26. Valegrave's Farmstead

At the southern end of Nulb, past the battered cobbles of the High Road, squats a sprawling, mud-churned farmstead behind a mossy river-stone wall. The land here has been bled into obedience. Root vegetables sprout in carefully regimented furrows, overseen by a dozen sullen figures bent in toil. These are not free men—but indentured serfs, purchased or kidnapped, broken down until they dig and harvest without question.

Over them looms a hooked-nosed brute called Master Aldren Valegrave, a former caravan slaver turned farm master. Though no longer cloaked in noble trappings, his greed and cruelty remain intact. His fields keep Nulb’s taverns full, and the Temple’s wagons rolling with produce. In return, he is protected and supplied by Commander Feldrin and his warband of temple logistics enforcers.

Layout and Description

Farm Compound

• The Farmhouse (Main Cottage): A sagging, three-winged U-shaped timber structure. Weather-worn shingles, boarded windows, and a sunken thatch roof give the home an air of decay. A water well sits in the dirt courtyard, circled by hoofprints and wagon ruts. The cottage’s west wing serves as Aldren’s quarters; the east wing houses storage, grain, and salted preserves.
• The Serf Barn: A filthy longhouse bunking the ten serfs like livestock. Straw bedding, chains for runaways, and a dung pit out back.
• The Chicken Yard: A fenced pasture with a slatted coop and nearly two dozen half-wild chickens overseen by a limping youth named Joral.
• The Root Fields: Three acres of parsnip, turnip, onion, and gnarled leeks, turned daily by blistered hands. Crude scarecrows—stuffed effigies of former serfs—keep the crows away.
• The Outer Wall: A river-stone wall waist-high and moss-covered, demarcates the Valegrave lands from the High Road.

Master Aldren Valegrave

A cruel, lean-jowled man with sunken cheeks and whipcord arms. Once a middleman in the slaver trade, he now manages the farm as a supply hub. He barters food for prisoners from pirates and bandits, trading rotted vegetables for flesh. Valegrave answers to Commander Feldrin, and occasionally hosts Lucius Graeme or Wat when shipments are diverted.

“A man is only worth what he produces. Those who cannot work have no place in this world.”

— Master Aldren Valegrave

Personality

• Calculating & Cruel: Every interaction is weighed for profit and leverage.
• Obsessed with Control: Believes fear is the only tool necessary to ensure obedience.
• Despises Weakness: Sees the poor and desperate as tools to be used and discarded.

Motivations & Goals

• Expand his farm’s influence, making himself indispensable to both Nulb and the Temple.
• Crush any rebellion among his serfs before it begins.
• Maintain favor with Commander Feldrin and Madame Selentis (Nysera Krivaltis), ensuring his survival if the Temple rises—or falls.

Politics and Logistics

• Temple Network: Valegrave’s farm provides root vegetables, eggs, and dried meat to Commander Feldrin’s supply wagons. These shipments are either picked up directly by 6. Wainwright of Nulb depot or delivered to the 33. Old Mayor’s Manor, where Madame Selentis’s men facilitate their transfer to the 55. Hunting Cottage.
• Tavern Trade: Both Boatman’s Tavern and Wat’s Waterside Hostel depend on Valegrave’s produce. In return, they tip off Valegrave about caravan arrivals and pirate shipments.
• Prisoner Exchange: When pirates under Tolub or Lodriss bring in prisoners not worth selling to slavers, Valegrave buys them cheap and works them to death.
• Temple Protection: Though not a cultist himself, Valegrave is considered essential. Feldrin ensures no one touches the farm without permission.

Secrets and Hooks

• Escape Tunnel: A long-forgotten wine cellar beneath the farmhouse leads to a bramble-choked tunnel that exits near the marsh. Ideal for PC infiltration or serf escape.
• Black Ledger: Hidden behind a wall panel in Aldren’s bedroom is a stained ledger recording prisoner trades, payoffs to Commander Feldrin, and a bribe made to Lucius Graeme.
• Gregor’s Doubts: If pressured, Gregor may betray Valegrave—he’s growing tired of Aldren’s cruelty and fears retaliation if the Temple falls.
• Lost Noble Serf: One of the field hands wears an old, locket with a noble crest. PCs may uncover his identity as a captured heir of House Penhaligon.

Adventure Hooks

• Break the Chain: PCs infiltrate the farm to liberate the serfs or assassinate Valegrave.
• Burn the Fields: As a blow to the Temple’s logistics, players are tasked by a resistance cell to torch the root fields and poison the well.
• Buy a Ghost: The ghost of a murdered serf haunts the coop at night, whispering the truth of a hidden mass grave beneath the field.
• Smuggle the Message: One serf carries a coded message from Otis, hidden in a hollowed turnip.

"A man is only worth what he can produce. Those who cannot work have no place in my fields—or this world."

— Master Valegrave

The Power Struggles of Valegrave Manor

The Temple of Elemental Evil

Temple of Elemental Evil who would have direct contact with Master Aldren Valegrave for food supply logistics are:

1. Feldrin – Commander of the Temple’s Guards and Supply Chains
2. Role: Oversees internal security and external raiding operations.
3. Responsibility: Ensures a steady flow of supplies, weapons, and captives to the Greater Temple.
4. Relationship with Valegrave: Likely the primary contact who ensures that shipments from Valegrave Manor reach the Temple. He would oversee the collection, transportation, and security of these shipments.
5. Barkinar – Commander of the Greater Temple Troops
6. Role: Military enforcer and second-in-command to Hedrack.
7. Responsibility: Expanding the Temple’s military power.
8. Relationship with Valegrave: Would likely have an overarching interest in securing Valegrave’s farm and supply chain to sustain the growing forces of the Temple.
9. Romag – High Priest of the Earth Temple
10. Role: Leads the Earth Temple, which focuses on stability and endurance.
11. Responsibility: Expanding fortifications and securing long-term resources.
12. Relationship with Valegrave: May see Valegrave as a crucial supplier for food and manpower, ensuring the continued operation of the Temple’s garrisons and labor force.

• Valegrave fears the Temple’s true masters but values his business too much to refuse.

"The Temple demands its due, and I intend to collect. If that means breaking a few backs, so be it."

— Master Valegrave

The Inns & The Pit – Human Trafficking in Nulb

• The Waterside Hostel & Boatman’s Tavern serve as meeting places where Valegrave brokers deals in human property.
• 4: Boatman’s Tavern and Nulb Market receives captured drifters and criminals, many of whom end up in Valegrave’s fields.
• Captain Marad Vesrek , the pirate lord, trades slaves with Valegrave, supplying him with new laborers from the Wild Coast.

The Serfs

• A broken people, too afraid to rise up but desperate for salvation.
• Some whisper of escape, though any caught plotting rebellion are made examples of.

"I pray for an end to this place, but I know better. St. Cuthbert doesn’t hear the cries of the doomed."

— Serf

Adventure Hooks

“Breaking the Chains”

• A serf girl escapes Valegrave Manor, begging the party for help.
• If the party investigates, they uncover evidence of slavery and dealings with the Temple.
• Will they destroy Valegrave’s operation, or use him as an informant?

“Intercept the Shipment”

• A caravan bound for the Temple of Elemental Evil is set to depart from Valegrave Manor.
• The party must stop the shipment, uncovering evidence of the Temple’s growing supply chain.

“The Slave Rebellion”

• The serfs are preparing an uprising, needing weapons and leadership.
• Will the party help them, or exploit the chaos for their own ends?