Random Villages *

1. Corbite

   #41

   Corbite is a village on the edge of a desert, not too far from a mining town. Most of the houses are half houses. A half house has the front half of the house or just the front wall attached to a rocky hill, the rest of the house is dug out from the hill. This makes for cooler houses in the heavy heat.
   
   There are about 20 households in the village. They use the limited water to do some farming. Most of the plots are protected from the sun by a gauze roof held up by posts. This shades the plants from the direct sun, saving water.

2. Village of Scarebeasts

   #42

   The Village (called Kepleris) is a bit off the beaten track, a wide spot on the road through the deep forest. The village, with its inn, farm houses, and surrounding fields, seems unremarkable taken by themselves. However, spread throughout the village are dozens of scarebeasts (scarecrows). There rag stuffed denizens are posed like they are doing work, or standing over fences chatting, doing daily things, and a few set up a variety of tableus (some being married, some spinningm, etc). Some Scarebeasts are in old prayer day best, others in raggy workclothes, some in fine clothing, with cloth painted faces. The locals take pride in their cloth residents, some of them see it as an art, others see it as just a form of fun.
   
   The Scarebeasts are just that, to make the beasts of the forest think the people are out and around the village to prevent them coming into the village and fields.

3. Morkam

   #43

   Morkam village is on the coast, with twenty-two houses and the local pub, which also serves as the meeting hall and if need be, the local court.The whole village is on stilts out at sea, and people get to and from it by rowing there.Each family has their own boat and their main occupations are fishing and pearl-gathering. They are friendly to strangers but a gallows in the village acts as a warning to lawbreakers. In practise it has not been used for over a century-everyone in the village knows each other well,and strangers who come are rare,and normally cause no trouble when they to arrive.

4. Cheribum

   #44

   The Village is slowly becoming a town, mostly because they have build a Field for The Game. It is a scaled down version of a mound field found in nearby Cities.
   
   Mound fields are U shaped hills, built upon rocks and soil from nearby fields. The Mound Field here is two stories tall, and they are begining to lay in logs to mark seating rows. There is single level shed closing the U, which acts as the "field house". There is a firepit to roast meat in this shed. The Meat is sold to pay for the field. A brewer carts in their barrels for game days.
   
   The Village is trying to get small tournaments and contests here. The teams around the village are getting better and might go on to take on town teams.
   
   if you want to see what a Mound Field is like...
   http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=30531#30531

5. Paradise

   #45

   In the worst of The Marches, there is a small ravine. Upon the occasional rain, it makes a trickle of a stream that ends in a pond. On the edges of that pond, there is a small village. It has nothing else going for it except its well and the pond that appears once every year or so. So compared to the territory around it, it is paradise.
   
   The "trail" one would be stretching to call this section of the path a "road" is becoming more and more travelled by traders. It is the only reason Paradise exists.

6. Valdenoor

   #46

   At the foot of The Cyllerean mountain range is the village of Valdenoor, nested between two towering mountains that steal much of the sunlight. Only in the late afternoon can the sun be seen, leaving the rest of the day in perpetual shadows.
   
   The village is unremarkable; a few longhouses and some huts for slaughtered meat. The villagers are primarily hunters and gatherers, with a few sheperds and some dairy production. A stream is trickling through the village and is the main source of cold and fresh mountain water.
   
   The villagers bury their dead in the "ancestral caves" to the north of town, within the mountain known as "Shadowspring" to the villagers and "Mithiel" to others. The "Ancestral Caves" are rumoured to be guarded by the spirits of the deceased village shamans and does indeed seem dark and foreboding to those who come near.

7. "That place"

   #47

   Your players went through it so fast on their way to somewhere else that they did not stop. The only thing they remember are the two heartachingly beatiful girls that you saw as you passed through town and the over sized graveyard by the road on the way out of town. Other than those two things, the village was unremarkable. The village will forever be "that place with the two girls and the graveyard".

8. Sodby

   #48

   The players pass through a prosperous town, which has all the inclinations of becoming a city. As they travel on, a half day away... down a side road...into a valley... they enconter Sodby. Sodby is a little village, just short of a town. It is busy with smiths and carters, as there is very close to two mines... one with coal and one with iron. But because it is off the beaten path by a bit, all its products must pass through the town on the main road. The towns folk are getting rich off the work of Sodby.

