Type: Small Village (Level 1)
Population: 225 residents
Languages: Shenyan (Common), Jinghu, Elven, Halfling, Kitsune, Nagaji, Tengu

Southbank

The older, humbler quarter of the founding families, south of the river.

Northridge

The terraced commercial rise built under the lumber lords, north of the river.

Yanagihama is a self-sufficient river town of some 225 souls at the meeting of the Keyaki and Ayuri rivers, ringed by the forested hills of the Yūreimori and watched over by the three peaks of the Trimountains, the lowest crowned by the ancient Weeping Sentinel. Founded in 2,927 AC to support the building of the Okusugi Monastery, the town outlived the monastery, survived the lumber lords, and shrugged off the Severing. The empire forgot Yanagihama long before it forgot the rest of Akanegumo.

Two districts face each other across the water: Southbank, the older quarter of the founding families, and Northridge, the terraced commercial rise built in the lumber era. The Everbright Lantern, the founder Shan Lian's undying gift, burns at Lanternstep Bridge; the stone spider Ugly Cute guards the eastern gate with a lantern in her fangs; and the town keeps its year by its festivals: the Reenactment Festival on spring's last day, the Eight Practices through the ghost season, and First Long Night at the autumn equinox.

Since the Severing, the lumber lords' estates rot on the ridge (the town politely lets the forest take them), the tax collectors have stopped coming, and Governor Wen Zhao-Lin, decent and forgotten by his empire, keeps what passes for order. Life is good, if you don't mind the ghosts.

Mama Manju's.
A beloved little steamed-bun shop whose short menu never changes, run by Onishi Yumi, known all over town as Mama Manju.

The Faded Lotus.
A fine old teahouse that once drew visitors from across the valley, now closed and standing empty, with no one yet stepping forward to take it on.

Bramble's Farm.
A remote farmhouse out past the fields, home to the spry elderly halfling Orla Bramble, who has a knack for getting hold of almost anything you need for the right price, no questions asked.

First Flame Ironworks.
The town forge, run by the kitsune smith Hagane Yuki, where anything metal and useful can be bought or mended, and whose cookware has no rival in the valley.

Good Enough.
The workshop of inventor Hou Jian-Yu, wryly named for his own humbling, where his clockwork gadgets have won a loyal following. Come for a tool, a bomb, or a contraption you did not know you needed.

Janani's Spire.
A tower of dark basalt that appeared overnight years ago, now kept by the young wizard Igarashi Kohana, where the curious come to gawk and the prepared come to buy scrolls, wands, and formulas.

Lacquer & Lily.
A small distillery turning out spirits and scented oils, one of the workshops still busy on the town's industrial row.

Lin and Laws.
The office of the town's independent lawyer, Lin Su-Yin, whose library has grown from wrestling with the empire's tangled, contradictory laws. Bring a deed, dispute, or contract that has you stumped.

Mistleaf Paper Mill.
A paper mill run by Karasu Mina, the tengu who heads the Mistleaf kamisuki, the valley's paper-makers' guild, whose pressed sheets supply most of Akanegumo.

Riverbank Tannery.
A working tannery on the industrial row, still curing hides and cutting leather goods to order.

Riverpearl Baths.
The town's only public bathhouse, kept spotless by the cleanliness-obsessed halfling Ha De-Jun, who will not abide a speck of grime in his pools.

Sparrow's Larder.
The family grocery and the busiest store in town, run by matriarch Natsume Sawa, who seems to know everyone's name and what they bought last week.

Spring's Mercy.
The clinic of Maganda Dalisay, known to everyone as Doctor Dali, who blends acupuncture, chemistry, and surgery and charges only what a patient can spare. If you are hurt or ailing, this is where the town carries you.

The Dock.
The new dock at the mouth of the Keyaki, run by the nagaji shipwright Devan Sindhu, who can rent or sell you a boat when you need to get out on the water.

The Keyaki-Ayuri Exchange.
The town's trade office and warehouses, run by the Kazehana cleric Han Gi-Woo, and Yanagihama's link to Shiosaki and the wider world.

The Milling Houses.
The town's fifteen mills of water, wind, and muscle, led by the well-liked Bae Han-Sol, turning the valley's harvest into grain and flour.

