Stormloft (City)

The city of **Stormloft**, also known as the City of Walls and the Last Wall, lies in a low-lying vale surrounded by the Semeroth Mountains and bisected by the Giant's Drink River. Travelers come from Ocyria and Varhuine to the northeast and Seiryu to the east as a center resting point and also as a gateway to trade with the wandering tribes of the Giant's Steppes to the west. Several trade roads from surrounding settlements begin in Stormloft; it is the heart of the region in nearly every way.

In general, Stormloft is a very modern city; it possesses a sewage system, water works, and a method of heating homes and even the roads to be rid of pile up ice and snow. The city hosts a plethora of employments, including but not limited to: artisans, laborers, merchants, metal workers, and porters. The agricultural land outside the city walls is some of the most important work in the city and the farmers and their hands make a respectable living.

Stormloft produces a large number of finished goods - its chief export – due in part to the dwarven traditions of the Semeroth clans and kin. The city imports sufficient timber, fruit, grain, and dry goods from the nearby villages such as Hilton and Bruce. Although they export worked items mainly, ores and raw stone are also commonly traded. The vale and nearby mountains are rich with mines, minerals, gems, and natural treasures despite being drawn upon for several centuries.

Stormloft (City)
A city built in the heart of the Stormloft Kingdom, Stormloft is called “the Last Wall Outside the Barrier Peaks”.

* Population: 3,348; another 300 or so live in the countryside within a few miles of the city and inside the small vale. The people of Stormloft are mostly humans, halflings, gnomes, and dwarves. All the races are represented in Stormloft, but a few are considered outcasts (tieflings) or are sole residents of their race (orc; see below).
* Government: The Stormloft region is governed by the Aigen Commonwealth, and is the seat of the main governing body of Vendar Province. The city is the seat of power for the Commonwealth and is ruled by the Lords of Aigen. These lords are Lord Farker Eversol, King Redrik Coalbeard, and Prince Evinden Barbagezi (hereditary lords; human, dwarf, and gnome respectively). The lords appoint councils to look over commerce and public affairs for the city.
* Defenses: The City Watch of Stormloft numbers approximately 300 hundred warriors (see the accompanying statistic block), who also serve as constables. The Lords of Aigen can call up 1,500 militia men at need. Given 2 sixdays, the Lords can call up the Army of the Commonwealth, which is 5,000 warriors strong.
* Inns 1: Garum’s Rest; Hisao’s Roost; Lord of Mead Inn; Red Dragon Inn; Inn on Shining Way; Stormloft Inn. The Inn on the Shining Way is the priciest of those named, offering better services and suites. Garum’s Rest is the most popular inn in Stormloft because of its use by ore and mineral traders. The Lord of Mead is an excellent bargain and boasts the best food in the city. Hisao’s Roost is on the seedier side of the city and caters to needs that are short of legal. The Red Dragon Inn is very generic and simple. The Stormloft Inn is often deserted, but run by a very courteous family. • Taverns 1: Broken Blade; Garum’s Rest common room; Kilgor’s Hammer aleroom; Lord of Mead taproom; Red Dragon Tavern; Sweet Misery and Spirits; Tomorrow’s Ache Alehouse.
* Supplies 1: Commonwealth Supply Depot; the Grand Bazaar; Petrozza’s Provisions; Trader Joao’s Trading House; Wild Wiley’s Wonders.
* Temples 1: Kilgor’s Hammer (Beldandar); North Point Monastery (Ruxue); Parish of Atavius’ Light; Shrine of the Seasons (Bicovaria); Temple of Dim; Temple of Iveriu. 1: These are the most prominent. Additions to these lists and alterations are welcome.

## History

### Stormloft’s Story

The city of Stormloft is the northern most city of Parnak. Its roots are buried deep in the region’s history. It was originally a Semeran fortification that was built to defend against Sverk invaders from the east. When the Rules of Mortality were accepted as law for the Kingdom, the dwarf people constructed the great city for human folk.

Also, when the gnomes of the former Barbagezi Kingdom – now the Barbagezi Principality – of Scoria were forced east through the Giant's Steppes after their government was overrun by gnoll invaders. They found a home in Stormloft and brought a great wealth of magical knowledge with them. Many battles have ranged in the vale and the city has changed hands on more than one occasion. It has many influences architecturally, mostly Dwarvish, Gnomish, and Vothic.

In all Stormloft, no hero is more celebrated than Garum Vjothgarn, who carried on his father Lorraid’s quest for unity in the Aigen Commonwealth and performed a number of epic feats that kept the region safe from the invasion of many vile agencies, such as the gnolls and the Sverks.

### Key Locations

Stormloft is divided into three parts: Barbagezi Keep, Coalbeard Mountain, and the city proper. The walled city is divided into four quarters – or districts. These districts are the Northron District, the Shining District, the Temple District, and the Voth District. Farmlands lie all about the surrounding area. In the case of an emergency, townsfolk retreat into the dwarven district within Coalbeard Mountain and defenses are mounted on the walls of the city.
The map of Stormloft depicts all the numbered locations discussed in this section.

#### 1. Castle Grakulyah

This old mansion is surrounded by sturdy dwarf-cast walls and boasts ramparts and a tall tower overlooking nearly every feature of the city’s surrounding area. It is poorly maintained, but a local nobleman is said to reside within. His gates are always barred and his land’s keepers hide themselves away in woolen cloaks, even on the hottest of days.

