Three Falls
The Three Falls region holds a special place in the lore of the last empire. Carved out of the southern frontier, the Three Falls region became world renowned during the height of the Nerathian empire for its almost universally beloved Three Falls Ale. High above the triple waterfall of the three sisters rivers, the ancient dwarven keep of Daden-dor churned some of the world's richest varieties of beer. The land soon became populated with the summer manor houses of lords and nobles who wanted to live in this agriculture rich area, and who soon became known as the Ale Barons, because their fields supplied the ingredients to the dwarven brewmasters for their fine ale. As the Ale Barons were able to supply more and better ingrediants to the dwarves of Daden-dor, the number of casks of fine dwarven ale leaving the keep and bound for the rest of the empire grew daily. Everyone got rich. After hundreds of years of this tradition, the last emperor in his arrogance made war on the dwarves. The people of Three Falls woke one day to find the keep of Daden-dor empty, the breweries of the dwarves dry, and the Dark Gate, a giant steel and stone door leading to the dwarven city under the mountain, sealed. Fortunes were lost, and with the fall of the empire, the regular shipping schedules fell apart. The host of the Nerathian army assigned to the region fled, and the people of Three Falls suddenly had to fend for themselves from the ever encroaching darkness in the region. Then 70 years ago a dwarven brewmaster, Hagrin Fellhammer, who was a lost relative of the clan who built Daden-dor, returned to reclaim his legacy. What he found was a rag-tag band of humans from the surrounding lands who had holed up in the old dwarven keep for protection. He decided to work with these humans, and offer them protection if they would once again work the land so the fabled Three Falls Ale could return to the world. Today, the region is once again a rich farm community, and producer of the finest ales in the known world. Commerce has begun again, and boats come up the river to Mirror Lake where they load the holds of their ships with the renewed Three Falls Ale and take it to cities across the continent. The old Ale Barons are gone, and their mansions on Mirror Lake fallen into disrepair, but humans still rule the area. Daden-dor has been renamed Barley Keep in the common tongue, and is ruled by an ex-adventurer named Lord Markhaven Bearheart, a descendent of one of the original Ale Barons. He controls the regions militia force. Hagrin remains, and as the Brewmaster is the second most powerful person in Barley Keep. The regions has grown rich again, as a steady trade with the cities of Coras-Telenth and Coras-Telark has formed. Recently however, the outlying farms have become targeted by roving bands of humanoid raiders, and a new darkness threatens to engulf Three Falls.
Barley Keep
Map
The creation of Daden-Dor is so long lost in antiquity that even the dwarven historians can no longer clearly recall its original purpose. The keep, an enigma among Dwarven architecture both for its being above ground, and surrounded by a moat, is now merely remembered as the birth place of three falls ale, but that was certainly not why it was built. What is known is that the city, a good sized frontier town by the current ages standards was once merely an off shoot of a much larger, much grander, and much more solidly underground dwarven city now only remembered as the Deep Halls. Once upon a time, when the Dark Gate (as it is called by humans) was open. Dwarven citizens passed freely between the keep and the main city under the mountain. With the coming of the artificer war, however, the dwarves apparently shut themselves inside their mountain home, abandoning the strange keep in the middle of the mountain pass, and closing out the world forever.
Construction
Built of heartstone (stone blocks quarried from deep inside the mountain) the keep is an imposing fortress of remarkable strength. Built in tiers, each section of the city is the size of a typical post Nerathian village. While it seems tiny by comparison to the still great cities of Coras-Telenth and Coras-Telark, it is a still a vast bastion of light amid the growing darkness of the current age. The walls of the keep are punctured by two gateways at the bottom level. The great gate, which opens across a drawbridge to face the fertile farm valley below, and the winding road leading down to the shores of mirror lake. And home gate, so named because it opens to the old causeway that connected the keep to the Deep Halls through what is now known as the dark gate. (no you cannot speak "friend" and enter)
The bottom level of Barley Keep [ Map ] is now mostly given over to the barracks of the Three Falls militia. Barrack houses line the keep's western wall and come almost to the center of the main thoroughfare. The stables, take up another large portion of this level to the northeast. along the eastern wall of the ground floor lies the smithy, where Greger works keeping the Lord's horses shoed and fixing the wagons of the tradespeople who flock to the town to buy shipments of the fabled three falls ale. Above the smithy, is a sprawling general goods warehouse owned by the Blacksmith's son, Carn. His grain warehouses take up the land to the north of the smithy between the stables. It is here that the farmers of the Three Falls region bring their grains and other botanical ingrediants for the creation of Three Falls Ale. In the last 15 years, Carn has become the all-purpose middle man between Hagrin, who is swamped by the demand for his beer, and the farmers.
