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Ardarr-Norr & surrounding Skarrna

(player info)

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Here is what I've customized for Ardarr-Norr. Some is from the randomizer tools in the HM5 GMG, some I wrote just so players could get anything in the players' handbook, and some is made up entirely.

From the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting, Skarrna is led by eight "skryvvalkers" who have little mutual strife. The two in the book are "Fourhorns", who runs the island Voritti as a hemp farm, and "Thelka", who is like the mayor of the city-state of Ardarr-Norr. It also includes Hreslin the gnome sage and names "Viljar" as Thelka's advisor and Hurrkal the wizard as Viljar's enemy. The rest of the NPCs were rolled up + written by me or are from player characters' families. I wrote all the shop descriptions.

The chief Skrywalker is the "earl" who lives in and commands Ardarr Fortress and its heavy cavalry. The earl appoints high-level advisors, sets foreign trade policies, and may dole out justice, including exile from Ardarr-Norr.

Skrywalkers
name gender/pronoun ancestry clan's expertise name of gang and of skryfort
Thelka F Fhokki & Dejy weaving, embroidery, tailoring, suturing The Talon Freaks of Bloody Wolf Keep
Fourhorns M Fhokki & Dejy soil management, growing times and seasons, efficient harvesting The Scalding Grypes of Horns Den
Wugara F Raitho-Dejy horse training, mounted archery on mountainous terrain The Spite Thugs of Wicked Crow Castle
Kirra Hairylegs F Drohkker falconry, religious lore and history The Ravager Monks of Horse Chopper Monastery
Dirak T Half-woodelf Half-fhokki numerous kinds of tanning and leatherwork The Glutton Hounds of Barrow Soot Keep
Burgo M Torakki hunting and skinning, making very good fur tents The Jagged Hogs of Vile Gremlin Castle
Yunyar M Half-orc Half-raitho mining, converting caves into lairs, weaponizing any minerals in them The Bristle Beasts of Gutwrench Castle
Bearmer M Half-kalamaran Half-fhokki boating, fishing, rope use, net-weaving The Impaler Bastards of Swamp Dog Keep

Thelka has four supporting "barons" on the mainland. Fourhorns has two barons on his island Voritti. Each baron has a keep. The rest of the skryvvalkers basically run "gangs".

name alignment castle name
Baroness Vashela CG Bonny Elk Chateau
Baron Nimar NG Butterfly Castle
Baroness Dojzaru LG Tanager Keep
Baron Norri LG Coral Estate
(mainland barons)
Vashela
image A stout woodswoman who wants to understand life. She leads the Order of the Black Lion.
enemies ice fairies, various separate orcs, giants, grel, grevans
likes fungus teas
dislikes sweets
famous deeds Repelled the ice fairies into Narrajy orc territory. Camped a hunting party through a snowstorm using 20 dogs for warmth. Kills trolls.
famous mistakes Imprisoned a grel who escaped and killed a dozen men-at-arms. Burned a thicket down fighting a troll. Had a trained truffle pig burgled.
service to nearby people
  • trains hunting-lodge hunters if they are reasonably famous and honorable
  • routs highwaymen off the highway
  • her small company sells preserved meats, furs, and herbs to shyff merchants
immediate family married with 3 children; husband "Lukhan"

Nimar
image A very large follower of the Raiser who loves elves. He tries his best to feed everyone wheat. He is an expert at growing plants and managing farms.
enemies ice fairies; magnet for evil priests
likes elves, including grel to an extent
dislikes moneylenders
famous deeds Killed a corrupt guard in a duel. Freed a wrongfully-jailed foreigner. Drove out a monastery of locust-priests.
famous mistakes Had a family of tenants killed by mercenaries. Lost a field to a clan of idlers. Was once poisoned and robbed by an elf.
service to nearby people
  • Every wheat farmer harvests with an accompanying festival in autumn. Nimar harvests in summer too.
  • Maintains a small army and signal network of local volunteers
  • Pays well to farmers, roadworkers, engineers, and more. Subsidizes midwives for the needy.
immediate family divorced, 3 children; ex-husband "Merlur"