#### 2. Scout Teagan’s Camp

Little more than a handful of tents around a well-used firepit, this camp serves as a messenger’s post and the first checkpoint upon entering the city from the Northron Ranges. Scout Alec Teagan and his men spend the majority of their day playing card games. Little comes from the lands of Scoria by land, but that which does must pass through this camp.

#### 3. Red Dragon Tavern and Inn

A series of five five-bed common rooms, three suites, and a hall make up this establishment. Most nights the place is run by Jayson Stahford, the establishment’s proprietor. On his days off, his son Robert takes the helm. They employ a number of attractive women and serve average ale. The Dragon’s rates are a bed in the common room for one silver a night or four silver for a suite if there is vacancy. The Red Dragon charges five copper a night for stabling of mundane mounts and has no means of stabling exotic mounts.

4. Ancient Vothgarn Burial Tomb
A large, undisturbed stone covered in Vothic runes seals this mostly forgotten tomb. Despite its age, it remains whole and undisturbed. So say on moonlit nights, the runes glow with an eerie green arcane fire.
This site is described in detail in the side quest

5. Frostbeard Keep
This dwarven-made fortress was given to the Barbagezi Principality when the gnome refugees arrived in the lands, fleeing from the horrors of that plagued their lands to the north. Evindren Barbagezi, third in line to the Prince’s Crown, lives here and sees to the prosperity of the Commonwealth, while his much older siblings live in Runasca at the expense of Farker Eversol. Evindren is a known arcanist and many feel his ambitions border on treasonous. Despite this common view, the Frostbeard Royal Guard maintain a stalwart defense over the keep and their charge.

6. Keep District
The area around the keep is home to the City Watchmen and the more valiant members of the militia, who perform drills in this area daily. In recent months, refugees from the nearby town of Jether have formed a makeshift village in the open areas around and inside this district’s walls. The folk of Jether have a small market, but most folk march down the Shining Way for quality goods.

7. Old Shrine
The entrance to this cavernous shrine to an ancient god faces the Giant’s Drink. Worn statues and stone totems litter the area around the cave’s mouth and signs of excavation abound. This shrine was to one of the many ancient gods worshiped by the tribal folk of yore.
DM Note: The site was excavated years ago and has since been ignored. The shrine is a base of operations for a small band of goblins that came down the river and they have been causing farmers in the area some trouble. Several cattle have been taken from their owners and smaller barn animals have been taken, as well.
This site is detailed in the side quest The Refugees.

8. Mysterious Cave
This cave deep in the woods and at a point where a river let runs into the earth is regarded with fear by the local farmers. For the majority of this century, a shadow of terror has loomed over this cave.
DM Note: This is, in fact, exactly what the Lords of the Commonwealth and the City Watch want. Inside this dungeon, so deep within that it rests beneath Lake Lorraid, is the lair of a young silver dragon named Salu’nifaer. This dragon leaves only to occasionally hunt and never takes from the same farm folk. The trouble the goblins in Old Shrine are causing are being blamed on the mysterious cave.

9. Lorraid’s Purge
The north side of Mount Lorraid has a series of hot springs that stream down into the Bright Forest. The steamy mire formed at the end of the wash is home to a number of vile creatures. The hot springs were believed to be purifying the waters of the mire, which is how this location received its name.

10. Northron Farms
The farms on the north side of the city generate a good deal of the city’s goods and produce. The winters in the region can be harsh, but they can always grow godswheat which is in turn used to make godsbread. Most farmers are kind to travelers and adventurers and may even let them stay a night in the barn for little to no compensation.

11. Bvunrae’s Demise
Just off the Shining Way stands a massive statue depicting the Semeran and Barbagezian kings of old joining together as allies to defeat the gnoll tyrant from the north. It is made of beautiful marble stone, but over the years has suffered a bit of weather and vandal damage.

12. Stormloft Inn
A beautiful old stone home converted to a rest house by the owners. Jeremiah Bartlet, the current proprietor, is the son of the late Davin Bartlet, owner of the original Stormloft Inn. His father’s establishment was right on the Shining Way, just inside the gates of the Northron Wall. That inn burned to the ground in a mysterious fire and took Davin with it when Jeremiah was only thirteen. After his mother died when Jeremiah was seventeen , he took a wife and turned his ancestral home into a quaint inn. They’ve run the place through the good and the bad times for nearly three decades. Their five wonderful children help with the chores of the establishment. Their names are Jeremiah Jr. (26 years old), Davin (20), Corinne (18), Elizabeth (16), and Michael (7).
DM Note: Jeremiah suspects his father’s demise was no accident, despite what the Watchmen say. Every time he goes down the Shining Way, he is forced to see the Lord of mead built right in the very spot in which was born and raised. Perhaps there is more to it than a rival between two innkeeps.

13. Shining District
Most of the northwestern side of the city proper is beautiful dwarven, gnomish, and elven architecture with wondrous shops and venues for the well-to-do, such as theaters and tailors. The Shining Way, the avenue that bisects this district, has a number of shops, bars, vendors, and wandering merchants about. It is usually active at the close of a sixday with festivities and merriment. It is called the Shining Way because it was made almost entirely of white marble when the road was originally laid. The name stuck, but most of the marble has since been removed and replaced with brick.

14. The Lord of Mead
A restaurant, mead hall, and inn, the Lord of Mead is a popular establishment on the Shining Way. They claim to serve mead and ales from the finest brewers in the provinces of Ocyria, Gernaris, and Vendar and boast the finest meal a man can have on this side of the world. Neither of these claims are true, but the ale is plentiful and the food quite edible. Additionally, the prices are cutthroat low, so it’s no wonder why they’re so popular. Kennith DiCinti is the proprietor (the “Lord of Mead”, if you will) and has a large, busy staff.
DM Note: The Mardigan Family uses the Lord of Mead as a front for their operations and were responsible for its creation nearly three decades ago.

