Pauneron is a small mining community that was settled a mere two hundred years ago by a small group of dwarven miners. These miners had stayed because they discovered sizable veins of silver, iron and gold. For roughly a hundred years, the town was very propserous, yet remained relatively small. The inhabitants led a simple, happy life full of friendship and kinship with the other dwarves who lived there.
Some of the dwarves that settled Pauneron, as can be expected out of a group of dwarves, were metalsmiths. During the time they lived here, they worked on and mastered their own, distinctive, high-quality styile of metalwork. Many of the items which were wrought of the metals mined here were sold to the traders that passed through the town on their way to and from the port city of Tyrador in the north, and the city of Eltace. through word of mouth and these traders, the Pauneron dwarves' wares became famous throughout the lands.
Then, on a night when the twin moons of Kolos didn't rise, a mysterious mist settled in. It left before the dawn. Unknown to anyone, the mist left behind a certain vampiric dwarf who very much by accident escaped the demiplane of dread, Ravenloft. At first, he was disoriented as his surroundings changed completely, but as he became more familiar with his environment, he began to create his own dominion. This included Pauneron. As time went on, word of strange disappearances and stranger creatures spread through the settlement, carried by the traders who passed through the town. Some of the citizens disappeared, while other were able to figure out what was going on, and they took steps to prevent getting the disease. As time went on, the citizens of Pauneron spread word not to come here during hours of darkness because of the danger from the creatures of the woods. Most travelers heed this warning, but there are still some who haven't heard. These are the ones who aren't heard from again!
Most of the residents think that the vampire of Pauneron is a dwarf. Little do they know that this changed about 25 years ago. A new vampire, a human, moved into the territory, bringing with him humans to inhabit the town. After he had collected enough minions, he successfully overthrew the Reign of the Night that the dwarven vampire had previously possessed. After a horrible battle, the dwarven vampire had perished.
The town itself is small, consisting only of living quarters for the residents, and four small shops. One of these shops is a farm market, where produce of all kinds may be purchased, along with chicken and other meats. This shop is only open during the daylight hours, and there is always a lingering garlic smell to it. The proprietor and his family live in the sparse rooms upstairs. During the day, the mother conducts business in the store while her husband and their two children work in the fields of their farm. The farm is in no way large, but it is enough to provide the family with food for the year, and to sell during the harvest seasons, that they may repair their equipment and purchase their other needs. The livestock, kept in the back of the farm in a garlicky-smelling barn, are well maintained. The farm is located about a half a league east of the market.
Across the main road from the farm market is the inn, called the Flat Grape. The innkeeper will only admit people during daylighthours, or at night if they show him their teeth.
The outfitters shop is the third building. It is run by a man who likes to keep up on the goings-on in the world (50% chance of knowing something about just about anything). Often he will have small magical items or scrolls for sale, but he charges an extravagant amount of money for each item. He believes that there will always be another adventurous sucker to buy what he has to sell.
The houses of the town are set in from the road about 100 feet. Overall, a quaint place, considering the constant threat they are forced to live with.
The mines to the west of the town are mostly closed down. There were at one time eight, but onow only two remain active. They are worked by agroup of four dwarven miners and three human miners. the sealed mines are twhere the dwarven vampires made their homes. Their treasure still lies within, but none have dared enter the sealed mines for fear of death!
Stirnus
This was written intending to be told to players that come from this town. Keep that in mind
when you read this.
You grew up here in Stirnus. The weather here is somewhat cold, but you've gotten used to
it. You know that the only time to worry about the weather is when you see the clouds starting
to build up in the southern mountains. Most people who travel through the town are usually
heard complaining about the weather, but the natives just smile to themselves and keep going.
Often they are going to the lake that is within the outer castle walls for a swim. Everyone
who heads there is native. For this reason, everyone talks about how cold the water is. But
what the non-natives don't know is that the pool is heated from below somehow (sages seem to
think some fire-dwelling creature has made his home there, but who believes them anyway?).
To the right of the road leading out of the west side of Stirnus is a trail that leads north
about three miles to a place people call the Crag. It is a collection of flat-top hills
surrounded by cliffs. There is a painting of them in the foyer of the manor of Stirnus, along
with directions (that tell people how to get to them by going south!). It makes for great fun
in the winter when most of the kids and a lot of the older people head there to slide down the
more sloping sides of the hills. A favorite run is almost seven miles long! In the middle is
a rock tower that is three times as high as the surrounding hills are, and just north and east
of that (about three miles away) is the only completely sloped hill. The hill itself is known
as "Crag Hill."
West of Crag Hill, about five miles distant (although much longer if you are walking) is a
huge cave, about a mile deep, called Pentlev's Pit (named for the famed halfling thief who
stored half the town's gold there before getting caught). Since a lot of kids like to play
there, the town of Stirnus commissioned a group of dwarves who built supports and many other
things there for the children.
One of the rituals of childhood in Stirnus is to go to the caves and stay overnight while a
group of older kids try to scare you off. One time, a group of adventurers found the cave, but
didn't want to go to Stirnus first. At the time, a group o fkids was staying there and the
older kids did such a good job of being scary that the adventurers (of rather high standing)
ran like scared rabbits! They ran straight into the younger kid's camp and, being of a good
nature, tried to rescue the kids who, of course, refused to go. The look on their faces was
priceless when the kids explained to them waht had been going on!
You heard from the latest group of kids that ventured into the Crag, that a big section of
the cliff has broken away revealing a small tunnel leading into the hill at a sharp downward
angle. The other kids of the town convinced the ones who found it not to tell their parents
about it until one of them checked it out.
Also, coming from here, you know that the merchants on the west side of town aren't too
reputable, and that armor and weapons bought from them has been known to break. The merchants
on the east side of the town have good merchandise, but it is very overpriced! And for those
of you who think you can haggle them down, you can't. All they say is for you to "go see the
Westers if you don't have the price."
Geographically speaking, Stirnus is on the northern part of the borderline between the
Hundred-Mile-Hills and the Aarakocra Mountains, and about twenty miles off the northern coast
of the Viking Continent. It is a little more than one hundred miles west of Tyrador, the
largest city in the area. Also, about a hundred and thirty miles south (as the crow flies) is
the Forest of the Sprites. A trade route to Tyrador has been established through the fishing
communities on the north shore to the east, and is currently being put together in the
direction of the dwarven city in the west. The rocks on the north shore in this area prevent
any large trade ships from docking nearby, so the trade route is heavily relied upon.
Chirrol
Chirrol is an elven city located on the Great Owlbear Lake. It is home to the largest
library on Kolos, with books ranging from Archery to Zoology and then some. It is an
exclusive library, which most people have not seen the inside of. The city tends to be
elf-centric; they do not welcome the other races, calling humans "too compulsive to study at
their library," and having the same opinions about many other races. Orcs are killed on sight,
but they are warned with a sign (written in orcish) that this is the fate that will befall them
if they choose to journey near the city.