Dojzaru
image A Reanaarian/Dejy merchant and sailor who believes sincerely in fair pay for honest work, and in "full disclosure" in business. Her family is originally from Gaalia. She leads the Sunny Barterers, and trades wholesale with overseas merchants.
enemies Gaalia, Zoan Commerce Consortium, Golden Alliance, Order of the Blue Salamander, various slavers & pirates
likes garlic
dislikes sports
famous deeds Exposed a seller of lemon horses. Caught a gnome hawking fools-gold, who was exiled from Skarrna. Disclosed a merchant company selling human leather as "ape leather".
famous mistakes Was charmed into donating weapons to shady soldiers. Tried selling a captive smilodon in Macot, which escaped. Unknowingly sold 100,000 melting sheafs of paper to Ardarr-Norr university.
service to nearby people
  • runs an honest merchant guild "The Sunny Barterers"
  • is occasionally persuaded to buy slaves from foreigners to rehabilitate and free them
  • investigates swindlers, poisoners, fraud, and probable schemers
immediate family married, 6 children; husband "Hregult"

Norri
image A drab and serious man of Drokkher descent. Norri is a miner, geologist, alchemist, and astronomer. He keeps a meticulously catalogued rock collection.
enemies slen, hurrkul, arachnid-men, separate giants and orcs
likes cabbage juice
dislikes plain, fresh, crystal-clear water
famous deeds Discovered a cavern rich in gold, lead, and cassiterite (inhabited by trolls). Found a comet flying between the moons Diadolai and Pelselond. Once spoke at length with a rogue arachnid-man.
famous mistakes Has made 2 experimental iron ships which both rapidly sunk. Has been rebuffed by giant eagles multiple times. Lost a salt mine to acid-flooding and noxious fumes.
service to nearby people
  • Chief foreman of the Ardarr-Norr mint.
  • Writes books about mining, dungeoneering (including trap designs), and surviving underground.
  • Knows the nomadic paths and ways of wild barbarians throughout the land.
immediate family Married, 3 children; wife "Mabba"

Thelka
image Barbarian anointed by The Way of Berserk. Fought 6 skrywalker gangs to retain ownership of Ardarr-Norr. Wiry old woman with missing front teeth.
enemies all of the barons' plus: planar outsiders, lawful-neutral priests, Kalamar
likes loud singing
dislikes books, writing, mages
famous deeds Drafted an incompetent weaver in Stackton. Melted down a Vicelord altar. Torched a docked Kalamaran merchant ship.
famous mistakes Tried to conquer the mermen. Badly improvises prayers. Chain-smokes while in temples.
service to nearby people
  • fights crime
  • expels nuisances
  • maintains highway structure and safety
immediate family widowed, 8 children; late husband "Norath", the former earl

Viljar
image An advisor to Thelka, Ardarr-Norr's military commander. Patient and heavyset.
likes honey
dislikes hangings
famous deeds Wiped out a Slennish mountain fort. Negotiated an alliance with the gnome titans. Exposed a shoddy armor embezzlement scheme.
famous mistakes Lost a nuisance wizard who fireballed a neighborhood. Sunk a slaver ship, including the slaves. Was thrown by a fire giant while engaging orcs.
service to nearby people
  • oversees the Ardarr-Norr guard
  • oversees the Ardarr-Norr heavy cavalry
  • hunts invaders, tax evaders, and traitors
immediate family married, 2 children; wife Doka

Viljar's subordinates who manage wilderness bases
Lt. Lonna (fort blaze)
image Daughter of a drover. A short leathery woman in a patchwork tabard.
likes staying up late
dislikes hymns
famous deeds Lanced the eye out of a perverse pirate
famous mistakes Got lost on patrol and wound up in Vhott after an extra 10 days
immediate family Married, 7 children; husband Arvok

Lt. Pela (fort mallet)
image An orphan raised by Raiser priests in Shyff. She prizes soap.
likes fishing
dislikes cloaks
famous deeds punched a warhammer through a Kalamaran knight's platemail
famous mistakes Lost 5 soldiers to a grizzly bear while marching stoned.
immediate family unmarried

