Ever-Stone Gazetteer

Central Plaza District

The Central Plaza is Ever-Stone's vibrant commercial and cultural center, once a mining hub, now a lively market filled with citizens of all backgrounds. Elven fountains and stone planters decorate the square, where the air is rich with food scents and traders offer foreign and local goods by day, turning to performances and festivals at night. The imposing Grand Council Hall overlooks the plaza, hosting official events and symbolizing the city's blended heritage. Guardians patrol regularly, deterring pickpockets, while magical wards ensure safety, making the plaza both welcoming and secure. 

•  Holly-Oak Inn – A welcoming three-story inn and tavern known as a common waypoint for passing travellers. Its oak timber frame and holly wreath over the door invite weary visitors. The inn offers modest but clean lodgings and hearty meals.
• NPC: Harman Oakstaff – Male Human. Attitude: Hospitable; Personality: Genial and fatherly. Oakstaff is a retired caravan guard who founded the inn after the war. He treats guests like family and loves swapping stories of the road, having opened the Holly-Oak in Ever-Stone’s early days to support unity by hosting mixed clientele.
• Ironhide Armaments – The oldest blacksmith shop in Ever-Stone, located near the barracks to outfit the city guard. Ironhide Armaments produces robust, no-frills arms and armour for the Guardians and local militia, prized for their durability over style.
• NPC: Garrick Heavyfist – Male Half-Orc. Attitude: Businesslike; Personality: Proud & dutiful. Having served in the city guard in his youth, he understands the importance of reliable equipment and will sternly lecture anyone who mistreats his wares.
• The Scroll and Quill – A tidy scribe’s shop and bookstore tucked under the arches of the Council Hall arcade. It offers stationery, maps, and a collection of historical tomes. The proprietor also provides translation and document-copying services, making it popular among diplomats and scholars.
• NPC: Meril Duskwhisper – Female Half-Elf. Attitude: Courteous; Personality: Bookish & meticulous. Meril is soft-spoken and keen-eyed, having served as a junior archivist in the Hall of Records. She opened this shop to share her love of lore.
• The Draconis Emporium – An official magical goods store near the plaza, recognisable by its dragon-themed facade and sapphire-eyed dragon statues at the door. Established in 4807 4E, this shop is backed by the Dragon Imperium (a regulatory mage guild) to make low-level magic accessible to the public. Inside, polished wooden shelves display enchanted household items like ever-glowing candles, self-filling ink quills, minor healing potions, and protective charms. Prices are kept affordable by the Imperium, making basic magic attainable for ordinary citizens.
• NPC: Encanwyrm Arlin Dakos – Male Human. Attitude: Friendly; Personality: Enthusiastic & honest. Arlin is an affable mage with a warm smile and keen business sense. He often sponsors local magic education events and offers small “tester” trinkets to curious youths, cementing the Emporium’s role in the community.
• Hall of Records – A secured archive building adjacent to the council hall, where Ever-Stone’s official histories, census data, and important documents are preserved. Scholars and officials frequent this facility for research. The archive was established soon after the city’s founding and expanded in 4736 4E under Archivist Lumen Grey.
• NPC: Melvin Moodrik – Male Dwarf. Attitude: Impartial; Personality: Pedantic & earnest. Melvin is the current Chief Archivist, known to fuss over preservation protocols. Having lived through Ever-Stone’s early decades, Melvin sees himself as a guardian of truth.
• Merchants’ Guildhall – A stately building on the plaza’s edge where the Ever-Stone Mercantile League meets. Representatives of various trade guilds (carpenters, smiths, grocers, etc.) negotiate prices and tariffs here.
• NPC: Elina Fairworth – Female Human. Attitude: Polite but shrewd in business dealings; Personality: Ambitious & articulate. Elina is the head of the Merchants’ League, a savvy negotiator who rose from a market stall owner to guildmaster. She coordinates trade policy with the Council and foreign merchants. Elina’s ambition is to maintain Ever-Stone’s status as a trade nexus, and she often hires skilled escorts for caravans or discretely sponsors adventurers to secure exotic goods for the market.
• Other services in Central Plaza include street food vendors, a public city fountain where common folk gather to draw water and gossip, and messenger services. A Church of Opportunity chapel stands at one corner of the plaza – a small shrine dedicated to the aspect of The World that represents fortune and trade. Locals and merchants stop here to pray for luck in business. Kateri, a roaming human missionary of Opportunity, sometimes gives impassioned sermons about seizing one’s fate.

