Northedge
As its name suggests, Northedge is one of the northernmost settlements in the Empire of Evadrin. Located near the middle of “The Tear” continent and bordering a dense wilderness that separates the Empire from the Wailing Wastes and the Monstrous Marches, it is a dangerous and harsh place to live. Lacking any strategical advantage or commodities, Northedge isn’t very important to the Empire itself. However, to those that worship Synia, Goddess of Law and Justice, this little village is of tremendous importance. Holding the relic known as “The Circlet of Synia”, Northedge is considered an important pilgrimage destination to those that follow the Goddess.
Persons of Note
Baroness Hillia Clacey
Hillia Clacey is the baroness that oversees the small northern region in which Northedge is located. She is the highest ranking noble even somewhat aware of Northedge, as neither the Marquise or the Duke that oversee the region and province show any interest in the insignificant northernmost settlements. She is known to hate her position, as her region holds nothing of value and therefore gives her little influence or potential to rise through the ranks. Nevertheless she will use any opportunity she can to make her region stronger in the hope that someone of importance will notice. She rules from the one and only city in her region, Dennview.Mayor Theobald Helwy
Theobald Helwy is the mayor of Northedge, and was also the mayor of its previous incarnation before the Dismal March, Osana’s Point. Combined he has been the mayor of the village for over five decades. Theobald is ancient by human standards, and to many it’s a surprise he’s still able to come out of bed every morning. He’s a kind man who cares much for his villagers, and is actually very uninterested in the Empire of Evadrin as a nation.Administrator Emma
Emma is a young 23 years old lady that aids Mayor Theobald in his duties of running the town. She can often be found walking around the village along with the mayor, writing down notes of the villagers and their problems. She is also responsible for all administration within the small village, ranging from overseeing the taxes to making sure the registry of the population is constantly up to date.Loreleil, Lory & Lora Chubbs
The Chubbs family is currently the only permanent non-human family in Northedge. The halflings live in and run “Blossom’s”, a building that’s part inn (run by Lory) and part general store (run by Lora). Lory and Lora are identical twins and impossible to keep apart. Not only do they look the same, they also share the same enthusiastic and optimistic personality. Their mother, Loreleil, helps wherever she can despite her old age.Timm
Timm is the man that runs Northedge’s only tavern, The reincarnated pint. He is known to be in a perpetual bad mood with no interest in the villagers or the visitors. He serves only ale, refusing to store even water in his tavern. Despite the grumpy attitude of its owner, The reincarnated pint is the most popular place in town and many villagers can be found to relax and unwind there, as well as pilgrims that are taking a rest before heading off again.Birstan
Birstan is the constable of Northedge, and is in theory the head of the local authorities. In practice the Guardians of Synia actually deal with the more dangerous threats, whereas Birstan mostly serves as a point of contact for the villagers more banal matters. Birstan doesn’t mind this very much, and in fact enjoys his position. He is overweight and useless in any situations that require physique, such as combat, but he is very helpful and well liked, and in fact quite intelligent and observant.Symund
Symund is the deputy of constable Birstan and the second of the two guards in town. Young, skinny, and with much left to learn Symund is timid and simply does all he can to help the town and follow into Birstan’s footsteps. He often wants to prove himself, although unfortunately for Symund himself this results in him getting in over his head in many occasion.Illi
Illi is a former guardian of Synia and believed to be the only person in town older than Mayor Theobald. He lives in his little house purposefully separated from the other villagers on the eastern part of the town. Few villagers actually recall seeing him as he never leaves his home anymore, and other than the Guardians of Synia none of the locals have spoken to him in years.Demographics
Northedge exists almost entirely out of humans, although one family of halflings, the Chubbs, lives there as well. It is not uncommon for pilgrims or guardians of Synia to be of a different race, although these are not permanent residents.
As Northedge is so far away from the centre of the Empire of Evadrin, the inhabitants of the village mostly have to rely on themselves to survive in a harsh environment. All inhabitants tend to be quite poor, with most of them concerned with their more immediate survival, making sure there is enough food, safety, warm clothing, and somewhat comfortable housing.