Lt. Dobri (fort keen)
image A press-ganged outcast. Lanky and tired-looking.
likes masons, extravagant architecture
dislikes taverns
famous deeds Was given a troupe of violent deserters and borderline mutineers, and made them act like normal disciplined soldiers.
famous mistakes Lost 40 horses in an ambush where only a single orc was seen.
immediate family married, 7 children; wife "Hizava"

Lt. Halon (fort bosun)
image Son of bean farmers. Stocky with a forked beard.
likes big swords
dislikes sailors
famous deeds Repelled an invading unit of ogres, wolves, and ice-fairies
famous mistakes made his soldiers catch their own food for 2 months instead of just filing a requisition
immediate family married, 6 children; wife "Sammock"

Fourhorns
image Skrywalker who owns Voritti island. Noodly-limbed gravelly man.
likes wrestling, hunting
dislikes harps
famous deeds Fought a shipful of gnoles in a casino. Pushed each soldier in fort mallet out of the wrestling ring. Catches fish by hand.
famous mistakes Farmers keep defecting or deserting. Human traffickers keep nabbing people in port cerise. Once had the island covered in middens.
immediate family Married, 6 children; wife "Thula"
Fourhorns' barons
Baron Dabhok
image Manages practical building issues in Wuvi. A gristly, pallid man with a beard half as long as his overly-long ribcage.
likes snails
dislikes unarmored and lightly-armored bloodsports and duels
famous deeds Predicted a blight and saved half a crop.
famous mistakes Lost a frontier castle to undead.
immediate family unmarried

Baroness Sarsha
image Mayor and chief accountant of Port Cerise. A dumpy older woman with a vulpine face.
likes fresh sparkly snow
dislikes animal trophies
famous deeds Raised a child she found in a well, "Sandy".
famous mistakes Had an entire brothel abducted by Brolenese
immediate family divorced, 2 children; ex-husband "Shargus"

Noble ranks

Ardarr-Norr's military rotates in a big circle around Skarrna, staying at these stops for up to four days (in good weather):

Ardarr-Norr neighborhoods (pop 16,100)

Market platz + Main street
The town's only straight road leads from the harbor to the outdoor market. Mostly full of open stalls at sunrise, and of loiterers at sunset.
Harbor
Intake, taxation, inventory of incoming ships. Most of it was hand-excavated and quarried. There are warehouses owned by local and foreign companies.
Shipyard district
Companies here build, repair, modify ships, and adjust vessel weaponry, masts, number of oars, amount of cargo space, etc.
Whaler Town
Homes and workplaces of whalers, whale processors, and ivory carvers. Includes docks, warehouses, and stone whale pits.
Pearl Town
Large churches, villas of reputable merchants, homes of semi-retired knights and upper-class patrons
Thelka's Fortress
Walled stone fortress housing and training active-duty heavy cavalry
Scrivener Platz
University, stationers, paper makers, bookbinders, some temples
Pilgrim Village
Houses boasting multiple rooms with enough land to garden on.
Hemp Town
Homes and workshops of weavers, bleachers, common tailors.
Lumber Town
Homes of loggers, sawyers, carpenters
Honey Grove
Large forested area originally used by the Fhokki-Dejy settlers for divination rituals
Bunny Park
Grassy outdoor park with a small market on the weekend and a common grazing area the rest of the week. Full of skunks and rats.
Dall Village
"The nice slum". Nasty clothing stores, middens melting in the rain, collapsing stables, abandoned temples, very bad brothels and bars. The people are mostly all friendly.
Gutter Town
"The mean slum". Muggers, night-killers, cannibals, traitors, child-snatchers, thief gangs, knife priests, slaves of thieves and priests...

Ardarr-Norr merchant affiliations

with city land plots and offices
Brendan's family's businesses

Businesses in main road of Ardarr-norr

Here to have "prepared" places for PCs to buy items from the PHB
(there would be more)
Main-road meals
Main-road Shops
"Atelier Adako" Common linen, leather, and wool garments
Exterior A small building made of dark logs.
Interior Ready-made garments sized for tall people are hanging on cedar pegs. The room smells like incense. Leaning under and around the garments are bolts of cloth in a variety of mostly-pale dyes. There is a low, wide table and a spinning wheel.
People A short, dark-eyed woman whose garments are embroidered with bright poinsettas.

