Falcon's Hollow is a logging town through and through. Most buildings have log walls, or are finished with wooden siding. The roofs are covered in wooden shingles. The town is rough-looking for the most part, but some homes feature lovingly wrought ornamentation that shows their owners' pride: decorative molding, carved cornices, window mullions, and delicate inlays on furniture. Sawmills and lumberyards are the main evidence of the town's industry, along with dusty, exhausted cutyards filled with stumps. Sawdust invades nearly every home, bed, and meal in the community, like sand in a beach town-but locals claim one gets used to it, and mock those who can't stand the dust. Around Falcon's Hollow, the forest flourishes, dark and impenetrable, seemingly eager to claim the lives of those who endlessly assault its borders .
Falcon's Hollow Cottages
1. Brookman's Well: This small spring supplies most of the town's fresh water. It's named for the resident who dug it 40 years ago, Dreklas Brookman, a man who has big plans for expanding the town with engineering works and architectural projects, including a cathedral and a great stone bridge. He was gaining the support of the town's residents when he crossed old Thalsin Kreed, Thuldrin's father. Dreklas ended up having an accident in the cutyard shortly thereafter, even though he didn't work there. The Kreed family immediately took control of the well; their thugs guard it night and day, and charge a hefty fee for its use. Those who can't afford the fee have to settle for attempting to sneak a bucketful from the well after dark, when the guards are often drunk, or otherwise rely on the sawdust- choked waters of the Foam.
2. Goose 'n' Gander: Brickasnurd Hildrinsocks (CN male gnome expert 4/wizard 2), the only gnome in Falcon's Hollow, runs this cavernous general store. Goose 'n' Gander is a labyrinthine muddle of winding aisles and precariously balanced shelve s stocked with everything someone living on the frontier might require. There is no apparent method to the store's organization, and one might find a variety of unusual items stocked in among the more usual domestic staple s, dried foods , and mining supplies - some of the more noteworthy recent discoveries include a gourd of alchemist's fire whose shape resembled that of a baby, a petrified pseudodragon hollowed out into a bull's eye lantern, and an unnaturally cold and blood-stained chisel. If one searches the shelve s long enough, one can find most standard adventuring gear here, along with the occasional minor magic item, usually feather tokens, silversheen, or more rarely sovereign Glue. Brickasnurd claims to find some of his most curious inventory during long walks in the woods, but some say the gnome keeps counsel with several of the cryptic fey who still lurk amid the groves of Darkmoon Vale.
3. High Market: Perhaps the High Market's greatest draw is that it sells meats and vegetables without a hint of rot on them. Influential residents shop the various stalls here for imp orts from distant cities and the rare quality local goods. The ex-mercenary Ayda Vorshin (NE female half- ore warriors) runs weekly caravans to and from Olfden, stocking the market with silk clothing, shoes, spices, and jewelry. Local artists such as Deveera Gadsel, known for her woodcarvings and handmade jewelry, offer their wares among the imports. The market offers one of the few opportunities in Falcon's Hollow to purchase quality goods costing more than 10 gp.
The High Market's treasures are not available to all, however. Boss Teedum's most loyal thugs restrict access, admitting only those Kreed deems influential enough to be of use. Kreed also holds a lottery once per month to grant nine lucky "common" residents permission to shop in the market for up to 3 days.
One of Kreed's most insufferable lickspittles, the middle-aged Kilarin Salk, personally inspects all groceries sold in the High Market. Kilarin is a failed farmer with a black thumb, and is notoriously corrupt. Although plenty of high quality produce and meats are brought to her for her daily inspections, a third of the stock never makes it to the market. Farmers in the region know that quality is only one of the qualifications needed to pass the inspection - a hefty bribe for the halfling is required as well. Salk's jumped-up position has made her prickly, and any real or imagined insult to her considerable pride results in a lifetime ban from selling goods in Falcon's Hollow, a sentence that generally equates to a choice between exile or poverty for most farmers.
