Nedderpoint
Nedderpoint is situated at the southern end of The Fleece. The Fleece is a sheltered bay in one of the most inhospitable coast of Alven - The Lost Coast.
The bay benefits from a microclimate and has been a haven for the clanless and outcast men and women of Alven. The main town and port on the Fleece shores is Nedderhyve.
Nedderhyve has grown in size within the last century under the management of a smuggler family called The Hawkyves.
As the smuggling operations of the Kin has grown and attracted more attention from Farside, Lowside and The Eastern Isles, a motley crew of people have flocked to the Fleece and Nedderhyve to make it their home. While still being a small village, Nedderpoint has seen its population double within the last two decades.
The Fleece is also the most northern human settlement in the region of Farside. Beyond the bay and the coast, away from the oceanic influence, lies the unforgiving and dangerous frozen forest of The Lostlands.
Nedderpoint still profits from the coast's softening influence. The village has been built on one of the narrow, hilly machairs that borders the harsh coast.
Since its creation, over three centuries ago, the few families who settled on this wild bit of land, have used the plentiful seaweed washed out on the rocky beaches to fertilise and improve the land on the hill.
Now, the salted fields can sustain small flocks of sheep and some long-haired goats. These are a much-needed resource for the growing population of the Fleece.
The series of small hills the village is built on is called the Greenway. The village houses hug the steep sides of the hills to find shelter from the strong northern winds.
On one of the hillsides, a large cave entrance can be seen. Caves are a common sight on the Fleece, but this cave has a bad reputation. The Mawdark cave is a warren of narrow tunnels and domed rooms that at times plunges straight into the depth of the ocean.
It also floods with the tides and some cave rooms fill in with freezing, seawater regularly. Only the locals know the ins and outs of the cave. However, lately, silver has been found deep in the tunnels. Minerals are rare on the Fleece and the cave is generating a lot of interest despite its foreboding aspect.
The Nedderpoint community is divided into two loose groups - the old established families who are sometimes called the Nedders, and the newcomers, who have taken over some of the fallow lands on the hills and the coast and have started to farm and mine along the coast.
There have been alliances made on both sides over the years, with people tying the knots across the two communities. In general, the Nedders get along well with each other.
The people of Nedderpoint are a hardworking bunch focused on surviving the harsh hand life has given them. Most are also family-orientated. Moving away from the lawlessness and rowdiness of Nedderhyve is often a factor in settling down in Nedderpoint.
It is also a great place for people who do not like the Kin breathing down their neck.
In the last few years, two adventurers have joined the tight-knit community. Despite the general mistrust the new people received at the start, they are now well-integrated with the Nedders' community.
The brother and sister live in a small stone cottage at the southern end of Nedderpoint. Van (Vangon) and Kem Nilstren mainly keep to themselves but have been known to lend a hand when needed.
Their main interest is the Mawdark cave they live beside and they foray daily into the dangerous network of tunnels. More importantly for the locals, they live a clean life and rarely frequent The Smug Swan inn in Lowrhyve.
The Kin and the Hawkhyves are the overlords of the Fleece. The organisation runs a very successful smuggling operation along the Eastern coast. Feared and respected, the Kin controls the flow of goods in and out of the Fleece bay.
The Kin now possesses up to ten sailing ships of all sizes and is always looking to increase the size of its fleet, resorting to some opportunistic piracy if need be.
The Kin looks at Nedderpoint as a rural backwater and has little interest in the small community by the seashore. The Nedders sell their produce- mainly, cured fish, wool, cloth, meat, hides and bags of Pearl Root, directly to the Kin if they have a surplus of certain goods, or directly to the people living on the Fleece at the monthly fair in Nedderhyve. The Kin does not look sideways at Nedderpoint and the Nedders like it that way.
The largest farmstead, Cranber Farm, in Nedderpoint is also the oldest one. The Cranbers have lived on that farm for generations. They possess the largest fields on the Greenway, own several fishing boats, and have worked hard to make the farm profitable.
They are one of the only families that can sell surplus goods to the Kin on a yearly basis. Their main source of income is the sale of cured Barbed Fin fish - a delicacy that is much in demand in the Eastern Isles and Lowside.
The Kin either pays in gold coins or the Cranbers can barter for the goods the Hawkhyves import into the bay from the southern regions.
