2. Alston’s Mill

Stone-based, timber-topped mill on a sluggish side-channel; hearth of the thorpe’s trade and gossip. The wheel’s steady slap is the only sound that never quits in Anshan—and when it does, folk bar their doors.

Arrival read-aloud

The stream splits to feed a shallow channel where a squat stone mill squats like a stubborn old ox. A timber wheel turns slow and patient, slapping water into the mud bank with every half circle. Fish-racks smoke over a low trench, and bundles of marsh herbs hang from rafters to crisp. Children ferry split planks from a pile to a neatly stacked row, while a girl with ink-stained fingers tallies in a leather book and watches you without flinching.

Location layout

Outside

• Undershot Wheel & Cutwater: Stone cutwater noses upstream; the wheel is half-slimed but sound. A rope cleat lets you brake it by hand (Athletics DC 12 to hold; DC 15 in spate).
• Smoke Trench: A narrow, sunken trench (2 ft wide, 18 in deep) runs parallel to the wall with iron rods for eel racks; counts as difficult terrain during a fight.
• Plank Yard: Stack of milled planks, crude sawhorse, and a rack of rattle-strings (caps, shells, thin bone disks) used to keep pests—and worse—at bay.
• Footbridge Spur: Narrow boardwalk connects yard to the stream path; slippery when wet (Dex (Acrobatics) DC 11 to sprint).

Inside (ground floor)

• Stone Mill Room: Millstones on a timber axle; sack hoists; flour dust in the air.
• Flour Bins: Labeled sacks (barley, buckwheat, mixed hidden beneath one is Praen’s tool chest (adze, augers, spare pegs, pitch, 10 gp in mixed coins).
• Work Nook: Pegboard of chisels and planes; a half-finished ladder for the Borderer tower.

Upstairs (family loft)

• Sleeping loft: Five pallets, a cedar coffer with family keepsakes; Sherina’s ledger & quill kit tucked under a beam.
• Herb Lines: Pennywort, sweetflag, fen-mint, dried puffball slices.

Notable Folk

Praen Alston (male human, mid-40s)
Broad-handed, soft-voiced, clothes clean even in mud weather. Famous locally for turning “bad wood into good work.” Once trained city apprentices in Verbobonc; after his wife’s death, he refused guild offers and came home for the children.

• Manner (to you): “You look like trouble sober and disaster wet. Which is it today?” (Half-smile.)
• Talents: Joinery, wheelwright fixes, emergency bridge work, making rattle-strings that actually sing.
• Need: Extra hands for plank runs and to keep the wheel clear after storms.

Sherina Alston (female human, 17)
Ink on fingers, boots always laced, memory like a steel trap. Keeps the books, runs messages to Borderers and the church, and navigates reed-beds by dead reckoning.

• Manner (to you): “Say it once; I’ll remember. Say it twice; I’ll charge you for wasting ink.”
• Secret: Has sketched boardwalk routes north and south; sells copies only to people who bring her safely home after dusk.

The younger Alstons

• Reni (11) & Briga (8): girls who can smoke an eel and fold a sheet in the wind.
• Walm (10) & Hosk (7): boys who worship Borderers and insist on carrying two planks at a time.
• Table beat: A PC who shows a simple knot or whittling trick earns fast friends.

Hooks & micro-scenes

1. “Keep the Wheel Turning”
   A flood wash packs reeds into the wheel. Skill challenge (3 successes before 2 failures): Athletics (heave), Survival (leverage with poles), Tools: Carpenter’s (brace). Success clears the wheel (Roanik’s thanks + rumor failure wedges it and the mill falls silent—Fen-Whisper activity intensifies town-wide tonight.
2. “Planks for the Bridge”
   Captain Roanik commissions ten boards; Praen needs escorts. On the span, stirges test the herd below and peel toward you. Driving them off without slaughter wins goodwill and a free boardwalk map from Sherina.
3. “The Ledger Error”
   Sherina’s numbers say a petty trader hasn’t paid in two cycles—but the man died last winter. Investigation reveals someone forging marks to skim eel-oil taxes via the tavern culvert.
4. “The Cutwater’s Tooth”
   Praen suspects a stone has loosened on the cutwater. Underwater inspection (freezing water, Con save DC 12 or gain fatigued/cold) reveals etched runes (old ferry-measure marks). Aggy will barter for a rubbing.

Fens of Tor Trail Map by 3orcs

Encounters at the mill (use sparingly)

• Stirge Draw: Warm smoke + livestock attract a swarm; torches grant advantage to repel.
• Bog-dog Pack: Mud-matted curs test the smoke trench; a thrown offal bucket ends it without blood (good for the kids).
• Quiet Moment (Whisper sign): If the wheel stops and everyone hushes, flour dust hangs in the air and refuses to fall. Start the wheel; the dust drops.

Secrets & consequences

• Quiet Zone: While the wheel turns, rooms within 60 ft count as having continuous noise (disadvantage to Fen-Whispers; see Mirewatch). If the wheel stops for an hour at night, increase your next marsh encounter die by one step.
• City Past: Praen keeps letters from a Verbobonc guild factor begging him to return (worth 5 gp to a collector, or leverage to get city-grade tools delivered on credit).
• Sherina’s Reed Map: Her best route skirts sink patches and a quaking mat; following it grants advantage on the first Fens navigation check tomorrow.

Quick 2nd-person table beats

• Praen (eyeing your gear): “That strap’s dry-rotted. Trade you a new one for an hour on the plank saw.”
• Sherina (tapping her ledger): “If you’re buying, I write it. If you’re lying, I also write it—just on a different page.”
• Kid chorus: “Do Borderers really sleep in the saddle? Can you make your sword hum? Can I touch it? Not the sharp bit?”