Village Backdrops are short, richly detailed supplements that each present a single village ready to insert into almost any home campaign. Perfect for use as a waystop on the road to adventure, as an adventure site themselves or as a PC’s home, Village Backdrop present the details so the busy GM can focus on crafting exciting, compelling adventures.

GM’s Miscellany: Village Backdrops V comprises the following villages:

• Aldwater

• Beacon Promontory

• Bleakflat

• Fraywrack

• Fulhurst Moors

• Idyll

• Macrimei

• Rifthammer

• Shroudhaven

• Tigley

• Vulcanbridge

• Y'taris

Aldwater

For centuries, the people of Aldwater have guarded and revered the wooden labyrinth holding the their ancestors' remains. Only the Spiritspeaker ever ventures inside, using an ancient relic to hold council with the dead. The wisdom of the council is vast, but not without fault, and for several years the advice of the ancestral spirits has done nothing to halt Aldwater's increasing plight. Each season, the fishermen and trappers bring back a little less, and the children grow up a little hungrier.

In desperation, the Spiritspeaker recently allowed outsiders to petition the ancestors with questions, in return for donations. The influx of strangers in search of answers to lost questions and ancient riddles has brought much needed income to Aldwater, but resentment and anger brews among those who feel their most sacred traditions have been violated.

Beacon Promontory

Beacon Promontory arose from the watery grave of Beacon Cove after a ferocious storm submerged the village. The handful of doughty survivors rebuilt their homes around Beacon Lighthouse, which lights the way for passing ships, many of which used to make the former village a port of call. Many consider the holdouts insane for staying, considering over half their neighbours left or were killed in the storm, but they feel they have a duty to seafarers who become stranded along the remote stretch of coast. However, the truly insane person may be the lighthouse keeper who believes the deluge that destroyed Beacon Cove was a precursor to an invasion from beneath the waves.

Bleakflat

Lost to the north of nowhere, far beyond the reach of prying eyes, a rocky bluff rises from barren soil. Here, deep amidst the frozen tundra, a ruined castle has been refitted into a tiny village. Ten hovels, whose rude architecture suggests structures five centuries old, surround a refurbished tower, and in this tower lives Bleakflat’s lord. Wise and capable, he tends to his villagers as a shepherd to his flock.

The very presence of such a remote village is enough to arouse suspicion. There are no ore mines here, no nearby dungeons, no ley lines or trade routes. The people seem simple enough, but they are somehow able to fend off the wolf packs roaming the land, and are unperturbed by the massive bats which attack the rare unannounced visitor. How? The people of Bleakflat are under the protection of a vampire, the lord of the village and the only citizen with rosy cheeks and warm smile. The villagers trade their blood for his protection and care, and in turn he tends his flock well.

Fraywrack

When a flight of harpies, beset by a relentless demonic menace from beneath the dark seas, used their captivating song to lure a ship to its ruin, they sought allies instead of food. Thus, was born Fraywrack, originally a war camp created by the strange alliance of man and monster against a far greater threat. Now, hidden by the broken remains of their ship, the wreck's survivors and their recruits train endlessly for a fight they fear they have little hope of winning. Still, they persevere, welcoming adventurers who seek shelter in their cavern-home or who wish to learn some lessons of their own or, just maybe, lend their own might to the struggle.

Fulhurst Moors

In the dreary village of Fulhurst Moors, most residents spend their days cutting peat from the nearby bogs or tending flocks of rugged sheep on the moor. When night falls, the villagers huddle in their homes or gather inside the solid stone walls of the Bell and Whistles. Here they trade stories of the latest gruesome misfortunes to befall those foolish enough to venture out onto the moor after sunset or unfortunate enough to be caught by sudden fog or rain while working in the bogs.

The local priest has been driven close to madness by his inability to provide solace to his congregation, and the mayor and constable become increasingly concerned as a growing number of villagers drown their fears in moonshine whiskey. The fearful atmosphere is well deserved, for ancient beings of malice and cruelty haunt the mists beyond the village. And they have struck a terrible bargain with someone inside Fulhurst Moors.

