Primrose

## Introduction

A small, rural village, Primrose was founded by Lord Archaunbault Dalmeny in 703 AC. The high elf’s deep pockets transformed a scattering of summer lodges and a primitive port into a humble yet successful seaside town. While few remain alive from those days, an aging Archaunbault still presides over the town from the scarlet velveteen halls of his manor house. They say the roots of the town are mired in tragedy: many of the citizens escaped the war-torn Fallen Plains to bury the memories of their old lives (or now, their parents' old lives) deep, and find a new life. Here in Primrose, they have found one, though it can be subtle and understated, marked by modesty and restraint. Philosophically, this is reflected in its institutions. The Temple of Istus, the goddess of Fate, is the primary place of worship in the town. Here, female clerics with expressionless masks and webbed robes preach the strength of fate and the need for humility in the face of a hostile world, while the town depends on their Weavers to act as midwives for them. In the Monastery of the Seven Stars, Prior Gudoja seeks to cast off the illusory confines of the self and embrace an astral existence, all while operating an observatory to truly understand the enormity of the cosmos. Primrose is a town with a perspective like no other in the Windswept Coast.

Facing with its harbor stretching to the Repsorian sea on one side, the Esterset hills propping up a waterfall on the other, and the Jack-In-The-Green-Trail trail winding to the Radiant Road (to Amberhelm in the south and to Vorel'thel in the north) Primrose manages to be both tucked away and accessible to travelers from other towns. This has drawn many nobles looking for a stay in a safe, low-profile town to consider its inn, tavern, and port. Even more are tantalized by the unnamed stretch of fungi-dotted birch that tangles over the hills, an area villagers call “The Wood”. Enterprising hunters enter the area looking for wolf pelts or owlbears but the guard force, the Primula Guard, warn that there are certain times when The Wood is safe to no one.

While Primrose blossomed with the gold from visitors and new settlers, Amberhelm's empire was developing quickly in tandem. Pholtian fighters of Amberhelm's Radiant Crusade took Fort Ember, they crushed the Barony of Cephalan and replaced it with Ethergaarde, and colonized Bethera and the Savage Colonies. With this conquering spirit (and Primrose’s geographical proximity to Amberhelm), It was assumed by many citizens that Primrose would be assimilated into the state. It's a mystery why to this day Primrose retains its independence. This status however, has led to many high profile meetings taking place in the neutral area of the town hall. There have been multiple wars fought where Primrose served as the impartial hosts to parleys, arbitrations, and conciliations.

## Statistics

Government: Feudal (run by Lord Archaunbault Dalmeny)

Population: 800

Demographics: 60% Human, 15% Elf (10% High Elf, 5% Eladrin and other), 5% Half-elf, 4% Gnome, 2% Halfling, 2% Dwarf, 2% other

Notable Guilds and Organizations: Malacoides Hunting Society, Primula Guard, Church of Istus, Monastery of the Seven Stars, Nightfallen, Scorpion Mercenary Company, Windswept Mining Company

Notable Churches (function similarly as guilds): Istus, Fhalranghn, Celestian, Seasonal Gods (Pocar, Velnius, Wenta, Telchur, and Atroa)

## Primrose as Birthplace

Since the beginning of the game is set in Primrose, the easiest and most straightforward way to work your character into the game’s events is by choosing Primrose as your birthplace. See the “Primrose” chapter for more information on this town.

*Suggested Backgrounds:* Acolyte, Alienist, Bastard, Cloistered Scholar, Courtier, Failed Merchant, Far Traveler, Feylost, Fisher, Folk Hero, Guild Artisan, Haunted One, Hermit, Guild Merchant, Outlander, Sailor, Shipwright

*Exploration Bonus*: Reveals Primrose on the Amathara Map for all players, along with major surrounding landmarks and roads.

*Hometown Advantage*:

State of Apatheia: Primrose citizens learn to keep their passions at bay and favor activities intellectual and otherwise that keep their feet firmly planted. Add +2 to starting Sanity Score.

## Guide to Primrose

Below is a guide to the destinations in Primrose, with only surface details given (secrets, NPCs, and inventory lists removed). Locations will have to be visited to learn more.

