Каер Диневаль - Caer-Dineval
"When last I visited Caer-Dineval, I found the town speaker livin' in an old fort at the top o' the road, perched up there like a lord in 'is castle. What's he lord of, I'd like to know. A little pride is well an' good, but never will I understand the vanity o' men!"In generations past, travelers to Caer-Dineval had to make their way east from the hills around Bryn Shander and then cut north, following the rocky shore of Lac Dinneshere until after several weary hours they spied a small fortress (the "caer" for which the town is named) jutting up from the prominence where it overlooks the lake. These days, visitors to the town can take the Eastway to Easthaven, and then hire a ferry to take them across the lake to Caer-Dineval. Only those who have no coin to spare, or who have more than a small cart's worth of goods to transport, still take the rude trail that wends its way up the lake's western shore. Whether arriving "by land or by lac," visitors are immediately confronted by the fortifications for which the town is famous: its clifftop caer and the now-ruined watchtower at the mouth of the harbor. Most of the town's buildings line the path that winds down the steep slope from the caer to the harbor, perched on the rocky face like cliffside nests. Newer structures have been built out along the approach coming up the western shore. The effect is that visitors enter Caer-Dineval in procession, filing up the narrow street past the buildings on either side, from which the residents watch with a mixture of interest and suspicion. If travelers do not turn aside into a shop or tavern, the road brings them to the top of the bluff and deposits them at the gates of the caer.
The Bastion of Lac Dinneshere
The caer was built over four hundred years ago by the Dinev family, before Ten-Towns existed as anything more than a few scattered camps of explorers living off the land. A displaced Cormyrean family whose sire was purportedly of noble extraction, the Dinevs built their castle on the cliffs over Lac Dinneshere in a bid to claim sovereignty over the unsettled lands of Icewind Dale. When the castle - dubbed Caer-Dineval - was completed, the workers and their families settled in the outbuildings they had constructed farther down the cliff face, along with the families of the few retainers the Dinevs had brought with them. Over the next several years, many explorers in the region came to see the caer for themselves, and some decided to trade their tents in the hunting and fishing camps for a cozy cottage in the shadow of the walls of Caer-Dineval. No sooner had the small town taken hold than a marauding tribe of orcs swept down from the tundra to put it to the torch. Rather than flee their newfound home, the residents rushed to the clifftop to seek refuge in the caer. But the Dinevs, alarmed by the size of the orc tribe and the speed of its approach, barred the caer's gates and refused to open them. The orcs fell upon the stranded people and slaughtered them to the last one. The Dinevs survived the initial assault, thanks to their redoubt, but after three weeks of confinement in the caer, they were so weakened by hunger that they were unable to resist when the orc raiders scaled their walls. Thus, their brief rule in Icewind Dale came to a bloody end. The caer remained in the orcs' possession for the next several years, although it changed hands a few times during that period as factions among the orcs fought each other for control of the castle. By the end of that time, the small camps of humans in the dale had grown larger and more numerous, and the future inhabitants of Ten-Towns decided that they could ill afford to have a fortified encampment of orcs so close to their communities. For the first time in their history, warriors from the disparate human settlements banded together. They marched on Caer-Dineval and drove the orcs from its walls. The victors claimed the castle, its lands, and the lake beyond for their own, and those with families brought them there to settle. The descendants of those proud people live there to this day and keep alive the memory of their ancestors' deeds. Today, the caer's keep is a glorified residence for the town's speaker, Crannoc Siever. Although its sturdy wooden fortifications are still capable of withstanding the attacks of orc and barbarian raiders, the people of Caer-Dineval remember the grim lesson of the Dinevs. They flee from incursions to seek shelter behind the better-defended and better-supplied walls of Bryn Shander.The Ghost Of Lac Dinneshere
