Castleton

Greenvale

This is the capital city of the realm of Greenvale. It is a relatively young city, having been founded less than two hundred years ago around the personal home of the first Prince of Greenvale, Elox. That home was soon torn down, and The Castle built in its place. The Castle has no other name, and needs none. It is the only castle of its size in the valley, and remains so by order of the King.

A mid-sized city of about 25,000, Castleton houses most of the governing structure of the realm. It is a flourishing city with a large mercantile base, as well as an excellent agricultural community. Most of the Counts and Marcher-Barons of Greenvale have homes here, as do many of the landed knights (non-templar), . When the Parliament meets each spring the town's population can swell by more than ten percent.

Castleton is a "free town" (one of three in Greenvale, including Marig), with a charter that gives it a great deal of independence from the King, who otherwise governs Celebros County as its Count. The city has a Great Council which consists of every member of the Guilds Councils, other governmental committees (the watch, the sewer repairmen, and several others), and the three highest ranking Priests of each Temple or shrine in the City. This council is about 750 people. Every two years, by random ballot, two new members are selected from these 750 people to make up the six-person Small Council. The Small Council then selects one member to serve as Mayor of the city; his vote counts twice in any Small Council votes, and he is a tie-breaker for the Great Council. The Small Council and the Mayor are the true ruling body of the city, as they control who is chosen to serve on the committees that run the city. 

There are two types of Guilds - Merchant and Craftsman. In Castleton, there are 9 separate craft guilds, and 3 merchants' guilds. To be a member of a guild, and thus have a chance of eventually being a guild council member and serve on the Great Council, an adult person must live in the City for a year and a day, serve an apprenticeship (generally in Greenvale somewhere) and be recognized as a guild journeyman or master. His or her membership fees must be up to date and fully accounted. This grants a person citizenship in the town, as well as guild membership. City watchmen, priests of temples in the city, and a few other positions also grant citizenship but not Great Council membership.

Important Locations

1. The Castle: home to Greenvale's ruling Parliament. This building is the only one if its size and type construction in the Valley. Only the temples of Kehret and St. Romanus come close to rivaling it. It is quite new still, averaging 50 to 70 years of age, and the stones are kept a gleaming grey-white through magical scrubbing. More than 300 people live or work on a daily basis within its walls. 
Each of Greenvale's ruling Counts, the Duke, the Abbot of Kehret, and the Abbess of Elanora, as well as the Senior Knights of St. Justin and St. Iylyria all have an office or living quarters here. So do the Marcher Barons.

2. Civic Court: where the region's County level business is conducted. The Count holds a monthly court here.

3. Duke's Home.

4. Temple-Court to Kehret and All Gods: Abbot Tormas Fierybeard (L14) is high priest of 16 priests of Kehret, 23 laybrothers, and 11 priests of other gods who live and worship here. In a nearby barracks and lesser temple is a house of the order of St. Edelmar the Childsaver - knights templar of Kehret.

 5. House of the Ambassador from Harothar: the dwarf Lord Hothr is kin to the Prince of Harothar - he is very stuffy - he thinks humans are hasty and rude. The rapid changes in Greenvale's government recently confuse and irritate him. He responds by being even more conservative than usual.

 6. House of the Ambassador from Daintali: Baron Lydian is arrogant but clever and not unlikeable. He is younger than the other ambassadors, being only 24. This is actually a sign that the Daintali view Greenvale as an insignificant political partner.

 7. House of the Ambassador from Lathamsfind: Sir Jared Wanderer is a fighter of repute, and a big muscular man. He is bluff and hearty, but actually quite observant and can be subtle when it suits him. He dislikes Harothar intensely, and admires the Greenvalers.

 8. Castle Inn - has the best food and cleanest rooms in town. It is the fanciest, and most expensive, but also the finest quality. It has a steady clientel of visitors to The Castle. Rooms start at 3 sp and go up to 25 sp, depending on what the traffic will bear! No common sleeping space except for servants.

 9. Inn - the Song and Ale; unbeknown to most, this inn serves as the headquarters of the local Thieves' Guild.  Also a popular inn with merchants and non-court travellers, as it is less expensive and clean, with good food. Prices range from 1-10 gp for rooms, with common sleeping space about 3 silvers. The Innkeepers are Theodwyr the Lame, a middle-aged man, and his wife Aella, who are willing participants in the guild. However, they insist on keeping guild business out of the running of the Inn - no guests are robbed, and no business meetings are held in the common room. The front desk/bar does serve as a message drop, however, and the staff are well aware of the comings and goings of those who use the back rooms. 

 10. Inn - the Topaz - this out of the way Inn is favored by local farmers and small merchants or other travellers who need a cheap place, and don't really care how clean it is.

 11. Tavern - The Pale Horse - a place where the dice are not always honest. Most believe it is a thieves' guild hangout, but that is not true. The owner of the tavern is one Leofbert the Lucky - The tavern is famed for the set of four horseshoes on display over the fireplace. These four horseshoes are supposed to be the very ones worn by Merehorsa, the magical beast-mount of the paladin Caena, who defended Castleton (long before it was ever the capitol of Greenvale) in a feat of valor against a demonic invasion. Both Caena and Merehorsa were slain, and Merehorsa's horns were turned into the three Horns of Valhalla which were subsequently captured by the Emerald Dragon and eventually recovered by Prince Elox. The horseshoes were given to Caena's only child, and became family heirlooms. Eventually the Pale Horse Tavern was established by Leofbert's grandfather, who hung the horseshoes there, and dedicated the Tavern to his famed ancestor's memory. Stories of Caena's valor, and his ability to ride the moonbeams, are commonly told in the Tavern. Another story about the horseshoes is that a party of adventurers borrowed them and rode a flying horse to the moon where they negotiated a treaty with the Queen of the Moon.

