Page 93 - D&D - Player's Handbook

The hills of Trielta do occasionally offer up some narrow paths between the smaller-proportioned build-
impressive bounty, in the form of heretofore-undiscov- ings that are the homes of the city's gnomes.
ered gold and silver. While such finds are usually small The first time I walked along these tight lanes, I felt
lodes that are played out almost before others become as though I was only seeing a small portion of the actual
aware of them, Trielta has played host to full-on gold settlement, and I was right. Later I discovered that
rushes from time to time. Someone stumbles on a beneath the slate-roofed houses, with their modest little
particularly large vein of ore, and prospectors and for- adjoining gardens behind plank fences or fieldstone
tune-seekers come pouring in by the dozens. Trieltan walls are the tunnels that constitute the true thorough-
folk tend to see these occasional influxes of gold-hungry fares of Hardbuckler.
seekers the way other settlements look upon periodic Beneath each small dwelling is an extensive cellar,
plagues of locusts: aggravating, inevitable, and thor- often three or more levels in depth. These spaces are
oughly disruptive, but also part of the natural order, and where the industrious folk of Hard buckler engage in
so nothing to get bothered about. their livelihoods. S ome of the cellar spaces are shops
Indeed, even the largest of these discoveries isn't so or workspaces for artisans who sleep in the house
lucrative as to be worth the construction of the full-scale above. Other of these croftholds rent out their extra
mining operations that can be found in other lands. No space to travelers, setting aside a few rooms for rent,
large nations or trading consortiums are waiting in the and using a single large space as an open taproom,
wings to invade and take over the mines of Trielta. They serving the sort of fare one might find in an inn. The
are what a dwarf acquaintance of mine once referred food in such an establishment is odd- a great deal
to as "scratch mines"- close-to-the-surface operations, of mushrooms, potatoes, turnips, dense lichens, and
with decent yield for a small amount of digging, but stews made of shrews and voles-but filling and tasty in
not worth the construction of "proper" (by which he of its own way.
course meant dwarven) mines. The chambers in these underground inns are well
I was in Trielta resting after my escape from Najara heated by generous hearths, and thus provide for very
when just such an outbreak of "gold on the brain" (as comfortable accommodations. More than a few mer-
the locals term it) occurred. Though most of those who chants arrange their travels so as to be in Hardbuckler
come at such times are honest prospectors seeking to ere winter arrives, so that they can spend the cold
make their fortunes, the sudden opportunity for wealth months beside a hearth, with a slice of fried pie in one
does attract less scrupulous sorts, including all manner hand, and a tankard of bitter gnomish stout in the other.
of thieves, swindlers, and claims-jumpers- not to Any cellar space not devoted to another purpose is
mention monsters that prey on unlucky or ill-prepared used for storage rather than being left vacant. Almost
miners who unknowingly invade their territory. every family in the town has some space that it uses for
The most intense traveling I've done through these its own needs or rents out for use by others. Those who
hills was in pursuit of a band of marauding lizardfolk. buy storage from a Hardbuckler must purchase their
The head of the kindly gnome family I was staying with storage crates and other necessary goods from local
was taken prisoner, along with his oldest son. I helped artisans, who also make locks, latches, waxy sealants
the local halfling sheriff and the small band of militia he for waterproofing crates and boxes, and the like. The
put together to track the band, and to do so quickly, res- crates are all built to specific sizes, with shelving and
cuing the captives. I've been welcomed in this area ever space in the cellars measured so that each container fits
since, and have gotten to know the goodly folk here well. snugly and exactly.
Hardbuckler has a well-paid wizard who provides
H ARDBUCKLER magical security for stored items, for those who wish it.
At the southern edge of the hills lies the walled settle- Outlander wizards aren't permitted to lay wards or pro-
ment of Hardbuckler. It is a town of mostly gnomes, with tections on goods destined for the cellars- such must
the occasional human, halfling, or half-elf among their be applied by Daelia Inchtarwurn, the latest wizard in a
number. It is one of the best-defended towns I've vis- long line of folk who have worked in Hardbuckler over
ited, with a several batteries of ballistae on impressive the generations. She wears a set of magical bracers
cog-run cranking mounts that allow for a nearly con- passed to her by her father.
tant cycle of firing and reloading from any of the wall
emplacements. Though the folk of Hardbuckler don't RURAL SETTLEMENTS
have cause to use them very often, these weapons usu- Most of the outlying settlements in the Trielta Hills
ally discourage the bandits, raiders, and occasional ore consist of a dozen or two dozen halfling or gnome fa m-
bands that would lay claim to Hardbuckler's wealth. ilies, living in homes molded gently into rolling hills.
The town eschews the sort of street network that Relatively shallow valleys serve as agricultural land,
1ends to delineate most large settlements;' instead it has while the slopes are used for growing vine crops (such
a single street running inside the circular town wall, as pumpkins and strawberries) or grazing small herds
and another pair of straight roads crossing the town of the large-horned sheep many of the halfling families
north-to-south and east-to-west that meet in the center keep, or the ornery braid-bearded goats favored by
of town in a crossroads marketplace. Many buildings gnome goatherds.
1ructured for larger folk line these streets, for taller Most of these small communities aren't exclusively
"olk tend to prefer the comfortable familiarity they pro- populated by halflings or gnomes, since such groups
·ide, but the rest of the town is made up of a series of seem to prosper better when members of both races