15. Hoppler Manor
The home of the scholar Jonathan Hoppler sits just off of Haverhill Boulevard. It is a rustic home with dwarvish and gnomish architectural elements.
This location is described in further detail Dead of Ages Past.

16. Mount Lorraid and the Colossus
Formerly Mount Pondmouth, the cairn was renamed to honor the Man-King. The base of the mountain falls right into the Mirrored Veil Lake. Overlooking the waters of the lake is a grand statue of the Vothic king, his mighty brand held out over the lake, pointing towards Stormloft’s heart. This statue is nearly seventy feet in height and he stands some thirty feet up on the mountain. The Lorraid Colossus, as it is called, can be seen from almost anywhere in the city.

17. Northron District
The northeastern district houses many different trades, but a good deal of it focuses on the fishing trade of the Mirrored Veil. Haverhill Boulevard is the main thoroughfare of the district and food goods traded in the Great Bazaar often find their start at the food vendors of Haverhill. Due to its proximity to the wasteworks of the city, the jobs and shops of the Northron District are of a lower tier that those of the other quarters. The stench of fish, poverty, and less desired trades linger in nearly every alley.
This district is where the events of The Green Daggers take place.

18. Hisao’s Roost
This inn in the Northron District is owned and managed by Hisao Whiteplume, an obese kenku who enjoys good food, good wine, and good women. He, of course, offers all these things to anyone with good coin. The law of the land specifically forbids prostitution, but the Roost is known by the locals as a brothel. Hisao also offers activities that are even less legal, such as devil weed and even harder drugs. He boasts that he knows all there is to know in Stormloft and considers good information as currency.

19. Treebar Park
This beautiful area in the Shining District is lush with gardens, orchards, and maintained forest that is open to the public. In a meadow at the center of this park is a gigantic rusty sword lodged point down in a tree stump. The sword is called Treebar and was wielded by an ogre who defended the children of the north lands of Vendar province and was mortally wounded in a conflict with shedu, or so the story goes.

20. North Point Monastery
In the Northron District, just inside the east gate, there is an enclosed grouping of buildings surrounding a temple of the Hu Li Ruxué. The sounds of the students and masters training in the martial disciplines can be heard deep into the dark of night. The temple’s highest priest, Aegan Brall, is a Parnan who often walks about town, sometimes being challenged to a local street fight with people trying to make a name for themselves by best the master in a bout. He has never lost such a fight.

21. Castle Stormloft
Built for the Barbagezi by the Semeroth dwarves, this mighty stronghold is now the seat of power for the Eversol Family. The castle has a moat about its exterior walls and has a village’s portion of citizens therein. The City Watch are housed here and they have a number of dungeons in the bowels of the castle. Corporal punishments are public displays, shown at the end of a six-day right in the center of the castle’s square.

22. Raven’s Watch
This small barracks and watch tower stand on a high hill, overlooking the farmlands outside the Shining Quarter, the Giant’s Drink, and Jeremiah’s Path which cuts through the Moaning Hills to the southwest. This specific watch tower is important because it is built from the husk of an old tribal temple from the indigenous people who ruled this region before the Aigen Commonwealth. It receives its name from the glyphs and carvings of raven’s heads all about it.
DM Note: The raven was seen by some tribes as a warding symbol. The watchtower itself is used by the City Watch, but there is a dungeon beneath it. The details of this dungeon are in the side quest ?.

23. Mount Whiteflow and the Whiteflow Mine
The southwestern wall joins with this small cairn. Erupting from its cliff face is a waterfall streaming down some fifty or so feet. Despite appearing natural, the Whiteflow was engineered by the dwarves. The Giant’s Drink River runs beneath Stormloft in veins of stone and exits through the Whiteflow. Deep within the cairn is a steady supply of iron ore, which is mined for the profit of Redrik Coalbeard.

24. Temple District
This district houses the holy shrines, temples, and churches of the entire city. Every single one of the goodly gods is represented here, along with others that have been accepted under the Rules of Morality. The largest temple is the Temple of Iveriu (see below). The nobility of the city are most commonly found residing in this district. High society sits in this section, but the homes just inside the gate and off of Jeremiah’s Path are wracked with poverty. The people there are mainly refugees from Jethar, but all folk there survive mainly on the charity of the temples.

25. Parish of Atavius’ Light
The second largest temple in the Temple District, the Arrow of Law stands high upon the mighty steeple, one of the more prominent sights of Stormloft’s sky line. The grand cathedral is led by Father Manoras, a wizened elder and known font of knowledge pertaining to the Bynod. He runs the services on the third and last day of each six-day. He remains very cloistered, trusting his priests and clerics to spread the Words of Light. He (or one of his devout followers) offer the following rituals (for a supplementary tithe): gentle repose, cure disease, and \_raise dead.

26. Lucky Falls Taphouse
A den of gambling, drink, food, and merriment. This quaint establishment is ran by a halfling named Antelliques Luckyfoot. Games of cards (such as Dragon Ante) and dice are played nearly every hour. The place gets its name from two sources: a dice game with very simple rules and a large circular window in the main chamber that catches rainbows when the light and wind over the Whiteflow is just right.

27. Commonwealth Supply Depot
This warehouse is one of the largest standing buildings in Stormloft. Most of the city’s provisions for the Watch and officials makes its way to them through this depot. It is run by Jerimond Swanson, who also acts as shopkeep for the supply store within the depot.

