A large walled town on a hill surrounded by two rivers.
The following information is generally known in town, even by recent visitors:
The House of Figwort has held the local title of reeve for as long as anyone can remember.
Several of the village children have been behaving quite wickedly lately.
Chief among them is Eric Figwort the Town Reeve’s son, Arthur Figwort.
He caused such a ruckus at the Temple of Saint Ludann that he had to be locked up in the temple basement.
The immediate region is generally safe.
Though recently wild dogs have been attacking pigs. (There's a reward to hunt and kill the dogs).
And the Hogboon Goblins have been growing bold.
The Wealdwood is cursed and dangerous, as is the Barrowfield.
There have been dragon sightings recently.
During the waning days of the Realm of Faërie, a small tavern was built near the Adriel River and the Alverith River. The tavern proved so popular during the Rise of the Eilvalorian Kings, and the surrounding land so fruitful, that before long a village had sprung up around it, taking the tavern’s name for itself.
Many of the early settlers were woodcutters. These woodcutters thought themselves fortunate to have found a forest all to themselves, and they immediately began cutting down trees. But, despite the Eilvalorian Kings’ growing influence, this was still a fairy forest, and fairies didn't take kindly to their home being destroyed. So they laid magic curses on the woodcutters so that axes fell apart, cattle wouldn't give milk, and the hands that cut wood became covered in boils and sores.
It was at this point that a holy woman by the name of Ludann interceded for the poor, foolish woodcutters. Sensibly, she asked a squirrel to explain the matter. According to the squirrel, if the people would leave the forest alone, only taking enough dead wood to heat their homes and cook their food, the forest would leave them alone. And to give the people something better to do, the squirrel promised that if the people would forsake woodcutting and instead raise pigs (for the forest was full of tasty acorns that pigs adore) they would be eternally blessed with healthy, tasty pigs. As a token of this promise, the enchanted squirrel presented Ludann with a large black apple.
As the years went by and the people of Tavern-By-Sisters prospered, the village grew, even during the time of the Hundred-Years Winter. This caught the attention of one of the Cold Prince’s sons, the Elf Lord. He was jealous of anyone doing well other than himself. To punish Tavern-By-Sisters for being a happy, contented place, he subjected them to his own rule, which was cruel and arbitrary.
This turn of events could not stand, so the Eilvalorian kings sent powerful magicians to the aid of the villagers. Using ancient magic to thwart the power of fairies, they banished the Elf Lord and his followers to live underground. Those elves are said to live there to this day in a subterranean place known as the Brugh, buried under an earth-mound ringed with standing stones, upon which the Eilvalorian kings built a keep from which to wage war against the Cold Prince in the Grimmark.
The town waned in the Decline of the Eilvalorian Kings and into the early days of the Time of the Empty Throne. Until the last few years when folks have had their eyes set towards the new frontiers offered by the Grimmark.