Halvardby

Music & Ambiance: 
Halvardby is a seaside village in a small valley surrounded by mountains. The village has approximately 700 inhabitants and is centered on a large peninsula that juts out into “The Passway”. Halvardby is your childhood home.

Jarl Halvard’s Longhouse

Halvard’s Longhouse is a stone’s throw from the ocean, where the village’s longships are often docked. The longhouse is located near the center of Halvardby and is encircled about by a chest-high wall of stacked stones. Inside the wall are a half dozen smaller buildings that surround the longhouse.

Some inhabitants of the Jarl's Longhouse include the following individuals:

• Jarl Mikkel Thomason (Village Jarl)
• Lady Norna (Mikkel's Promised Wife)
• Jarl Borg Thomason (Housecarl & Rolf’s eldest son)
• Lady Tove Helvig (Vinny’s mother)
• Lady Annabelle Helvig (Vinny’s little sister)
• Bjork (Shieldmaiden, mother of Soren and Gerlief)
• Truda Jostad (Female Goliath, Shieldmaiden)
• Suggs (Goblin Thrall)

Eld's Apothecary

The Eld family is a large wizarding one that lives in a modest homestead on a small farm near the village. There, Hazel Eld runs an apothecary on the ground floor of the Eld family longhouse. A small bell jingles whenever the front door opens or closes. Inside there are several wooden shelves with glass doors that prominently display potions of all kinds. The younger members of the family can frequently be seen in the nearby woods gathering plants and roots. A home-stitched embroidery welcomes you to the apothecary and identifies this as a household that does not believe in servitude or violence - and will not tolerate rude behavior.

• Keyon Eld (Middle age human male, Jilian's father)
• Hazel Eld (Middle age human female, witch, Jilian's mother)
• Rowan Eld (Young man, wizard, Jilian's older brother)
• Edgar Eld (Adolescent male, wizard, Jilian's older brother)
• Edith Eld (Young adolescent female, witch, Jilian's younger sister)
• Arlo Eld (Boy, signs of magic, Jilian's younger brother)
• Nyle Eld (Young boy, signs of animal shapeshifting, Jilian's youngest brother)

The Tinkered Trophy

Near the center of Halvardby is a small longhouse. A sign posted at the front identifies it as "The Tinkered Trophy". Inside, the front door there is a small counter, behind which, Mallory Beck runs a relatively simple enchanting business. Mallory typically works on commission, enchanting and selling mundane objects for daily use to people from the surrounding areas. Occasionally, however, Mallory will keep items for show or will enchant something more expensive or more complicated if requested.

• Herman Beck (Human male hunter, Lee's Father)
• Mallory Beck (Human female, witch, Lee's Mother)
• Clovis Beck (Adolescent female, witch, Lee's younger sister)

Mama Gia's Mystical Readings

Mama Gia lives in an old modest house near the center of the village. Nothing advertises the house as a place for mystical readings, but the women of the village know where to turn when they need supernatural aid or the guidance of ancient spirits. The front room of the house is always dark, though it is frequently bathed in soft golden candlelight. In that low light, visitors can just make out the forms of small statutes resting in corners or perched in alcoves. The statutes are mysterious and appear to be adorned with beads, bones, and vials containing either liquid or sand. At a small table near the center of the room, Mama Gia reads Tarot cards or palms in exchange for gold or favors. It has sometimes been rumored that Mama Gia casts dark curses on behalf of her best clients.

• Mama Gia (Middle age, Human, Witch from Beden)

Gyda's Bunkhouse

Gyda’s Bunk House is a large welcoming building which is located down the hill from the Jarl’s Longhouse and near the main dock where the Longships are moored. It is a quiet place and the only building in the village which resembles an Inn. There, Gyda is known to rent out 3-4 rooms at a time. Perhaps the area is quiet, in part, because Gyda can often be seen putting rambunctious children to work before sending them off with freshly baked sweets. Some in the village whisper that Gyda was captured in a faraway land as a child and served as a Thrall for many years before earning her freedom.

• Gyda (Old, Half-Elven woman)

The Hideout

A waist-high rock wall surrounds the four buildings which once made up this farmstead. The wall is still intact, though there is no longer a working gate. Goats and chickens from nearby farmsteads roam freely here. Several of the buildings are ready to crumble and are unsafe to enter, though animals seeking shelter are undeterred. One of the buildings, however, is still in reasonably good shape. This building serves as your hideout. The building was once a dwelling for Thralls who answered to the Karls that owned this farmstead. The building is one large room of approximately 40’-20’ which stands on a wooden floor. Along the center of the room lies an elongated firepit which now lies dormant.

Frode's Burned Out Homestead

On the far eastern edge of the village of Halvardby, you locate the walled homestead that once belonged to Karl Frode and his family. The longhouse and all the homestead outbuildings have been burned to the ground. All that remains now are heaps of charred rubble and several burial mounds that appear large enough to hold multiple bodies.

Seaside Cliffs

A small trail leads from the village into the forest and towards the mountains to the north. After the trail climbs about 200 feet up the mountain slopes, the path turns back towards the sea and the grass-covered clifftops which stand high above. The wind on this high plane often howl overhead as powerful waves surge below, beating against the cliffside and the jaged rocks at its base. At low tide, a grotto entrance can be seen a few hundred yards away at the bas of a waterfall which cascades impressively from the cliff tops. The waterfall is fed by a small river that flows out of the mountains and along the highlands before reaching the cliffs.

The Grotto

The entrance to the grotto is often under water and leads to a large pool inside of an impressive cavern which is approximately 100’x100’ and at least 50’ tall. This chamber is faintly lit by strange blue glowing lichen that grow near the edge of the water. There are three large passageways that branch from this central chamber, and a subterranean river runs through the central passageway, feeding the large pool of water in this chamber.