The Village of Oakenhurst

The Village of Oakenhurst

The community closest to the Sunless Citadel is a village called Oakhurst. Most of its 900 residents (including outlying farms) are human, with a sizable minority of halflings and a scattering of other races. Significant locations in Oakhurst, and the people to be found within them, include the following:

Village Hall. The center of government in Oakhurst includes the office of Mayor Vurnor Leng, a male human noble.

General Store. The village's main source for supplies and merchandise is the general store, owned and operated by Kerowyn Hucrele, a female human noble.

Shrine. Advice, information, and healing are among the services dispensed at the village's shrine. It is maintained by Dem "Corkie" Nackle, a female gnome priest of Pelor.

Jail. Next to the village hall is a stout building where miscreants serve their sentences.  Costable is Felosial, a female half-elf veteran. She commands a force of sixteen guards and four scouts who keep the village safe.

Blacksmith. Repairing and forging arms and armor is the job of the village smithy, Rurik Lutgehr, a male dwarf commoner.

Ole Boar Inn. Garon, a male human commoner, is the owner and barkeep of the Ole Boar Inn. He serves food and drink, and the place has a few rooms that visitors can rent.

RUMORS HEARD IN OAKHURST

• No one knows for sure what the Sunless Citadel once was, but legends hint that it served as the retreat of an ancient dragon cult. The Old Road skirts the Ashen Plain, a lifeless area. A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (History) check knows that the desolation is attributed to the long-ago rampage of a dragon named Ashardalon. A few locals also know this fact.

• Cattle herders don't graze their stock too far afield these days. They're frightened by stories of new monsters that maraud by night. From time to time, cattle and people who have gone out alone at night have been found dead the next day, bearing dozens of needle-like wounds. No one has seen the creatures that cause this mayhem, nor do they leave a discernible trail.

• The missing adventurers include a fighter (Talgen Hucrele), a wizard (Sharwyn Hucrele), a paladin of Pelor (Sir Braford), and a ranger (Karakas). Sir Braford was not a local, and he had a magic sword called Shatterspike.

• Sometimes the goblins offer a different apple at midwinter. This apple is corpse-white and poisonous, even to the touch. No samples of either apple are to be had.

• Garon, the barkeep of the Ol' Boar Inn, remembers the last time anyone, aside from Talgen and Sharwyn, asked questions about the Sunless Citadel. About thirteen years ago, a grim human named Belak stopped by, and he had a very large pet frog.