Sewerbrooke

The small farming village of Sewerbrooke is positioned about
45 miles south of the metropolitan city of Riverguard, along the eastern bank
of the Deepwater River. The town takes its name from its perfect positioning to
intercept all of the foul and polluted water passing out of the big city, and
their fledgling efforts to build any sort of purification system. The village
mostly uses its well at access clean water from an underground stream, which is
part of the large cave system that permeates the area.

A clan of kobolds, in the process of mining the caves under
the town, also uses the underground stream for drinking and cooking. They are
territorial when it comes to their village and mining operation, but have
otherwise always had decent relations with the town as far as sharing the water
source and surrounding grasslands. Some of them have even traded with the
villagers, purchasing weapons and equipment from the local smithy.

Just recently, the well seems to have run dry. The roped
buckets the villagers send down come up empty, with just the smallest bit of
moisture darkening the outside bottom. The villagers are scared they will die
of thirst, or die of disease from having to drink the sludgy river water. Some
folk blame the kobolds, and want to either take up arms against them, or
journey to the big city to see if they can get help.

**Little Billy:**
Little Billy is a chubby human boy who is obsessed with the well. You might
find him on his tip toes trying to peer down into it. Any conversation quickly
reveals he’s not very bright. Billy believes that there’s a treasure of some
sort in the well.

room with a long bar against the western wall and a small stage against the eastern
wall. There is a large unlit hearth in the seating area that is slightly
crumbling. The Bard’s Haven is one of the only places in town to get anything
to drink, now that there’s no water from the well. The magistrate has issued a
conservation referendum prohibiting the tavern from selling any beverage in
sizes larger than a few ounces (about half a glass), and enacting a tax that
increases the prices of any drink sold by 1gp.

**Jacen Newton:** The
human owner and barkeep of the Bard’s Haven, Jacen founded the Inn with the
hopes of creating a hotspot for music and culture; unfortunately, Sewerbrooke
doesn’t really attract many travelers, let alone bards of any talent. Jacen
ends up playing most of the music the place sees himself, and despite his
passion, he’s not really very good. Jacen is a bitter man, even more so lately
thanks to the magistrate’s new rule forcing him to overcharge the townsfolk for
any kind of beverage.

**The Hetch Boys (and**
girl): **The sons of Jiam and Sari Hetchfield, the three Hetchfield children**
are all almost as drunk as their father, and much less personably. They are the
quintessential spoiled brats; throwing their parents gold around at the bar as
if it were nothing. The Hetchfield children are planning their own business
venture: heading north to bring back water and wine and charge twice what Jacen
charges, because everyone will be desperate at that point. Despite the silver spoons
in their mouths, they have worked on their family farm, and are not even close
to weak looking. They will not stand for attempts at intimidation.

=== **Pipes &**
Pommels Smithy **===**
A small, slanting, shack of a house, with a crumbling stone
forge out front; the entire operation looks pretty shoddy. The depression of
the place is only exacerbated by the “going out of business” sign hanging sadly
on the door. A large amount of pipes line the side of the building; this smithy
must get commissioned to makes pipes quite often.

**Burt Clifton:** A
Burly half-orc, Burt has been stressed lately about the loss of his business. A
few days before the water shortage began, he sold a lot of equipment to some
kobold traders, including a sword. Now, he’s being accused by the magistrate of
being a traitor to his village, and he received an official letter requiring
him to liquidate his wares and close his shop. He is in the process of packing,
and as soon as he’s finished, he intends to move to another village; possibly
even Riverguard itself. He still has a few things so sell, mostly horseshoes
and digging equipment, but also bolts, arrows, and a few simple weapons.

### T**emple of Neptune**

With all of the water-related problems Sewerbrooke has, the
people decided it would be a good idea to dedicate what was originally their
town hall as a temple to the water deity, Neptune. Already the largest building
in town, the conversion mostly consisted of paining the place a bright blue,
and commissioning a stone statue and altar for the pulpit. So far, the
townsfolks prayers haven’t been answered. Most of the people have no real
interest in having Neptune as their patron god, and think he’s kind of lame.