9. Calcher

   #49

   Calcher is a fairly normally appearing village near some hills. Through a quirk of geography and meteology, it is very warm here in the summer months, very cold in the winter, and odd in the between times. Those hills have some deep caves that the locals use for curing cheese, growing mushrooms, and storing ice. The last is the notable one for travellers. The locals make an ice cream and shaved ice for summer solstice festival and other events. They serve drinks cold, with ice, in the warm times.
   
   The caves are natural, there is no indication of Dwarven or Goblin manufacture. They are well defined, so there will be no monsters from the depths. The locals have expanded and re-enforced the caves and tunnels to the best of their abilities to make them safer. In fact, most of the caves have doors on them.

10. Cheedem

    #50

    Cheedem is a small, quaint little hamlet just off a main road, but down a regionally important secondary one. Nothing seems out of place, except that in town square there is a small standing stone with a plaque.
    
    Here, in this village Cheedem, was born [[Insert person]] on [[insert date]] and goes on to list the person's historical accomplishments.
    
    This person may or may not be dead yet.
    
    This is a great tool for GMs. It allows you to give information about the history of the area without resorting to forcing players actually read the world packet

11. Crestmark

    #51

    This little out of the way village is burgoning into a town. It is nestled in a nice valley that leads into a great forest, beside a nice strong stream fed by distant melting ice caps. It is here that the country's official paper (crestmarked via watermark) is made. It also makes common lesser grades of paper as well.
    
    Things are only official if they are created upon this special paper. This allows the country to determine forged documents easily, just feel the unique paper texture and look for the watermark (as you can't put a water mark on a paper after it is made).
    
    Besides the huge mill, there is the supporting gingerbread styled homes of the workers and those that support the workers. Hidden a bit behind the mill is a good sized barracks for all the military that guard "official paper".
    
    While the road here is well travelled, most of these caravans are escorted by troops. If someone comes up the road, not in one of these heavily armed caravans, they are met by some fairly friendly troopers. You will then be disuaded to continued, allowed to stay the night then escorted out the next day, or you will be clanked in irons and held until the captain can figure out to do with you.

12. The city of Lynnengaard

    #52

    The site of Lynnengaard stands at the south-eastern tip of the great estuary known as the Laiden; it has direct access to the Laiden.
    The light soils of the countryside to the east is suitable for raising sheep, which provides the fertilizer for growing cereals such as barley, wheat and rye. To the west, the rich, heavy soil of the Fenland supportes sheep and cattle and therefore dairy products. Lynnengaard's location representes a convergence of road, river and sea routes. A small river runs south from Lynnengaard and, before it turnes westwards,connects to the Great Ousel river and thereby the Nendor (which two serves several inland counties) via artificial channels. At the same time, the site is close to several important land routes, including the major east-west route across the northern fens, which led into northern Lynnengaard. These linkages into the rich agricultural hinterland, and to the ports of the northern lands, put it in a good position as the trading centre it is.
    
    It is part of an estuary lake where various rivers flowes into the . This lake is surrounded by earth banks and the site of Lynnengaard sat at the narrow neck leading from the Estuar lake into the Laiden; this is a crossing point of the Estuar – a ferry right is located here – and here too the channel is deep enough to accommodate ships. The sea bank has contributed to silting and the formation of salt marshes. So many of the local settlers are harvesting the salt through saltpans in the neighbourhood of Lynnengaard. The salt is attached to sand and the separation process resultes in piles of discarded sand; this process having been going on for centuries, is a major factor in raising the level of the land above the marsh, to the point where it became possible to build on the often quite sizable waste heaps thus created. On these wastes lies the city castle, it is really just a small reatreat for the villagers and farmers in times of war. A two meter high stone wall
    with an additional one three meter high barricade of sharpened logs make out the defences.
    The industry producing salt, which is important for the curing of meat and fish, attracts traders from far corners of the kingdom. Lynnengaard also
    trades wool and grain, while fishing is more reserved for local needs.
    It is ruled by a city council of elders. The city and the surrounding lands are independent in ruling as the area is located excactly at the border between two kingdoms. They have a small townsguard that function as peacekeepers and protects the farms from bandits or wild animals.
    So far none of the kingdoms have tried to claim these fertile rural lands, afraid to provoke the other kingdom into a full scale war. So Lynnengard
    remains a neutral village in a status quo situasion.

