in Marronsol, this temple was built before its need was established. Father Henri Trudeau, an old man of the cloth who subscribes to both the Brother Gods as well as the Mother Zaelia, tends the place with a handful of helpers and an acolyte. He personally gives three services per day and six on the last day of each week. He's usually found in the temple, or the tavern if he's had a particularly long day.
( 11 ) Guilded Inn: Proprietor Jordan Gardet, former Knight of King Gerard's service, was chosen to run this Inn when Marquis Bellegarde saw to its construction. Jordan chose the name, and even spelled it wrong, though he maintains the use of "Guilded" rather than "Gilded" was to infer a tradition steeped in the guilds of larger cities. Anyone who can read simply cringes and walks by. The building is large and has two kitchens, half a dozen rooms on its second floor, and a large restaurant-style open area on the bottom floor, along with an area near the back of the building for a small garden and stable. It also has a leaky roof and a lot of rotten beams.
( 12 ) Barracks and Supply: Marronsol's two hundred citizens are policed by a group of thirty guards who make up the full fighting force behind Marquis Simon Bellegarde. That said, they are also the only thirty men in the town with a full kit consisting of armor, a weapon or two, a shield, and in some cases, a horse. That makes the small force formidable, though they hardly need to be. Marronsol is not known for its crime, especially by its own citizens.
( 13 ) Bellegarde Estate and Rathaus: Eager to be a "man of the people", Marquis et Seigneur Marquis Bellegarde made sure that his house shared one wall with the home of his court nobles and another with the town hall. It is not often used, though bi-Vision hearings are still held; Marquis Bellegarde is just as hopeful that attendance grows here as he is that the population grows outside the walls. Only the doors of the Rathaus are open to the public. The Marquis' house is closed off, as well as the houses of his nobles, Pierre Levett de Chevalier, a cousin of the town's Leavitt brothers, and Jordan Gardet de Ecuyer, the only one in the town worthy to actually call himself a Chevalier, but now goes by Squire.
( 14 ) Soulburn Tomb: When Father Trudeau is not attending service or the bar, he may be holding a funeral procession. They're not common, but the events attract a gathering in such a close knit town. The Soulburn Tomb is where citizens' ashes go to rest, unless they prefer a grave, in which case you'll have to pay a bit more, but you do get to have your own little plot in the cemetery.
( 15, 16, 18, 19 ) Farmlands: Even a town as small as Marronsol needs a lot of farmland to survive, and the combined works of four families help to fill everyone else's bellies. Harsh Fields, run by Halfling Jonathan Peltier, Stone's Throw, owned by Lambert Veil, Shade Acre, tended by Thibault Genet, and Broken Hoof, tilled by hunter/farmer Vincent Mallet make up the surrounding lands outside the walls.
( 17 ) Four Reins: Stablemaster Ludovic Rossignol is an old friend of Jordan Gardet de Ecuyer. The two go way back, and Jordan has ridden nearly every horse that Ludovic has tamed. The stable is nearly full now, and heavy warhorses that are bred there have begun taking up plow harnesses instead of knights as the town's makeup leans far more toward agrarian than military.
( 20, 21 ) The Hunters' Houses: Isaac Degaul and Jean-Louis Belyea are two of Marronsol's most prominent hunters. They bring in nearly as much meat as the farms can slaughter, and they usually do it without the bloodshed occurring on Marronsol's own soil. Outside of the Barracks, the houses of Isaac and Jean-Louis would be the only place to find weapons and occupants skilled enough to wield them.