MarkOliva

09/08/2013

1426

With the 121st Map of the Week we take a first look at Mineville, the operating center of the illegal operations of Slovanian Count Arnošt and his son, Baron Luboš, in the Midworld Mountains of Auðarhome. These include copper, lignite (bituminous coal) and cassiterite (tin ore) mines. Mineville serves a single but important purpose: It is the center of Count Arnošt's illegal operations in the foothills and mountains of Auðarheim. Above all, it is the supply center for the mines and the count's mercenaries. There is nothing fine or fancy in the hamlet. Every structure is, to a certain degree, a firetrap. There are no buildings here or elsewhere in the enclaves that are anything but wooden frame structures with wood shingle roofs. The "law" in the enclaves is in the person of the count's steward Jonáš, who has both his official offices and his dwelling in the so-called steward's mansion on the main crossing. There always are 10 soldiers from Mine Docks on duty at any given time in Mineville. They too have their station and their quarters in the three-story mansion. For adventurers passing through the hamlet, Mineville can serve nicely as a last stop for resting and getting last-minute supplies before heading off into the unknown. However, such adventurers should think in terms of only the most basic supplies. Count Arnošt established the hamlet to serve and supply the mines, the miners and his mercenary army. If they aren't in short supply, such items are available for purchase by passing adventurers and other outsiders, but they are not the county's target customers. The only two locations in that usually will be of interest to passing adventurers are the Miners Inn (Location No. 4) and the county store (Location No. 5). If a PC has a broken or damaged weapon, the county smithy will repair it for a fee, but one should keep in mind that the smithy employs only blacksmiths. They haven't been trained as weaponsmiths. Their repairs easily could destroy the balance of a master weaponsmith's sword. Except for the smugglers' trails and the trail to Mine Docks, all roads in the enclaves lead out of Mineville and into the mining camps and mines, where they come to a dead end. The observant may, of course, find traces of old trails of the Auðar giants that lead onward to new destinations, but defing them is the game master's prerogative.

1. Steward's Horse Barn and Coachhouse.

2. Steward's Mansion. This is the center of government, as such, for the enclaves and also the home of the enclaves' steward Jonáš, a 56-year-old human male warrior. The mansion also houses the enclaves government offices and the quarters and local station of the county army from Mine Docks, with 10 soldiers, all human male and female warriors and fighters, always on duty at all times. The county employs eight human male and female merchants who work as clerks and five human male and female commoners who work as laborers in the mansion but live elsewhere in Mineville.

3. County Smithy. This is a blacksmith's operation, not a place where weapon balance and the like is well understood. The county employs master blacksmith Evelína, a 49-year-old human female artisan, to run the smithy. Journeyman blacksmith Aleš, a 29-year-old human male artisan, and apprentice blacksmith Pavel, a 16-year-old human male commoner, work for her. All three receive a salary for their work. They are responsible for making and repairing any non-weapon metal objects that the mines, Distant Trails Trading or the mercenary camp require. They also make horseshoes and shoe the horses of the county's and Distant Trails' operations. Evelína and her crew are allowed to earn extra coins by taking on private business, but private work always has a lower priority than jobs that need to be done for the county or Distant Trails. Evelína also will repair weapons and armor, if she is asked to do so, but she will warn customers that she has no special qualifications for such work and that weapon balance might suffer from her repairs.

4. Miners Inn. The county-owned inn was built mainly to feed and house those who must travel on business from Slovania proper into the mining area. The inn is a barebones operation and also something of a firetrap, making it unpopular with merchants and county employees from Mine Docks, who are accustomed to more luxury. Mineville is about 1,500 feet above Mine Docks and on the east or shadow side of the Midworld Mountains. As a result, in all but the summer season, evenings, nights and the early morning hours tend to be cool or chilly. Despite that, there is no heating in the inn other than a fireplace in the public room. As a result, guests often tend to stay up late near the fire and get up early for a breakfast before the hearth. The innkeeper, Julius, a 52-year-old human male merchant, and his staff work for a fixed wage paid by the county. Guests who are on official county business or who work for Distant Trails pay no room or dining fees. They also have priority on guest rooms. However, there usually are a room or two available for private visitors. Those who want meals – breakfast, noon lunch or evening dinner – must book them in advance. The cook, Julius' wife Dominika, a 50-year-old human female artisan, prepares only as much food as has been ordered. If unexpected guests arrive too late to order a meal on time, they have to settle for a bread board with cold cuts. The inn has no menu. There is a single, fixed breakfast and dinner entrée daily, and the noon meal always is a bread board with cold cuts. Sausage comes from Mine Docks. Fresh meat is limited to venison, mountain goat and wild fowl brought in by the hamlet's three hunters, which is butchered by Julius. Meat cuts often are uneven in size and thickness; Julius is a trained merchant, not a butcher. The only drink in the inn is its house lager beer, brewed in the small brewhouse behind the inn by local brewwife Gabriela, a 55-year-old human male artisan. She is required to brew not only for the inn but also for the mining camps and the mercenary camp. Distant Trails brings malt, hops and yeast to the brewery and also transports fresh barrels of beer daily to the camps. All rooms have two beds, but they can be booked as singles. Private guests pay 2 bronze pieces per person nightly for a room (single occupancy 3 bronze pieces), 7 copper pieces for breakfast, 2 bronze pieces for a bread board and 6 bronze pieces for a warm evening meal. The house lager costs 3 copper pieces per pint/half-liter tankard. The inn also employs a waitress and a chamber maid, both human female commoners. Julius and his wife and Dominika have separate orivate quarters on the 3rd story.

