Over the hill ahead of you lies the Village of Carlion. Except that is is now in ruins, with all of the wooden buildings burning fiercely and the few stone buildings flattened to the ground. Wreckage and the charred the remains of peasants and soldiers litter the streets giving off a terrible smell. Several vultures pick through the bodies, one of which is clubbed away by an old man wearing grey robes.
Can Carlion be Saved?
In 1982 I wrote my second Basic D&D adventure. The first entry was a single paragraph introduction to the adventure (above) concerning the destruction of the town of Carlion by a black dragon. With little encouragement beyond a need to bring justice, the players are expected to hike up into the mountains to confront a black dragon.
To provide for a small trading post that can be used in any fantasy campaign setting. I have given Carlion a full detailing, before the arrival of the dragon. When there was still hope it could be saved.
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| Welcome to Carlion |
Carlion
Carlion is located well north of Stillwater valley at the end of a trail from the village of Grimwell. Carlion was established fifty years ago as a trading post for trappers, loggers, and the odd homesteader. The current village has grown to a population of 30 in recent years. The village leader is Dragfinn Noss, the owner of much of the property in the village. Noss owns and runs the Provision shop, handed down from his father Atle. From the profits, he has purchased much of the rest of the village. He helped fund the building of the Temple, he owns a small market, the warehouse, the Inn and the Townhall. Noss also pays the wages of the five men-at-arms who protect the village.
Carlion lies in the middle of a flat valley floor in the shadow of Mount Vorhut, a long, quiet volcano. The Darkrun stream passes through the center of the village bringing cold, snowmelt water from the nearby mountains.
Carlion is surrounded by a wood palisade that is nine feet tall. The palisade has withstood two, night assaults by goblins in the past 15 years but generally, it has dissuaded most local humanoid tribes. In times of trouble, the five men-at-arms are bolstered by a 15 person militia of able-bodied locals.
Entry to Carlion
The two gates into Carlion face roughly north and south. The north gate remains closed unless someone requests it to be opened. The south gate is open from dawn to dusk. It is manned by two men-at-arms at all times. The men-at-arms are only checking for obvious trouble makers, most everyone is welcome in Carlion.
Noss Provisions
The town provision shop is the largest building in Carlion. Over the years extensions have been added onto the front and back of the wood building. It is one of the few two-story buildings in Carlion. The second story rooms are the personal apartments of Dragfinn Noss and his family.
In the main shop, visitors can find a wide selection of goods. Most of the common items in any Player’s Handbook equipment list. Prices start at +20% rulebook listed prices. There are no metal weapons. There are mundane hammers, axes, and knives but none designed for combat. The shop does sell dried rations.
Dragfinn Noss - Human, middle-aged (45). The owner is also the leader of the village. As has been noted he owns much of the property. His trading company buys a lot of the furs and meat brought in by trappers. He also provisions the town with food and equipment. Noss drives a hard bargain. He knows he has a monopoly and his prices reflect this.
Noss Family - wife (46), two sons (22, 20). Emelia is married to Noss. It was an arranged marriage and she had never met Noss before arriving in Carlion. She is reasonably happy with the arrangement and Noss treats her well. She does not help in the running of the business. Jorn and Ove are the two sons. Both work in the provision shop. Ove is the youngest and he also trains regularly with the men-at-arms. Ove is ready to set out on life as an adventurer. He has never seen another settlement and longs to see the big towns of the south.
Torn Shoe Tavern
The tavern was purchased by Noss from Marta Dahl when she pulled up stakes and moved to Pirn. Marta called the tavern the Torn Shoe because she stopped in Carlion to get a boot repaired and then stayed awhile. Marta was a sometime caravan guard and adventurer.
The tavern ground floor has three rooms for guests. On the roof of the three rooms is an area in the rafters where the tavern workers sleep. The rest of the ground floor is the kitchen and tavern. There are four tables each surrounded by stools. The tavern has a limited list of food and drinks available (ale, water, wine, porridge, venison, stew).
Working at the tavern is the Innkeeper Agnar Loberg (human, 34) and the barmaid Gunnhild Jelle (human, 36).
Hunter
A small wooden shack near the south gate is the home of Nesby, a human hunter. Nesby makes his living hunting deer and selling the meat and hides to Noss.
Nesby - human middle-aged 35. Nesby has long, matted, grey hair and dresses in simple leather clothes of his own manufacture. Nesby is a good source of information on the local area all of the way up into the mountains.
Blacksmith
Across from the shack of the hunter is the workshop of Rob Hegge the village blacksmith. The main building is a shop and at the back are three rooms - private rooms and kitchen. Attached to the building is a lean-to style shed that is open on the front and houses the forge.