Government
The village of Northedge is run by Mayor Theobald Helwy, an old man that has ruled the village for over five decades. Because of the sheer distance Northedge is removed from the centre of the Empire, very few of its stern rules and laws actually apply to it, and the Mayor is able to rule fairly liberally. Theobald leaves most of the villagers do as they please, as long as they don’t partake in any criminal activities. He sees himself more as a village elder, a father of his people, there to help them and give them advice over sternly ruling them. While many of Northedge’s people are grateful for this policy, some do claim that Theobald’s lax attitude is one of the main reasons of the town’s problems, as the old mayor is so afraid of offending his people with a too high amount of taxes that the village’s infrastructure and defence suffer for it.
Mayor Theobald has always had at least one administrator aiding him. Currently a young lady by the name of Emma fulfils that task.
In the case a criminal needs to be tried within Northedge, it is Theobald that will decide the punishment. That being said, it is very rare for crime to happen within the small community that is Northedge.
Defences
While the Empire of Evadrin is often believed to be the most powerful nation on the continent with its enormous and well trained imperial army, not all of its settlements are equally well protected. As a small village at the very edge of its borders, one could easily confuse Northedge for an independent settlement not belonging to any nation. They are simply too insignificant for the Empire for it to provide a proper force to protect it. Thus, the village of Northedge has to protect itself. Because of this, it only has one constable, Birstan, and his deputy, Symund. The two men are well mannered, helpful, and kind, but they are not very good fighters. This is of course a major issue in a settlement that is constantly under threat from the dangerous animals from the wilderness and the savage gnolls that attack them every so often.
Luckily for Northedge, the guardians of Synia are much better equipped and trained than the village’s own guards. The orange armoured and white cloaked guardians are often proficient with warhammers and shields, as well as greathammers and greatswords. They gladly serve as the village its protectors, as to them the village is a sacred place. There tend to be around a dozen guardians of Synia in the village at all times, ready to protect the village at all costs. They are however hesitant of travelling into the wilderness, but will do so if they know someone is in immediate danger.
The village lacks any walls or other infrastructure to protect, although during the reconstruction of the northern region the Imperial Army did dug a large trench between the border of the empire and the wilderness it borders. While the trench is neither very deep nor very wide, it does serve as a first line of defence against the often quite dumb creatures from the wilderness. As the trench intersects with a few rivers such as the Osana next to which Northedge is settled, it is also filled with water making it even more hazardous for unintellectual attackers.
Industry & Trade
As the focus of the villagers living in Northedge is mostly on survival, there is no real industry or trade other than the absolute necessary. Farmers, hunters, and fishermen sell their food directly to villagers, or occasionally use middlemen to do so, whereas carpenters, tailors, shoemakers, etc. offer up their services to those that need it Trade with an external settlement is very rare, although it isn’t unheard of that a merchant temporarily visits the village with more exotic wares to sell to the locals.
Infrastructure
Aside from a handful of watermills installed next to the Osana River and the marketplace in the centre of the village, Northedge lacks any noteworthy infrastructure. Despite this, the village was entirely rebuilt after the Dismal March thanks to the investments of Emperor Arryn Lancaster and the aid of the Imperial Army, meaning the houses within the village are nothing luxurious, but certainly functional.
Assets
As a small village, Northedge provides little in the way of assets. The centre of the village has enough room for a few stalls, and this is where most of the food is being sold by the farmers and hunters to the other villagers.
There are no specialised stores, although there is one general store in the halfling run “Blossom’s”, which is also part inn. The inn is an exact replica of the original Blossom’s, built centuries ago by a halfling who lent the building her name. The halflings currently running the inn and general story, Lory and Lora Chubbs, are direct descendants of Blossom. Despite the frequent visitors from pilgrims that come to visit Synia’s temple, few of them actually stay in Northedge itself for longer than a day, leaving the inn quieter than many expect.
A tavern, aptly named “The reincarnated pint”, run by a grumpy man that serves nothing but ale by the name of Timm is the village’s main place to unwind and relax.