### **1. Town Entrance**

Just outside of Primrose is a small arched bridge that slopes over the rushing cool waters of the Tanagra. A modest carving on the railing with the town name is all that announces Primrose, save the twisted roots of wild carnine, orange, and purple Candelabra primroses growing out of the surrounding peat moss. The post that begins the bridge at the edge of the Jack-in-the-Green trail has a small chest-high table near it, a shrine to Fharlanghn, The Dweller on the Horizon, the God of distance, travelers, and roads. The shrine is simply an engraving of the traveler’s mark of safe travels, an upturned crescent above a curved line, the engraving surrounded by equipment that has been broken or worn out on the road: shattered hammers, blown out boots, cracked pitons, and torn tunics celebrate the wear and tear of the explorer’s life.

### **2. Tanagra River Inn**

One of the first destinations off the Jack-In-the-Green trail is the Tanagra River Inn, a large yet modest appearing white log building with two floors. This is a favorite destination for nobility looking for a relaxing seaside vacation, and also a warm floor for itinerants, adventurers, and wanderers of all stripes. It is here that the Malacoides Hunting Society meets. The Tanagra River inn was built by Elvish tradesmen, a massive structure crafted from whitewood logs with several magnificent greystone chimneys. Valets attend a carriage port three coaches wide which serves as a shelter for snowfall in winter. A sign hangs above the carved wooden doors in an elvish script, “All Welcome”. The reception area boasts a sizable stone brazier burning sweet smelling logs and aromatic spices. On the walls, painted murals depict hunting scenes of owlbears, elk, and gnolls felled by brave hunters.

Guests can locate the reception desk a few feet beyond the brazier. Behind the desk, a hallway leads to guest rooms. High ceilings, carved wood beams, chandeliers fashioned from antlers, and various large game taxidermy busts (including full owlbear skeletons) adorn the walls. Hand carved whitewood tables placed throughout the room can accommodate parties of any size. By the massive hearth, a collection of leather chairs and couches create the perfect place for warming extremities, enjoying a beverage, and recounting the more dramatic events of a recent hunting or traveling excursion.

### **3. Town Hall**

Raoul Nicollier, a finicky nobleman, keeps the Town Hall organized: A large stucco building with an arcade running around the front, with red velvetine stairs and buttresses, a grand stage, and areas behind the scene for actors and politicians to prepare. The Town Hall has a double use: as a town meeting place and as a theater. That being said, the latter use isn’t explored very often, though Primrose youth often put on concerts during the festival days within its halls.

### **4. Playground**

With a recent boom in the child population in Primrose, an area just off the town entrance was cultivated for use as a playground. This mostly means an iron device the children can climb on, painted wooden horses, and a swimming hole. The Wood spirals up the Esterset Hills behind the playground, and is cordoned off by large boulders.

### **5. Margrave’s Metalworks**

A family operation for half a century, Margrave's Metalworks is a blacksmith shop with a large indoor forge. While Primrose has little need these days for large quantities of gear, the shop does produce armor and weapons for the Primula Guard. It is a well-known secret that Jean and Fabienne Margrave were both adventurers in their time and earned the respect of the Amberhelmian empire, producing swords for Amberhelm Centurions during the Radiant Conquest. The result has been an emphasis on their long and short swords, which they can produce quickly and cheaply. Their specialty is the Primrose Blade, a weapon blessed by the temple of Istus, forged in the shop, and enchanted at the Pin-and-Thrum. As well as this, the Margraves receive Gerald Brassard’s imports on cold iron from the sable ridge, creating filings for protection as well as cold iron armor and swords.

### **6. Primrose Market**

Temporary stalls stand next to permanent fixtures on a busy open road in the heart of Primrose. Commoners sell their goods and services, rented storefronts see Primrose shopkeepers standing in doorways trying to usher traffic in to see their wares. A lively collection of harvest baskets, bright fruits, worked leather, and household tools are bartered and sold alongside trained and untrained citizens looking for work. The market is well regulated by the Primula Guard. On the western side, the Primrose Trade & Grammar school is open for those hoping to achieve basic literacy and math skills.

### **7. Windmill**

Georges Rouge, a miller and a coarse and bawdy man with a wart-covered face, runs the windmill where commoners come to grind corn, grain, and millet. The taxation on this service is steep and calculated by obscure means, leading to frustration. Rouge’s responsibility is to earn money for the town publican, Victor Pince, who comes by daily for the cut in the profits. At night, the Windmill is bathed in soft light as Rouge does his nightly drinking.