28. Shrine of the Seasons
A magnificent statue of a beautiful fey woman is the site of worship for the devout followers of the Zaru'shae. Bicovaria, the goddess depicted, has no actual temple, but the shrine and its surrounding garden is tended by the priestess Erris Yavie, an elf of the Autumn House of Talaina. She possesses the following rituals: animal messenger, commune with mystics, commune with nature, raise dead.

29. Temple of Iveriu
This church, the largest in the Temple District, is also a training academy for the Eversol Family’s male children. It teaches a number of the Dragoon of Gernaris in the arts of cavalry. The old brick and Vothic gargoyles, statues, and reliefs that adorn this cathedral make it the most intimidating structure in the city. Bishop Anton de Bruce presides over services on the first and fourth day of each six-day. He does not offer the use of prayers or rituals to worshippers of other faiths, but followers of Iveriu have access to the following: cure disease, disenchant magic item, gentle repose, raise dead, remove affliction,sending, and speak with dead.

30. Temple of Dim
A small wooden church with a circle of burnt-black stone outside its main entrance sits just down the road from the Lucky Falls. Reverence is paid to the chief deity of the Moksha Sangha in this place. Nearly every gnome in the Keep District makes the long hike down the Shining Way to hear Chaplain Belusterk Bryvx’s sermons, mainly on the last day of each six-day. Belusterk doesn’t actually commune with Dim and only just recently started learning divine rituals of his faith.

31. Wild Wiley’s Wonders
As is the nature of merchants, “Wild” Wiley Mikal claims to have been to every end of the earth to amass the contents of his shop. Despite the falseness in this claim, Wiley is very eccentric and educated, so he plays the role convincingly enough. His wares are little more than baubles and relics, but occasionally (once or so a month) he’ll have a 1st – 5th level magic item he nabbed at the bazaar.

32. The Grand Bazaar
Surrounding Castle Stormloft and flowing nearly all the way up the Shining Way are booths and vendors of all sorts. The most permanent of these is located near the moats of the castle. Nearly anything can be found in this colorful menagarie of goods for sale from all over Eyané.

33. One-Eyed Roc Tavern
This pub is just inside the Voth District from the center of the city. The establishment serves a very special drink, which is the tavern’s namesake. A hard-cooked egg is cut in two and half is deposited in this surprisingly robust blend of a number of dwarven and elven spirits. The dwarves of Kilgor’s Hammer (see below) have asked Lamdric Khila, the half-elf proprietor, for the right to serve it in their temple and he gladly accepted, so long as he is welcome in the temple whenever he pleases.

34. Broken Blade Tavern
Formerly the Shining Blade Tavern, this establishment is owned and operated by a woman named Tyra Sternblade. When Lamdric Khila opened his tavern, the One-Eyed Roc, Tyra’s business started to faulter. The tavern’s namesake, a beautiful longsword placed above the mantle, was broken on the taverns masonry in a fit of rage. Few people frequent this tavern, not only because of the competition’s superiority, but also because of the inhospitable hostess.

35. Petrozza’s Provisions
Petrozza Ramsee is an Etéan goods merchant that specializes in a number of different items of use. His establishment has its own bakery which puts out dozens of loafs a day of journeybread, dwarven bread, and godsbread. Additionally, assorted gear that can be useful on the long road adorns his shop. On rare occasion, Petrozza has an everlasting provisions basket, be he sells such baskets at a higher than normal rate (+150% base cost).

36. Tomorrow’s Ache Alehouse
A bit of dwarven culture resides in the Voth District. The Mugpounder Clan runs this alehouse mostly for their own personal amusement. The dwarven drinks they serve here are considered light or low quality to a dwarf, but they are advertised as the finest and the strongest. Many braggarts come out for any one of many reasons, but all end up floored by the ale. The Mugpounders serve actual dwarves from their hidden stash in the basement.

37. Dwarfguard
Two massive statues tower on either side of the start of the Winding Way, which ascends Coalbeard mountain to Coalgate. The statues are of mighty dwarven defenders, shields and battle axes at the ready. The statues are carved of stone right from the mountain itself.
DM Note: The Dwarfguard have the bodies of long forgotten dwarven heroes entombed within. They could actually be some form of construct used to defend the dwarven mountain when it is most needed.

38. Coalgate
This cavern into Coalbeard Mountain’s interior is a labyrinth of low and high ceiling corridors that only a guide could possibly navigate. The walls are adorned with reliefs depicting tales in the Dwerrassin, the dwarves' holiest of texts. The most common tale shown is that of Agwesi, first child of Father Beldandar. After mortally wounding his brother in a fit of jealousy, Agwesi was banished from Angdanuck and enlarged to be come the first of the giants, according to dwarven tradition. Coalgate is the only known entrance into Coalbeard Mountain.

39. Coalbeard Mountain
Nearly all the dwarves in Stormloft call this mountain their home. The interior is carved out and supported by tangles of columns. Over the years, the mountain’s interior has become less a natural phenomena and more a constructed testament of dwarven stone-cunning. The interior is carved out like a gigantic cup, a high-vaulted dome up above. The walls are lined with walkways, ledges, and bridges that spiral all about down the cavity. The smell of coal, smelting iron, and earth fills this titanic chamber.

40. Garum’s Rest
In honor of Garum Lorraid, the dwarves of Coalbeard Mountain erected a tavern and inn so that he and future outsiders would find the comforts they are normally accustomed to. The hostel is run by El-Estan, a half-elf who claims direct decent from Garum himself.