 12. Tavern - Celia's Favor - a cheap place to pick up a willing dance-girl.

 13. Tavern - the Bent Copper - a cheap but honest little place. It is favored by those who like to drink in quiet solitude.

 14. Tavern - the Frog and Toad - Specializes in freshwater fish, mussels, crawdads, etc... More restaurant than tavern.

15. Pawnshop: a shop with known connections to the thieves' guild. The owner will buy some stolen goods, but she will also notify the guild of any trespassers on guild territory. This can have nasty repercussions if the intruder doesn't contact the guild or leave within a few days. Her name is Merzia Lighteyes of the Catfolk.

 16. Weaponsmith - quality average, price average. He does very good work only for special commissions, which are rare because of his surly attitude.

 17. Armorer - quality excellent, price high. He is known for his work by all the locals - he has made dress armor for many of the Counts and the King.

 18. Bowyer/Fletcher

 19. Tailor/Weaver

 20. Apothecary/Herbalist (independent)

 21. Barracks (A-E and stables F-G)

 22. Wizard - Penelope L9, specializes in Astrology.

 23. Sage - Kennet the Lame, specialist in late 2nd Empire Miraborian History, especially in things before the time of troubles began.

 24. Count and Countess of Highscar's Home: this is the home of one of the most powerful families in Greenvale. Highscar is a wealthy county just north of Old Greenvale. While it is still heavily forested, it is also populated by a fairly large number of people who have learned to make good use of the forest's resources. Count Liam and Lady Halfreda are good and honest rulers. Liam is a knight of St. Romanus. He travelled frequently until he inherited the title some twenty five years ago, when he settled down to become a good leader. His wife is a Shalani, who has kept her ties to her people strong. She knows most of the important Romani news within a few days. 
They have two sons, Sir Rollo and Sir Othar. Rollo is a landed knight, his father's heir and a good if simple man. Sir Othar is a knight of St. Justin. He fought the wyrm which invaded Greenvale during the Dragonwar and helped to drive it out. Othar would be very happy to have the chance at a rematch with the foul beast.

 25. Count of Flatrock's home

 26. Count and Countess of Holdfort's home

 27. General Merchandise/Drygoods

 28. Greengrocer

 29. Temple - Elanora, this is a small temple, housing only 5 priests and 7 laybrothers/sisters. The High Priestess here in Castleton can be found at the Temple of All Gods.

 30. Marketplace - an assortment of small vendors and craftspeople can be found here three mornings a week. Two other mornings are alloted to the sale of live animals, and the other two mornings to farmers selling produce and other farm goods.

 31. Temple - Centarius, again a small temple with just the necessary priests; 5 priests, 3 laybrothers, and two knights with their squires. Small private services are often held here rather than at the Temple of All Gods.

 32. House of Ivorr - run by Perdita Delavorr, a cousin of the Headlady in Marig, this shop sells potions and spells, plus will take on trainees, who are kept here only briefly before going to Marig for the bulk of their 3-5 year apprenticeship. The shop has 4 journeymen and 2 master mages who are kept quite busy in the laboratory. Most minor potions and many scrolls up to 3rd level can be purchased here. 

 33. Red Wizards' Society Headquarters - almost an Inn for mages of the order who come and go on their adventuring way. This is the only open location the society has.

 34. The Mint - where gold, silver and copper coins are minted in moderately small amounts, this facility, run by the authority of the King, is also a moneychanger and a moneylender (for merchants and others with well-established credit). It is guarded by the Greenvale Guard, and their units do not assist the Watch.

 35. Jeweler/Gemcutter/Finesmith - this artisan does a bit of everything, but his specialty is creating gold wire jewelry and enameling. His work is very popular at court.

 36. Warehouse

 37. Warehouse.

 38. Warehouse

 39. Stables - The Gryphon's Stables

 40. Scholar - Marek Salerno - specialty is books - their locations and reputed contents, especially from the Second Empire period.

 41. Wizard - Pothonir - a middle-aged man who occasionally trains independent apprentices. He is well-known for his temper, but also for being generous and honest. He is not particularly popular at court, nor with other wizards of Castleton. He makes his living selling scrolls to local mages and simple spells to the poorer folk.

 42. Order House of St. Richard of the Wold, of Safreth. Knightly order has a small house here with about 10 Knights, their squires, servants, men at arms and a few priests. The total population is under 50.

 43. Order House of St Iylyria the Lady, and orphanage. With servants and staff, the adults number about 30, and the orphans nearly 100. There are two to four knights of the order also stationed here, usually training new squires selected from the orphans. 

44. The Prison - this large, imposing stone building on the eastern side of the city is located in a poorer, mixed residential-commercial neighborhood. It houses about 300 "criminals" at any given time, and has a guard force of around 20 people on duty at any time. The Commander of the Prison is an older man who replaced the previous Lady-Commander five years ago. 

45. Home of Count Celebros (the King of Greenvale when he is not acting as King), known as Celebros Tower- Currently houses the Children's Court.