Broken Chain: Embershade Village I (worldbuilding)

The Embershade village lies on the edge of the Embran Woods, and the town was named after this forest. In the next 6 months I would like to take a closer look at Embershade Village. It’s a place where people live their life without the mingling of kings, governors or bureaucrats. There is certainly much to be done, in the way of adventuring and safety in the area. Threats are looming. But even in dire times, the villagers see their possessions as communal and share between each other. How will this work out for them?

Let’s plan out the village first.

The Embershade Village:

I know these things for sure:

·         There is communal storage in the village. I decide on three barns at town square.

·         There’s a gathering place. An amphitheater or a town hall would do. I decide on a round town hall, as the weather here is not that great.

·         There’s a river and a wooden bridge across it. Maybe a fisherman.

·         There’s some farming. I decide on five farm houses.

·         There’s an experienced logger and woodman near the forest edge.

·         There is a place to play sports or train weapons together.

·         There is one person that drives a cart up to other villages to trade goods.

·         There is one person that travels by boat. But he is only there once a month.

·         There is one smith to care for all things metal. He has a lack of new iron though (as it has to be imported), but has just enough to go by.

·         There is a small shrine cared for by the elderly. The shrine is not for a specific god, but for everyone that wants some peace.

·         There is no inn. Visitors are invited to stay in town hall, or at a home of someone.

·         There are two old watchtowers, in one lives a wizard.

There are some skill/ability challenges in the town:

STR: Help to roll a boulder off the road in the north.

DEX: Climb down the dried-up well. It’s a slippery slope.

CON: Help build a house in the village. Exhaustion looms.

INT: The wizard tries to learn you some arcane. Do you understand?

WIS: Scan the area for threats from the watchtower.

CHA: At the village meeting, convince others.

That’s already a lot of things. Here’s a map I drew of the village.

  

More will come next month, where we name people and give them wants/needs and dislikes.