The Hamlet of Slaughterford
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Lord: Wido Gall (Lord of Dulwich)
Population: 42
Notable Resources: Ford
Notable Services & Industry: The Orc & Fairy Inn
Languages: Common
Slaughterford straddles the Selka River, south of the main road linking Dulwich with Dunstone, where a shelf of slick rock creates a natural crossing point.
Slaughterford has a foul reputation. Water spirits drowned a company of marauding orcs at the ford a century ago. Since then, lights of unwholesome hue, indescribable noises and other odd doings around the anniversary of the orcs’ destruction have driven timid or superstitious travellers to seek safer, less haunted routes. Rumours also suggest that the bulk of Slaughterford’s populace is in league with bandit gangs lurking in the southern woods, which gives prudent travellers another good reason to avoid this place.
This farming settlement was once larger, but as its fortunes waned, many of its folk drifted away—either in search of new opportunities or to escape the strange goings on at the ford. Now, crumbling houses, overgrown fields and tumbled barns dot the hamlet’s environs.
Lore
A character might be steeped in local lore, or they could have heard about Slaughterford from another traveller.
Slaughterford is haunted! Every year, on the same date, lights of unnatural hues and horrible sounds emanate from the ford. Many of Slaughterford’s folk have moved away or disappeared.
Many travellers avoid Slaughterford because the place is reputed to be haunted.
Many of Slaughterford’s folk are in league with the bandits lurking in the nearby southern woods.
Adventure Hooks
Lucky adventurers find opportunities almost anywhere. Unlucky adventurers find complications almost anywhere.
Odd Sounds: The characters meet a traveller who has just fled Slaughterford. He swears he saw and heard odd things at the ford. To avoid using the ford, he is going the long way around to resume his journey.
Bandits: The characters encounter a traveller who witnessed bandits attack another group on the road. The traveller fled without offering the beleaguered folk any help.
Hunter: The characters encounter a lone hunter or woodsman who warns them against visiting Slaughterford while painting a lurid picture of the place, its legend and its larcenous folk.
Notable Locations
A few locations in Slaughterford are notable.
1: The Orc and Fairy Inn
This dingy and ramshackle traveller’s inn has seen far better days. The inn can go weeks without hosting a traveller, and its rooms are musty and dusty. Rats can be a problem, and the ostler, Lalli Manu, a hardbitten, taciturn man, has several cats that prowl the building. A few locals gather in the taproom at night to bemoan Slaughterford’s fate.
2: The Ford
Unless the Selka is in spate, the ford is a safe way of crossing the river—if it wasn’t for the capricious water sprites that dwell in the environs. The villagers make offerings to the river to appease the fey, but travellers enjoy no such protection.
3: Mad Eeva’s House
Eeva Neuvo is widely assumed to be mad—she says she talks to the Selka and that the Selka talks back. Ostracised and feared by her neighbours, she is lonely and desperate for acceptance. In truth, Eeva has fey ancestry (and untapped power) in her blood, and the water spirits dwelling in the locality sense her connection to them.
Credit
Words Creighton Broadhurst Cartography Tommi Salama
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