Dokkevi Leather garments, leather equipment, saddles, leather armor. Instruments made to order.
Exterior A rectangular cabin with a long awning. Its outside features are a heavy, leather-upholstered door, a slat bench, and a wide window made of green-blue glass, which is criscrossed with iron latticework. The bench is pushed close to a wooden planter of small orange flowers.
Interior Behind the counter is a rack with wood-handled punches, giant awls, thick needles, and shears. A finished set of bagpipes is also hanging up. A variety of leather cloaks, gloves, robes, pouches, shoes and garments for big and small laborers are hanging around on walls and racks. There is a corner shelf with fringey thread and crafting supplies.
People A liver-spotted, small Reanaarian man with wet-looking hair.

Enga Any garments (made to order)
Exterior A small home with a mural of farmers daubed in several bright colors.
Interior On a huge sandstone close to the fireplace, a wheel of cheese is half-melting, and a small pot of coffee is simmering. There is a long table set with fat candles, with 8 angular wooden seats.
People A very old Fhokki woman about 2 meters tall with very thick bones and long, neat hair.

Frallo Blankets and furniture (made to order)
Exterior A stout building sided with knotted barn boards. The roof is battened and overlapping boards.
Interior The left wall is filled with a stack of dry lumber and plain workbenches with built-on wooden vises. Sawdust is all over the left half of the room and a small spider is in the corner. The right is taken up by a modified wine rack, its cubbies stuffed with rolled-up wool blankets. A few premium 2-person fur blankets are hanging behind the counter.
People A pudgy man with thin hair and a goatee.

Bindle Gruney's Sack Shop Sacks, bags, containers, backpacks
Exterior A white waddle-daub building with a log roof, which is fringed with hanging moss. There are a couple linen sacks full of daisies leaning on the wall.
Interior Four looms with a kid working at each one, making colorful knapsacks and backpacks. A dozen finished backpacks are sitting on simple knockdown shelves. Behind the counter are many stacks of sacks.
People A little guy with buggy eyes and silky long hair.

Zanust Iron & bronze tools and hardware
Exterior A small cylindrical stone house with a wedged-open door, attached to a pavilion made of thick lumber posts, with an airy forge setup. A bulky woman is making nails.
Interior A sand-covered floor, a charcoal forge, vise grips, a swage block, heavy anvils, and a few barrels.
People A deeply sun-tanned Reanaarian woman with full smiling cheeks.

Pagil's Ropewalk Rope
Exterior A long barn with a loosely boarded wall, grown over outside with weeds.
Interior Several pairs of workers, half walking backwards for several yards, half staying in place, cooperating to braid long hemp ropes.
People A frog-nosed clerk with greasy hair and a sunburned face.

Selkie Hetta's Wax Crafts Candles (miniature and huge), wax crafts
Exterior A dark redwood cabin with shutter windows and a creaking open door.
Interior Pine racks of tallow candles of varying thicknesses, tiny wax statues of historic figures and game pieces. There are a couple honeycombs shaped into simple jewellery. In the fireplace, a cauldron is sitting directly on a pile of ash and red embers.
People A rotund young woman wearing seaweed-green face makeup.

Wylett's Light Stall Torches, kindling, firewood, tinderboxes, lamp oil
Exterior A roomy, high, undyed, unbleached canvas tent.
Interior Sacks of bundled torches, a shelf of tinderboxes, gallon-tins of lamp oil, firewood tied in twine bundles. There is a stack of hinged boxes.
People A tubby horseshoe-bald tan man with a round nose. He is in a loose outfit of light and dark browns.

Bulyur Locks, locksmithing services
Exterior A narrow red-brick building with a white-washed door and an assymmetrical, copper-plated roof.
Interior A counter with a hacksaw, punches, a small hammer.
People A tall messily-groomed man about as hairy and muscular as a gorilla.