4. Hollow Tribunal: Magistrate Harg dispenses merchant licenses, stamp s mining and lumber claims, and passes judgement on criminal and civil cases from this sturdy log building. Most residents enjoy the irony of the Hollow Tribunal's name, since the justice meted out is rarely equitable. Harg is a young and attractive failed barrister with a fondness for finery, and known to be firmly in Kreed's pocket. Kreed put Harg in power with the understanding that he could remove the halfling just as easily at the first sign of disobedience. Harg doesn't dare oppose Kreed directly, but his shame at his own cowardice leads him to try to nudge cases away from Kreed's greedy eye and give people a fair shake when he can. If he were ever to get enough support from folks not yet broken by Kreed's regime, he might step up to the challenge and start doling out true justice.
A stormy romantic relationship with one of Sheriff Deldrin Baleson's deputies, the cantankerous and handsome Tabrik Splint (LG male dwarf ranger 3), takes up most of Harg's time away from work. Splint is unabashedly outspoken about Kreed's corruption and the need for a change in leadership, and Harg finds it increasingly difficult to protect his lover from his patron's wrath.
5. Jak-a'-Napes: A ramshackle inn leaning precariously against the town's stables offers food and lodging to travelers passing through Falcon's Hollow. The rotund and ruddy Jak Crimmy (CG male human bard 6) is a retired troubadour who sports an easy smile and always has a warm welcome, a solid meal, and a tale or two ready for weary visitors . His cinnamon- crusted flapjacks are legendary, as are his skill at juggling frying pans and his astonishing marksmanship with a crossbow.
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The Jak-a'-Napes Inn
Jak makes his cinnamon pancakes once per week, and the line to taste a sugared forkful runs all the way around the building and halfway down the thoroughfare. For some reason, Kreed never sets foot in the inn, a peculiarity that's the source of many a wild rumor. Some claim Jak is related to the old Samkil family, and some strange magic pact or fey curse bars Kreed from taking action against this last scion of the Kreed family's old competitors. Others whisper that Jak was once a member of the Talons, one of the most notorious adventuring parties in Darkmoon Vale, which would make him a very dangerous man. Whatever the truth is, Jak won't give credence to any of the tales , saying only that he is a retired entertainer from far off Riddleport. When asked about Kreed, he merely shrugs and laughs that "cinnamon isn't for everyone."
6. Low Market: Open to all, the Low Market sells the High Market's leftovers, including produce no longer fresh enough for the High Market's favored customers, heavily salted meat s , and other questionable foodstuffs-most of which barely survive their trip to the market. Nothing in the Low Market sells for more than a few gold pieces, and almost nothing is worth more than a few coppers. Portly Jasin Greatoak, called "Great Oaf" by unkind children, organizes the market's various stalls and cart-bound booths. He is good-natured but dimwitted, and rarely has a sober thought run through his head. The Low Market is frequented by hordes of poor lumberjacks, struggling farmers, and outcasts. A few ramshackle stalls serve ale and blindness-inducing moonshine to carousing lumberjacks, fueling their revels and making pickpocketing an easy prospect.
Low Market Wagons
Low Market Stalls
7. Lumber Consortium Headquarters: Once the most impressive building in Falcon's Hollow, this office has fallen into disrepair, while Thuldrin Kreed's manor house grows in opulence. Kreed uses this building only to host important Consortium guests and conduct other official business he wishes to keep out of his private estate. Otherwise, the building remains empty, alone with the ghosts of its former grandeur. The only object in the building not left to the ravages of time is a statue ofKreed's father, Thalsin. The stern visage and proud frame of one of the greatest leaders in the town's history is always freshly polished by Thuldrin's cowed servants, who live in terror of his ire should the statue not be properly respected and maintained. The host of clerks who once toiled here have been released from employ as Kreed has gradually reduced the amount of paperwork concerning the lumber trade in Falcon's Hollow. He's grown bold in his corruption, and now the few clerks keeping track of his affairs work out of his manor house. Any real dealings the Consortium conducts with outside forces occur there, and the message is clear: Thuldrin Kreed is the Lumber Consortium.