**Art Curry:**
Probably the only devout worshipper of Neptune in the village, Art is the one
who convinced the folk to convert their town hall into a temple. He is very
passionate about Neptune, and truly believes that the well has dried up as
punishment for the polluted river.

**Magistrate Urik**
Larson: **A sniveling, weasely elf, Uric is the magistrate who administers**
the politics of the town. The many letters he sends serve as Sewerbrooke’s
chief method of contact between Riverguard and all of the other surrounding
villages. He is furious at the kobolds because he believes they somehow dried
up the well. He is currently working on a letter to request military assistance
in exterminating the kobolds.

### **Sheriff’s Station**

The bars on the windows and shield painted on the door
signify this ramshackle building in the center of town as the Sheriff’s
station. It has a small reception area in the front, and caged lock-up rooms in
the back. There’s also a back room for files, evidence, and the Sheriff’s
armory. Because there’s not usually much crime in Sewerbrooke, this room is
mostly empty except for a few swords, spears, and light crossbows.

**Sheriff Hamm**
Kirklett: **The official lawman of Sewerbrooke, Kirklett has a relatively**
slender build, even for a half-elf. He’s normally pretty laid back, and usually
devotes far more of his time to protecting the towns citizens from outsiders
than he does policing internal problems. Lately, he’s been under a lot of
pressure from the magistrate to eliminate the kobolds.

**Deputy Jimbob**
Bobbyjohn: **Hamm’s only deputy, Jimbob is an idiot. He’s currently on Hamm’s**
shit list for losing an expensive town-issued hand-crossbow a few days ago.
Only understands things if they are presented to him incredibly simply.

**Squeakers:** A
young kobold caught walking through the surrounding grasslands close to the
village; “Squeakers” is the nickname Jimbob gave him. Locked up on the hope
that he would confess that his clan are responsible for well situation, no one
in town speaks draconic, and Squeakers doesn’t speak common, so interrogations
have been going very slowly.

=== **Water Purification**
Committee Home Office **===**
The small office building site on the town-side edge of what
is essentially a junkyard of failed water purification attempts. Pipes and
gears and boilers litter the ground all the way back to the Deepwater. Inside,
schematics, some of which have notes and scribbles added to them, cover the
walls. Between two small couches, there is a low coffee table with a huge
number of crumpled-up papers piled on top of it. There is lab counter against
one wall with some dirty-looking alchemical equipment on it. It’s clear that a
ton of time and energy has been invested into this project, and none of it has
paid off.

**Figgle & Griltch:**
Gnomes and goblins are well-known as the best tinkerers around, but master
engineers Figgle (female gnome) and Griltch (male goblin) have made absolutely
no progress on their efforts to purify Riverguard’s pollution. They have been
working on the problem for years. They had a much bigger team and better
funding when they started. Now, with only two of them left, and not much gold
to work with, they have pretty much lost hope of someday completing their
device. Figgle & Griltch are experts in water flow, and can explain in detail
about the cave system and how the stream that supplies the well was mostly
likely dammed (they haven’t detects any seismic activity that would signify a
cave-in). Figgle & Grltch may have enough junk lying around to construct an
explosive…

### **Hetchfield Ranch**

A huge amount of the land surrounding Sewerbrooke is taken
up by the Hetchfield family ranch. The place specializes in cattle, but also
has goats and chickens. The ranch doubles as the town stables, offering lodging
for traveler’s horses, and a place to rent pack mules from (the ranch has two
mules available, as well a few trained steers). Deep onto the property, far
from the actual ranch house, they have a family small of domesticated dire
goats hidden away. The goats are still too young to sell or breed, but any
domesticated dire animal is valuable.

**Jiam Hetchfield:** Jimmy
is a drunken mess of a dwarf all of the time. They only discernable thing he
ever says is “yeah.” He’s quite large for a dwarf, and isn’t someone you would
want to be in a bar fight with. Fortunately, he’s pretty well-tempered when
he’s drunk. He seems to still be getting drunk despite the town’s current
issues; he must have a stash somewhere.

**Sari Hetchfield:** Sara
does all of the bookkeeping, manages the stables, and handles the family’s
finances. She is frantic about the water situation, as she is afraid of losing
her entire herd to thirst. She will readily offer the Hetchfield family battle
axe to anyone who agrees to slay the kobold king.