13. Random Villages

    #53

    Mike... This is for villages, not cities. :)
    
    Toron's Rest
    This tiny village, in the western province of Tagghia, is a small group of cord huts huddled in the lee of a hill. A spring higher up provides the town's water. Surrounding it there are farmlands and then the plains.
    The people of Toron's Rest are rustic, and have strange accents. The Alocimi nomads frequently intermarry with the populace, producing half-barbarian children.
    The villagers have one claim by which they validate their whole village, and that is that during the marches of the warlord Toron, during the Dragon's War, he and his army stopped at this village, and that Toron slept in what is now the hetman's hut. Thus, they call themselves Toron's Rest.

14. Random Villages

    #54

    It is a village! A...A big one...
    Ok,ok.
    I was kind of carried away.
    Perhaps we should make thread for cities then?
    Whattayasay?

15. Random Villages

    #55

    It is such a marvellous idea, Mike, that it has already been done: http://www.rpgcitadel.com/guild/index.php?topic=1583.0
    
    Enjoy!

16. Random Villages

    #56

    Yes, but city image posts are talking about the way the city looks and how geography and masonry expresses the city's culture and history. While interesting, that post does not fit in there.
    
    Just post it in settings/ locations on the front page... that is what it is. You can make a new thread for it, but when Strolen 2.0 rolls out... it will be in the settings sections.
    
    Heck, in V2.0 this thread is going to be folded into locations.

17. Narrow Pass

    #57

    Narrow Pass is a small hamlet near the center of The Narrow Pass. The White Road, called that because of the whitish gravel used to mark the road, runs the length of the pass and off to the two townish cities on the opposite sides of the mountain.
    
    The way station here has expanded into a small town offering services to travellers. There are two inns, a farrier/ blacksmith, a healer post, a fortune teller, a few camp followers who have permanently set up shop, a small contigents of Militia (keeping the peace, patrolling the road, and keeping the road clear), and few people who just like living in the pass (there is also a small saw mill here).

18. Oakgaurd

    #58

    Oakgaurd is a Dwarventi Hall, their equivalent of a village.
    
    It is at the base of the mountains, above the foot hills. The Oaks still grow in the warm sunshine here. The terrain is rocky. The angle of the hill is still mild. The Door is inset into the hill, flanked by worked stone lintles.
    
    The main door is a split trapazoid made of fine worked copper. The image upon the door is that of an Oak tree. The door is actually strong iron reenforce oak, with copper laid over the top.
    
    The main door leads to a ten by ten "landing". The motiff on the floor matches the door. The landing leads to 22 stairs up to the main hall.
    
    The landing has a portcullus gate that can drop, and a few murder holes. It is a defensive point for the Hall.
    
    The main hall is good sized, as the clan for Oakgaurd is moderately sized, about 120 feet (40 meters) by 72 feet (24 meters) by 10 feet (2.5 meters). There is a large central hearth, with tables to be pulled up around it. This is the center of life here at the hall, where people work, play, eat, and sleep. The walls of the hall show various Dwarventi heroes in bas relief. The six or seven hallways that lead off the main hall lead to the few "private rooms" where more senior couples (or those with young ones) live, the kitchen/ pantry, the armoury, and down to where the mine is.
    
    The mine is merely coal, rather than a good metal. Oakgaurd is here as a defensive fort, rather than a productive hall. The mine leads to a long single width shaft. That shaft leads to the next "fortress hall" up the mountain. Should the Hall fall, or there be a threat in the foothills, a runner will come along the shaft to warn the others.

19. LastTrueResta'Fin-esd'theStoneRiver and StoneRiver

    #59

    There are two villages here.
    
    Elves do not live in "villages". They live in good sized groups in clusters of HomeTrees. They also do not like to live at the borders of the land, as the kingdom's magic is weakest there and the mundane disturbs them. Yet here it is.
    