8. Quinn's Carnival: Every night, Namdrin Quinn and his companions wow crowds with feats of skill and magic at this carnival of wonders just outside Falcon's Hollow. Quinn is a sinewy performer with a long face haunted by loss. His sunken eyes stare off into a distant and fading memory of former happiness, and rarely fix on those who speak to him. He once led a band of veteran adventurers, but after a dangerous quest claimed the life of his wife, Tessa, he ended his career and established the carnival. Rumor has it that after the tents close, Quinn and his band treat with dark fey, whose anger mounts at the Consortium's constant incursions into the wood. Some say Quinn spies for the vengeful fey, who plan vicious retribution and murder.
9. Roots and Remedies: Creeping ivy and flowering window boxes cover the facade of this two - story log building. Inside, the small, mud-tracked shop smells of burnt earth and spicy incense. Bunches of dried herbs hang from the ceiling, along with dangling pots, pres ses, alchemical apparatus, and arcane glas sware. Pouches of rare plants, jars of colored powders, and a collection of dried, preserved, and j ellied animal parts fill high shelves and tables that serve as both displays and workspace. The owner, Laurel Gebre (NG female human expert 3), is a railthin Garundi woman with glas ses, her hair arranged in dreadlocks loosely pulled back from her face. The tough but good-hearted woman serves as the local herbalist and healer, though her income stems as much from her sale of snake oils and aphrodisiacs as from her cure-alls and medicinal teas. Although well versed in the healing properties of a variety of concoctions, she's quick to remind angry patrons that she's not, in fact, a physician. Despite this, for many who can't afford more expensive healing magic, Laurel is the best hope for health and even a thimble full of sympathy in Falcon's Hollow.
The most recent black mark on Laurel's reputation is the irksome and increasing rate of leprosy among the town's residents. Many of the infected have s ought her help to no avail, and many point out that she has profited by selling the afflicted a variety of experimental tonics. Grumbles of impending retribution have been heard among the miserable outcasts in the upriver leper colony and the families of the afflicted.
10. The Sitting Duck: The Duck is the local hot spot for adventurers , explorers, and other rap scallions looking for excitement, although it stands a little too close to the town's palisade for most residents' comfort. The tavern serves a potent brew of fermented darkwood leaf-one that could floor an ogre in a few tankards. Raucous games of "knivesies" and "lefty-loosy" (two quite dangerous recreational activities with a high rate of maiming) rage late into the night among adventurers sharing tales of the dangers of Darkmoon Vale, Droskar's Crag, and other nearby landmarks. The noise emanating from the town's most dangerous drinking den attracts the attention of the occasional predator outside the palisade, and the s e creatures often hop the wall and attack. Luckily, the clientèle is nothing if not well armed, and such events only fuel the night's revelry.
Originally built by a retired adventurer named Larden "Ferret" Kried, the Duck was taken over by the brawny thug Ergin Tock (CN male human fighter 2) after the tavern became a beacon to dangerous adventurers and the Ferret disappeared. Tock produced a dubious deed to the Duck with Larden Kried's signature (though most claim it was forged), along with a letter explaining that the Ferret had returned to the carefree life of the adventurer. Tock's former job as hired muscle for Thuldrin Kreed was suspicious enough, but when Vamros Harg certified the deed as genuine, it was all the evidence the townsfolk needed that Kreed had decided the Duck needed to be under the Consortium's direct control. A few wags claim Kreed took deep offence to the fact that the Ferret's surname was a homophone for his own.
Kreed likes to keep close tabs on any adventurers or mercenaries pas sing through Falcon's Hollow, hiring those he deems useful and convincing those who might oppose him to move on in short order. The Duck is the perfect venue for gathering all these potential employees and threats in one place. Tock keeps an eye on the clientele, but he isn't Kreed's only pair of eyes in the place. The lovely barmaid Jalene Artem (CE female human rogue 4) is one of Kreed's most trusted agents, as skilled in slitting throats as she is at prying secrets from even the most stalwart paladin. Tock and Artem report to Kreed every morning on the past night's activities at the Duck.