The Wandering Leaf.
The home base of the wandering tea-leshies and their leader Ridgeline Moss, who blends bespoke teas one cup at a time, fussing over each pour until it suits the drinker exactly.

Woodcarver's Guild.
The red-brick rows of the woodcarvers' guild on Mercantile Street, led by the celebrated carver Mok Eun-Ji, selling everything from a carved bowl to a shrine figure made to last generations.

Yanagihama Stables.
The town stables, run by Gong Sang-Hyun and his teenage son, who board, rent, and care for the valley's working animals.

Thrice-Lucky Inn.
The warmest common room in the province, kept by Mother Iva, where travelers and locals crowd the tables for a hot meal, a drink, and a bed.

Akamatsu's Home.
A modest kitchen-home belonging to Old Akamatsu, the retired cook, where there is almost always something on the stove and neighbors drift in for a bowl and an earful.

Governor's Manor. The governor's residence and seat of local authority, home to the elderly Governor Wen Zhao-Lin, and also the town's bank and treasury.

Karasu Mina's Home.
A snug house at the edge of town belonging to Karasu Mina, the tengu who knows every trail and rumor in the valley. Folk who want news from the road tend to start here.

Lanternstep Bridge. The town's heart-crossing and home of the undying Everbright Lantern, with a small bridge-shrine to the river dragon Mizuchi.

Ninetail Shrine.
A humble grain-hut above a sunken sanctuary, served by the young priest Um Bo-Ra, where a marble nine-tailed fox sacred to Inarihime rests below the floor.

Silverfern Lodges.
Two woodland compounds south of town, the traditional gathering place of Yanagihama's hunters and rangers, raised long ago by elven settlers descended from Eirendor.

Tachibana Estate.
The sprawling compound of the Tachibana family, built generations ago to house two dozen relatives under one roof. When the old quarter needs to decide something, it tends to decide it here.

The Abandoned Estates. The old lumber lords' manors strung along the ridge above town, long since picked clean and left to the moss, one still holding a forgotten shrine to Tsukuyomi.

The Dam. A minor engineering marvel of fitted grey marble with great wooden gates and a warning bell, holding back the weight of Widow's Mere.

The Forgotten Field. The unkept burial ground set aside for the marked dead who were denied a place among the honored, where lately someone has hung folded paper shuriken over the graves as a quiet protest no one has owned up to.

The Everbright Lantern. A tall stone pillar-lantern at the head of Lanternstep Bridge, its flame burning without fail through storm and flood. Travelers touch its worn base for safe passage before crossing.

The Guard Office.
The old imperial barracks, commanded by watch officer Jiang Wu and the handful of guards who still keep their posts despite drawing no pay.

The Imperial Shrine. A small civic shrine to the divine Emperor and the celestial bureaucracy, its limestone figure holding a shovel and trowel as patron of public works. It keeps no priest; Bae Han-Sol, the millers' leader, looks after it on the side.

The Painted Songbird.
The town theater, where kitsune director Okabe Shun stages the weekly Cloud Opera and the town gathers for its one shared spectacle.

The Quiet Garden.
The old town cemetery, tended by the elf herbalist Yeo Su-Min, who keeps an herb shop at its gate selling elixirs, reagents, and herbs. It holds the urns of the town's founders and stays clean and green.

The Veiled Shrine. The cathedral of Aishin, where the priestess Livia Marcanthe tends the congregation and the town's graves, often found playing her flute among the headstones.

The Watcher Gate. The town's eastern gate, watched over by a giant stone spider the locals fondly call Ugly Cute, crouched above the road with a lantern held in its fangs to light travelers in after dark.

The Weeping Sentinel. An ancient willow of remarkable size crowning the lowest of the Trimountains, home to a revered kodama, where pilgrims climb to pay respects and foragers gather what grows in its shadow.

The Wooded Clearing. A quiet grassy clearing a short walk from town, ringed by old cedars and crossed by a forager's footpath, an easy place to rest before the trail climbs into the hills.

Widow's Mere. The wide mill lake held back by the dam, a quiet and half-sacred place the townsfolk treat as the sanctuary of the Widow of Ashes, whose old valley shrine is said to lie drowned beneath the surface.