please read this to familiarise yourself with the village and its surrounds.
Nestled in a vale at the foot of the western hills, Crooked Yew is a small village that swells to about 200 people with a transient community of hunters that seasonally take up residence over the Spring to Autumn months. A gaze at the regional Duchy map in the Campaign Settings or Maps thread will show a number 13, covering a section of the Blackened Forest and this is the settlement location. Approximately 18 miles west of Helix and on a good day, about an eight hour trek. The trail between them zig-zags along the divide of Barrow Moor wilderness and the forest fringe apart from the last few miles which cuts directly through the forest.
The small village is surrounded by forest and built upon cleared ground, secured by a large stockade and guarded gates. The palisade is under repair after recent incursions from humanoid tribes.
Mostly shacks of wattle and daub houses, roofed with steeply graded thatch and larger stilted framed communal long houses. There is no established tavern but several 'moonshine' bars exist in cottage parlours.
Peasant families huddle over evening campfires, braces of jackrabbit skins or beaver hanging to dry. Traders work industrially, the potter at his wheel, a carpenter sawing. Every man has a trade and extra, the butcher does the dentistry and so forth.
Beyond the village hub, a large dolmen occupies a grassy knoll. Two large upright granite stones and a third as a lintel. A sign that the inhabitants cling to a Herne faith.
The village is famed for the production of honey potions, lotions, salves and mead. The honey harvested from numerous apiaries in the settlement and at various wilderness locations. Druid Clive oversees the hives and is the elder in the community. Though recently Lord Krothos has sent a conscript militia to help reinforce the place by repairing the stockade and building a new Chapel of St Yggs. Curate minister Leomane, seconded to oversee the new missionary project.
A recent development has added another dimension to the settlement with the assimilation of Bugbears stricken by leprosy into the community. see Dalin's 'Rotten to the core' Expedition for background details.
A few miles northwest lies the village of Bhaz'rad Dur, previously a habitat of Bugbears from the Red Fang tribe who converted to follow the Set Cult under priest Katka. (now deceased). A veteran ranger, Hunnicot may be engaged for exploration within the nearby forest regions.
Basic supplies and gear may be bought from the settlement at book price +50%, simple melee weapons can be crafted but no metallic armour is available.
Players arriving in Crooked Yew.
please date your arrival in town and use the general or specific location threads while in Crooked Yew. Unlike Helix, this location is not considered a 'safe haven', therefore consider your actions as they may have unintended consequences.