Diplomatic Quarter

• Elven Embassy of Fra-Shandan – A tranquil compound with elegant wooden halls built around a sacred oak tree transplanted from Fra-Shandan’s forests. Inside, one finds airy meeting chambers open to gardens.
• NPC: Selantha Moonsight – Female Elf. Attitude: Gracious but slightly distant; Personality: Diplomatic & traditional. Selantha is the elven ambassador, born of an ancient Fra-Shandan noble line. Though outwardly gentle, she has a spine of steel when negotiating. She values Ever-Stone’s stability and will quietly hire adventurers for delicate matters that might affect elven interests. Selantha’s long view of history means she often references centuries-old events in conversation, reminding others that the elves hold deep roots here.
• Dwarven Embassy of Olliveria – A stout stone building on raised pillars (a style from the wet valleys of Olliveria). Its great hall is bedecked with banners of the Empire of Olliveria and exhibits of fine dwarven metalwork.
• NPC: Thorkar Deepdelve – Male Dwarf. Attitude: Cautious yet friendly if approached with respect; Personality: Honourable & forthright. Thorkar, the dwarven envoy, is a veteran of the old war who helped defend Borous-Under. He remembers Ever-Stone’s origin vividly and sees the city as a beacon of what dwarf-elf cooperation can achieve. Blunt in speech and fond of strong ale, he is nonetheless very protective of Ever-Stone. Thorkar has quietly funneled resources to reinforce the city’s wards and will approach adventurers to investigate threats to the city’s mines or infrastructure (often giving a knowing wink that “a little delving in the deep never hurt a true friend of Ever-Stone”).
• Additionally, small chapels are present for the patron deities of visiting nations – e.g., a shrine to the elven forest gods and a hearth-altar to the dwarven All-Father – underscoring Ever-Stone’s respect for all faiths.

Cascade District

The Cascade District borders natural waterfalls and streams descending from Staboribus Mountain. This green city area features terraced gardens, stone paths, and the Ever-Cascades waterfalls. Created by elves and dwarves during Ever-Stone’s reconstruction, it blends nature with engineered flood controls, including footbridges and hidden water mechanisms. Locals visit for meditation, healing retreats, and bathhouses like Harmonia Spring, popular for relaxation and minor therapies. Residents include healers and artisans, living in cottages with herb gardens. At night, magical lights illuminate the streams and waterfalls. The district connects with city life through Guardian patrols and a weekly Farmers’ Market. Beneath, an underground cistern complex filters water for the city's fountains, maintained by dwarven workers and elven druids, highlighting unity in Ever-Stone.