5. County Store, Warehouse and Granary. This is the biggest building is Mineville, 80 x 80 feet/24 x 24 meters and three stories high. Part of the ground floor serves as a general store, where one can buy a wide variety of things including food products from the farmlands beneath the mountains. The rest is used to store anything that the county wishes to store. In addition, it has a large cellar where non-perishable foods and grains from the mainland below are stored. If one could gain entrance, one might find almost anything stored here, including contraband destined for or coming from the North Kingdom and the Dreadlands. However, the facility except for the store is closed to the public. It always is under the watchful eye of four guards, all human male and female warriors. The warehouse manager is Aneta, a 44-year-old human female merchant. In addition to 12 guards (four on duty at any given time), she also employs two laborers, human male and female commoners.

6. Auð's Creek. The creek flows from its source, about 20 miles/32 km northwest of Mineville, downstream to its mouth on the Fjörm. It is a minor tributary with an irregular flow.

7. County Sawmill. This is a small county facility that works only for the county and Distant Trails. Its job is to provide whatever lumber is needed by those operations. Lumber must be ordered in advance, because the mill's bottom-driven waterwheel is directly in the creek bed without the advantage of having dams and a mill pond. As a result, the water flow in Auð's Creek sometimes is too low to turn the waterwheel, and the sawmill is still. It is run by master sawyer Doubravka, a 39-year-old human female artisan. She employs the journeyman sawyer Boris, a 26-year-old human male artisan. When timber is needed, she hires local hunters to fell mountain trees, which Distant Trails then drags to the sawmill.

8. Cobbler Kryštof. Master cobbler Kryštof, a 41-year-old human male artisan, and his three journeymen, all human male and female artisans, and his two apprentices, both human male and female commoners, also are county employees. They make shoes and boots for the county's employees, the miners and the mercenaries. They also are explicitly allowed to make shoes and boots for private customers. Distant Trails brings leather from the mainland to Kryštof's shop.

9. Distant Trails Trading Co. Office. The Mineville station is a very important link in the coster's operating chain. It is the switching point for contraband and wares moving between the North Kingdom and the Dreadlands in the north and Windland in the south. The coster also is responsible for bringing all needed supplies into the Auðar enclaves and transporting cassiterite and copper ore and lignite down the mountain to Mine Docks. The manager in Mineville is Bernard, a 38-year-old human male merchant. He employs a clerk-bookkeeper, a human female merchant; a journeyman wainwright, a human male artisan; 16 teamsters, human male and female commoners; six stable keepers, human male and female commoners, and four laborers, human male and female commoners.

10. Distant Trails Trading Co. Wagonhouse.

11. Distant Trails Trading Co. Horse Barn.

12. Distant Trails Trading Co. Corral.

You can get this map in two versions:

1. The Fractal Mapper (TM) 8 version in FMP format, fully editable (31 MB) from the Jörðgarð website.

2. As a JPG flat map of 1360 Pixels x 1020 Pixels (650 KB) with the hyperlink below.

Both versions are released for personal and commercial use under the Open Game License Version 1.0a, which you can read on the Jörðgarð website at:

www.vintyri.org/joerdhgardh/joerdhgardh.htm

Next Week: Mineville - the Miners Inn

Mark Oliva
Webmaster, the Vintyri Project (TM)
www.vintyri.org
info@vintyri.org
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