Rob Hegge - human 28. Rob is adept and making nails, horseshoes and barrel hoops. He is assisted by his son Ulf (14). Rob’s wife Rebecca works in the shop.
The smith can shoe adventurers horses but it not of much help on other items. He has never forged or repaired armor or weapons.
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| Looking West |
The charcoaler burns wood collected in the nearby forests to produce charcoal that other villagers use to heat their stoves and fireplaces. The smith also makes use of the product.
Ragnar Bonde - human 32. Ragnar is a perpetually filthy human covered in soot.
Carpenter
The carpenter’s shop is build of freshly painted pine boards. Half of the area under the roof is the home of the carpenter. The other half under the roof is open. Under this roof is a plie of raw logs, and freshly cut wooden boards. There is a long work table with tools lying on it.
Leiv Caspar - human 34 is the carpenter. He maintains the bridge over the river and repairs most of the buildings in the village.
Caspar family - wife Marta 25, daughter Aud 8 and son Bard 6. Marta has her hands full with the two children most of the time.
Small Market
The small market is a simple wooden building with a large open front. When the shutters over this area are pitched open a table is placed under the window where local vegetables are displayed for sale. Inside are wooden boxes full of vegetables. The building is managed by Ove Graven (human age 24) on behalf of Noss. It is open most days in the summer between dawn and a few hours before dusk. The rest of the year it is closed and Ove works at the Tavern.
Erland Market
The market is the second largest building in the village. It is made of wood that has aged grey. Bendik Erland is the owner of this market. The ground floor of the building is a shop that sells food and some general items. Most of the items are imported into Carlion.
Bendik Erland - human 44. Bendik has lived most of his life in Carlion. He is the second most important land holder in Carlion. He is assisted by his son Reidar (age 21). His wife died ten years ago.
Cobbler/Tinker
The cobbler’s shop is a small, single-story cottage. The front half of the cottage is the tinker/cobbler shop with various benches holding leather goods. Hanging from the rafters are pots and pans. The back half of the cottage is the living area for the cobbler Nils Mossing.
Nils Mossing - human age 26. Nils repairs shoes and pots and pans for a living. There is a large opening on the front of the cottage facing the street. During the day when Nils is working it is open allowing passersby to view his shop. Nils is a notorious drunkard, but when sober he does reasonably good work.
Noss Warehouse
Near the river is a large, wooden warehouse. Nearby, is a wooden dock. The warehouse is currently full so there is a large number of barrels resting on the ground outside the warehouse. The door to the warehouse has a chain and padlock on it. The key is held by Dragfinn Noss. Inside are furs packed to be sent south and goods for which there is not enough room in the provision shop.
Sanctum of Eses
There is a small, stone temple in the village. Noss paid for its construction and brought the dwarf Age Hofstad to the village to build it. The temple is of solid construction and is a place of safe refuge for the villagers if the village is attacked. Inside there are small shrines to six, popular local gods. The main altar in the center of the back wall is devoted to Eses a god of the wild places.
Father Solberg - human male priest of Eses, age 45. Solberg was convinced to move to Carlion by Noss. He gets an annual stipend and his food is free.
Father Solberg resides in a wooden extension added onto the back of the stone temple.
Noss Stable
The wooden stable has six stalls for animals. There is a small loft that holds fresh hay and a sleeping area for the stable boy Dag. Noss owns two horses that are stabled here.
Dag - human male boy age 14.
Great Hall
Carlion has a small town hall. The hall rests on a closed wooden platform. There is a wooden porch at the front of the hall. Inside is a large, single room. Cots and hammocks have been set up for the five men-at-arms hired by Noss to protect the town. Town meetings are held in this hall. There are three men and two women fighters hired by Noss to protect the village.
Men-at-arms (5), Alt Sharpe, Ramsey Mac, Hugo Dani, Ina Helly, and Cara Moris.
Baker
The town bakers are Marius and Hannah. They are there three children live in this wooden cottage and run a bakery as well. For the most part, they make loaves of bread. But their son Simon is able to make passable pastries when they have the supplies to do so.
Marius and Hannah Voll - humans aged 45 and 43. There children Dan (19), Simon (17) and Anne (14).
Mason
The loan non-human member of the village is Age Hofstad, a dwarf. He is an outcast from his mountain clan and has lived among humans for more than 20 years (he is 55 years old). Noss brought Age to Carlion to build the temple. He has remained because he likes the solitude and the nearness of the nearby mountains. He occasionally repairs the foundations of some of the buildings in town.
To the North
North of the village of Carlion are foothills rise into mountains including Mount Vorhut. The mountains are the home of humanoid races and have been a source of trouble for the region. Because of this, a small, two-story stone watchtower was built on the top of a flat hill. The tower is visible from Carlion. The Watchtower has a permanent garrison of five soldiers from the Realm.
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| Carlion Map |