• Rawskin Tannery – A respected leather tannery set beside one of the smaller cascades. Its location allows the tannery to use fresh flowing water to cure hides, minimising the usual stench. The operation produces leather of exceptional quality, from everyday boots to fine, tooled armor pieces.
• NPC: Brugor Rawskin – Male Dwarf. Attitude: Gruff but fair with customers, patient with adventurers needing custom gear. Personality: Hardworking & blunt. Brugor’s family has run this tannery since the Borous-Under days. With calloused hands and a perpetually wet apron, Brugor takes pride in traditional dwarven tanning methods. He has supplied durable leathers for Ever-Stone’s workers and knows how to treat exotic hides adventurers bring (whether drake scales or owlbear pelts). While brusque, he guarantees the quality – if a Rawskin leather fails you, he’ll replace it free of charge. Hunters often trade creature hides here, and Brugor, despite a rough exterior, will swap tales of hunts over a mug of ale with those who bring him unique skins.
• Whispering Wind Archery – An archery shop perched on a hillside, partially tucked into a living tree. It sells finely crafted bows and arrows fletched with griffon or phoenix feathers for added accuracy. The open-air workshop lets breezes flow through, and wind-chimes hang among the bows, giving the shop its name.
• NPC: Aeris Mapleleaf – Female Elf. Attitude: Calm and encouraging to aspiring archers; Personality: Serene & precise. Aeris is a master fletcher who fled Fra-Shandan during the war and found a new home here. She crafts bows from the wood of fallen ancient trees and imbues arrows with minor wind charms so they fly true. Soft-spoken, Aeris often gives free basic arrows to youngsters learning to shoot. She greets adventurers seeking ranged weaponry with a gentle confidence, sometimes testing their draw strength and suggesting a particular bow that “sings” for them. Aeris also knows much about different arrow types – from armour-piercing bodkins to silvered heads – and will passionately share that knowledge. Her shop’s tranquil setting belies the deadly effectiveness of her wares.
• Sanctum of the Spring – A small open-air temple built beside the largest waterfall. This sanctum is dedicated to The World in its aspect of Life/Nature (as worshipped by the elves of Fra-Shandan). It features a semicircular colonnade and a reflecting pool that catches the waterfall’s spray. Healers and druids perform rituals here, and the sick come to be blessed or treated with herbal poultices.
• NPC: Lioralla – Female Elf. Attitude: Compassionate and gentle toward all, including adventurers seeking healing; Personality: Spiritual & empathetic. Lioralla is a druidess who tends the Sanctum. Believed to be over 200 years old, she has a calming presence like a living embodiment of the forest. Lioralla offers healing ceremonies using water from the falls and rare herbs. She asks no fee, but those healed often donate or perform a small service for the community in return. With adventurers, she inquires about their journeys, both to gather news of the wilds and to gently remind them of the balance between civilization and nature. In Ever-Stone’s early years, Lioralla helped shape this district, using druidic magic to nurture the gardens. Under her guidance, the Sanctum has become a place where even hardened warriors find peace – many a restless adventurer has left the Sanctum feeling whole in body and a bit lighter in soul.
• Everflow Apothecary – A cozy apothecary cottage near the Harmonia Spring bathhouse. Surrounded by herb gardens and dangling drying plants, it provides medicinal salves, herbal remedies, and a few simple potions. Locals swear by its soothing teas and poultices.
• NPC: Rhea Mossglade – Female Half-Elf. Attitude: Kind and chatty with customers; Personality: Motherly & wise. Rhea, the apothecary, is middle-aged with streaks of silver in her hair and soil often under her nails. She grew up tending herbs in these gardens. Rhea has a broad knowledge of both elven herbal lore and dwarven medicinal brews, reflecting her mixed heritage. She treats adventurers’ wounds with fuss and care, scolding them gently for their recklessness as a mother would. Her shop is also a hub of gossip – Rhea hears much from patients who come to her, and she isn’t above passing a tip to adventurers if, say, multiple people turn up poisoned (hinting at a dangerous beast or criminal in town). Quality is paramount to her; all her ingredients are fresh from the Cascade gardens or human farms nearby. Her homey shop has saved many lives with humble medicine when expensive magic was out of reach.
• The Cascade District has few taverns or inns, keeping with its quiet character, but The Healing Hearth is a notable tea house where convalescents and caregivers gather. There, an old tiefling named Amaris brews restorative teas and light soups. The district also features the Cascade Cisterns underground – a crucial part of city services where water is filtered. Dwarven engineers manning the cisterns often double as exterminators for the occasional infestation; they’re prepared to deal with giant rats or beetles that creep in, attracted by the water. These workers know every tunnel here, much like street cleaners who “know everybody’s dirtiest secrets” in a city, and can be valuable sources of information about the goings-on beneath Ever-Stone.