11. Temple of Iomedae: Falcon's Hollow has few clerics . Despite anemic competition from other faiths and a demonstrated record of care for the town's residents, Lady Cirthana Gensar (LG female human cleric of Iomedae 6) continues to struggle to win converts in the beleaguered town. Few locals trust Cirthana, and most lay their medical concerns at Laurel's feet instead. The Lumber Consortium has made itself clear in denouncing the Inheritor's meddling in the town's affairs, and the locals oblige by avoiding the temple as much as possible. Many members of other religious sects who fled here from Olfden and larger settlements to escape persecution from major faiths mostly worshipers of Calistria and Kurgess, but also a few quietly faithful servants of the empyreal lord Cernunnos and the archdevil Barbatos - resent the recent arrival of lomedae's followers, and tensions run high among the most zealous . This conflict has resulted in more than one less-than-holy brawl on the muddy thoroughfare of Worship Way.
Cirthana regularly requests assistance from others of her faith in her quest to aid the endangered souls of Falcon's Hollow, but the corrupting nature of this wild frontier post is far too tempting for the devotion of most initiates to survive. Cloistered would-be paladins and clerics find themselves woefully unprepared for the challenge s of Falcon's Hollow, and most end up pawns of the Consortium, lured from their ideals by bribes from Kreed's agents, whether in the form of gold or free passes to the Rouge Lady.
Kreed enjoys flaunting his power by condescendingly offering donations to her cause, praising her efforts to "look after the hardworking souls of Falcon's Hollow," while secretly crippling her efforts to reform the town. Cirthana recognizes such acts for the mockery they are, but as yet has done nothing to act directly against Kreed.
12. The Rouge Lady: The silk-veiled parlors in the back of this burlesque and gambling hall double as a brothel owned by Kabran Bloodeye, leader of the Redrock Guild, a criminal syndicate that controls the town's shady activities for Thuldrin Kreed. Aside from his blood-red eyes, Kabran's most striking feature is his mis sing nose, cut from his face long ago in a far-off city, in punishment for crime s committed there. He wears a bronze nosepiece over the crater in his face, which whistles disturbingly as he sucks air through it, and dribbles blood and mucus that he wipes away with a crimson handkerchief. The Rouge Lady is where his top-tier prostitutes peddle their charms. His current favorite is Ralla Hebbradan, ever in demand by wealthy patrons . While not the most beautiful in his stable, Ralla has somehow managed to maintain an appearance of sincere fragility that attracts those with a penchant for both cruelty and power, and she wields it with determination to provide for her only living kin, her younger brother Hollin. Hollin hates Falcon's Hollow passionately for how he and Ralla are forced to live, and it's only a matter of time before he decides to take justice for him and his sister at knife-point.
The Rouge Lady offers several games of chance native to Falcon's Hollow, such as "buckle-chuck" (played with scrimshawed sheep's knuckles or wooden dice), Rouge Lady - Grim Lady (a card game with a Succubus Queen and a Corpse Queen as trumps), and Spin the Saw (using a circular saw blade on a nail that is spun to indicate odds, victory, or defeat).
13. The Cutyard: Spewing sawdust into the Foam around the clock, the Cutyard is the ever-pumping heart of Falcon's Hollow. Lumber crews work the yard around the clock under horrific conditions . Night shifts work with waterwheel-powered saws and grinding lathes, with only a single dim lantern to light their dangerous toil. Maiming and accidental deaths are frequent. If questioned, Kreed merely answers that oil is hard to come by up in Falcon's Hollow, but there are lots of fingers.
Far more insidious than the threat of physical injury is the crushing effect of unending labor and monotony on the psyches of the workers. Most of the lumber crew live in cramped shacks surrounding the Cutyard, plagued by the sounds of saws and axes even when they aren't working. More than a few workers have snapped after a few years in the yard, taking axes to their coworkers before Kreed's thugs mow them down with crossbow fire. The lumberjacks call this "going axe-mad," a term that has come to indicate losing one's temper in an explosive manner.