    LastTrueResta'Fin-esd'theStoneRiver is a place where only five HomeTrees grow in a cathedral (ring of trees) configuration. Here a lone clan of Elventi and their Elventi Ranger guests live a good bowshot from the edge of Elventi Lands. These Elventi are moderately friendly to Humans and other Non-Elves. They speak outsider tongues and understand their strange ways. However, no non elf can travel past this place without an escort and expect to live. In fact, the Elventi will bring said tresspassers back to the Humans for disposal.
    
    The StoneRiver is the paved Kingdom road that ends one Elven Longbow shot from border of the Elventi land. In fact that arrow has now grown into a huge oak (called the Arrow Oak).
    (There is a small patio with seats and tables near the Arrow Oak. This has been the site of several ambassadorial meetings and pretty much every celebration in the area).
    
    Stone River is the small human settlement a respectful distance from the Arrow Oak. There is no river anywhere near by. It is called Stone River because it is the Human translation of the Elven words for the end of the road. Stone River is a tiny farming and crafts village with tiny temple. There are several barracks (though only one is in use) for Army forces and Human Rangers that patrol the Humanti side of the lands. There is an inn of moderate quality, that sells human versions of Elven treats, and a two caravan warehouses for the two trading companies that trade with the Elventi.
    
    One would expect a number of Half Elves in the area. If their are, they are from other places. The Border stands firm. Humantis and Elventi are cordial and friendly, they might even celebrate together, but they do not mix. It is one of the unexpected rules of this place.

20. Manzech

    #60

    Manzech is a small farming village, rather unremarkable. All the people in it are olive-skinned, straight-haired, and pinch-nosed, and all look vaguely related.
    
    The village is a cluster of mud-and-cord huts around a central firepit and altar to Bungreb, the local earth goddess. The people of Manzech make sacrafices of young cattle and birds to Bungreb every fortnight, to maintain the fertility of the fields surrounding the village.
    
    Manzech's people have an odd, highly nasal and whiny-sounding accent.
    It is otherwise unremarkable.

21. Random Villages

    #61

    Demetri's Valley
    
    Founded by Demetri, a leader that left no children, the village is placed between a few small hills, it is certainly not a valley. Wooden houses, farming and logging, it is another boring place to pass through.
    
    The most outstanding feature is hidden between two hills: a mineral spring possesing strong laxative effects. The village has luckily other springs for common use. This one is used mostly for practical jokes, and, as it is known and praised by doctors far and wide, it is also a source of small trade.
    
    Strangers should beware what they drink here, some id...villager will sooner or later repeat the joke everybody knows for ages here.

22. Berry

    #62

    Berry is a moderately sized farming village, with a number of outlying farms on the rolling hills. While grain and potatoes are the most common crops, the area is filled with berry bushes. Red Berries, Blue Berries, and Prickle Berries (rasberries) bushes grow like weeds in these parts. The bushes are both wild and cultivated. And by cultivated it means there is an easy path to the bush AND it has been trimmed and cut back from a bramble. While there is no "berry festival", almost every berry in this land comes from this region.

23. Kellersland

    #63

    The road here paralells the river. It is not a mighty river, but it is much more than a creek. The village here is built in the shadow of a cliff. There is a waterfall (and wide pond) a stone's throw from the buildings that make up the village. The village and various out buildings are between the road and the river.
    
    The villagers suppliment their income portering boat and goods up and down the cliff, by going around the cliff proper by following a side trail.
    
    The initial buildings of this village are the various outbuildings and remaining parts of the main house, that made up Lord Kellers land. Lord Keller and family died in the house fire. No one else noble has taken up residence in these parts. So the locals sort of moved into the various surviving buildings and have build up a village since then.

24. Random Villages

    #64

    Sophan
    
    Sophan is a middling-sized village of small huts constructed out of the local volcanic stones. Every house has the bones of a small jackrabbit pinned up above the frame; it's a local tradition, but nobody remembers the purpose of it anymore. It is surrounded by copses of ancient trees which the Sophans are loathe to cut down; this too is an ancient tradition whose purpose is unremembered. Finally, the village is centered around a small raised hill, and atop this stands a gallows which has not been used for 200 years; the Sophans believe that the gallows was originally used to make sacrafices to the heathen gods which were worshipped here before the coming of the Kingdom Religion.