Kofak flour, groats, oats, farina, ; barley, buckwheat, teff, sorghum, and radishes
Exterior A granary built into the gateway to Pilgrim Town. The "left" tower is a guard tower the city guard uses as a watch-house. The "right" tower is 2 floors taller with a winch and pully hanging off the roof; the granary hooks crates and sacks of grain from the street into loading balconies, and stores them until they are sold or delivered. Between the two towers is a walkable wall and a portcullis gate.
Interior The inside of the stone tower is coated with yellow plaster, with regularly spaced alcoves for torches. A parchment chart on the wall apparently tracks deliveries and contracts for the next 6 months. On the far wall is a stone staircase following the circular curve upward. On a metal rack are sacks of various grains, each about 20 pounds. There are also fresh radishes and dark clay pots (of pickled radishes).
People An auburn-haired skinnyfat Fhokki with a large forehead and a small beard.

Mango Yush's Sundries Groceries; tuns of drink; weeks of raw ingredients
Exterior A light-blue shack with a mural of fruits daubed on the outside.
Interior A dozen cramped shelves of bulk food. Most of it is 20lb sacks of beans, rice, and nuts. There are some dried fruits and sugarcanes, fresh gourds, and bitter fruits. Barrels are stacked along the north wall, some of them are improvised shelves holding an odd shovel or mallet. There are some dried meats strung above them, using rough cordage made of weeds.
People A brunet Reanaarian is holding an unlit cigarette in his teeth. A grey cat is swishing its tail and a white cat is sitting properly on its hind end.

Yeren Household carpentry
Exterior A longhouse with double barn doors and shutter windows along the walls covered by small awnings, each with a moulded sill.
Interior A long wooden workbench that six people could lay on and not be touching. Alcoves holding bronze lamps. A hearth and chimney made of irregular stones. There is an oversized rack full of ship boards and discarded furniture.
People A slim woman with one eye higher than the other, a red face, and a bob cut.

Darduk Huge carpentry, shipbuilding, carts, framing
Exterior A drab warehouse with large, open windows.
Interior A floor fit with completely square and level boards, each at least 20' long. An enormous lathe with pedals for four people. Regularly spaced iron braziers. Smaller windows close to the ceiling venting the smoke out. 8 huge workbenches with iron plates. Multiple piles of dry, debarked logs and planks.
People A broad-shouldered man with a grey walrusy moustache.

"The Kiln Twins", Miji and Rabos Glassware and Pottery
Exterior A high-ceilinged hut with an angular clay-shingled roof. A mosaic made of broken pot chunks is plastered on the wall facing the street. It is depicting an old woman viewing an astrolabe.
Interior Two white brick kilns face toward each other, under a large glass window. There is a brick counter and shelves recessed into the wall, with new pots, mugs, and flasks in a variety of sizes.
People A short man with stout, stubby bones and a clean-shaven face. Here is also a tall, thin man with extremely crooked teeth and a straight, neat beard.

Sorjen Jewellery, Decorating, and Gem Cutting
Exterior A modest wood-log shack, with a panel hanging off an iron signpost, carved with the image of a cut gem.
Interior A somewhat cluttered and dusty workshop with a few cleared areas. There are stacks of buckets, and spread around the counters at random are: a tiny anvil, a loupe, some cloths, a couple vials, blocks of soap and tins of polish.
People A darkly-tanned man with long blonde hair and blue eyes. His clothing is made of tweed and deer skin.

Nimo Paper, books, pens ; scroll cases, lecterns, ink etc
Exterior A pale yellow stone building, with wooden lattice set onto the blue glass window.
Interior Stacks of parchment by the yard, ink in small corked bronze flasks, an open wood chest of legibles and stationary supplies.
People A bespectacled man of droopy posture. His clothes and arms are covered in multi-colored ink stains.

bookbinder "Almar" Paper, books, pens ; scroll cases, lecterns, ink etc; scribes, famuli, research, science, philosophy, languages
Exterior An orange brick building with a busy bird nest on the clay shingle roof.
Interior A bright, naturally-lit store that smells like juniper berries. There are neat stacks of bookbinding materials; slats of wood, stone slabs the size of tombstones, some kind of steel screw press... There are also finished books arranged by color on racks.
People A middle-aged man with dark red hair and half a beard. He is dressed in formal red robes decorated with (elven) writing, with the sleeves pinned up. The center of his lower lip is tattooed light blue, and his large ears end in a dull point.

