Ashfall

Ashfall is a small town in the south-western part of Etera. It's primarily known for exporting giant exotic fruits picked from the forest near the city. After coming under the governance of the Nation of Aetveris during its initial expansion in 56IA, Ashfall has since been able to enjoy a great expansion in its access to trade routes with the added burden of taxation from the Crown.

## History

Ashfall was once an unremarkable tiny village. This changed on the 2nd of Lamashan, 44 IA, when the deserts and bleak wastelands near the sleepy town suddenly sprung back to life. These deserts gave way to a sprawling, lush jungle that would continue to slowly spread for months to come. This was thanks to a band of adventurers who were able to flush out the followers of a lich who prevented life from flourishing in the region.

Subsequent expeditions into the forest found that beyond the normal looking exterior lay plants boasting a far more vibrant set of colors. When one of the explorers got hungry and bit into a fruit they'd picked to study, the bite wound he'd suffered from a wolf on the way immediately began to close. Upon hearing of this, both scholars and merchants suddenly became interested in the area, whether to study the fruit or to sell them across the continent.

Not long after, small groups of fey started coming out of the forest. The first to encounter them was a group of adventurers, who rescued several dozen Sprites that were being tormented by Gremlins. After being rescued, they explained that the inner parts of the forest had begun to overlap with the first world, allowing passage between it and the material plane. Since then, plenty of fey have traversed the forest to settle on Etera, many of them in Ashfall itself.

As the forest grew, so did its planar incursion. It took less than a month for the barrier between the material plane and the first world to become traversable, and within another month its innermost parts had pierced the veil of the positive energy plane. This growing area became inhospitable to most creatures, causing both the living and undead to explode from an overload of healing. After another month, the forest's growth began to slow, and finally came to a halt two weeks later. The roughly 6-mile radius area of the forest has remained consistent in the years to come, and expeditions would avoid going further than the ring overlapping the first world. Fruit pickers, generally not seasoned adventurers, would prefer to stay in the transitional area between forest and first world, where the fruits are far larger than normal and heal wounds, yet most of the first world's dangers are not present.

When the Horsemen attacked Etera, Ashfall managed to remain relatively unscathed. A plague giant throwing corpses to infect people along with a worry daemon convincing everyone else to kill the infected, a group of hidden death cultists, and some stray cacodaemons preying on fruit pickers... these were nothing compared to the massive daemonic army War was using to besiege Babel.

## Trade

Ashfall's primary trade goods are the fruits picked from the nearby forest. The outer ring of the forest contains exotic fruits that are difficult to find elsewhere, but are otherwise normal. Of much greater interest are the fruit further in, which have grown far larger and are filled with positive energy, healing those who eat them. The positive energy also ensures the fruits never spoil and passively rubs off on those carrying the fruit, allowing them to be carried with far less effort than fruit of such size would seem to require.

The following fruits can be bought anywhere, but if bought in Ashfall, they can be bought for half the listed price.

* Bananas: 10 gp, heals 15 hp. As big as a human arm, takes a minute to eat.
* Oranges, Apples, Mangos: 3 gp, heals 5 hp. As big as a human head, takes 2 rounds to eat.
* Strawberries, Blueberries, Cherries, Grapes: 2 gp, heals 3 hp. As big as a human fist, takes a full-round action to eat.

Creatures larger than medium can eat these fruits faster, while those smaller than small take longer. For each size category beyond those, move 1 step along this line: 1 hour - 10 minutes - 1 minute - 2 rounds - full-round action - standard action - move action - swift action - up to 10 at once as a swift action.

With the added access to trade and assorted industry along the Crown Roads of Aetveris, the town has been able to produce an often enjoyed alcoholic drink known as 'Ashfall Vintage.' Produced from the fermentation of the positive energy fruits that are harvested from the forest, the vintage has been described as having a strong coconut-like flavor in its initial flavoring, that just as quickly gives way to an almost citrus adornment, until at last it settles upon an almond-tinted aftertaste. It is said that hangovers from this drink are less oppressive than other such intoxicants.