PCs: Karl - human Wizard - and his brother Afton (henchman warrior) who trained in Skalde-hagen

Ted - human Thief -

Astryr - elf ranger - from Aberwyvern, a southern town of Grunstein.

A small town, Snowburne (pop 1,000 with another 3,000 in the valley around it (5-6 villages and many freeholds).

About 15 miles away from a larger town, Prince's Applefell, on a major trade route.  Snowburne is part of the Barony of Deepfell, which also includes Prince's Applefell, where the Baron's keep is located.

Used to be many copper mines (and gemstone?) in hills above town. Only one remains viable; others played out/abandoned. Kobolds?
Climate is northern temperate - winter is not too long, but can get harsh in final month - snow common, blizzards rare but not unheard-of. Spring is wet and muddy, chilly. Summer is short and not too hot, but sunny and humid. Fall is long, crisp and cool, often damp. Ends in miserable weeks of wet, grey weather before snow begins to fall.

Terrain is hilly to the west, flatter to the east, river from hills down narrowish valley to trade-town; road follows river. Not navigable by anything bigger than a canoe.

Townsfolk are mostly small artisans and tradesmen; villagers produce milk, cheese, apples and rye, barley, some wheat and cabbages. Small amounts of fishing in local lakes.

Travelers and outsiders are unusual but not rare. Most are small merchants who come regularly to buy raw materials and sell finished goods in market. Twice yearly large market, weekly local market. Larger market quarterly in trade-town 15 miles away.

Town is walled, close-packed and tightly knit. Most everyone knows everyone, and knows their place in town. Adventurous, rambunctious types are known to be necessary to keep the "wild monsters" at bay, but are not particularly liked. Generally they are seen as leading "youth" astray…

People of Snowburne:
Innkeeper
Smith
Shopkeeper
Guard Captain and Sergeant
Temple Priest

Troublemaking young boys ( Gord, Beej and Poke Mortimer - halfling brothers)

Village Labor Force - Ugg the tame Hill Giant (or maybe he's an ogre)

Problems Snowburne faces:
getting ore from mine to town safely
kobolds (knockers) in mines
goblins or something similar in hills raiding villages/farms

Satyr in the woods on the south side of the river - fairy mound/stone circle

Fears for Snowburne:
If bandits grow worse on roads from Applefell to larger towns, travel could cease.
Tax collectors from kingdom have not been here in two years. Will they come again?
Rumors that winters  in the north have become harsher and are spreading southward.


The Kingdom:  

Adventure Fronts around Snowburne:
Knockers in the Mines:
    Why have several mines closed down? (angry mine owner? middle man who needs ore to sell?)
    Why has the ore quality dropped off so radically? (angry middleman, desperate mine owner)
    What is killing the miners and their guards? (angry, desperate miners - attack mine owner?)
    Who is trying to take over the mines? Why? Are they diverting the ore?

Bandits on the Road:
    Copper ore trains are being hijacked? Or goods coming to Snowburne? Both?

•     bandit king Kurtis and his "woman" run the group between Snowburne and Prince's Apfel.  Who is really in charge?

    Who is supplying bandits with weapons? Why?
    Competitors - one merchant hates another

The Stone Circle:

     Rumored to be a place where folks are caused to vanish away - perhaps to Alfheim - legend says that if one knows the right rituals, one can open the gateway on purpose; some claim it only works for those of royal blood. It is also said that on the dark of the moon, the knockers emerge from a secret door of their own in the mound... and infiltrate the mines, hunting for the ore they love. A satyr has attempted to sacrifice the blood of an innocent mortal there - maybe it is some sort of binding place, preventing some evil from entering the world...

Melock's Pond: Melock was a changeling; his mother left him beside the river in his cradle and he was stolen away by river-elves; he returned from alfheim as an adult, after he espied the miller's daughter and fell in love with her. She spurned him, and he spent the whole rest of his life attempting to return to alfheim by diving into the pool here...

Grunstein is large, and was quite wealthy until the past 2-3 generations, wherein the kingdom has slowly fallen on hard times. The current king is now  an old man, and he has four sons who feud and dispute over who should rule when he falls.

Places in the Kingdom:

Skalde-Hagen - where the bardic school lies; many famed story-tellers, bards and skalds come from their halls. And the occasional wizard, as well... About 5 days travel from Prince's Apfel, to the east/north? (Not the coastal city to east - it is further north than that, in a mountainous region). Master Unar is a wizard who dwells there; he's known as a scholar and a gentleman. The Silver Pony  is a middle-quality Inn in town. The town is rugged and hilly.

Town of Dugenberg at the fork  in the  High Road to Skalde-Hagen. Reputed to be founded by dwarves, is a very somber and formal place. Many smiths and metalworkers; there are iron mines nearby. It is said to be against the law to crack a joke in town. Middle-quality Inn named the Bedrock Inn and Tavern. Captain Carissa was staying here; she appeared to be recruiting for mercenaries in the hire of Prince Foldehund, even though she's a member of the King's Guard.

Whales - the city on the southern coast. Famous for the glassblowers who live there; white sand beaches are regularly struck by lightning, forming glass that the craftsmen use. Whales in the ocean nearby may control the lightning? It strikes the city when anyone hunts them. The city is very very old. Recently the docks have closed due to lightning strikes, the dockworkers are out of work, trade has been disrupted. What is upsetting the whales? Why is lightning blasting the city?

Carnivorous Pine Forest; legend says that the dense pine forest between Prince's Apfel and Whales contains carnivorous trees - their sap exudes a sleep-scent and then they smother the sleeper so as to use his body for food. Is this true? Or do travelers who wander into the woods simply get lost and die of exposure?

Lizard-Swamp; a large swampy area not far north of Whales, which the road skirts, is famed for housing vicious lizards, which are said to attack travelers, and eat them.

Grundenburg - capitol city, on the East Coast - on the High Road.

People of the Kingdom

The four sons of King Ethemund are restless, striving against each other to be their father's successor when he dies.

Foldehund - great warrior, believes in force, might makes right. Leads army, lesser knights all admire him

Valemar - lesser warrior, more cunning, uses strategy. Has several allied barons.

Torgard -  wizard. Has backing of Skalde-haven, mostly. Some rumors of black magic.

Eldred - priest/paladin - follows Lords of Light - too morally upright?

Facts and rumors that the PCs have learned:

     Prince Foldehund is recruiting mercenaries to hunt bandits and put down civil uprisings, or so it is said.

     Lady Ellemarie, the illegitimate daughter of King Ethemund, is missing. She may have been kidnapped.

     There are grave-robberies occurring all across Grunstein - it appeared that it was the work of competent and careful robbers, who were met by wagons on the road. A large operation?

     Master Unar is the wizard who trained Karl. He admits that Karl is the youngest of the wizards yet known to dwell in Grunstein, who number only FIVE!

     Ellie the serving maid from the Bedrock Inn is really Ellemarie; she's running away from what she feared was an arranged political marriage. She's only 11. Astryr dyes her orange hair and renames her Ros. She becomes the acolyte and younger sister of Trinka, follower of the Lords of Light. Ellie says Torgard is "scary" and Valemar is "never truthful". She likes Eldred, but says he would make her go home and obey her father.