02.03 - Black Hammock Town

Black Hammock Town is a trading post and port town of 6,000 souls. Sitting along the banks of the Indigo River, it is situated approximately 9 miles from the ocean – as far inland as the winding river is navigable before becoming too shallow or unpredictable for ocean-going craft. To the East, the great ocean; the gateway to civilization – in every other direction, the new world – unclaimed territory fraught with hazards and potential fame.

Built on the ashes of an older settlement, the ill-fated ransomed colony based at the rumored Watchtower on the coast, Black Hammock Town, itself, sprung up in the last few years as rumors of war spur industrialists to seek out new sources of raw materials to ship home. Its population consists primarily of hopeful would-be explorers: trappers, foresters, and sailors looking to strike it rich on either the coming tide of trade or - preferably - a surprise windfall pilfered from forgotten troves.

Comprised of ten boroughs - Black Hammock Town provides a wide gamut of experiences, services, and encounters: more so than would be implied by its small population. From the north, trappers and trackers from the inland woods bring a consistent stream of trade from outer settlers: from its bustling docks, a link between the outer world and the inner wilds sees constant movement, constant new faces, and constant trade. And across the river - nestled into the tip of the sandy island protecting the harbor - Far Bank: where ne'er-do-wells congregate in abundance.

Districts of Black Hammock Town

Circling the town is a wooden palisade - twelve feet high with no parapet, but with stone watch stands flanking each of three gates and arrow loops (functional, where not obscured by buildings outside the perimeter) at interval along the palisade's length. Inside the gate, construction is mixed, with larger, more opulent buildings having been bricked with coquina but smaller or more economical buildings constructed of timber. Outside the gate, the architecture is much more rustic - thatch, timber, and questionable building standards.

Far Bank

Accessible only by water, the Far Bank is quiet, commonly, during the day, and raucous at night. Presumably, the daylight serenity is benefited by hangovers, interest paid on the evenings prior. There are rarely guards and the perimeter is said to have several sneak-holes where one might slip into and out of the encampment: avoiding the main gates and oversight of the guards on a return trip.

Governance District 

Dominated by the Governor's Mansion - a part residence, mostly governmental function building - the Governance District is where those who want to have a say in the movement of the colony and to ride the wave of interest pouring into the region make their home. Buildings in this part of town are more adorned, more extravagant - and often ostensibly more guarded.

Market District 

The Market District - central to the town - is commonly congested, the scene of both traveling merchants, street food vendors, and outdoor performing artists. Likewise, many who work in the peripheral supply industry supporting the maritime interests of the town make their home in the Market District, livelier than other parts of town - and more affordable than the Governance District.

On a given day, 3d4 merchants selling various wares - some acquired in Trappers'  Market and brought in, others acquired from inbound ships, can be found about the bazaar.

North Gate

The poor district, North Gate is a primarily residential area, housing the working class - longshoremen, shipwrights and trades-folk, and similar - continuing to grease the cogs of the local Black Hammock economy. There is some crime in this area and the sanitation is par for the course: it is usually safe to walk the streets alone at night.

North Wharf 

Of the three piers at Black Hammock Town, the North Wharf caters to bulk goods and raw materials. The environment is brusk and businesslike. A couple languages are spoken - as settlers have come from several backgrounds - but there are too few people to truly build natural animosity. It is mostly vacant at night - excepting scant security around varied warehouses. It is the place a body will be found if a body "happens" to wash up.

Smugglers' Wharf

Its piers officially designed for recreational use and its small buildings officially decontamination or quarantine structures, Smuggler's Wharf is known to be an avenue to move goods into and out of town quickly: often via connections in the Far Bank. With the commonness of this knowledge, it's often a point of talking around an ale as to speculate why Smugglers' Wharf is allowed to persist. 

To an adventurer, it's easy to find a boat here - and after trust has been earned, potentially other things as well.

South Gate 

The South Gate, just outside the palisade beyond the wealthy Governance District and Egg, is home to anyone who, having not yet gained entry to the town (or unable to gain entry to the town!) but who desires to gain standing with the leadership. Likewise, it is where most of the mercenary presence of the community resides - both those contracted in the defense of the township and also those who are not, seeking an opportunity to sell their swords - congregating in a small camp along the wall.

South Wharf 

The port of the South Wharf caters more to finer goods - wrought things, tinkered things, luxury items: clocks, glassware, the like. The buildings are cleaner than the North Wharf and usually guarded due to their contents. The atmosphere is likewise somewhat more light than other port areas of town - despite many of the workmen living in the North Wharf.

The South Wharf, due to its proximity to the Governance District, is a preferred living place - with many buildings serving two functions to accommodate housing merchants who prefer their privacy or newcomers hoping to focus on making a good impression with the local elite.