Where the barracks end, the Iron Griffin Tavern begins. A large two-story tavern/flop house for the less savory of Barley Keep's citizens. The griffin caters to the caravan guards and mule drivers of the merchants who frequent barley keep as well as the enlisted men of the militia. The bottom floor is taken over by a great room where games of chance abound. This is also where Father Coras holds court. Coras is the keep's sole priest of Avandra, and aside from the dragonborn weaponsmith Pargus, who doubles as the keeps priest of Moradin, is the only true holy figure left in the keep at all. He despises the uppity richness of the temple located in the brewery level, and so hold simple worship service and performs holy day rights in front of the griffin's fire place.
A half elf known only as Copper for her short, bright, orange-red hair runs the place. Rumor has it that the former owner, a loud mouthed braggart named Ipsdin, racked up too much debt in some circles and one day disappeared. it was about that time Copper came to town looking to make a new start for herself. She paid Ipsdin's debts and took over ownership of the griffin as a way to put her past behind her. At least that's the story that gets told.
The rest of the bottom level to the north of the griffin is made up of settler's alley. A shanty town for all the misfits who fell between the cracks of the rest of society. If Barley Keep has a bad part of town this is it.
The Trade District
Map
Coming up the causeway from the ground floor, the trade district is a much more orderly and structured collection of buildings than the floor below. The main corridor runs north and south along the opening that lets light down into the lower district. While years of wagon, foot and animal traffic has covered the lower level in a layer of packed dirt, the flagstones of the upper levels still shine in the day and torchlight. The first thing one notices when arriving at this level is the ringing of hammers louder than even the smithy below.
Drake Bros. Arms and Armor occupies occupies most of the central eastern wall of the district. Here are both the forges and anvils of the weaponsmiths, but also an extensive showroom of wares. Among the merchants and the mercenaries who travel hundreds of miles to trade in Three Falls Ale, the blades of Pargus the weaponsmith are quite renowned. Pargus came to the keep some 9 years ago though few know why he settled in the region. When he first arrived he opened a small shop in the lower ward with only the weapons he had brought with him, and paid Greger for the use of a small corner of his smithy to make more. Lord Markhaven soon sought out the dragonborn smith and the two spent many hours talking of all things combat and weapon related. Then, Markhaven commissioned Pargus to outfit his growing militia with arms and equipment suitable to defending the keep, and Drake Bros. was born. For the last 7 years, Pargus has doubled as the keep's priest of Moradin, whom he worships. He leads services once a week at the temple in the Brewery District and during holy days to Moradin. Pargus is most renowned for his love of weaponry and is rumored to have quite a collection of deadly artifacts somewhere in his possession. No one knows for sure though because every nimble fingered thief who sought to uncover the hoard has never been seen around the card tables of the Iron Griffin again.
Pargus counts on the expertise of Graveldor Rumspinner for the finer works of armor available at the shop. Rumspinner was a shieldcrafter for the dwarves of Bracken Ridge more than 60 years ago. When their halls were invaded by the Ogres of the Bouldershear Cliffs, Graveldor was one of the few to escape with his life. It was Pargus who took him in and convinced him to return to the life of an armorer, and Graveldor has found a new love for the craft in the thought that one day the forces of Lord Markhaven will be strong enough to march against the Bouldershear Ogres and reclaim the halls of his homeland. He's recently been overheard saying that the Ogres are likely behind the recent attacks on the villages, and he argues that Markhaven's men should march east, not west, to put a stop to the destruction. As a side note, the Rumspinner clan is famous, or more to the point infamous, for its decidedly wicked Rumspinner Rotgut. Unlike the much beloved Three Falls Ale, Rumspinner Rotgut is so scarce as to be almost impossible to find. It's a well known fact that few beyond Dwarves and Dragonborn can even stomach the drink, and creatures with lesser constitution have been known to die from the hangover.