The city of Stormloft, also known as the City of Walls and the Gateway to the Wild North, lies in a low-lying vale surrounded by the Semeroth Mountains and bisected by the Giant's Drink River. Travelers come from Ocyria to the east and Khardis to the south as a center resting point and also as a gate way to trade with the wandering tribes of the Giant's Steppes. Several trade roads from surrounding settlements begin in Stormloft; it is the heart of the region in nearly every way.
In general, Stormloft is a very modern city; it possesses a sewage system, water works, and a method of heating homes and even the roads to be rid of pile up ice and snow. The city hosts a plethora of employments, including but not limited to: artisans, laborers, merchants, metal workers, and porters. The agricultural land outside the city walls is some of the most important work in the city and the farmers and their hands make a respectable living.
Stormloft produces a large number of finished goods - its chief export – due in part to the dwarven traditions of the Semeroth clan and kin. The city imports sufficient timber, fruit, grain, and dry goods from the nearby villages such as Old Town and Bruce. Although they export worked items mainly, ores and raw stone are also commonly traded. The vale and nearby mountains are rich with mines, minerals, gems, and natural treasures despite being drawn upon for several centuries.

Stormloft (City)
A city built in the heart of a northern Vendar region, Stormloft is called “the Gateway to the Wild North”.
• Population: 3,348; another 300 or so live in the countryside within a few miles of the city and inside the small vale. The people of Stormloft are mostly humans, halflings, gnomes, and dwarves. All the races are represented in Stormloft, but a few are considered outcasts (tieflings) or are sole residents of their race (orc; see below).
• Government: The Stormloft region is governed by the Aigen Commonwealth, and is the seat of the main governing body of Vendar Province. The city is the seat of power for the Commonwealth and is ruled by the Lords of Aigen. These lords are Lord Farker Eversol, King Redrik Coalbeard, and Prince Evinden Barbagezi (hereditary lords; human, dwarf, and gnome respectively). The lords appoint councils to look over commerce and public affairs for the city.
• Defenses: The City Watch of Stormloft numbers approximately 300 hundred warriors (see the accompanying statistic block), who also serve as constables. The Lords of Aigen can call up 1,500 militia men at need. Given 2 sixdays, the Lords can call up the Army of the Commonwealth, which is 5,000 warriors strong.
• Inns 1: Garum’s Rest; Hisao’s Roost; Lord of Mead Inn; Red Dragon Inn; Inn on Shining Way; Stormloft Inn. The Inn on the Shining Way is the priciest of those named, offering better services and suites. Garum’s Rest is the most popular inn in Stormloft because of its use by ore and mineral traders. The Lord of Mead is an excellent bargain and boasts the best food in the city. Hisao’s Roost is on the seedier side of the city and caters to needs that are short of legal. The Red Dragon Inn is very generic and simple. The Stormloft Inn is often deserted, but run by a very courteous family.
• Taverns 1: Broken Blade; Garum’s Rest common room; Kilgor’s Hammer aleroom; Lord of Mead taproom; Red Dragon Tavern; Sweet Misery and Spirits; Tomorrow’s Ache Alehouse.
• Supplies 1: Commonwealth Supply Depot; the Grand Bazaar; Petrozza’s Provisions; Trader Joao’s Trading House; Wild Wiley’s Wonders.
• Temples 1: Kilgor’s Hammer (Beldandar); North Point Monastery (Ruxue); Parish of Atavius’ Light; Shrine of the Seasons (Bicovaria); Temple of Dim; Temple of Iveriu.
1: These are the most prominent. Additions to these lists and alterations are welcome.

Stormloft’s Story
The city of Stormloft is the northern most city of Vendar. It is one of three major cities – the other two being Semera and Runasca – that are capitals of the Aigen Province’s Commonwealth. Its roots are buried deep in the region’s history. It was originally a Semeran fortification that was built to defend against Sverk invaders from the east. When the Rules of Mortality were accepted as law for the province at the Agreement at Runasca, the dwarf people constructed the great city for human folk.
Also, when the gnomes of the former Barbagezi Kingdom – now the Barbagezi Principality – of Scoria were forced south through the Giant's Steppes after their government was overrun by gnoll invaders, they found a home in Stormloft. Many battles have ranged in the vale and the city has changed hands on more than one occasion. It has many influences architecturally, mostly Dwarven and Vothic.
In all Stormloft, no hero is more celebrated than Garum Vjothgarn, who carried on his father Lorraid’s quest for unity in the Aigen Commonwealth and performed a number of epic feats that kept the region safe from the invasion of many vile agencies, such as the gnolls and the Sverks.

Key Locations
Stormloft is divided into three parts: Barbagezi Keep, Coalbeard Mountain, and the city proper. The walled city is divided into four quarters – or districts. These districts are the Northron District, the Shining District, the Temple District, and the Voth District. Farmlands lie all about the surrounding area. In the case of an emergency, townsfolk retreat into the dwarven district within Coalbeard Mountain and defenses are mounted on the walls of the city.
The map of Stormloft depicts all the numbered locations discussed in this section.

1. Castle Grakulyah
This old mansion is surrounded by sturdy dwarf-cast walls and boasts ramparts and a tall tower overlooking nearly every feature of the city’s surrounding area. It is poorly maintained, but a local nobleman is said to reside within. His gates are always barred and his land’s keepers hide themselves away in woolen cloaks, even on the hottest of days.
The castle is described in detail in the adventure The Flesh Thief .