The Egg 

Named for its conspicuous shape on a bird's eye map, the Egg is the clerical district: serving to house the temples of Black Hammock Town and those who maintain them. There are 150 odd clergy in the district - only about half of which can be found within the Egg at a time, the others moving about the township in day to day business: chief among them, a Vicar (Cleric 4) named Bendis the White. Acolytes make up the vast bulk of the group; though some other leveled Clerics move about within the ranks.

Trappers' Market

The governor has decreed a quarantine on many goods and some services acquired from the exterior of the township, originating in the wild lands of the inland continent, in anticipation of potential contamination from a new unknown. North of the perimeter, a market has thus sprung up. Most of what is available in town is likewise available out of town - with the exception that coinage is less common, a barter economy being more valuable to a colonist or trapper living outside the reach of the civilization's footprint.

Goods and Services

There are four blacksmiths operating between three smithies in Black Hammock Town:

1. Yaromir the Dwarf - a lean sort, commonly wearing pelts and furs on cool days and going shirtless on others. His most common fare is nails, agricultural equipment, snares, and other metal needs as presented by trappers or settlers living out of town.
   Yaromir can be found in the Trappers' Market.
2. Seloue the Jeweler - being an artist in a past life, Seloue is known for her penchant to detail and design in her work. She is capable of bog standard work, however might be intrigued by a challenge, or a more intricate and thus interesting, assignment.
   Seloue can be found in the Market District.
   
3. Ageric the Board and Dora of the West Hills - Ageric, a wiry former soldier in his middle years, has a history with and an affinity for the mercenary presence in Black Hammock. Dora - his wife - is less talkative, Ageric being the face of the business, but is oft talked about, in reference to her Dwarfish heritage. They have no children, Men and Dwarves being genetically incompatible.
   Ageric and Dora can be found in the South Gate.
   

Characters looking for accommodation can find lodging in one of three Inns:

1. Hagan's Rest, a mid-budget establishment, is run by an Elf named (unsurprisingly) Hagan. It is staffed to provide lodging as well as dinner (or lunch, if the staff likes you). Hagan is level 3 and an interested practitioner of the esoteric arts: capable of casting Charm Person, Floating Disc, and ESP. The clientele of Hagan's Rest tends to lean towards traders and travelers.
   Hagan's Rest can be found in the Market District.
2. Black Welcome - a smaller facility - is run by a smooth-talking human named Erluf. Erluf is quick to make friends and always has a wry smile on his stubbled face. The clientele of the Black Welcome leans towards profiteers - including adventurers and mercenaries.
   Black Welcome can be found at the South Gate.
3. The Blow Hole, its patrons primarily comprised of sailors, is an "inn" and tavern run by a former merchantman named Gunder. Gunder is tall and sports a pot-belly: something developed in the time between now and when he once plied the waves.
   The Blow Hole can be found in the North Wharf.
   

Optionally, three physicians ply their trade in Black Hammock Town. Though the effect of having a doctor around is at the discretion of the referee, it is suggested that a character under the care of a physician will recover 3 hit points daily rather than rolling and may, with treatment, re-roll a failed Saving Throw to shake a disease or injury.

• Jaromir, a former soldier (Fighting Man, level 1) who trained as a medic: subsequently attending a formal physician's academy before transporting himself and his family to the new reaches of Black Hammock Town, resides in the Governance District.
• Red Vuldret, a female human with shocking red hair which she wears loose, was formally schooled by a convent. She practices in the Governance District and takes a keen interest in the politics of Black Hammock Town, finding herself at odds with The Egg on routine occasion.
• Terric the Fast, a surgeon, known for his ability to move quickly, but who is gruff and can come off as abrasive to sensitive patients, operates out of the South Wharf. He is very industrious, more productive and more quick than his contemporaries: working longer and more frequent hours.
  

Unlicensed or untrained physicians - folk healers and the like - can typically be found as well. Their effectiveness should be half that of a trained physician, but they are cheaper and more abundant. On a given day:

• 1d8 unlicensed healers can be found in the Trappers' Market.
• 1d6 unlicensed healers can be found in the North Gate.
• 1d6 unlicensed healers can be found in the Far Bank (occasionally carrying lotus or its like, as well)
• 15, less the sum of the other districts (to a minimum of 0) can then be found in the Market District.
  

In the Far Bank, a witch named Faileuba sells reagents, unguents, and trinkets said to bring health or luck in the wildlands, bought from the Bullywugs, stolen from Toad Magi.

In the Trappers' Market, a traveling salesman can usually be found - 60% chance on a given day - selling alchemical supplies, reagents, and similar. What he doesn't have, he tends to know where to get - and may offer a bounty for someone to go get it in sufficient quantity to supply his own inventory.