There are another seven crofts or so along the shore and under the hill scratching a living out of fishing and farming. Many are young families that have many mouths to feed.
The Cranbers have always been generous and help out anyone in Nedderpoint who they see struggling in a bad year. As a bedrock of the community, the Cranber patriarch, Grean Cranber is a religious and honest man. He also thinks himself a bit of a seer, and many in the community will heed his visions and warnings.
Grean built the only religious site in the Bay. A shrine to Shony, one of The Divine Hags and the goddess of seas and oceans.
Grean is sure that his family's success is due to their devotion to the goddess. Shony's Shrine stands away from the shore and can be found in a beautiful small copse of oaks south of Nedderpoint.
The newly built cottage where the Nistrens live is tucked by the entrance of the cave. The cottage was, at the start, a large stone shed that the brother and sister bought from the Cranbers.
It did not take long for the sister-brother team to add two extra rooms and a shed, and transform the place into a cosy affair. Unlike the rest of the crofters, Van and Kem do not herd sheep or goats, but they have a rather large, seafaring, fishing boat they use to move around the bay. They dub themselves miners and spend most of their time in the Mawdark caves.
As well as the Mawdark Cave and the Shony's Shrine, Nedderpoint is not too far away from an ancient shipwreck, the locals called 'The Cursed Prow'. Lying half submerged along the southern shore of the bay in a small creek that is difficult to access, the large odd-looking shipwreck has been the subject of much curiosity over the years.
One of its particularities is to be made of wood but not to rot. The winter storms batter it and try to prise the ship from its old moorings but come Midsommer, it is still there forever tied to the place of its ancient demise.
As one of the Ancestors' old ships, it is thought to be steeped in evil magics.
For many years, the people of the Fleece have avoided going near the shipwreck. There are many stories of the curse inflicted by the malignant spirit living on the prow of the grounded ship.
The new arrivals in the bay who do not heed the locals' warnings have met with an uncanny end. Just last year, a young blade, a recent recruit of the Kin, thought he would try his luck at treasure hunting and exploring the wreck. His body was found washed up by the Cranber's farm beach just a few days after, all covered in black pustules, his face unrecognisable.
The bay benefits from a microclimate and has been a haven for the clanless and outcast men and women of Alven. The main town and port on the Fleece shores is Nedderhyve.
Nedderhyve has grown in size within the last century under the management of a smuggler family called The Hawkyves.
As the smuggling operations of the Kin has grown and attracted more attention from Farside, Lowside and The Eastern Isles, a motley crew of people have flocked to the Fleece and Nedderhyve to make it their home. While still being a small village, Nedderpoint has seen its population double within the last two decades.
Geography and Climate
The Fleece is also the most northern human settlement in the region of Farside. Beyond the bay and the coast, away from the oceanic influence, lies the unforgiving and dangerous frozen forest of The Lostlands.
Nedderpoint still profits from the coast's softening influence. The village has been built on one of the narrow, hilly machairs that borders the harsh coast.
Since its creation, over three centuries ago, the few families who settled on this wild bit of land, have used the plentiful seaweed washed out on the rocky beaches to fertilise and improve the land on the hill.
Now, the salted fields can sustain small flocks of sheep and some long-haired goats. These are a much-needed resource for the growing population of the Fleece.
The series of small hills the village is built on is called the Greenway. The village houses hug the steep sides of the hills to find shelter from the strong northern winds.
On one of the hillsides, a large cave entrance can be seen. Caves are a common sight on the Fleece, but this cave has a bad reputation. The Mawdark cave is a warren of narrow tunnels and domed rooms that at times plunges straight into the depth of the ocean.
It also floods with the tides and some cave rooms fill in with freezing, seawater regularly. Only the locals know the ins and outs of the cave. However, lately, silver has been found deep in the tunnels. Minerals are rare on the Fleece and the cave is generating a lot of interest despite its foreboding aspect.
The Community, Guild and Factions
The Nedderpoint community is divided into two loose groups - the old established families who are sometimes called the Nedders, and the newcomers, who have taken over some of the fallow lands on the hills and the coast and have started to farm and mine along the coast.
There have been alliances made on both sides over the years, with people tying the knots across the two communities. In general, the Nedders get along well with each other.
The people of Nedderpoint are a hardworking bunch focused on surviving the harsh hand life has given them. Most are also family-orientated. Moving away from the lawlessness and rowdiness of Nedderhyve is often a factor in settling down in Nedderpoint.
