Buildings of Wamper's Feast

I thought you'd be taller

  For all the infamy surrounding Wamper's Feast, most pilgrims to the rural village are surprised at how disproportionate the size of the community is compared to its legend. The tales of the world-striding First Cohort suggest their origins would lie clouded in a haze of mythical magic, the inhabitants blessed with otherworldly wisdom, the food dripping with the nector of the celestial realm itself.   In truth, Wamper's is just an ordinary village with an above-average history. Disappointing perhaps even to those who arrived with Wamper's, given the sizeable exodus from the village during the Arborean War. Ironically, as the legend of the First Cohort grew, the footprint of their home village shrunk, until barely one third the size when it first Shifted. Only two buildings remain almost as they arrived with extensive re-construction re-shaping the village.

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The Fallen Apple

  The heartblood of the village, The Fallen Apple (once The Baker's Paddle) is the common room and inn of the village. Once run by Hutton Hanks, baker and mayor, Garwen Gonkol currently operates the establishment with various locals contributing as, in his own words, Garwen 'can kill, not cook'. The inn has an ajoining multi-purpose barn and smelter. At the rear is the ruins of the old church and graveyard.   The upstairs section, once a refuge for marooned residents, has been given over to Garwen's quarters and a handful of tiny guest rooms reserved for awe-struck pilgrims.

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Settler's Lot

  The houses, animal pens, and farmland of the village. Notably, the houses are built from the stone of the dismantled church.   For particularly thorough scholars who travel to Wamper's, the old guard towers and broken fence line at the rear of the Lot are remaining ruins from the time immediately following the Shifting. Garwen keeps the towers relatively clear and functional, though mainly as an exercise in fitness and discipline given the tower's are rarely manned.

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Old Goory Mill

  The only untouched and original building from the Shifting, the Old Goory Mill would be a source of pilgrim attention if not for the resident ghost and her sister, young Benita Goory and Katie Goory. Twins at the time of the Shifting, they were both captured by an Ettercap after wandering to the Timber Mill on the outskirts of the town during the waning hours of Tradefest. Unfortunately, the First Cohort, new to each other and the strange land they found themselves within, were only successful at reaching Katie in time - her twin Benita suffocating in the egg sac woven by the Ettercap.   Perhaps in another realm that would have ended the story, a mix of tragedy and jubilation. In Arborea though, the Court of Eyes never missed an opportunity to turn the tragic into horror. The night hag Purdi Grunt captured Benita's spirit and used her to torture the First Cohort. This time the First Cohort was successful, freeing Benita and allowing her ghost to take residence within the Water Mill, now run by her older sister Katie.

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The Grove of the Waving Sheaf

  Long associated with a nearby druidic grove, Wamper's residents are eternally grateful the grove chose to hold a conclave during the infamous Shifting Tradefest. While many druids fell sick and perished as a result of the Shifting, those who remained continued their association until they'd become an integral sub-community within the village.   Without doubt, the Grove, led by the stalward Stillman Jane, ensured Wamper's survival, particularly in the absence of the First Cohort. Their constant tending to the cottage farms, grown through trial and error in unfamiliar soil and climate, allowed Wamper's residents to remain well fed, while their defence against the vengeful green dragon Escalon-pol quite literally ensured Wamper's wasn't wiped from the map soon after it's arrival.   In the past few years, the druids paved the way for acceptance of the 'exotic' inhabitants of Arborea by allowing new members into their Grove, most noticeably from the fae community in the Old Timber Mill led by Jordi the Sprite, and the displaced Infrinnika lizardfolk exiled from their now-dormant volcano. As a result, Wamper's has resumed trading with nearby communities, as far as the nanaid community of Jenni Poole to the west, and Deertaur to the north. The now-common appearance of exotic locals in Wamper's may have increased diversity but also largely spelled the end of their fondest hope - that they'd one-day return to their original plane. X'ankris famous 'Here We Are, Better Get Used To It' speech to the collected Wamper's residents following the cessation of the Upheaval was the last wake-up call for the most dogged of residents. Sadly, Stillman's 'What the Fuck, I've Been Telling You This For Years' addition was lost to prosperity, having been drowned out by the rousing accolades aimed at their Hero of the Upheaval.

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Escalon's Wrath

  The least said about the scarred manor to the north, the better, according to Wamper's residents. Once the site of the enviable Marten Manor, the spacious abode was destroyed by the initial rampage of the green dragon Escalon-pol, who arrived one inconspicious twilight spouting anger and acid. The details remain murky - Escalon claimed betrayal and threatened to eradicate Wamper's and it's residents if restitution wasn't met. Fought to a stand-still by the Grove of the Waving Sheaf, Escalon now returns once a year to claim her tribute. And thus, the Marten Manor has remained untouched, re-claimed by the jungle.   Nearing the tenth year of Escalon's Tribute, a largely placid affair despite Escalon's threats, the villagers have recently begun to re-inter the resting place of those once buried in the church graveyard, the final result of a debate almost a decade in the making. Remaining fearful of erasing their history, some older residents baulked at removing the last monuments to their ancestors, while most of the village wished to remove the same-said monuments to move Wamper's firmly into it's future. A mere handful idly wondered at the affect of re-interring the long dead into Arborean soil, their whispered warnings easily ignored and forgotten.