25. Pelder's Cove

    #65

    Pelder's Cove is actually a fairly good sized cove. The good sized village, which is nearly a town, supports a moderate fishing fleet. The people are fairly normal fisher folks. The only oddity about the town is the salt fishing fleet and those that ply the marshish delta that feeds into the cove. The hunting of game birds in these parts is quite well known. There are a few noble hunting lodges not too far from the village.
    
    Long ago this was a smuggler's cove. They would ply the sea and then hid in their shallow draft boats amongst the reeds and mudflats. However, the smuggling was only so good and the fishing was better. The locals celebrate their "criminal"/ piratical herritage in a summer festival.

26. Cumber's Gap

    #66

    In a tiny valley with a small lake, there is a nice village. There are several good roads that lead through the valley (which is a short cut over conventional routes). Besides the standard farming, lake fishing, light logging (as there is no saw mill here) and inns (travellers on the roads), there is a large manor home that is a chartered home for the Guild of Messengers. Here old members retire, new members are trained (riding, running, and swimming in the VERY COLD, blue lake), and regional administrative duties are done. The red caps wear their caps here all the time, so people can tell who is who. The red caps are very conscious of being "on duty" so act appropriate.
    
    Guild of Messengers
    http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=28943#28943

27. Hub Villages

    #67

    There were four huge villages (nearly towns) that surrounded the Old Capitol. Given recent events (the destruction of said capitol and moving of the throne to a new site), the villages have fared better than the city has... but not a great deal better. Many of the surviving residents have moved elsewhere. This leaves the hub villages strangely quiet, as they appear to be large and properous, but few are around.
    
    Sunset (West Hub): The village is bustling, as all the buildings abandoned by the peasants have been filled with shops and warehouses that support the military force that guards the former capitol.
    
    Sunrise (East Hub): This village used to be a support camp for mercenaries and small mercenary guild companies that the throne needed from time to time. They have moved on. This leaves a few farmers and some of the best weaponsmiths in the regions.
    
    Noon (South): The village is along the route to a great shrine, so it is eeking out a living to those that are making the pilgrimage.
    
    Star (North): The most abandoned of the villages. The great storehouses and barracks are empty. The few farmers have built homes closer to their plots. Squatters are all that are left.

28. Bridgedale

    #68

    The land in this area is quite uneven, with rolling highs and lows. The crop around here is rice and produced in submerged fields. The fields are irrigated from the river through natural channels and a few artificial dams, dykes, and water walls (with water gates and Archimedes pumps). The village itself is quite dispersed over the area. Pockets of buildings are built on “high ground�, which are connected by dyke paths and dozens upon dozens of bridges. One can have to walk quite a distance to reach a store, the miller, or inn.

29. Cataramnon

    #69

    This village in eastern Ballia (province of Mysia) lies in the eaves of a pair of hills, where a stream trickles down out of the mountains. Along with a marshy pool next to the town, this stream makes it one of the wetter places in the very-dry countryside of Ballia, and it is a popular stop-over in the wanderings of the nomads of the region.
    The village has a rather grandiose name for it's small size; "Cataramnon", in the Ballian dialect of Mysian, means "The Bull of the South". The village is named after the titanic cube of mud-brick which squats above it in the hills, erected during the conflicts with the Dragonfighters during those warlike folks' brief raiding period. Now abandoned and ungarissoned, the Bull, as the people of Cataramnon call the fortress, is slowly crumbling into ruin.
    About half of the people of Cataramnon are descended from the old steward families of the Bull; the other half are nomadics or Red Mysians in equal proportion.

30. Cambrian Gardens

    #70

    This little hamlet is just a stones throw from the city. It appears so quiet and quaint. It was. The City (an important regional hub, if not the capital) is filled with nobles- all with their honor, sharp wits, sweet wine, and dueling culture. The City Prince, in an attempt to slow the bloodshed, forbade the crossing of swords (dueling) in the city bounds. Cambrian Gardens had been filled with picturesque cottages, lovely formal gardens, and a huge number of weekend homes for nobles to escape the squalor of the city and its smell in the summer months. It soon became “the thing to do� to resolve disputes among the peace and beauty of the gardens. In response, the duels became more polite, more ritualized, and often accompanied by poetry readings and picnics to assist the idyllic mood. Many of the land owners here (not all nobles) have made small “out homes� adjacent to two or three dueling gardens. This way people will have a place to rest, prepare, and stage their duel. It has made for an odd main street in the hamlet. Instead of the normal cozy domestic shops and common rooms, there are weapon shops, purveyors of fine leather dueling armor, a mortuary, two churches for last rites, and inns for seconds and survivors. Behind the hamlet proper, there is a small compound for healers and physics who attend these events.

