Pine Valley

A hidden settlement originally composed of vagabonds, highwaymen, brigands, and other ne'er do wells. It was jokingly referred to as the retirement village for thieves. Early life was brutal and harsh but liveable until a bad winter forced them to work together to survive. It took half of the villagers dying of starvation for a leader to take control of the rest. With the roads through the forest impassible, a group went to the north, through the Parus Barren, and reached Thornrest. They found merchants willing to send supplies to get Pine Valey through the winter. Shrewdly, Duke Novin loaned the outlaws the money needed to pay the merchants, and the outlaws returned with the food, tools, and supplies.
The Duke was counting on the outlaws to continue being a thorn in the side of Stormfort and Stonespire. He did not count on them learning to mend their ways, that it was better to build homes and raise families. Some few did not and hated what Pine Valley was becoming. Those left and went where they could continue their life of crime. Out of spite, they revealed the location of the village. But this only had the effect of merchants visiting Pine Valley and discovering that many of their goods were already coming from Thornrest. Those merchants quietly set up indirect trade between Stormfort and Thornrest, using Pine Valley as a middle ground.
Pine Valley soon became a trading stop and Stormfort was inconvenient with the new route the bigger caravans were using. This change meant that the other settlements around Stormfort became neglected by those merchants. Prices for goods began to increase in Stormfort and people in the outlying settlements had to come to Stormfort to trade with the merchants. This change threw the region almost entirely on its own resources.

Type

Village