Ruled over for centuries by the scheming, ambitious Lorsch family, Woodridge is little more than a backwater village standing on the eastern bounds of the Duchy of Ashlar. Standing astride an ancient, now little-used trade route the village is a poor, but seemingly peaceful place. Its folk tend their small fields, pay their lord his due and are content to be left in peace. But all is not as it seems. Spies lurk among the populace, and dark forces gather which would see Woodridge’s lord, Hilduin Lorsch, converted to their faith or dead.

• Ruler: Hilduin Lorsch

• Government: Overlord

• Population: 185 (172 humans, 7 half-elves, 4 half-orcs, 2 halflings) 

• Alignments: LN

• Languages: Common

Ruled over for centuries by the scheming, ambitious Lorsch family, Woodridge is little more than a backwater village standing on the eastern bounds of the Duchy of Ashlar. Standing astride an ancient, now little-used trade route the village is a poor, but seemingly peaceful place. Its folk tend their small fields, pay their lord his due and are content to be left in peace. But all is not as it seems. Spies lurk among the populace, and dark forces gather which would see Woodridge’s lord, Hilduin Lorsch, converted to their faith or dead.

A settlement has stood on the site for centuries. First a robber baron claimed the area. After he was slain and his followers scattered, the victors raised a church to Conn, The Father, and started farming the surrounding land and hunting the nearby Briarwood. The people prospered and trade flowed through the village along the Ridgeway. But the opening of an alternate trade route bypassing Woodridge brought hard times to the village and its lord. This new route, sponsored by the ruler of the nearby town of Dulwich, sparked a rivalry between the two families—the Galls and the Lorsch—which endures to this very day. Even now, the two families struggle for control of the village of Longbridge, its strategically important bridge and its plentiful tax revenues.

Thus, while Woodridge is a peaceful place, an undefinable but palpable tension seems to hang in the air. Its people know war is likely soon for their lord is not a patient man and they dread its approach. Many of the villagers serve in the local militia and many will likely fall in the coming battles.

Notable Locations

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

1. Lorsch Manor: This brooding fortified manor is the Lorsch ancestral home. Here dwells Hilduin Lorsch and his family.

2. Lankinen’s: This large building is a general provisioners, stables and moneylenders. Reima Lankinen is the second richest man in the village.

3. Father’s Sanctum: Dedicated to Conn, this is the oldest building in Woodridge except for parts of the Lorsch Manor. Dilapidated, it has seen better days.

4. Priesthome: Home to Father Turkka, this is a substantial building.

5. Eeva’s Home: Here dwells (and plots) Eeva Keto.

6. The Travelling Man: Woodridge’s only inn is welcoming and comfortable, but rarely busy.

7. The Smoking Tower: Varma Timonen dwells here, as she has for decades. She feels the cold terribly; consequently, smoke always belches from the tower’s chimney.

8. Briarwood: These tangled, ancient woodlands are said to hold ancient ruins and to be the home of certain horrible creatures. Thick fog often blankets the area.

Want More?

Woodridge appears in Villages of Ashlar (available in OSR and Pathfinder 1st editions here at the Raging Swan Press store). You can download for free the village’s maps (and the maps for all Ashlar’s villages) in Ashlarian Village Maps.