Idyll

Idyll seems like the perfect place to live, but subtle signs something is not right are scattered throughout the village. Why are the residents reluctant to leave the village’s precincts? Why are there so few children in such a prosperous place? How has the village stayed unspoiled with the wasteland surrounding it? Why is the seemingly empty Wardens’ Lodge that once served as the centre of law for Idyll so ominous? Those who investigate Idyll’s mystery too deeply may discover plane-shattering secrets. Whether the curious can capitalise on these secrets is yet another question.

Macrimei

Nestled between desolate, windswept hills the village of Macrimei is home to a hard people. Dung fires warm their homes built from the ruins of an ancient buried city whose remnants can be seen in the tumbled stones scattered about and the massive red-hued obelisk looming over the settlement. The Red Obelisk, said to be home to Macrimei’s god, has attracted the attentions of a band of raiders led by an evil wizard, who dwells in a mysterious black tower and seeks to uncover the ruin’s buried secrets. Now, Macrimei’s villagers live in sullen fear as the raiders capture people from the surrounding area to dig a deep pit to intersect with the ruins below.

Rifthammer

Nestled in a twisting ravine amid the Luminous Desert’s endless windblown dunes, Rifthammer is home to a desert-dwelling tribe of dwarves. Hidden in the cool shadows of their cliff-side home, these reclusive folk offer peaceful seclusion for those seeking refuge from the desert's relentless heat, or simply the troubles of the wider world. However, not all is as idyllic as Rifthammer’s dwarven masters pretend, and a festering ruin of otherworldly creatures in the darkest recesses of the rift threatens all who reside above.

Rifthammer can serve as a base of operations for adventurers looking to explore the surrounding Luminous Desert, or as a jumping-off point for subterranean adventures in the ruins of an ancient city that long ago collapsed into the rift's lightless depths.

Shroudhaven

Nestled in a deep valley, sunlight has never caressed centuried Shroudhaven. Thick fog—rendered permanent by ancient magics—fills the valley. Here, refugees from a long-forgotten war found sanctuary from their enemies. Most villagers are undead, and a dark reputation hangs over the village. Visitors to the village, though, tell a different story. They speak of the undead battling their basest urges and trying to live peaceful lives.

Tigley

Wracked by disaster, Tigley is a village reborn. Standing on the fringes of the noisome Gnatmarsh, its folk make their living from the swamp and harvesting guano from the caves honeycombing the spire of rock upon which stands much of the village. But all is not peaceful in Tigley. The villagers’ burial rituals have attracted undead to certain nearby sunken ruins and goblins now lurk in the locality. In the village itself, influential figures vie for control of the local industries, a bully uses his influence to spread lies and cause trouble and the village priest hides a terrible secret. Once again, Tigley is a village teetering on the edge of disaster, but this time it is a disaster of the village’s own making.

Vulcanbridge

A thriving village is the last thing a traveller expects to find on a cracked and blasted volcanic plain belching lava and poisonous gases. However, Vulcanbridge defies expectations and offers a haven for wayward souls and desperate travellers alike. Primarily home to dwarven and gnomish engineers and miners, the village also attracts adventurers and greedy merchants keen to turn a healthy profit. The village relies on trading valuable metals and gemstones harvested from its surrounds for necessities, and this influx of wealth has also attracted the wrong kind of attention. Vulcanbridge seems like a tempting target to raiders who see an isolated village endowed with treasure. This threat adds to the dangers posed by the environment itself and the fiery creatures dwelling in the magmatic caverns beneath the plain. Then there are the dark rumours the deep-dwelling owner of all the treasure harvested by the villagers has awoken and intends to take it all back...

Y'taris

A stone circle marks the confluence of ley lines in this bleak and broken place. Among the ancient runes and onyx pillars burn secret powers hidden by gods and men alike. But to the people of Y’taris, the stone circle is just a tourist destination for the rich. Every year, hundreds of spellcasters make the long pilgrimage to the stone circle high in the Broken Mountains. The villagers provide food, shelter, baubles and entertainment, all for exorbitant prices. Merchants bleed visitors of their gold, while pickpockets and scam artists take the rest. Y’taris is a nest of thieves. Anyone is welcome, until they run out of coin.