Kassen
Kassen is a small town located on the Ery River and ruled by Mayor Uptal, a fair but mild man. The town is quite tightknit, and though it has had a troubled history, it has come to pride itself, as with most of the folk of the Cairn Hills, for standing up for one another and refusing to be pushed around.
Defences
Guard Captain Dramott spends most of his time in patrolling the streets of Kassen. While the guardsmen are mostly relaxed in their duties, they become an effective force if there is trouble in town.
Industry & Trade
Kassen’s primary export is lumber taken from the surrounding Fangwood. While many of these logs are taken right down the Ery River to Diamond Lake, the woodcutters require that all logs bear the stamp of the guildhall, which of course requires a small fee. As a result, the woodcutter’s guild is one of the more powerful groups in town, under the firm hand of the ever-opportunistic Colbin Vetnar.
History
Ekat Kassen was a crusader and fortune seeker who came to serve Greyhawk in the year 362 CY. While he fought with distinction, he soon realized that he wanted more from life and left the Greyhawk military to find his fortune elsewhere. His travels took him all over the region around Diamond Lake, and he decided to settle down in 369 after a very profitable adventure. Using a sizable portion of his fortune, he set out to tame a small area of the Fangwood on the banks of the Tourondel River, making it a natural stopover for those traveling up and down the river to Skelt. For the next 10 years, the town, which was then known as Kassen’s Hold, grew and prospered.
All that changed when Asar Vergas came to Kassen’s Hold with a host of mercenaries under his command. Asar was an old companion of Ekat, and the two had traveled together for some time before splitting up just after Ekat’s last adventure. Over the years, Asar became sure that Ekat had cheated him after that adventure. Promising great wealth to his mercenaries, Asar raided the town relentlessly for 2 months. Finally, the townsfolk managed to locate Asar’s camp in an ancient crypt deep in the forest, and Ekat himself went out to deal with his old companion. The battle was terribly bloody, with only a few townsfolk coming back to tell the tale. In the end, Asar was slain and his mercenaries scattered, but Ekat suffered a mortal wound. He died 2 days later, on the 11th day of Needfast, 386.
Crypt of the Everflame
In honor of their beloved founder, the townsfolk buried Kassen in the ancient crypt where he battled Asar, interring his bones in a place of honor, above the simple sarcophagi used to inter the mercenaries and the townsfolk that lost their lives in the bitter struggle. They placed an eternal flame above Kassen’s final resting place, so that all who visited might find warmth in the wilderness. Over the years, the Crypt of the Everflame has become an important part of the history of the town, now simply called Kassen. The townsfolk view the crypt as a memorial to those difficult first years of the town’s history. Every autumn, a few of the townsfolk make a pilgrimage to the crypt to light a lantern from the flame and bring it back to town, where it is preserved all winter, a symbol of the town’s resilience. Most years, the town mayor and a group of dignitaries perform this quest. Every few years, however, a handful of younger townsfolk are given the honor of lighting the lantern. Many see this as a passage into adulthood, a taste of adventure before settling down to work and marriage.
Most of the townsfolk of Kassen actually live in small homes or camps in the woods and fields surrounding the village.