14. Kreed Manor: Thuldrin Kreed's domicile is more of a stronghold than a mansionit's surrounded by io-foot-high darkwood walls , guarded by some of the deadliest rogues in the Redrock Guild, and patrolled by the most vigilant sellswords that Lumber Consortium gold can buy, making the manor nigh-impregnable. Rioters have tried to burn the Kreeds out, prompting the Kreeds to add four interior water towers within the stronghold's walls). When harpies began infiltrating the upper floors on moonless nights, the Kreeds placed an ever-present clutch of crossbow-wielding guards on the roof, and in response to a green hag who shape - changed and walked through the front gates, they instigated the rigorous use of passwords. Kreed's family has not survived the perils of Darkmoon Vale for over a century by accident. Few residents of Falcon's Hollow have ever seen the interior of the mansion, and none outside Kreed's inner circle (Kabran Bloodeye, Boss Teedum, and Magistrate Harg) have ascended to the second floor.
15. Sharvaros Vade's Tower: The necromancer hermit Sharvaros Vade occupies a stone tower overlooking the dreary souls of Falcon's Hollow from its place of prominence on the Perch, the hill at the east edge of town. Within, Vade conducts gruesome experiments on corpses discarded by Falcon's Hollow. Vale's only living companion is his frail son Savram, a pale boy whose mother's identity remains a mystery. Many locals claim the child was born from a dead consort, thus explaining his spindly frame and ivory complexion.
The tower itself is a sturdy, ugly edifice without much in the way of adornment. A handful of gargoyles populate its upper parapet, and observers swear they change location and posture over time, speculating that Vade uses these stony thralls to collect the victims of accidents and violence to fuel his research.
In the very shadow of the tower lie the Riverside hovels of some of the Hollow's poorest denizens. Living by fishing and trading at the Low Market for lumberjack coin to furnish other essentials, these poor but proud Hollowsfolk are nearly the only other industry in the Hollow besides the lumber consortium.
In the very shadow of the tower lie the Riverside hovels of some of the Hollow's poorest denizens. Living by fishing and trading at the Low Market for lumberjack coin to furnish other essentials, these poor but proud Hollowsfolk are nearly the only other industry in the Hollow besides the lumber consortium.
16. Woodwil: The workshop of outspoken artist Deveera Gadsel (CN human expert 4) also serves as a haven for a clique of semi- artistic locals, those interested in doing more with their lives than simply hacking and sawing all day. Deveera has had more than a few run-ins with Vorshin of the High Market, who sees the growing popularity of Deveera's crafts as cutting into the profits of her own import business, and has used similar intimidation tactics on other local artisans, attempting to frighten them into restricting their business to Low Market. The half-orc and her cronies have broken into workshops, including Woodwil, where they've smashed goods and injured artisans. Deveera is trying to organize a guild to provide mutual protection from Vorshin. Thus far, Kreed finds the situation amusing and hasn't intervened, although he promises to crush both sides with equal relish if they pose a threat to public order. Meanwhile, he's allowed Deveera to form her guild, provided she pays a hefty share of her profits to the Consortium as an "administrative fee."
17. Abandoned Cutyard: A half-mile west of the existing cutyard, Falcon's Hollow's first lumber mill and the surrounding log cabins lie abandoned, keeping company only with stumps and muddy earth. Locals claim this facility was abandoned when the newer cutyard in the current town center was established, but old-timers tell a different story. According to local legend, 60 years ago during a midnight shift, bloodcurdling screams were heard from the old mill. When Thalsin Kreed and his people went to investigate, they found no sign of any of the workers. Kreed himself went inside and returned pale as snow and trembling. Those who tell stories of that day proclaim that Kreed's hands always were as steady as those of a clockmaker, except for that one night. Whatever he saw in at the old mill put fear in him for the first and only time.
The recent outbreak of leprosy has driven many of the infected to the old cutyard, where they have formed a make shift colony of tents, cobbled-together shacks, and abandoned work sheds. The shadows of the rotting buildings now mercifully conceal the ravaged faces of droves of the sick and dying, peering out at any who draw near. Lady Cirthana Gensar sent a few of her acolytes to aid the lepers, but they did not return. She petitioned Kreed to send someone to investigate, but he laughed her off, sneering that his thugs would be useless if their cutting hands fall off Some say Thuldrin Kreed's father shared with him the secret of what evil sleeps in the old cutyard; if that rumor is true, he's declined to tell even his inner circle.