Ringed by a timber palisade, the village of Hjalward comprises wooden lodges and cabins built atop snow-covered hills in the shadow of ancient, giant-crafted architecture of a fallen elder kingdom. Looming over Hjalward like a tombstone, a crumbling stone wall fully 200 ft. high and 60 ft. thick and a yet higher sky-scraping tower remind the residents of this mining community of the follies of past civilisations, and that in time all empires crumble. Nearby deposits of iron, silver and lead draw desperate or avaricious miners to this cold, hard place while legends of lost giant treasure ensure a steady trickle of adventurers make the long, perilous journey to Hjalward.

• Ruler: Olan Hammersfell

• Government: Autocracy

• Population: 188 (182 humans, 4 dwarves, 2 half-elves)

• Alignments: LN

• Languages: Common, Giant

• Resources & Industry: Hunting, metalworking, lead, silver, iron

Hunched amid and around a crumbled remnant of a lost empire, the village of Hjalward sprawls over Mount Middenvurd’s southern slope. Its folk are hardy miners (and hardier hunters) who dwell at the very edge of civilisation on the eastern fringe of the mighty Vurdfell Spine mountain range. 

Thousands of years ago, the Vurdfell Spine stood as the western bastion of the sprawling frost giant kingdom of Isgiltur. Little now remains of Isgiltur; the Spine's lonely, snow-capped peaks are famed only for their inhospitable terrain, savage weather and ferocious, monstrous inhabitants, and not for the ancient empire that once claimed them.

One of Isgiltur’s surviving augan stands at the centre of the young frontier village of miners come to find fortune in the shadow of giants. Named after the monolithic ruined wall, the village has a rough history speckled with silver and blood. Founded seven years ago, it began as a prospecting camp after the retired thief Olan Hammersfall discovered silver deposits in the Wolfsbane basin at the foot of Mount Middenvurd. Trekking up the mountain, following the flow of the Wolfsbane River, Olan found not only surface deposits of silver in the higher reaches of the mountain beneath the snow and ice, but also the ruin once tended by the land's departed giant masters.

Olan claimed the place as his own and soon a trickle of miners, hunters and other hardy frontier folk joined him—eager to make their future amid the snow, ice and bones of an elder time.

Although Olan claims Hjalward as his own, the village—in reality—falls under the protection and influence of nearby Wolfsbane Hollow. However, thus far the village has avoided the attentions of  Avud Kreslik and his werewolf minions.

Much of the villagers’ industry takes place under Hjalward in Hammersfall Mine. Early mining efforts were sporadic and uncoordinated, and some of the tunnels get dangerously close to the surface. Consequently, sinkholes and minor collapses are relatively common events. Concern is growing, however, that it is only a matter a time before a large collapse cause serious destruction to the village above the mine.

Hjalward is relatively peaceful, and safe, for a frontier settlement. The dearth of inns and taverns, and the high prices of food, drink and lodgings for the village’s many miners, conspire to keep drunkenness to a minimum. However, eternal dangers loom large in the populace’s imagination. The Vurdfell Spine range is famed for its giants, dragons and other monstrous inhabitants; many of the villagers believe it is only a matter of time before some ferocious predator descends on the village

Notable Locations

Most of Hjalward comprises peasant homes. A few locations, however, are of interest to adventurers:

1. Rurig’s Mill: Great heat emanates from this large stone and wood lodge. Its barn doors are frequently left wide open.

2. Sorting Yard: Enormous stone furnaces and smelters surround this open air slate-roofed shelter.

3. The Blackened Bucket: This ramshackle two-storey wood lodge perches on the banks of Wolfsbane River.

4. Sundered Emporium: This enormous ruin of crumbling stone walls up to sixty feet high in places surrounds a menagerie of tents, shacks and other shelters which serve as Hjalward’s bustling marketplace.

5. Shrine of Aether: A stone etched with the holy symbol of Aether, god of the dead, crowns this pile of rubble.

6. Bael’s Expeditions: Decorated with mammoth bones, this large, squat wood lodge is the centre of Bael Siegeram's efforts to uncover lost giantish treasures.

7. The Augan: Scaffolding surrounds the bottom of this 500 ft. tall tower. Its upper reaches are in various states of ruin.

8. Caravan Grounds: Horse-drawn carriages and caravans park here for mutual protection.

9. Hammersfall Mine: Some of the tunnels in this labyrinthine mine come dangerously close to the surface.

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Hjalward by Robert Brookes is part of Campaign Backdrop: Wolfsbane Hollow which is available in 5e, OSR, and Pathfinder 1 editions. Download your copy and add Hjalward to your campaign today!