Three taverns operate in Black Hammock Town, as follows:

• The Blue Heron is an upscale establishment run by an Elf (4) named Gable. He will on occasion see parishioners from The Egg in his establishment - and the selection he offers is finer, more expensive, than the mean. Gable can cast Light, Shield, Detect Invisible, and Web.
  The Blue Heron is located in the Governance District.
• The Pony's Porter is a low-brow establishment: selling basic (and arguably watered down) wares at prices affordable to the working class of the North Gate neighborhoods. It is a decent respite for adventurers and mercenaries not looking for trouble and is owned by a female Magic User (2) named Rothtrude. She tends not to come out, instead deferring most operations to her staff, allowing her more time to her studies. Rothtrude tends to know Hold Portal and Ventriloquism, but carries with her a scroll of Sleep.
  The Pony's Porter is found on the northern edge of the North Wharf.
  A character drinking at the Pony's Porter must Save vs Poison or, on the following day, suffer an acute hangover that day, imposing a -1 penalty on all d20 rolls.
• The Black Eye, named in the honor of its pugilist proprietor, a Fighting Man (3) named Froi, operates out of a mobile cart - moving to a new locale roughly twice a week. Froi is a former seaman and fond of both a fight and a bottle: of which he has a wide, changing variety available.
  The Black Eye can be found on the Far Bank.
  

Characters seeking laborers - such as treasure-haulers or torch-bearers - can typically find them hanging out in the Market District or Trappers' Market: 18 in total, typically, split between the two locations. Characters seeking men at arms can typically find them - around 8 on a given day looking for work - commonly congregating at the South Gate.

Dramatis Personae

The following individuals make up the upper crust of Black Hammock Town - the movers and shakers, so to speak - whose favor (or disfavor!) can have immense impact on an adventuring group.

• The governor of Black Hammock Town is a Human woman named Gueva. She is married - according to posterity - though her husband has not come to Black Hammock, instead continuing to work (temporarily or who knows?) in the northern kingdoms. Some controversy follows her, as she is consistently accompanied by a male Elfish consort, Aodhan.
• Halfling Milton, son of Adonimen, and spouse Chrysanthe (Halfling 2), is an envoy from afield, representing a mercantile union. They have two young children and are accompanied by Xandri (Halfling 3), sister to Chrysanthe, who is very protective of the two younglings.
• Dwarfish venture explorer Bromil, accompanied by his siblings: brother, Tikomir; sister Stetsia (Dwarf 2); Bromslava, wife to Tikomir; and Nikola, his grown (but still relatively young) son. Bromil and company are seeking mineral rights, secretly believing that Mithril might be found as a sand, able to be smelted, in the beaches to the south.
• A crone, Onisimova (Dwarf 1), serves as advisor to the governor. Her motives are her own and she lives alone - leading to some degree of speculation as to what might have motivated her to sojourn to this remote place in her twilight years.
• Human Bero, member to a mercantilist family, is accompanied by business partners Hammen and Gipp, seeking to gain traction with the shipping market - with some barely-concealed preference to the activities going on in the Far Bank. Hammen in particular is fond of vice: always accompanied by an "understudy," Engeram (FM 1).
• Savaric of Lis, a former adventurer (Thief 2), is the unofficial guide of Far Bank. He knows the ins and outs and has relationships with dozens of small time operations. He is more bluster than ability, but has a lot of friends - if needed. Among his friends are two adventuring companions: a Hylos (Halfling 1) and Milla (MU 2). Milla tends to keep Sleep and Magic Missile in her arsenal.
• A former adventuring party - the Hardwood Hammerers - is using the gains from their recent findings to establish themselves in the elite: working out of the South Wharf and risking other people's lives instead of their own. The brains behind the act is a female Conjuror (MU 3) named Ellin. Ellin can cast Hold Portal, Light, and Mirror Image. Other members of the troupe include Moisent, female fighter (FM 2); two Halflings, Haemon the Quick (level 2) and Ynta the Quicker (level 3); and two Elves Caitir (level 1) and Boisil (level 2). Caitir can cast Read Magic; Boisil, Read Magic and Darkness. They will, to a trusted contractor, give information about the Fette Tante in exchange for an agreed cut.
• The oldest family to the colony, among the founders and with relatives in the original, ill-fated colony, is led by Engilbert (FM 3) and his grown son Sichar (FM 1). The matriarch of the family having passed, Engilbert prioritizes security and cohesion of the colony, fearing what lies outside the walls - arguably being the source of the quarantine on exterior goods. Engilbert has two young children - Okter and Sigeric - who are guarded by a Dwarfish tutor, Milogost. Likewise, Engilbert has a teen-aged daughter, Liutgarde, whom he guards zealously - but who, unknown to him, is a frequent (albeit anonymous) visitor to the far bank (Thief 3).
  

Public domain artwork retrieved from OldBookIllustrations.com or the National Gallery of Art and adapted for thematic use. Attribution in alt text.