Harmonia Heights

• Athenium Archive – A great library and archive that doubles as an educational institution. The Archive is a majestic building blending dwarven stone foundations with elegant elven spires. Inside, it houses vast collections of historical texts (tomes of Fra-Shandan, Olliveria, and Ever-Stone history), magical treatises, scholarly works, and artifacts displayed in galleries. Students and researchers fill its halls. NPC: Archivist Lumen Grey – Male Elf. Attitude: Welcoming and helpful to adventurers seeking knowledge; Personality: Wise & gentle. Lumen Grey, who founded the Archive in 4736, is a venerable elf with silver hair and piercing green eyes. He has overseen the library for centuries and remembers the early days post-war. Known for his near-photographic memory, Lumen delights in guiding knowledge-seekers. He might recall obscure references that aid a party’s quest (“Look up the diary of a miner from 4720 in the Archive’s depths… it may mention that symbol you found” he could suggest). Though gentle, he is authoritative about preserving knowledge – he will firmly admonish anyone who disrespects a book. Under his care, the Archive offers research assistance and even public lectures and debates. Lumen’s lifetime of wisdom and neutrality makes him a trusted advisor to the Council on historical matters.
• Arcana Obscura – An exclusive magic shop and curiosities boutique perched atop a hill, slightly apart from the busy streets, shrouded in an aura of mystery. This high-end establishment caters only to the elite or those on special appointment. The manor housing it is gothic and opulent, with dark stone walls carved with arcane sigils and a gate that opens only by invitation. Inside, clients find legendary artifacts and custom-made magical items of immense power.
• NPC: Magister Rine Ni’Veren – Female Elf. Attitude: Aloof and selective towards adventurers (she will test their worth Personality: Enigmatic & proud. Rine Ni’Veren, the proprietor, is an illustrious sorceress who founded Arcana Obscura in 4760. Tall and graceful with silver hair like moonlight, she exudes timeless wisdom. Rumors swirl about her true age and origin. To gain access to her shop, one must either have a referral or demonstrate great need or destiny. Rine crafts bespoke magical items for those she deems worthy – an enchanted sword tied to a hero’s fate, for example. She carefully vets clients, refusing to sell items that could harm Ever-Stone or upset the balance of power. Adventurers who manage to impress her (perhaps by completing a quest she quietly sponsors to test their character) will find her a font of arcane problem-solving. However, her prices are exorbitant and often not in mere gold – she may require rare components or significant quests as payment. The shop’s existence is a poorly kept secret among the city’s elite, and owning an artifact from Arcana Obscura is a major status symbol.
• Ever-Forge Smithy – A renowned smithy and workshop known for innovative designs combining metalwork and enchantment. The building is a terraced structure in the Heights, blending stout stone with graceful wooden arches and luminescent magical vines twining up the facade. Here, traditional smithing meets arcane experimentation. The smithy specializes in weapons with elemental enhancements – swords wreathed in flame, shock-touched warhammers, etc.
• NPC: Magni Faverton – Female Elf. Attitude: Respectful and curious with adventurers (especially those bringing new ideas Personality: Inventive & confident. Magni is a skilled elven smith and enchanter who trained under both dwarven masters and elven bladesingers. She took over the Ever-Forge Smithy in 4750 4E and pushed its reputation to new heights by melding techniques. Her creations, known for elemental properties, attract clients from the city guard to traveling wizards. Magni is always looking for feedback and field reports on her experimental gear – adventurers might be asked to test a new kind of arrow or a prototype lightning axe in real combat and report back. In personality, Magni is friendly but intense; once immersed in a project, she can talk for hours about metallurgy or rune carving. She also mentors apprentices from both dwarf and elf backgrounds, making her smithy a small symbol of unity. The Ever-Forge has a steady stream of commissions, and Magni prioritizes city defense needs (Guardians get discounts on custom arms). Her openness to collaboration means adventurers can pitch novel weapon ideas and perhaps co-create something unique with her.
• Silk & Song Atelier – A high-class tailor and instrument-maker under one roof, serving the cultured residents of Harmonia Heights. The front of the shop displays elegant elven gowns and finely tailored dwarf-style doublets, while the back wall hangs lutes and fiddles of superb craftsmanship. Two master artisans share the space: a tailor and a luthier.
• NPC (Tailor): Yllandra Faer – Female Elf. Attitude: Polite and somewhat aloof to rough-edged adventurers; Personality: Artistic & perfectionist. Yllandra creates clothing that is practically wearable art, blending flowing elven silks with sturdy dwarven weaves for durability. She’s tailored formal attire for Ever-Stone’s dignitaries. While she might initially sniff at a mud-spattered adventurer asking for new clothes, she can be won over if they commission something interesting (like attire for a royal ball or a disguise requiring clever design). She fusses over measurements and won’t let a client leave until the fit is flawless. NPC (Luthier): Dorin Bronzevoice – Male Dwarf. Attitude: Jovial and welcoming to adventurers, especially bards; Personality: Boisterous & proud. Dorin crafts musical instruments – not only lutes and fiddles, but also dwarven drums and bagpipes. A musician himself, he often tests instruments by playing lively tunes that echo in the shop. He loves when bard adventurers visit; he’ll insist they try out one of his creations (perhaps offering a discount if they perform with it around town, essentially advertising his work). Both Yllandra and Dorin represent the artistic soul of Harmonia Heights – one through fashion, one through music – and together they often collaborate (Yllandra has sewn instrument cases and beautiful straps for Dorin’s lutes). Their partnership, elf and dwarf, is another microcosm of Ever-Stone’s harmony.
• Harmony Overlook Gardens – A public terraced garden and park at the top of the district, where residents host community events. The gardens have sections tended by different folk (an elf-tended orchid patch, a dwarf-sculpted rock garden, etc.). Overlook is not a shop but deserves note for its communal importance.
• NPC: Evenin Silverglade – Male Elf. Attitude: Warm and encouraging with citizens and adventurers alike; Personality: Scholarly & idealistic. Evenin is an Ever-Stone council member (the elf representative on the Council of Ever-Stone) who resides in Harmonia Heights and patronizes the gardens. He often strolls here to speak with constituents. A historian and statesman, he is approachable and will earnestly listen to adventurers’ concerns about the city (“You say there’s unrest brewing in the Warrens? That should be addressed…”). Evenin’s presence has made the gardens a place where ideas are exchanged. He sometimes tests the waters of policy by consulting the diverse visitors here. Under his oversight, an annual “Harmony Festival” is held in the gardens, showcasing elven music and dwarf brewing competitions side by side. His life has been dedicated to ensuring Ever-Stone lives up to its founding ideals, and in personality he embodies the best of both cultures – intellectual depth with practical wisdom. Adventurers might know him as a potential patron for civic-minded quests (such as brokering peace between a miners’ guild dispute, or retrieving a cultural artifact for the city’s museum). Evenin’s support is subtle but valuable: he could smooth bureaucratic issues for a party that does good for Ever-Stone.