BRIAR

BRIAR (Village)

Pop. 450: (Humans: 70%, Halflings: 26%, Half-elves: 2%, Elves: 1%, Dwarves: 1%)
Gold Piece Limit: 200 gp
Assets: 4500 gp
Militia: 5 Riverguards (Full-time), 23 Conscriptable Individuals

The Village of Briar

Briar is a small village along the Silver River that runs from the Silver Lake in the midst of the Iron Hills and into Kuveros IX's lands, forming the eastern border of Kuvera, until it empties into Mare Luna in Athri.

Briar was founded in response to the number of trading caravans coming from Elan seeking to use it as a jump-off point for continued travel into Kuvera or east along the New Road towards the city-states and nations of the west.

The village is ruled by a River-master, who is the appointed representative of Kuveros IX. Briar is supported by taxes taken from caravans coming down the river, as well as the fees collected from the boatmen who use the village as their main place of business. The village's food comes from the river, as well as a few small farmsteads south of the village along the Old Road.

Authority Figures

River-master Phuram Dayal (LN male human Rogue 5; Diplomacy +8, Sense Motive +8, Use Rope +7), the head of the river operations and de facto leader of Briar.

Radraan of Belsameth (NE male human Cleric 4; Alchemy +3, Spellcraft +5), Keeper of the Midnight Shrine, the local shrine to Belsameth. Radraan is a silken speaker and very charismatic, though his charming smiles rarely reach his eyes.

Capitan Bearclaw (NG male human Ranger 5), Captain of the Riverguard, Briar's militia force.

Important Characters

Paransala (LE female human Wizard 3) is the only real wizard of note in Briar. It is whispered that she and Radraan are lovers and co-conspirators (though most refrain from commenting on exactly what they are allegedly conspiring on).

Talbot Cormath (NG male half-elf Bard 3), the Bard of Briar, is well-loved by most of the citizens of Briar, for he spends most of his days wandering the town with a tune on his harp and a song on his lips.

Locales of Note

The Crabpot: A very small tavern specializing in steamed blue crab from the Silver River run by a Hin named Jim Brightheart (NG male halfling Expert 2).

The Riverhouse: The large dock-side offices and warehouses of the River-master, the Riverhouse also serves Briar as a defacto town center and meeting hall. At any time of the day, citizens of the town can be found here, seeking the council or permission of the River-master for some piece of bureaucracy or another.

The Midnight Shrine: This small windowless building houses the town's only altar - dedicated, in this case, to Belsameth (The Dark in Kuveran Pantheon). The large door is engraved with the symbol of the Slayer, and remains shut during the daylight hours. Only during the night is it open for the prayers and sacrifices required of the faithful of Belsameth (The Dark in Kuveran Pantheon).

Blind Horse Inn & Stable: This ramshackle clapboard inn, run by Arngrim Stone (NG male dwarf Exper 1/Druid 1), is at the south-end of Briar on west side of the Old Road. The stable was finely crafted from river stones by Arngrim himself and is notable for its vaulted arch construction. Arngrim is somewhat of a jack-of-all-trades but a bit difficult to negotiate with unless properly lubricated.

Bargaining in Briar

When haggling for better prices, both parties roll a Diplomacy or Profession (Merchant) check. If the merchant wins, the base price is lowered by 5% for every point above the PC he scored. If the PC wins, the price is increased by the same amount. Note that the price should never drop to less than 50% or increase to more than 150% of normal cost.

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