### **8. Temple of Istus**

When you first enter the Temple of Istus, you find yourself in the chapel, a gravel and nearly featureless church of slate gray with uniform, unmarked benches. It is here that the priestesses of Istus give sermons on the Goddess of Fate, stressing the need to understand the predestined fate of the world, and how instead of striving against destiny one must learn to understand one’s own. Above the altar in a conical tower is the inner sanctum, a surreal circular holy ground that seemingly sits atop an endless void. Here, the Incolore, the coterie of high ranked Priestesses, oversee the work of the Weavers, who are laboring on a constant project to illuminate the threads of destiny. They pause in their work only to double as midwives for the town. Here, in the inner sanctum, High Priestess Eglantine, the Hand of Destiny calls out to the Fates and helps determine courses of actions for the Lord himself. Weavers entering the church are no longer referred to by name and are given identical dresses. Higher ranked priestesses cover their faces as well with emotionless white masks.

### **9. The Pin-and-Thrum**

Gregor stock, a legendary Primrose citizen, cunning negotiator and expert appraiser, keeps one eye on The Pin-and-Thrum while his other is covered by a fine sapphired purple eyepatch. His braided brown hair has distinctive dark orange streaks in it. This eclectic man is surrounded by no less eclectic company: Drislynn, a spring Eladrin druid, Harkle, a bejeweled Warlock, and Sauvage, a wild sorcerer with the heart of a child run the only alchemical, herbalist, and magic shop in town. The Pin-and-Thrum has a complicated relationship to Primrose. On one hand, it sticks out like a sore thumb in the humble and magic-suspicious climate but on the other its existence regulates the same forces Dalmeny tends to push back on. With Gregor Stock’s enthusiasm for Primrose, he’s earned some begrudging respect, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t hassled with guards when loud experiments are heard from inside or the walls of the stone enclave suddenly change color.

### **10. Barracks**

Here, the General of the Primula Guard, Sir Ericius, oversees the ranks of guards and conscripts that make up the town militia. The above ground floor of the barracks has beds and footlockers for guards. The below ground floor is the domain of Justiciar Ludolph, a grave Thornmoor transplant who arbitrates legal decisions as well as a town dungeon. Capital punishment is a rarity within the town, with imprisonment much more common. Brigadiers Cristophe Quint and Yvette Reverdin do the bulk of the training in the barracks, which features an archery range and dummies.

### **11. Dalmeny Manor**

Lord Archaunault Dalmeny has slowly, for nearly seven centuries, built onto his manor and transformed it into a miniature high court for Primrose. A columned-facade with engraved marble offsets scarlet and gold velveteen banners with the flower of Primrose lovelingly stitched by the Temple’s Weavers. With the neutrality of the city’s politics and the relative safety of its confines, the manor has become a beloved embassy for most of the Windswept Coast’s major towns, with ambassadors living in its confines for months at a time. The result has been a gradual injection of gold and opulence into a town not particularly known for either, the manor brightly standing out over the half-timbered homes and marketplace stalls. Here, Porthos Sadoul and Medard Girault bicker as court advisors, High Priestess Eglantine and Prior Gudoja are regularly granted audience, and the great orator Conor Macnas digests the leanings of the nobility and turns these positions into persuasive speeches.

### **12. Triamond’s Tavern**

A short walk from the docks in the village of Primrose is Triamond’s tavern. Though its thatched, straw covered roof has seen better days, the weathered stone building provides a welcome respite from the cold wind and sea spray. A large brass weathervane sits atop the roof. On the rare sunny day, light touches the metal creating a beacon for wayfaring voyagers on the Repsorian sea. Above the entrance, an old wooden sign sways in the wind, squeaking its welcome on rusted chains.

A crackling fire in the large hearth and the aroma of seasoned fish stew are the first things travelers notice when they step through the doors. Several booths, tables, and a long bar fashioned out of a large piece of driftwood can accommodate over a score of patrons. Buoys, crab pots, and fishing nets decorate the interior: but they are functional. Affixed to the wall above the hearth is a wooden mermaid. Once attached to the bow of a grand sailing vessel (The Crystal) she now keeps watch over the inn.