Across the causeway from Drake Bros. the largest trading company for 100 miles flourishes under the careful watch of its founder, Hadelgrim Bad Axe. An adventuring partner of Hagrin's in the old days, Bad Axe was invited to set up shop in the keep before the outpost even had a human ruler. Besides being one of the first merchants to carry and ship the reconstituted Three Falls Ale, Bad Axe has made a name for himself among travelers to the frontier in being able to procure any item… for a cost. In fact, it was Bad Axe who first remarked that the Three Falls region is an anomaly in that despite being at the ass end of civilization, it still draws a huge trade market. The main storefront is actually an old dwarven treasury building, which means it is constructed like a fortified guard tower. Located to the North and South of the main building are the sprawling stonewalled warehouses of Bad Axe's empire. Among the more transient of Barley Keeps visitors, Bad Axe is known as a supplier of enchanted and dwarven made weaponry, adventuring gear and a purchaser of gems and wondrous art objects. Bad Axe is accompanied at all times by a pair of Dragonborn trench fighters. Because of the cost of his elaborate security measures, Bad Axe's prices run on the high side.
When Lord Markhaven came to Barley Keep he immediately saw the imbalance of only having one thriving trade house in the area. Soon after becoming lord, Markhaven invited the the newly formed Crescent Moon Traders, to take up residents in some of the abandoned buildings and warehouses that Hadelgrim had not yet claimed for himself. The move of course greatly upset Bad Axe, who has still not fully regained his composure over the slight, but the move was very well received by both the town's human residents and the traders who frequented the area. The invitation had another purpose as well. Aluna Daybreeze is the daughter of the Elflord Randelon Daybreeze. Randelon leads a small fortified town on the northern side of Mirror Lake, built around one of the former Ale Baron holdings, known simply as The Vineyard. The mostly elven residents craft wine from the grape fields of the old manor house, and though not nearly as well known as Three Falls Ale, it is distributed quite widely. Recognizing that The Vineyard could be an important ally in the future of the region, Markhaven all but pleaded with Aluna to set up shop here. Crescent Moon has become known for its elven made bows, fine leather goods, including armor, well crafted musical instruments and pretty much any other elven-made artifact. As for the young Daybreeze, (by elven standards: she only turned 98 this winter) she keeps mostly to herself and spends much of her time traveling between the keep and her father's town. One thing to be said about her though, is that she treats every customer fairly, and her friendly prices have helped drive down Bad Axe's.
South of Drake Bros., built over looking the main gate, lies the very splendid Three Falls Inn. Here is where the merchant princes and trader barons stay whenever they make the long journey to restock their supply of Three Falls Ale. Run by a fastidious human by the name of Tippin, the inn is an oasis of luxury among the otherwise harsh nature of the frontier. It boasts the keep's only full-scale bathhouse (complete with comely bath attendants of both sexes) and is known for its goose down beds and silken sheets. Because Tippin knows he has a captive audience (no self respecting merchant of any wealth would spend a night at the despotic Iron Griffin) prices are steep, especially in the winter when trade traffic slows.
Against the northern most wall of the keep, and running south along the east wall to Drake Bros., is a hodgepodge collection of artisans and crafters guilds representing most of trades known to man. Through this maze of individual artisans and trade guild warehouses snakes the twisting Crafters Alley. The best shops and artists are located along the alley proper, while the struggling artists inhabit shops further off the track, behind or above other shops. This is where the keep's collection of potters, silversmiths, printers, cartographers, calligraphers, bookbinders, sculptors, woodworkers and other assorted trades people live and practice their crafts. Most merchants who come to do business with Hagrin take a spin through the alley to purchase gifts for friends, family and bitter enemies back home. The alley dead ends at the almost always shuttered Eventide's Emporium. Sarn Eventide came to the keep 20-or-so years ago, and no one has ever been able to figure out why. He was typically to be found shut up inside his small shop with his nose in a book, and almost always rude to anyone who dared interrupt him for the purpose of actually buying something. Since Markhaven became lord, Sarn has spent less and less time in the shop and more time in audience with the lord, dispensing wisdom for a small fee and helping craft the laws of order for the land. About four years ago, Markhaven granted Sarn permission to occupy the keep's abandoned watchtower on the uppermost level. Few know what the old man does locked away in his tower, but considering his closeness with Markhaven, even fewer ask. All this means is that the Emporium is opened with the rarity of an eclipse or comet sighting these days. Sarn does make sure to open the doors of the shop whenever he knows that a trader with a hunger for antiquities and the gold to back it is in town. Of late, though, Sarn has insisted more and more on the trading of artifact for artifact in order to grow his knowledge of the world's rare objects of power.