2. Scout Teagan’s Camp
Little more than a handful of tents around a well-used firepit, this camp serves as a messenger’s post and the first checkpoint upon entering the city from the Northron Ranges. Scout Alec Teagan and his men spend the majority of their day playing card games. Little comes from the lands of Scoria by land, but that which does must pass through this camp.

3. Red Dragon Tavern and Inn
A series of five five-bed common rooms, three suites, and a hall make up this establishment. Most nights the place is run by Jayson Stahford, the establishment’s proprietor. On his days off, his son Robert takes the helm. They employ a number of attractive women and serve average ale. The Dragon’s rates are a bed in the common room for one silver a night or four silver for a suite if there is vacancy. The Red Dragon charges five copper a night for stabling of mundane mounts and has no means of stabling exotic mounts.

4. Ancient Vothgarn Burial Tomb
A large, undisturbed stone covered in Vothic runes seals this mostly forgotten tomb. Despite its age, it remains whole and undisturbed. So say on moonlit nights, the runes glow with an eerie green arcane fire.
This site is described in detail in the side quest

5. Frostbeard Keep
This dwarven-made fortress was given to the Barbagezi Principality when the gnome refugees arrived in the lands, fleeing from the horrors of that plagued their lands to the north. Evindren Barbagezi, third in line to the Prince’s Crown, lives here and sees to the prosperity of the Commonwealth, while his much older siblings live in Runasca at the expense of Farker Eversol. Evindren is a known arcanist and many feel his ambitions border on treasonous. Despite this common view, the Frostbeard Royal Guard maintain a stalwart defense over the keep and their charge.

6. Keep District
The area around the keep is home to the City Watchmen and the more valiant members of the militia, who perform drills in this area daily. In recent months, refugees from the nearby town of Jether have formed a makeshift village in the open areas around and inside this district’s walls. The folk of Jether have a small market, but most folk march down the Shining Way for quality goods.

7. Old Shrine
The entrance to this cavernous shrine to an ancient god faces the Giant’s Drink. Worn statues and stone totems litter the area around the cave’s mouth and signs of excavation abound. This shrine was to one of the many ancient gods worshiped by the tribal folk of yore.
DM Note: The site was excavated years ago and has since been ignored. The shrine is a base of operations for a small band of goblins that came down the river and they have been causing farmers in the area some trouble. Several cattle have been taken from their owners and smaller barn animals have been taken, as well.
This site is detailed in the side quest The Refugees.

8. Mysterious Cave
This cave deep in the woods and at a point where a river let runs into the earth is regarded with fear by the local farmers. For the majority of this century, a shadow of terror has loomed over this cave.
DM Note: This is, in fact, exactly what the Lords of the Commonwealth and the City Watch want. Inside this dungeon, so deep within that it rests beneath Lake Lorraid, is the lair of a young silver dragon named Salu’nifaer. This dragon leaves only to occasionally hunt and never takes from the same farm folk. The trouble the goblins in Old Shrine are causing are being blamed on the mysterious cave.

9. Lorraid’s Purge
The north side of Mount Lorraid has a series of hot springs that stream down into the Bright Forest. The steamy mire formed at the end of the wash is home to a number of vile creatures. The hot springs were believed to be purifying the waters of the mire, which is how this location received its name.

10. Northron Farms
The farms on the north side of the city generate a good deal of the city’s goods and produce. The winters in the region can be harsh, but they can always grow godswheat which is in turn used to make godsbread. Most farmers are kind to travelers and adventurers and may even let them stay a night in the barn for little to no compensation.

11. Bvunrae’s Demise
Just off the Shining Way stands a massive statue depicting the Semeran and Barbagezian kings of old joining together as allies to defeat the gnoll tyrant from the north. It is made of beautiful marble stone, but over the years has suffered a bit of weather and vandal damage.

12. Stormloft Inn
A beautiful old stone home converted to a rest house by the owners. Jeremiah Bartlet, the current proprietor, is the son of the late Davin Bartlet, owner of the original Stormloft Inn. His father’s establishment was right on the Shining Way, just inside the gates of the Northron Wall. That inn burned to the ground in a mysterious fire and took Davin with it when Jeremiah was only thirteen. After his mother died when Jeremiah was seventeen , he took a wife and turned his ancestral home into a quaint inn. They’ve run the place through the good and the bad times for nearly three decades. Their five wonderful children help with the chores of the establishment. Their names are Jeremiah Jr. (26 years old), Davin (20), Corinne (18), Elizabeth (16), and Michael (7).
DM Note: Jeremiah suspects his father’s demise was no accident, despite what the Watchmen say. Every time he goes down the Shining Way, he is forced to see the Lord of mead built right in the very spot in which was born and raised. Perhaps there is more to it than a rival between two innkeeps.

13. Shining District
Most of the northwestern side of the city proper is beautiful dwarven, gnomish, and elven architecture with wondrous shops and venues for the well-to-do, such as theaters and tailors. The Shining Way, the avenue that bisects this district, has a number of shops, bars, vendors, and wandering merchants about. It is usually active at the close of a sixday with festivities and merriment. It is called the Shining Way because it was made almost entirely of white marble when the road was originally laid. The name stuck, but most of the marble has since been removed and replaced with brick.

14. The Lord of Mead
A restaurant, mead hall, and inn, the Lord of Mead is a popular establishment on the Shining Way. They claim to serve mead and ales from the finest brewers in the provinces of Ocyria, Gernaris, and Vendar and boast the finest meal a man can have on this side of the world. Neither of these claims are true, but the ale is plentiful and the food quite edible. Additionally, the prices are cutthroat low, so it’s no wonder why they’re so popular. Kennith DiCinti is the proprietor (the “Lord of Mead”, if you will) and has a large, busy staff.
DM Note: The Mardigan Family uses the Lord of Mead as a front for their operations and were responsible for its creation nearly three decades ago.