A raised platform behind the bar houses six barrels, all corked except one. Above the barrels, a small cabinet filled with spirits stands next to a salvaged ship’s wheel.

### **13. Primrose Sound**

The harbor in Primrose sees ships from Ethergaarde, Maraport, New Bethera and other towns and boasts a well-known sailing vessel (Captain Preston “Storm Lord” Voss), a keelboat (Captain Nixl), and a warship (Captain Sylzora Boldwish) as well, for use in travel and for fishing expeditions. Dalmeny often regrets that visitors arriving by boat have their first impressions formed by the Sound, which attracts crime along with the itinerant (and often lonely) nature of its sailor inhabitants. Despite the variety of unsavory practices that happen here, Primrose Sound affords visitors an often beautiful view of the Repsorian sea. Sir Ericius sends nightly detachments of Primula Guards to remind those in the area that they’re still under the Primrose banner and subject to the town’s laws.

### **14. Repsorian Sea**

The ocean stretches out in a picturesque vista off the rolling hills at the foot of the Estersets, churning its wine-dark greatness and splashing against the port of Primrose Sound. The Repsorian Sea is known for being the birthplace of the Ancestors, the prehistoric race that predates even the gods of Amathara. Though little is known of these early inhabitants, there is a quality of depth to the ocean on another level other than its measure, an ancient power feels at work here. Primrose was once battered with many hurricanes due to a marauding elemental known as the Storm Lord, but Captain Preston Voss was lauded as having defeated the creature. The seas have been a tad gentler since. Still, all sailors are encouraged to keep their wits about them: the ocean is more powerful than any Amatharan.

### **15. The Monastery of the Seven Stars**

The Primrose Monastery, or the Monastery of the Seven Stars, is a planetarium, library, and temple to Celestian, the Far Wanderer. Here, monks are encouraged to explore the manifold implications of their ki as a self. They learn to control their lives and even project out of their bodies. In a similar way to the temple of Istus, the Primrose Monastery stresses the importance of humility and reflection over impulses and passions. The monastery is mysterious, with its inner chambers off limits to those not attending the school. That being said, the literate population of Primrose makes use of its public library, which boasts several classics. The Monastery of the Seven Stars predates Primrose itself and it is said that the ageless Prior Gudoja influenced Dalmeny’s decision to settle here.

### **16. Eterna’s Spire**

This condemned tower reaches far into the clouds, its stone entrance strangely marked by a wolf’s head. Supposedly, the spire was the home of a recluse who has since passed, and the town has deemed the area unsafe for entry. Most see the rickety exterior and keep their distance while walking into the Esterset Hills, with the rare exception of children daring each other to approach.

### **17. Farmer Doyle’s**

Doyle Fourche is by many accounts, an ideal Primrose citizen. He’s a pipe-smoking, proverb misquoting, tension-diffuser whose voice rarely rises above a whisper. Doyle’s clothes all bear a small primrose flower. He is a major player in the town affairs, overseeing all plots of farmland. Doyle tends to stress in a gentle but constant way the need to compromise, he sees the town’s neutrality, the treatment of its soil, its crop, its ability to stay out of the grips of danger in the Wood--all the product of a delicate balance. Doyle organizes the peasantry to ensure diversity in crops and puts hard work into getting young farmers on their feet. He’s concerned about his daughter but can do nothing about it but occasionally waves a club at her suitors while barefoot in the grass outside the farmhouse.

### **18. The Wood**

Close-cropped birch and poplar spiral off the Esterset hills into a dense tangle of foliage. This is a nameless forest, spoken about mainly in children’s stories in Primrose. While the Wood is a great source of berries, wood, and wolf pelts, it holds the constant danger of marauding Owl Bears and something that is worse: it is said that the Wood should not be entered at all on certain days related to the heavenly spheres. Though some believe there are more mundane explanations for the persistence of these rumors, the Primula Guard is still trained to enforce them and others are sure there is some truth behind the superstition.

### **19. Tanagra Falls**

The roaring Tanagra Falls gives off prismatic spray, rainbows arcing through the water droplets, creating a constant beautiful ambience to this area. Those who have lived in Primrose long enough have been taught to be wary of the rushing river under the bridge and the waterfall itself: here there are strange spirits known for tricking and even drowning unwary passersby.