Welcome to the first in the series of Peakvale Wednesdays where I discuss a new aspect of my Peakvale campaign setting every week. Today we'll be looking at the enigmatic village of Windhill, also known as the Village of Stars.
Settled 10 miles south-east of the capital of Thornguard, Windhill is named after its location: in the rolling Emerald Hills. A large stone archway welcomes travellers into the village, which is populated by a mixture of humans, elves and hobbs and overseen by Councillor Ethron, a chubby and enthusiastic human wizard.
Gilleas Ethron, to give him his full name, is one of Peakvale's foremost scientific minds, which is the reason he came to settle in Windhill in the first place. You see, Windhill sits in a very special location in Peakvale, which has come to be known as the Vale of the Universe. This is the only place in Trollworld where the stars speak to those who seek to learn of their wisdom. A stone circle in a field just north of Windhill is the site of the Vale of the Universe, where learned men and women go to learn about the universe from the stars themselves. Ethron has glimpsed the wonders of the universe many a time and has become famed throughout Peakvale for his insights. Some even say that he is Startouched, imbued with the power of the universe and given access to unlimited kremm.
Windhill is also well-known for its love of wolves. Every single inhabitant of the village owns a trained wolf and some villagers are even able to have a two-way conversation with their four-legged friends. The wolves are incredibly loyal and will attack anyone who harms their master. As a result, the crime rate in Windhill is very low, with the occasional urook raiding party being ward off by the faithful creatures.
Here are some of the notable NPCs and creatures in and around Windhelm:
Councillor Gilleas Ethron
Level 14 Human Wizard
ST 48, DX 76, CON 20, WIZ 142, LK 80, SP 54, CHR 34, INT 120
Personal Adds: 210
Talents: Physics +3 (INT), Chemistry +4 (INT), Mountain Lore +2 (INT), Peakvale Songs +6 (INT), Knowledge of the Wild +5 (INT), Veterinary +4 (INT), Dwarf Friend +1 (CHA)
Spells Known: All spells up to 14th level
Cara Stormwell, the Barkeep of the Seven Suns
Level 3 Elf Rogue
ST 17, DX 32, CON 12, WIZ 21, LK 11, SP 13, CHR 20, INT 17
Personal Adds: 26
Talents: Worldly Barkeep +3 (INT), Wilderness Survival +6 (INT), Rock Climber +5 (DX)
Spells Known: Will-o-Wisp, Mirage and Find Person
Domestic Mountain Wolf
MR 30 (4d6+15)
Special Ability: 1/Shadow Pounce - when a six is rolled in combat one target delver must make a L2SR on DEX to avoid being pounced on. If they fail, they are pinned to the ground for the next combat round and they must half their HPT for that round.
Black Orc
MR 24 (3d6+12)
Spite: 1/1
Armour: 6 hits (quilted leather)
Equipment: Scimitar, Quilted leather armour, 10gp, Sling, 20 stones.
Black Orc Shaman
MR 18 (2d6+9)
Spite: 1/1
Spells Known: Call Flame, TTYF and Hold That Pose
Equipment: Quarterstaff, Robes, Crystal (30gp)
"...A stone circle in a field just north of Windhill is the site of the Vale of the Universe, where learned men and women go to learn about the universe from the stars themselves..."
ReplyDeleteFrigging awesome there. I'm already going 100 places with it and I'm not ever out of my swamp of doom.