Waekefield

## History

The town of Waekefield grew up under the protective barrier cast by Abeth Daleheart, an adventuring wizard who discovered an ancient artifact that hides a significant area of land from enemy senses. Abeth Daleheart founded the town shortly after the discovery of the artifact with her adventuring party, some of whom stayed on to join the council of the town. It has stood for about thirty-seven years, hidden from the eyes of the infernals and any who have hostile or harmful intent for the town, providing safety otherwise unavailable to most outside the major bastions. Abeth stands as Council Head, and holds almost unquestioned power within the town and surrounding countryside for about a mile around the council chambers.

The town has remained relatively peaceful, with only light interactions with the nearby town of Alsharra, or the city of Dergomal. Alsharra has kept consistent contact with Abeth, who is descended from a noble family once loyal to the elven royal family that still lives within Alsharra, and the two towns trade on a semi-annual basis. Waekfield’s interactions with Dergomal have been little more than cold, strictly diplomatic conversations establishing Waekefield’s independence based solely on the power of the artifact to hide the town’s location from any hostile intent. Trade is a bit more regular with the hobgoblin bastion, but is strictly regulated.

## Locations

### Council Chambers

The council chambers of Waekefield are located within a large central building, four stories tall and very wide. The building is surrounded by a simple wall, just high enough to keep the average person from jumping over, with watch towers at the four corners manned by the town guard. Between the council building and the wall is a small garden, running the length of land around the building itself and kept carefully by council servants.

In the center of the council building’s ground floor sits the council chamber proper, holding a half-circular table with five seats, one for each council member, and several benches before it for town meetings. The rest of the council building houses various meeting rooms, studies, a library, council guard barracks, and a vault holding the town’s treasury.

### Temple of Aejuna

The Temple of Aejuna is an impressive structure of marble, three winged with an open courtyard in the middle holding a beautiful reflecting pool centered around a single, silvery colored bald tree. Behind the temple is a cemetery built around a small hill holding what citizens of the town have fallen through its history.

The Temple of Aejuna, while beautiful, is modest in its furnishings, with most space dedicated to healing and quiet contemplation. The central wing is colonnaded, open to the air to the front and back, and connecting the eastern and western wings. The eastern wing holds the hospital wing, while the western holds the rooms of the clergy. The central open wing is reserved for the open contemplation of the sky, winds, and the cemetery behind the temple.

### The Hungry Badger

Built by Cailyn Deri when the town was founded, the Hungry Badger inn sits upon the large hill at the fork of the river system. The inn consists of a large, three story main building, and a small stable for guest’s mounts. There is a small garden from which one can look out upon the river flowing towards them from the north.

The inn proper is impressive, with nearly the entire first floor taken up by the tavern, the bar sitting opposite the main doors of the inn, with the kitchens behind and the stairs up to the rest of the inn beside. The second story consists of most of the rooms, modest in size with the usual accommodations. The third floor holds the three suites of the inn, each with their own full apartments, holding a bedroom, a seating area, a small study, and a washroom. The attic is small and short, used mostly for storage, and the cellar beneath everything is fully stocked with food, beverages, and Cailyn’s personal living area.

### Barracks

The barracks of Waekefield’s town guard is richly designed for such a simple town. Three stories tall, with full accommodations. Sleeping areas for guards, officers, and the captain himself, a kitchen with a mess hall, as well as a large training yard, and fully walled off with a block of the town all to itself. There are four towers on the corners of the barracks itself, and two others flanking the training yard to the east. While not an impressively sized force, the town guard are well-equipped and well-trained with the town coffers fed by Abeth’s own personal fortune.

### Stables

A large pasture sits just on the other side of the western river from the rest of the town, with a single large stable, the entire thing capable of holding two dozen or so horses comfortably, and a dozen more at stretched capacity. It is run by a close family of half-elves with odd heritage, well-loved in the town proper.

## Characters

### Abeth Daleheart

Founder, Council Head, and Protector of Waekefield, Abeth Daleheart has committed her every waking moment to the town she leads. Thirty-seven years prior to the present day, Abeth Daleheart settled down from adventuring after finding a powerful artifact capable of protecting a full four square miles of land from hostile forces, and founded the town that now thrives upon the river fork. Inviting the rest of her adventuring party to join her on the council, she funded most of the town’s construction herself, and now sits at the council’s head. Few within the town have any difficulty viewing the woman with respect, holding herself as she does with the air of nobility and power.

Abeth is a wizard of no small ability, having adventured with her friends for several years from the moment she left home. She is responsible for the closing of an infernal gateway, saving several small villages, and razing at least one orcish stronghold to the ground. She held back a large force of infernals alongside her party as they marched on a lost city as the citizens within fled for their lives. She is hailed as a hero by most, and treated with at least grudging respect by the rest.