15. Hoppler Manor
The home of the scholar Jonathan Hoppler sits just off of Haverhill Boulevard. It is a rustic home with dwarvish and gnomish architectural elements.
This location is described in further detail Dead of Ages Past.

16. Mount Lorraid and the Colossus
Formerly Mount Pondmouth, the cairn was renamed to honor the Man-King. The base of the mountain falls right into the Mirrored Veil Lake. Overlooking the waters of the lake is a grand statue of the Vothic king, his mighty brand held out over the lake, pointing towards Stormloft’s heart. This statue is nearly seventy feet in height and he stands some thirty feet up on the mountain. The Lorraid Colossus, as it is called, can be seen from almost anywhere in the city.

17. Northron District
The northeastern district houses many different trades, but a good deal of it focuses on the fishing trade of the Mirrored Veil. Haverhill Boulevard is the main thoroughfare of the district and food goods traded in the Great Bazaar often find their start at the food vendors of Haverhill. Due to its proximity to the wasteworks of the city, the jobs and shops of the Northron District are of a lower tier that those of the other quarters. The stench of fish, poverty, and less desired trades linger in nearly every alley.
This district is where the events of The Green Daggers take place.

18. Hisao’s Roost
This inn in the Northron District is owned and managed by Hisao Whiteplume, an obese kenku who enjoys good food, good wine, and good women. He, of course, offers all these things to anyone with good coin. The law of the land specifically forbids prostitution, but the Roost is known by the locals as a brothel. Hisao also offers activities that are even less legal, such as devil weed and even harder drugs. He boasts that he knows all there is to know in Stormloft and considers good information as currency.

19. Treebar Park
This beautiful area in the Shining District is lush with gardens, orchards, and maintained forest that is open to the public. In a meadow at the center of this park is a gigantic rusty sword lodged point down in a tree stump. The sword is called Treebar and was wielded by an ogre who defended the children of the north lands of Vendar province and was mortally wounded in a conflict with shedu, or so the story goes.

20. North Point Monastery
In the Northron District, just inside the east gate, there is an enclosed grouping of buildings surrounding a temple of the Hu Li Ruxué. The sounds of the students and masters training in the martial disciplines can be heard deep into the dark of night. The temple’s highest priest, Aegan Brall, is a Parnan who often walks about town, sometimes being challenged to a local street fight with people trying to make a name for themselves by best the master in a bout. He has never lost such a fight.

21. Castle Stormloft
Built for the Barbagezi by the Semeroth dwarves, this mighty stronghold is now the seat of power for the Eversol Family. The castle has a moat about its exterior walls and has a village’s portion of citizens therein. The City Watch are housed here and they have a number of dungeons in the bowels of the castle. Corporal punishments are public displays, shown at the end of a six-day right in the center of the castle’s square.

22. Raven’s Watch
This small barracks and watch tower stand on a high hill, overlooking the farmlands outside the Shining Quarter, the Giant’s Drink, and Jeremiah’s Path which cuts through the Moaning Hills to the southwest. This specific watch tower is important because it is built from the husk of an old tribal temple from the indigenous people who ruled this region before the Aigen Commonwealth. It receives its name from the glyphs and carvings of raven’s heads all about it.
DM Note: The raven was seen by some tribes as a warding symbol. The watchtower itself is used by the City Watch, but there is a dungeon beneath it. The details of this dungeon are in the side quest ?.

23. Mount Whiteflow and the Whiteflow Mine
The southwestern wall joins with this small cairn. Erupting from its cliff face is a waterfall streaming down some fifty or so feet. Despite appearing natural, the Whiteflow was engineered by the dwarves. The Giant’s Drink River runs beneath Stormloft in veins of stone and exits through the Whiteflow. Deep within the cairn is a steady supply of iron ore, which is mined for the profit of Redrik Coalbeard.

24. Temple District
This district houses the holy shrines, temples, and churches of the entire city. Every single one of the goodly gods is represented here, along with others that have been accepted under the Rules of Morality. The largest temple is the Temple of Iveriu (see below). The nobility of the city are most commonly found residing in this district. High society sits in this section, but the homes just inside the gate and off of Jeremiah’s Path are wracked with poverty. The people there are mainly refugees from Jethar, but all folk there survive mainly on the charity of the temples.

25. Parish of Atavius’ Light
The second largest temple in the Temple District, the Arrow of Law stands high upon the mighty steeple, one of the more prominent sights of Stormloft’s sky line. The grand cathedral is led by Father Manoras, a wizened elder and known font of knowledge pertaining to the Bynod. He runs the services on the third and last day of each six-day. He remains very cloistered, trusting his priests and clerics to spread the Words of Light. He (or one of his devout followers) offer the following rituals (for a supplementary tithe): gentle repose, cure disease, and \_raise dead.

26. Lucky Falls Taphouse
A den of gambling, drink, food, and merriment. This quaint establishment is ran by a halfling named Antelliques Luckyfoot. Games of cards (such as Dragon Ante) and dice are played nearly every hour. The place gets its name from two sources: a dice game with very simple rules and a large circular window in the main chamber that catches rainbows when the light and wind over the Whiteflow is just right.

27. Commonwealth Supply Depot
This warehouse is one of the largest standing buildings in Stormloft. Most of the city’s provisions for the Watch and officials makes its way to them through this depot. It is run by Jerimond Swanson, who also acts as shopkeep for the supply store within the depot.