31. Frost

    #71

    High in the hills of the North Mountains is a village with a noted distinction, the first frost always occurs here. It may or may not be magic ,or spirits, or just odd weather, but the rest of the land follows two to five days later. Some hire riders to wait here at about the right time, to tell of the coming frost (important for some crops to be up and in before the frost, most notably grapes). Though winter comes here first and leaves here late, it is surprisingly mild in this village. The village is known for its Mid Winter Festival, The Frost Festival. There are many winter sports, sled races, and the requisite food contests and market.
    
    Note: There is no "festival" for the first day of frost and its impending winter. There is a tradition that everyone spends a half day drinking on the first day of frost. Some people are thinking about making the unofficial race out of town into an official one.

32. Parsan

    #72

    This village is at the end of the Great Parsan Pass. This is the only pass large enough to march an army through, so it is very strategic. This village has seen more battles than any one place in the world. In fact, the locals maintain a shrine to all the unburied dead who died in battle here, hoping to quiet their unrest. Note this is the only place in the world where Bloodflowers bloom continually ( http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=30379#30379 ).
    
    Bloodflower wounds are the only terrain feature in this pass, so many a wise general has used it to their advantage in combat, as it will slow down or stop calvalry and light to medium infantry.

33. Brownin:

    #73

    Brownin:
    This is a village on the outskirts of the Great Dark Oak Forest,. Everyone is careful not to waunder there. A bit farther up the road from Brownin, towards the forest, is a The Shrine of Spirit Beasts. The holy men here maintain symbolic stables, pens, and corrals for spirit beasts to “visit�. On a solstice or equinox, spirit beasts can be seen living in these places by the uninitiated. The 2/3rds of the Order of the Oaks is "unhappy" with the holy men being here and think the Shrine mere existance is a threat to the safety of The Lands. Unfortunately, it is in the Land of Mowren, where the shrine is of the Popular and Only religion. Nobody of that Land, including 1/3rd members of the Order, would dare act against it. (Someday, one of those spirit beasts will get "uppity" and the Order will have a "problem".
    
    Order of the Oaks
    http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=30835#30835

34. Hunkertin Cove

    #74

    A small, unremarkable village of average folk, the only thing of note is a trail of white stones nearby. Rumour says there is a wise man that can answer any question on its end. Most people that search for him fail, but some actually found him, and recieved answers. Some of the local drunkards theorize the sage is relocated farther each time he is found, but who knows. (see the puzzle)
    
    On a further note, there are several daughters in the proper age, and few boys around... decent adventurers should beware of being drugged and married in a quick ceremony! Watch out, the sleepy Hunkertin can be your last station. ;)

35. Grethdon Region

    #75

    There are actually six or seven small villages in this region. There are low rolling hills, covered in grass (eaten by the abundant sheep) or crops. Most properties are marked off by hedgerows. Initially these plots were defined by Imperial grants, but they have been redefined in the Dark Ages.
    
    In this region, perhaps as many as one-fifth of all surviving hedgerows date from Proloran times, a living link with the Dark Ages. Some even date back to Imperial times.
    
    Grethdon Proper is the central village. It is nearly a small town. It has a Proloran Era temple, part keep tower with a hall attached to it.

36. PIETRE

    #76

    Pietre is a normal village. However, the white wash/ plaster has a light green tint and all the thatch on the roofings is green as well. If somone built a building without a thatched roof, they would paint the roof green.
    
    Supposedly the green stuff wards off the local bugs.
    
    Tiny random village. Tiny random village. Tiny random village. Tiny random village. Tiny random village. Tiny random village. Tiny random village. Tiny random village. Tiny random village. Tiny random village. Tiny random village.

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