Hornfell

Hornfell is a mining village in the Kingdom of Brennis

Demographics

90% Human 8% Dwarven 2% Other

Government

While the mines are owned by the Kingdom, the village does has have a Mayor that's selected by the Count of the area. They keep the town in check and keep things running smoothly. Often times the mayor is selected from a foreman from the mines.

Defences

Hornfell has a permanent garrison of eight hired guards to keep the law and order.

Industry & Trade

Hornfell is a mining village. The primary ore is iron, though some small amounts of copper come from there as well. Hornfell produces 97% of Brennis' Iron. A mix of small mines across the kingdom make up the other 3%.
They mostly export raw ore, but recent investment may result in starting a forge to purify the iron.

Assets

Big Mort, a larger dragon skull, is a focal piece of the village and many who visit the first time take the time to look it over.

History

Originally Hornfell was nothing but plains outside of the notthern peaks. A drunkard named Mort fell down a crack in the earth hidden by tall grass and survived his plummet being knocked out. Hours later he awoke hung over but alive only to find himself in a cavern. Regaining his composure he found a large boney object sticking out of the side of the cavern wall and as his vision fully returned he discovered it was a dragon's skull with a massive horn. He climbed out of the hole and ran back to his camp to tell the others.
Days later the group returned and examined the cave and the skull. It was there that a dwarf named Durgig discovered that the stone around the area was very rich in iron, and so the group not yet fully established in their allotted location, asked Lionel Brennis if they could change location, only be a few hours away from their original granted land. Lional agreed, and so they began to work on excavating the location.
Work at first was slow, wind from the mountains to the North East often knocked over tents in massive gusts. After the first few layers of dirt were removed, the locals placed their camp down into the quarry and found immediate relief from the bellowing winds. A few more months of digging with poor quality tools, resulted in the skull being removed and opening up a much larger cavern underneath. After a few hours of exploring it, they were declared safe, and work on setting up structural support began. Mining began amount a month later and proved fruitful right away.
The skull was made a centerpiece for the camp, and was nicknamed big Mort, due to Mort originally discovering it, and having a rather large nose himself. The small group of 12 people expanded quickly as more and more people heard of the rich grounds of Hornfell.
In the early days of mining in Hornfell one of the many mining tunnels seemed to go well past the layer of iron and deeper underground. Eventually they had encountered some strange worm like creatures that were molten hot. One of the dwarves later identified them as Thoqqua, a type of underground magma worm. Though he had never seen one in his lifetime, he had been warned in stories of old that they were prone to attack miners who delved too deep into their territory. It was decided that no mining would take place below a set elevation. 
During the Stand off between the Kingdom of Brennis and the Statehood, extra protection was allotted to the area due to it's high iron content. It was believed that the Statehood had been struggling without a good source of iron and instead resorted to using copped for tools and weapons, which was weak and flimsy.
When the Statehood collapsed and became a part of the Kingdom of Brennis, more workers who had previously worked in poor conditions within the Statehood flocked to work, increasing the working staff of Hornfell by almost double in a year.
The Sanguine Seven visited the village often looking for work, and usually as caravan guards. On one visit, a number of members of the group toured the mines and in one of the dragon skeletons that had been partly dug up, had somehow triggered some Thoqqua which had became hostile and attacked them. Normally they weren't this far above the deep earth. After dispatching them, they had ensured that everyone had made it out of the mine safely.
During the Dead Sun Empire occupation, Hornfell was one of the few villages that didn't get severely punished. They had been the first settlement that had encountered the vampires, yet surrendered quickly after seeing the destruction of Fort Gatekeeper in the distance. Everyone in town was branded with the symbol of the dead sun, but life carried on mostly the same. The guards had been replaced with enforcers of the Dead Sun to ensure that all work carried on as planned. Some dwarven men had been sent to Hornfell to work the mines as well during the occupation. Most of the iron and other ores takes from the mine were now being sent directly north instead of all over the country.
When the Dead Sun Empire was destroyed and the Sun had finally returned, the miners rebelled against the vampire occupiers, burning down houses that they had taken shelter in. A Blue dragon arrived shortly after the sun had risen and went into the mines, burning away any stragglers, when it had emerged from the caverns it looked at the surprised townspeople, and then flew off without a word.
Work has since slowed a bit in Hornfell. While mining continues, the shortage of food and shelter that the Dead Sun occupation had caused, has resulted in more people returning to farm or forestry work.

Tourism

People don't normally visit Hornfell for any reason other than travel or work. Hornfell is the last major civilized location before heading east through the Ambit and out of the Kingdom of Brennis.

Architecture

All of the houses and huts are built below the quarry line to stay out of the intense winds that often plague the surrounding area. The heat from the mines also keeps people warm in the winter months and reduces the need for fires.

"Some good money to be made among those bones, just don't dig too deep..." - Conversation overheard in The Gray Haven Tavern.

Type

Village

Population

119

Owning Organization

The Kingdom of Brennis