Legend has it that an explorer once came to Easthaven to find his fortune after leaving his young wife behind in Luskan, promising to return to her a rich man. The adventurer met with many hazards on his journey, but the thought of his wife waiting for him always gave him the strength to persevere. Finally, after having made his fortune, the man sought to take the next caravan home - only to have it arrive in Easthaven bearing a note from his wife, written from her sickbed in the hours before her death. The young man never returned home. He stayed in Easthaven, where his wife's ghost sometimes walked out along the lake, calling for her husband to return to her. Finally, one night when he heard her calling, he loaded his fortune onto a boat and rowed out to the middle of the lake, where he was finally reunited with his beloved - a rich man, just as he had promised. Locals say the woman's ghost still wanders the lake on some nights; they call her the White Lady. Rumor has it that she haunts the spot where her husband met his end. A few brave souls have followed the vision of the White Lady in hopes of finding the adventurer's sunken treasure, but none of them has returned.Goods and Services
Dinev's Rest
, situated at the low end of town on the lakeside road, is Caer-Dineval's inn, and one of the first buildings that travelers reach if they arrive on foot. Built in a shallow dell a little way back from the cliff line, the inn is spacious compared to Caer-Dineval's other buildings and blessedly sheltered from the winds that buffet the rest of the town. Inside, visitors sit in the common room around the central fire pit, swapping stories about their travels; the walls behind them are adorned with faded banners bearing the Dinev coat of arms. The innkeeper is Kadie, a vivacious young woman with fiery red hair. Her father was the previous speaker of Caer-Dineval, and as a child she lived with him and her brothers in the caer. Kadie speaks about her town with pride and can tell visitors all about the history of the caer. She doesn't miss living there - the keep, as she'll readily relate, is too drafty - and she doesn't think Crannoc has done poorly by the town, but Kadie is not bashful about observing that the current speaker doesn't listen to folks as much as he ought to . . . not like her father did.The Uphill Climb
is a tavern perched at the top of the approach to the caer, with spectacular views of the lake and the docks below. Although it has a solid core of local patrons, the Climb also caters to the town's more upscale clientele - well-to-do travelers and merchants who have coin to spend on more than just beer and fish chowder. The proprietor, a ruggedly handsome fellow named Roark, takes pains to stock a variety of foodstuffs from Bryn Shander's market, and he always buys the best brews out of Good Mead. The tavern has a private dining area where the speaker of Caer-Dineval meets with merchants, adventurers, or anyone else who has important business with the town. The intimate atmosphere is only occasionally ruined by the cheers from the front room when patrons from the dockside tavern finish their nightly footrace up the cliffside road to the Climb's front door, usually followed by the sounds of retching. The last runner through the door traditionally buys a round of drinks for the house.Culver's
isn't really a shop - it's a house, and its resident, Culver Ailsen, isn't so much a merchant as he is a collector. An aging widower with no children, Culver keeps himself company with the many books, maps, and curiosities he has collected over the years. Whenever traveling merchants come through town, Culver is one of the first to introduce himself - shaking their hands, asking their story, and then getting to the serious work of poring over their inventory. Culver has a particular interest in the history of Ten-Towns and Icewind Dale, and he eagerly buys anything connected with the accounts and letters he has read. Culver doesn't restrict himself to historical memorabilia - he picks up anything that interests him, whether it's a halfling stick-and-ball game or a finely etched dwarven dagger. Because of his tendency to acquire all manner of odds and ends, the locals stop by Culver's anytime they need something they can't get from one of the town's crafters. As a result of his voracious reading, Culver knows a bit about nearly everything in the dale - knowledge that he will share with those who care to listen (he prefers to talk over a pint at the Uphill Climb). In particular, Culver has read several accounts of Akar Kessell's war against Ten-Towns a century ago, and the relics he has acquired from the Battle of Icewind Dale are his most prized possessions.Speaker of Caer-Dineval
Crannoc Siever is an able sailor and fisher known for his hot temper. Despite his bellicose nature, Crannoc is not prone to violence. Those who know him well understand that belligerence is just his heavy-handed way of avoiding conflict - he would rather shout others into silent agreement than physically fight or debate with them. Because most people are easily cowed by his theatrics, Crannoc has never learned how to negotiate, so he frequently finds himself at a disadvantage when he deals with Duvessa Shane, the speaker of Bryn Shander. Crannoc wears his dark hair pulled back, and his weathered face seems stretched taut. Though he is not particularly tall, his thick arms and chest lend weight to his bullying remarks. He speaks in a perpetual shout, except when he has been intimidated into sputtering silence by Duvessa.Если вы хотите что то добавить или присоединится к команде редакторов - пишите комментарии
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