It is also a great place for people who do not like the Kin breathing down their neck.
In the last few years, two adventurers have joined the tight-knit community. Despite the general mistrust the new people received at the start, they are now well-integrated with the Nedders' community.
The brother and sister live in a small stone cottage at the southern end of Nedderpoint. Van (Vangon) and Kem Nilstren mainly keep to themselves but have been known to lend a hand when needed.
Their main interest is the Mawdark cave they live beside and they foray daily into the dangerous network of tunnels. More importantly for the locals, they live a clean life and rarely frequent The Smug Swan inn in Lowrhyve.
The Kin
The Kin and the Hawkhyves are the overlords of the Fleece. The organisation runs a very successful smuggling operation along the Eastern coast. Feared and respected, the Kin controls the flow of goods in and out of the Fleece bay.
The Kin now possesses up to ten sailing ships of all sizes and is always looking to increase the size of its fleet, resorting to some opportunistic piracy if need be.
The Kin looks at Nedderpoint as a rural backwater and has little interest in the small community by the seashore. The Nedders sell their produce- mainly, cured fish, wool, cloth, meat, hides and bags of Pearl Root, directly to the Kin if they have a surplus of certain goods, or directly to the people living on the Fleece at the monthly fair in Nedderhyve. The Kin does not look sideways at Nedderpoint and the Nedders like it that way.
Housing
The largest farmstead, Cranber Farm, in Nedderpoint is also the oldest one. The Cranbers have lived on that farm for generations. They possess the largest fields on the Greenway, own several fishing boats, and have worked hard to make the farm profitable.
They are one of the only families that can sell surplus goods to the Kin on a yearly basis. Their main source of income is the sale of cured Barbed Fin fish - a delicacy that is much in demand in the Eastern Isles and Lowside.
The Kin either pays in gold coins or the Cranbers can barter for the goods the Hawkhyves import into the bay from the southern regions.
There are another seven crofts or so along the shore and under the hill scratching a living out of fishing and farming. Many are young families that have many mouths to feed.
The Cranbers have always been generous and help out anyone in Nedderpoint who they see struggling in a bad year. As a bedrock of the community, the Cranber patriarch, Grean Cranber is a religious and honest man. He also thinks himself a bit of a seer, and many in the community will heed his visions and warnings.
Grean built the only religious site in the Bay. A shrine to Shony, one of The Divine Hags and the goddess of seas and oceans.
Grean is sure that his family's success is due to their devotion to the goddess. Shony's Shrine stands away from the shore and can be found in a beautiful small copse of oaks south of Nedderpoint.
The newly built cottage where the Nistrens live is tucked by the entrance of the cave. The cottage was, at the start, a large stone shed that the brother and sister bought from the Cranbers.
It did not take long for the sister-brother team to add two extra rooms and a shed, and transform the place into a cosy affair. Unlike the rest of the crofters, Van and Kem do not herd sheep or goats, but they have a rather large, seafaring, fishing boat they use to move around the bay. They dub themselves miners and spend most of their time in the Mawdark caves.
Points of Interest: The Cursed Prow
As well as the Mawdark Cave and the Shony's Shrine, Nedderpoint is not too far away from an ancient shipwreck, the locals called 'The Cursed Prow'. Lying half submerged along the southern shore of the bay in a small creek that is difficult to access, the large odd-looking shipwreck has been the subject of much curiosity over the years.
One of its particularities is to be made of wood but not to rot. The winter storms batter it and try to prise the ship from its old moorings but come Midsommer, it is still there forever tied to the place of its ancient demise.
As one of the Ancestors' old ships, it is thought to be steeped in evil magics.
For many years, the people of the Fleece have avoided going near the shipwreck. There are many stories of the curse inflicted by the malignant spirit living on the prow of the grounded ship.
The new arrivals in the bay who do not heed the locals' warnings have met with an uncanny end. Just last year, a young blade, a recent recruit of the Kin, thought he would try his luck at treasure hunting and exploring the wreck. His body was found washed up by the Cranber's farm beach just a few days after, all covered in black pustules, his face unrecognisable.
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
I've read several of your Summer Camp articles now, and I very much enjoy your writing style. You use vivid language, and it's easy for me to imagine not only the location, but the people who live there and the atmosphere that their interactions lend it. I particularly like the part about the wrecked ship.