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Month Index: June, 1998
From: Paul Westermeyer <westermeyer.3@???.edu> Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 03:50:25 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Wrighters in Bralspace
(A "players guide" to a small town in Bralspace, being visited by the
Jammers PBEM game. Comments, suggestions appreciated!:) A map goes with
this, for those interested please send me a note, _off_ list. Requests for
the map which are sent to the list will be ignored.)
Shipwrecker:
Size B Spherical Earthbody
Shipwrecker is a small planet, only about 90 miles across. It is
covered in forests and mountains, about 50% of the planet is a stormy
ocean. The planet is inhabited by goblins and harpies, as well as
"normal" mountainous and forest animals. The climate is often cool, with
many fogs and mists. There is no winter, but a 4 month stormy season
(running from 10th through the 2nd month on the Bral calender) makes travel
very difficult, especially ship landings. Almost no lumbering, fishing, or
farming gets done during this period of near constant rain. At any time of
year short, cruel gales and freak tornadoes are possible. The tempature
rarely dips below 30 F or rises above 65 F. The planet revolves very
slowly, the day is 20 hours long despite the tiny size.
Shipwrecker is named after a minor sea goddess worshipped by the
goblins of the planet. Her goblin name, Latanuut ("Undernight"), was
dropped by some humans and demihumans who took up her worship as a way of
preventing the many shipwrecks she is said to cause on the planet. The
goblins themselves continue to worship her, and are spelljamming aware,
though not spelljamming capable. Prince Andru has forbidden trade with the
goblins of Shipwrecker, something even the Arcane have not violated for
fear of losing access to one of wildspace's most active ports.
Wrighters:
Wrighters, a small colony town, is controled by the Rock. About
half the town is dedicated to a ship building operation run by Bral's
Shipwrights' Guild, the rest is devoted to adventurers and miners. A few
years ago gold was discovered in the mountains inland from town. This
resulted in a gold rush which has still not completely abated, despite the
relatively poor finds. This gold rush ignited a long simmering guerilla
conflict between the local goblin tribes and the lumberers of Bral. The
goblins were defeated and forced deeper back into the mountains with
relatively few losses.
While Wrighters is quite far from Bral the population is to small
and transient for any thoughts of independance to emerge. Goblin troubles
and pirate raids are the primary concern of the inhabitents. Many hermits
and ne'er-do-wells have taken to the nearby mountains where they trap,
hunt, and try to avoid the goblins. Wrighters itself is surrounded by
perhaps a dozen fortified farmsteads and upstream along the Snake River lie
three large lumber camps. All of these outlying folk consider Wrighters
the "big city" and journey there when they need such a place.
Most buildings in Wrighters are single story, wooden affairs. A
surprisingly large percentage of the population live in tents either in
tent city or the market square. The roadways are usually a muddy mess, much
talk is going about concerning paving the roads.
WRIGHTERS (MAP KEY):
{the bay is north of Wrighters}
Guild Town:
[Law in Guild Town is maintained by Guild Enforcers rather then the Town watch]
A:Lumbermill [operates 24 hrs/day in season, employs over 50 workers]
B:Smith's Shop [Saul, the smith, operates almost exclusivly with the Guild,
though he takes occasional outside jobs. Not a weapon shop]
C:Storage Sheds
D:Mandy's [simple, hearty meals at all hours; cheap watered wine is the
only drink available]
E:Twyne's [Ropes, nets, Rigging]
F:The Ship's Store [nautical odds an ends needed for naval or spelljamming
ships]
G:Ship Construction Drydock [not as extensive as Bral's facilities but
decent nonetheless]
H:Apartments [housing for Guild workers and their families]
I:Shipwright's Piers [Guild buisiness only]
J:Hospital [nonmagical healing, herbal garden]
K:Houses [Master Shipwright's houses]
L: Guildmaster Deetur's home [Chief of Guild Town, a 3 story stone building
surrounded by a low (3') stone wall]
M:Barracks [housing for apprintices and journeymen of the guild]
O:Siren Song tavern & Company Store [tavern, general store]
Wrighters:
[Law and taxes in Wrighters are essentially the same as Bral]
1:The Long Wharf [main dock, many vessels unload here then anchor to avoid
dock fees and theives]
2:Harbormaster [Harald, a retired Admiral in the Bralian navy, holds this
position and lives in this fine manor house on a small hill overlooking the
bay. Harald is the offical leader of the town, though in practice Deetur
has more influence]
3:Royal Wharf [Reserved for the Bralian navy; 1-3 such vessels will be here
on any given day]
4:Market Square [poor imitation of Bral's markets, many merchents live in
their tents which are becoming semi-permanent]
5:Anything Shop [sells/buys magical components and the odd scroll or potion]
6:Blacksmith [a general purpose blacksmith, some weapons, armor available]
7:Livery Stable [mostly mules]
8:Goldsmith's
9:Marc's Butcher Shop [often has wild game]
10:Fishton [on this island live the undesirables, fisherman, the tanner,
and prostitutes]
11:Tanner's
12:Fouled Anchor [Inn & tavern, caters to sailors, rough]
13:The Grey Cat [Inn & tavern, quiet, sinister reputation]
14:Tent City [temporary housing for the town's many prospectors and transients]
15:Temple of Ptah [the town cemetary is behind it]
16:Shipwrecker Shrine
17:Town Watch [patrol the town itself]
18:Royal Bralian Army Headquarters [stables on the ground floor, 2 floors
above are offices and barracks]
19:Rental Warehouse
20:Annex
21:The Palace [house of prositution, 3 stories]
22:Old Docks [home of the fishing fleet]
23:Purse of the Gold Inn [most expensive Inn/tavern in town]
24:Picks and Pans [mining equipment]
25:Bralian Mageguild, Chapter House
26:Ballista Tower [identical to the Ballista towers on Bral, and always
manned and ready]
27:Landing Field [for ships which can't land on water, this flat, fenced
off field is the official landing zone. Vessel's landing elsewhere within
town limits are fined.]
This town is highly modified from its original incarnation in:
"Shipwrecker" Module Role Aids #712 by Sue Stone
Bibliography:
SJR5 Rock of Bral
Spelljammer Boxed Set
_The Maelstrom's Eye_ Book 3 of the Cloakmaster Cycle
SJR 8 Space Lairs
1st Spelljammer MC Appendix
"Human life without knowledge of history is nothing other than a perpetual
childhood, nay, a permanent obscurity and darkness." Philip Melanchthon
westermeyer.3@???.edu
Paul Westermeyer
Phd Candidate, History, Ohio State University
Adjunct Faculty, Humanities Department, Columbus State Community College
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