Lula shields, baskets
Exterior A building with walls made of whitish stone and mortar, with a crystal glass window. The roof is thatch and pitch. The door is tightly-fit planks, wickered over like an enormous shield.
Interior A row of medium shields are hanging on a low rack, with a few small shields are leaning on them on the floor. On the top shelves are some oversized bark baskets. The shop smells like frying fish.
People A fair woman past 55 who is a little pudgy. She has thick eyebrows and thick forearms.

Hreslin (hreslin the gnome) scribes, famuli, research, science, philosophy, languages
Exterior A 3-story tower carved out of a single gigantic tusk.
Interior Half a dozen kegs, a shelf of clear glass mugs on the wall. A taxidermied chicken. A roughly-carpented table holding several flasks of blue and green slimes. A coal forge, currently off. There is a pot of pine needle tea on top of the forge.
People A gnome whose remaining side-hair has been feathered upward like duck wings. He is dressed in a white lizard skin robe and pervertedly-curled velvet shoes.

Poat's Dock Shoppe bowying & fletching; field maintenance kits
Exterior A small log building with a dark brick chimney. A hanging blue piece of slate is engraved with: a rope hitched to one of those thick metal dock pins.
Interior There is a wooden jig holding some curing bow staves. A workbench is here with a dozen vises attached to one edge. Each vise holds a finished longbow arrow. Some shears and a small whittling knife are out. There are shelves stocked with tools for carpentry and salvage, including saws, rasps, and crowbars.
People A thin man with droopy eyes, a broad face, and a pliant physique, dressed in a burlap toga and a wide-brimmed leather hat.

Gorzo new weapons
Exterior A building made of huge quarried stones painted a slight pink. There is a complete forge on in a half-open room on the side, which includes specialized jigs and haft-horses for making polearms.
Interior A brightly lit, cool, and over-sterile room with a counter and polished spruce racks. A few polished weapons typical of horsemen are hanging up, as well as fine scalpels, saws, and butcher knives.
People A hefty man nearly 7 feet tall with overlong arms and a big gut. Two watchmen in scale mail are shuffling near the counter, each with a spear and a dog.

Bolun used weapons, used everything-else
Exterior A long log building with patches of the roof plated with various metals. A black and white checkered banner is hanging close to the door.
Interior Racks made of bone, bronze, and mismatched wood hold a variety of household and travel supplies, roughly organized by "room of home" (kitchen wares, wash basins, small stools, fire pokers, etc). There is a prominent rack with secondhand weapons that look like they came from pirates. Also there are pins of horseshoes.
People A thick old man with a sun-leathered face, long mostly-grey hair, and neglected stubble. A few scowling dwarves in chainmail are looking around, each posted with a back to a wall.

Rovur used weapons
Exterior A tall house made of rough lumber, whose front face is decorated with clean-looking plaster and airy, spacious windows.
Interior Rusty warhammers, spearheads, and maces are spread on sturdy racks throughout the shop. Some assorted edged weapons are hanging behind the counter.
People A smirking man with a youthful face and bright white short hair is sanding some rust off a morningstar. A few tattooed sailors armed with quarterstaves are guarding the place, puffing on silver tobacco pipes.

For new metal armor, characters have to go to Thelka's Fortress or probably to a noble's estate. Most smiths, and some tailors, can refit looted metal armor, but this takes about a week.

To buy specific livestock, characters probably have to go out of town to a farm or village, or hire a drover to go get it for them. Random livestock are available in the market on wednesday mornings.

family farms
Family name Specialty animal
Barri mules, horses, donkeys
Rolik cows, ox
Emeya sheep
Oorto fowl
Povi piggies
"guards"
Gaol / Punishment
dangerous stuff in town

Voritti

#TODO to be detailed

An island 22.5 miles east-to-west, and 8 miles north-to-south. Most of it is terraced farmland, with some wooden minecarts for freight. There is one ruined bridge, where robbers are lairing near the end on the mainland.

Other out of town locations

Villages

#TODO services list
other:
The Munters are pirates who catch relatively unprotected people and sell them to the Brolenese. They hole up at a secret place in the mountains and sell people at a different secret location.

Skarrna Site list

places in this list marked by an asterisk are from The Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting, and so is Skarrna itself.