The village’s main asset is of course its temple of Synia that contains the relic known as “The Cirlet of Synia”. The item is believed to have been worn by the Goddess of Law and Justice Herself. It certainly looks like something that could’ve been worn by a Goddess, as it is far too large in size for any humanoid creature and exquisitely crafted and decorated, it is beautiful to behold. However, the item itself has long since lost any divine magic, if it ever did so to begin with. Nevertheless many followers of Synia believe it to be real, so much even that they decided to always have a group of Guardians of Synia present in the village to protect the temple, the circlet, and the village itself. As their Goddess is believed to be murdered, they will do anything to protect what little of her that remains.
History
While the village that is Northedge has existed for a long time, it wasn’t always called Northedge, nor was it one of the Empire of Evadrin’s northernmost points. Before the Dismal March the village was called “Osana’s Point”, named after the river next to which it was settled, and there were about a dozen more villages within the Empire’s borders even further north. The village itself was slightly larger than its current incarnation housing around 500 people, and the Temple of Synia holding Synia’s Circlet, existed already as well. Life was not much different than it is now, although it would be slightly easier thanks to the many other settlements nearby. In the Year 469 of the Fifth Age however, reports came in of strange hordes of monsters approaching. Mayor Theobald Helwy acted quickly and decided to evacuate the entire village. While not everyone left, the majority of villagers did, as did the Guardians of Synia with their holy relic. The mayor’s quick decision, back then initially considered to be cowardice by many of his neighbours, would be the reason why most of Osana’s Point would survive to live through the event that would become known as the Dismal March. The village was completely and utterly destroyed, but most of its people were safely within the Empire’s inner walls by the time that happened. Many other villages either foolishly thought they could fend off the monsters, or simply left too late and were swallowed by the monstrous invaders. None of the dozen villages north of Osana’s Point would have even a single survivor.
The Dismal March lasted until the Year 475 of the Fifth Age and left the Empire’s entire northern part destroyed and in chaos. Shortly after the end of the March however, then emperor Rohan Lancaster, whom many believed to be a very weak emperor, died. He was replaced by his son, Arryn Lancaster, who immediately wanted to prove he was far more competent than his father. Arryn focused all his efforts on rebuilding the northern region to show the strength and resiliency of the empire. In a matter of months Osana’s Point was almost completely rebuilt, albeit slightly smaller due to villagers that lost their lives during the march. As none of the settlement north of Osana’s Point had any survivors remaining, they were not rebuilt, and the new Osana’s Point become a village next to the Empire’s new border. With it came its new name: Northedge.
Architecture
As a small border village Northedge lacks the grandiose design and architecture the Empire of Evadrin is usually known for. Instead the villagers live in small wooden houses that are functional and comfortable enough to live in but not particularly pretty to look at. While many villagers would like to decorate their houses in some way, they often lack the means to do so.
Geography
Northedge lies on the northern border of the Empire of Evadrin, meaning its located near the middle of the continent. It has a wet and cold climate with harsh winters but pleasant summers. The terrain is flat but heavily forested with pines, and especially the wilderness over the border is exceptionally thick. Northedge is located next to the river called “The Osana”, which originates from the mountainrange hundreds of miles east of the village as a big river that splits up into smaller ones. The Osana serves as the village’s main source of sweet water and also brings in some food in the way of fish. North of Northedge lies a dangerous wilderness filled with dangerous creatures, most notable the feared gnolls, and behind the wilderness lie the extraordinarily dangerous wailing wastes and monstrous marches.
Natural Resources
Other than wood from the many pine trees both around the village and in the wilderness resources are sparse in the area of Northedge. Wildlife is uncommon in the forest that is within the Empire’s borders, so many hunters are forced to hunt in the dangerous wilderness for food. There are also fishermen that specialise in hunting fish from the Osana River, but there aren’t nearly enough fish to provide food to an entire village.
Alternative Name(s)
Osana’s Point
Type
Village
Population
Around 350 inhabitants
Location under
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