28. Shrine of the Seasons
A magnificent statue of a beautiful fey woman is the site of worship for the devout followers of the Zaru'shae. Bicovaria, the goddess depicted, has no actual temple, but the shrine and its surrounding garden is tended by the priestess Erris Yavie, an elf of the Autumn House of Talaina. She possesses the following rituals: animal messenger, commune with mystics, commune with nature, raise dead.

29. Temple of Iveriu
This church, the largest in the Temple District, is also a training academy for the Eversol Family’s male children. It teaches a number of the Dragoon of Gernaris in the arts of cavalry. The old brick and Vothic gargoyles, statues, and reliefs that adorn this cathedral make it the most intimidating structure in the city. Bishop Anton de Bruce presides over services on the first and fourth day of each six-day. He does not offer the use of prayers or rituals to worshippers of other faiths, but followers of Iveriu have access to the following: cure disease, disenchant magic item, gentle repose, raise dead, remove affliction,sending, and speak with dead.

30. Temple of Dim
A small wooden church with a circle of burnt-black stone outside its main entrance sits just down the road from the Lucky Falls. Reverence is paid to the chief deity of the Moksha Sangha in this place. Nearly every gnome in the Keep District makes the long hike down the Shining Way to hear Chaplain Belusterk Bryvx’s sermons, mainly on the last day of each six-day. Belusterk doesn’t actually commune with Dim and only just recently started learning divine rituals of his faith.

31. Wild Wiley’s Wonders
As is the nature of merchants, “Wild” Wiley Mikal claims to have been to every end of the earth to amass the contents of his shop. Despite the falseness in this claim, Wiley is very eccentric and educated, so he plays the role convincingly enough. His wares are little more than baubles and relics, but occasionally (once or so a month) he’ll have a 1st – 5th level magic item he nabbed at the bazaar.

32. The Grand Bazaar
Surrounding Castle Stormloft and flowing nearly all the way up the Shining Way are booths and vendors of all sorts. The most permanent of these is located near the moats of the castle. Nearly anything can be found in this colorful menagarie of goods for sale from all over Eyané.

33. One-Eyed Roc Tavern
This pub is just inside the Voth District from the center of the city. The establishment serves a very special drink, which is the tavern’s namesake. A hard-cooked egg is cut in two and half is deposited in this surprisingly robust blend of a number of dwarven and elven spirits. The dwarves of Kilgor’s Hammer (see below) have asked Lamdric Khila, the half-elf proprietor, for the right to serve it in their temple and he gladly accepted, so long as he is welcome in the temple whenever he pleases.

34. Broken Blade Tavern
Formerly the Shining Blade Tavern, this establishment is owned and operated by a woman named Tyra Sternblade. When Lamdric Khila opened his tavern, the One-Eyed Roc, Tyra’s business started to faulter. The tavern’s namesake, a beautiful longsword placed above the mantle, was broken on the taverns masonry in a fit of rage. Few people frequent this tavern, not only because of the competition’s superiority, but also because of the inhospitable hostess.

35. Petrozza’s Provisions
Petrozza Ramsee is an Etéan goods merchant that specializes in a number of different items of use. His establishment has its own bakery which puts out dozens of loafs a day of journeybread, dwarven bread, and godsbread. Additionally, assorted gear that can be useful on the long road adorns his shop. On rare occasion, Petrozza has an everlasting provisions basket, be he sells such baskets at a higher than normal rate (+150% base cost).

36. Tomorrow’s Ache Alehouse
A bit of dwarven culture resides in the Voth District. The Mugpounder Clan runs this alehouse mostly for their own personal amusement. The dwarven drinks they serve here are considered light or low quality to a dwarf, but they are advertised as the finest and the strongest. Many braggarts come out for any one of many reasons, but all end up floored by the ale. The Mugpounders serve actual dwarves from their hidden stash in the basement.

37. Dwarfguard
Two massive statues tower on either side of the start of the Winding Way, which ascends Coalbeard mountain to Coalgate. The statues are of mighty dwarven defenders, shields and battle axes at the ready. The statues are carved of stone right from the mountain itself.
DM Note: The Dwarfguard have the bodies of long forgotten dwarven heroes entombed within. They could actually be some form of construct used to defend the dwarven mountain when it is most needed.

38. Coalgate
This cavern into Coalbeard Mountain’s interior is a labyrinth of low and high ceiling corridors that only a guide could possibly navigate. The walls are adorned with reliefs depicting tales in the Dwerrassin, the dwarves' holiest of texts. The most common tale shown is that of Agwesi, first child of Father Beldandar. After mortally wounding his brother in a fit of jealousy, Agwesi was banished from Angdanuck and enlarged to be come the first of the giants, according to dwarven tradition. Coalgate is the only known entrance into Coalbeard Mountain.

39. Coalbeard Mountain
Nearly all the dwarves in Stormloft call this mountain their home. The interior is carved out and supported by tangles of columns. Over the years, the mountain’s interior has become less a natural phenomena and more a constructed testament of dwarven stone-cunning. The interior is carved out like a gigantic cup, a high-vaulted dome up above. The walls are lined with walkways, ledges, and bridges that spiral all about down the cavity. The smell of coal, smelting iron, and earth fills this titanic chamber.

40. Garum’s Rest
In honor of Garum Lorraid, the dwarves of Coalbeard Mountain erected a tavern and inn so that he and future outsiders would find the comforts they are normally accustomed to. The hostel is run by El-Estan, a half-elf who claims direct decent from Garum himself.