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Located east of Aricum by about 12 miles,  life in Hills Port revolves around mining and farming. Located near several rich mines, the bulk of the town stands in a deep dell a short distance back from the shore. Thus protected from the worst gales battering the coast, the lower parts of the village, where the poorest folk dwell, are unfortunately prone to flooding during fierce storms. These subsections of town are known as Uptown and the Shore. No fortification protects the folk of Hill's Port, but weekly patrols from Aricum pass by the town. Further to the east lies nothing but broken shoreline and unexplored forest. Few villagers dare to travel far in that direction. Hill's Port is also surrounded by the best farmland in Southmoor, without the open forest that covers much of the land nearer Aricum and to the west. 

A scheming, duplicitous man, the mayor of Hills Port, Jacca Lander, lines his own pockets at his fellows’ expense. He is well aware of the drug manufacture and smuggling, and takes a cut of each. He also uses the smuggling ships to send magic items he purchases (untaxed) and exports illegally. Lander makes certain that the Baroness (or her tax man) always receives her full due from all legal activity and so the smuggling/drug manufacture situation has not yet reached the Magistrates' ears. The scheming Mayor's retention of a small band of toughs keeps the locals in line. Lady Phaedra has her eye on Lander, and if/when she is ready to set up her slave-running operation, may well use Hills Port as her base of operations.

Locations in Town:

Town Hall: this location houses the Mayor's office, the Court, the Tax Office, the Jail, and is next door to the Barracks of the Aricum Guard, who patrol this far east on a weekly basis, and generally stay overnight before swinging north and back west. The Town Hall is located on the edge of Market Square in Uptown. 

Crossed Blades Tavern - a hobbyt-run place, known as a good clean place for a hot meal and a glass or two of beer. Folksy and comfortable.

The White Tankard: A human commoner's tavern, built around a large central table with the bar in the middle.

Lesym's Armory: A modest armorer's workshop, built around a shrine of Kehret, God of War.

Abel's Pottery: A large potter's workshop, which is actually a front for the smuggling of Blacksap.

Temple of All Gods - this is one of the most important locations in town other than the Town Hall. Hany is the Priest of the Temple, and leads all the major celebrations and holy observances, including Sunrise and Sunset services on most days. He has two deacons and a few dedicated lay-followers who have regular jobs, but assist as they can. Hany is under the aegis of Conservator Osman in Aricum, but rarely sees him, and sends only brief monthly reports. One of his two deacons, Winifred (of Elanora) is very concerned about the folk she sees coming into town who are ill of some terrible wasting disease, and who seem to have little or no memory of their recent past, but since she knows nothing about the drug smuggling or manufacture, she cannot understand what is happening. 

1 Inn

a dozen craftsmen/shops, and a farmer's market that operates 2-3 days a week. 

1 small temple and several shrines

Barracks for the Aricum Guard who patrol out here

A few NPCs:

• Ecin: Female Human Aristocrat, Neutral. Ecin is exceptionally beautiful, with cropped gray hair and hazel eyes. She wears expensive clothing and numerous rings. Ecin is alluring and insensitive. Ecin is one of the Hag's charmed servants. She owns several shops in town, and is a member of the Meredian Mercantile Association. She is not directly involved in the smuggling operation, but she does cover for it if necessary. 
• Hany: Male Human Cleric of Elanora, Neutral. Hany has a long face, with braided brown hair and green eyes. He wears banded mail and wields a quarterstaff. Hany has an animal companion, a sable ferret named Symond. Hany is less interested in the protection of the wellbeing of the community than in raising his own crops and tending his garden. He owns several large farms outside town, and turns a blind eye to the harvesting of Fernberries nearby. Hany is married; his wife and children live on one of the farms he owns, and are generally good bucolic farmfolk. 
• Tomes: Male Human Captain of the Town Watch, Evil. Tomes is rough in appearance, with golden hair and sharp amber eyes. He wears leather armor and wields a short sword. Tomes is also under the influence of the Hags. He is well aware of the manufacturing and smuggling that goes on in and around Hills Port, and as long as he receives his pay-off, is not offended in the least. In fact, he often assists with smuggling operations. He runs his small contingent of watchmen quite firmly, and they are all under his thumb.
• Joane: Female Human Adventurer, Evil. Joane has auburn hair and narrow brown eyes. She wears fine raiment and jewelry. She is a follower of Aragh, and is in the pay of the priests of Aragh in Stoneheart. She keeps an ear to the ground for powerful magical items, and will attempt to buy any she can afford. She is NOT in the sway of the hags, but is aware that Tomes is involved in the smuggling trade. 
• Carak: half-elf herbalist, Neutral Evil. Carak is the head of the drug manufacturing business in Hills Port. He spends most of his days at the mine, monitoring production, and his evenings at the White Tankard, meeting his business associates. He has long silvery-grey hair and eyes, and faintly greenish complection. He enjoys his wine and will be present at most every celebration or party in town. He is married to Alcina, a human woman who serves as Hill's Port's midwife. They have no children, and are not particularly fond of each other. 
• Lame Abel: pottery owner - human Male, Evil. Abel is in his sixties, a jovial-looking, big man with a thick moustache and short grey fringe of hair but no beard. He always wears a work apron, and has clay on his hands. However, he is a sharp businessman and never loses out on a bargain made. He works his potters hard, making good but plain working ceramics. His specialty is crocks, urns and other storage pots, rather than fine eating-ware or decorative goods. 

Events and Activities in the area:

Farms and fishermen's homes around Hill's Port are occasionally raided and burned, especially those on the east side of the town. Locals claim that whatever does the raiding comes up out of the river, but there's no actual proof of it. Something comes in the night, for certain, but there's never been good evidence of what, or from where. 

About 40 years ago, it was discovered that a particular type of berry that grows in the hills north-west of Hills Port contains a hallucinogenic element, which can be compounded into several versions of a potent drug. The most common is produced by rendering the berries and concentrating the syrup into a thick paste. This paste can then be stored for many months before it spoils. Unfortunately, the process used is quite hazardous, and exposure causes addiction and slow death to the workers who produce it. The berries are innocuously known as Sweet Fernberries, and are, in their natural form, edible if somewhat sleep-inducing. The local Hobbyt population enjoys a tea made from the Fernbush leaves known as Redfern tea. The drug is known as Blacksap in its processed form. Illegal harvesting, processing and smuggling out of the Barony of Blacksap is a lucrative trade in this area. 

One nearby old mine has been converted into a manufactory for Blacksap; several shiploads of slaves from Miran (courtesy of Lady Phaedra, tho the operators are not aware of that) have been brought in and they both gather the plant material and process it. When they inevitably become addicted to the drug and too ill to work, they are given a potion that fogs their memories and then dumped around Hill's Port or in the direction of Aricum and Ogdenville. Carak and Abel, the pottery owner, are the two co-managers of the drug operation. Carak handles the production, while Abel handles the transport; he delivers empty pots to Carak's mine, where they are filled with the Blacksap, and then collects them. The filled pots are packed as if they are ordinary pottery, but instead of being taken for sale in Aricum, they are loaded secretly onto one of three smuggling ships, and then sent back to Greenvale or Miran to be smuggled in, and sold at enormous profit there. A single pot of Blacksap costs pennies to manufacture with slave labor here, and sells for ten times that much in Greenvale, where it is divided, cut, and resold in tiny "pipes" to be smoked or used in other ways. 

Hills Port has a population of about 1,000, almost all human with a few hobbyts.