1)
Whitehorn gets its name because of its sharp crags (‘horns’) and because it marks the southerly extent of the “always snow” line; in other words, to the south of it, the land has seasons, but the crags of Whitehorn, and the…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
2)
…lower land between them, are permanently cloaked in snow. Except in one place: the Favoured Fields of Chauntea, a temple-farm of the goddess of the Great Mother sited where it is because warmth coming up from volcanic rifts 3)
…in the Underdark beneath is used to warm water that’s mule-circle-trot-pumped through extensive tile “drains” to warm and water the hand-tended growing fields.
A trading and resupply town for prospectors, miners, and…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
4)
…woodcutters active in this part of the Ride grew up around the temple-farm two centuries ago, and many wagon- and sledge-repairers and tool-makers settled and set up their shops and smithies there.
Whitehorn is defended and5)
…policed by a militia, paid by a 1 sp “gate tax” for all departing wagons, and is governed by a five-member voting merchant council who elect (from among their number) a Steward to speak their decrees publicly and to serve as…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
6)
…the local magister (judge). Their works are funded by a 2 gp/year “hearth tax” paid by all households; inns, taverns, and smithies pay double, other businesses pay nothing at all. Three weavers have workshops in Whitehorn, 7)
…but the reeking local tannery, Askel’s Leatherworks, was long ago banished to the far side of an outlying crag, about a mile downwind of the town. Persistent orc raids led to a palisade and drawbridge, plus spike-lined pit…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
8)
…traps, being built around it in the mid-1300s DR. The current tanner is the seventh generation of the Askel family to turn out boots, belts, weathercloaks, tack, and leather armor here.
Whitehorn has never had walls, but it 9)
…has had a series of ditches with steep earth ramparts inside them, to make the town easier to defend (mainly against raiding ogres, orcs, goblins, and flind). It keeps outgrowing these defenses, and remains a rough-and-ready… #Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
10)
…‘frontier’ place.
Determined to keep the town around them safe and civilized, the clergy of Chauntea long ago invited clerics of Helm to set up their own temple, and police and defend the town with armed priests and lay… 11)
…worshippers, which they did, building a small fortified temple with a lookout tower spire, Helmwatch House. In the 1390s DR, ballistae were installed atop the tower, to command the land around Whitehorn. Locals claim…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
12)
…“hundreds” of orcs and other prowling monsters have been slaughtered while attacking Whitehorn, which “has never fallen.”
Whitehorn’s population swells in summer and falls sharply in winter, but its winter low is sixscore or 13)
…so below two thousand. Its badge and banner display a white equilateral triangle, single point up, on a red field, the red being the blood of orcs slain or fought off, and the triangle representing the tallest of the town’s…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
14)
…three crags, Old Jaw, which rises in the center of Whitehorn and has always been a lookout and hosted a signal beacon to warn of orc hordes.
Whitehorn is well-patrolled, has muddy streets but stone cottage homes rather than 15)
…the hastily-built shacks that once predominated, dozens of wells, two taverns: The Bowshot Moon (Good/Moderate; cozy and rustic) and The Seven Split Skulls (Poor/Cheap; a brawlers’ haven); three inns: Graelhund’s Warm Rest…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
16)
…(Good/Moderate; homey, quiet, and well-worn), The Storm Archer (Excellent/Expensive; the most luxurious accommodations north of the Moonsea outside of the best establishments in Zhentil Keep, having heated baths, and… 17)
…fireplaces in every guestroom), and Blacktusk’s Lair (Poor/Cheap, a dingy, cold place of small dark rooms, many blankets, and scurrying mice). Whitehorn is also home to The Bright Shield, which is a well-regarded “simple hot…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
18)
…roasts, soups, and stews” eatery by day, and a festhall of “savage tender pleasures” by night.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020