20 Pieces of Smuggler Village Dressing
Much goes on in a smuggler-infested village, day and night. The character of these events, however, are often different depending on the time of day. In particular, in human villages nefarious, dark deeds tend to occur at night.
Daytime
During the day, most smuggler villages seem like any other. It takes a brazen smuggler, a complete breakdown of law and order or a complicit local lord for things to be otherwise.
A fisherwoman walks through the village, a large basket of fish on her hip. Two small children—arguing between themselves—follow in the woman’s wake.
A mangy dog, its tongue hanging out, patrols the village looking for easy-to-steal food. It follows the party at a distance and happily takes food or a petting from their hands.
The sound of waves breaking against the breakwater or beach and the caw of the gulls swopping overhead—the backdrop of daily life—roll through the village.
A faint sea mist hangs over the village, deadening sounds and giving the place a slightly ethereal look. The mist is not dense enough to overly affect visibility.
The street is busy. The tide is in and the fishing boats have just returned with their daily catch. Consequently, many of the populace are converging on the docks to help unload and process the catch.
A small mob of screaming, shouting children rush down the street. They are all armed with sticks—their swords—with which they enthusiastically whack at each other. If asked, they explain they are playing sailors against excise men.
Heavy rain lashes the village, and the villagers hurry about their tasks. Few, if any, boats put to sea this day. Consequently, the village tavern fills up early in the afternoon, and the innkeeper benefits from a welcome boost in trade.
A wagon filled with (empty) chests rolls into the village. A single well-dressed man (a merchant) aided by a young boy drives the wagon while two bored-looking mercenary guards follow behind on stout riding horses. The small procession makes for the local inn.
A mounted mail-clad warrior followed by six mud-splattered men-at-arms enters the village. This is the local lord’s excise man and his escort come to collect taxes. His unwelcome arrival is not an auspicious one for the village.
Shouted calls for help from the docks precipitate a general rush to the harbour by all the villagers in earshot. Characters following along discover a fishing crew hauling an injured crew mate onto the docks. Garbled accounts shouted by the fishermen tell of a shark attack. The injured man is badly injured and bleeding profusely from a mangled arm.
Nighttime
At night, the nefarious folk of a smuggler’s village emerge to go about their illicit activities.
A wagon slowly rolls through the village’s dark streets. The hooves of the horse pulling the wagon are wrapped in cloth and leather to deaden sound. A hunched and cloaked figure sits atop the wagon.
Two cloaked figures flit through the streets. They avoid the flickering pools of light emerging from house windows and keep to the shadows. Both figures carry bulging sacks.
Somewhere in the village, a dog begins barking. Characters following the barking may discover nefarious goings on—perhaps smugglers moving their goods through the village under cover of darkness.
Two figures flit through the streets. The two stay close together as if they are linked arm to arm. Suspicious characters investigating reveal the two are lovers—and are on their way to a special place they have to spend some alone time together. (Or, at least, that’s what they tell the characters).
An owl hoots loudly from the middle of the village. This could indeed be an owl or it could be a smuggler’s signal.
A flash of light on the street shows where a traveller briefly unmasked a lantern. The light is swiftly hidden. By the time the characters reach the spot, the lantern’s owner has disappeared into the darkness.
Rain falls and turns the streets to mud. Consequently, tracking is easier than normal (if done before the rain effaces any tracks left in the mud). Few venture abroad in the rain.
Shouts and curses herald the start of a street brawl between two rival groups of fishermen (or perhaps smugglers). The groups could be arguing over fishing rights, recent suspicious damage to one group’s boat or even access to a lucrative (and illicit) contact. Unless anyone intervenes—and no villagers do—the brawl continues until one crew retreats into the night.
As #1 above, but the wagon is piled high with boxes and barrels—salted meats, imported wines and spirits and the like— and is escorted by four burly, alert smugglers. The wines and spirits are destined for the village inn while the food will be sold to a nameless man buying up enough provisions to feed a substantial expedition (as he puts it). The man is a guest at the village inn, and is travelling under an assumed name. He is clearly wealthy, and is accompanied by six no-nonsense, mail-clad bodyguards.
Characters out after dark looking towards the sea spot the shadow of a large ship under full sail making for the harbour. Perceptive characters notice several smaller shadows—perhaps some of the village’s fishing boats—making their way out toward the larger vessel.
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This article is an extract from GM's Miscellany: 20 Things V.
