The Red Guard were formed from a faction of Kowal city guards loyal to a well respected guardsman named Damien. In the past 20 years, Damien has shaped the Red Guard into it’s own power within the city.
The Red Guard are strictly anti-magic and have lead hunts for magic users for the past 5 years, often ending in public executions.
Some feel the Red Guard are more powerful than the Baron in the current day, and the sight of their red armor sends many into a panic.
After 5706
In the Fall of 5706, the building was destroyed in what has been named the Catastrophe of the Greystone. Many different stories, from an explosion to a giant demon are reported to have caused this. After its fall, the Red Guard were disbanded.
Kowal became part of the Uthgard Kingdom and the Ministry of the Arts took over the building and began to rebuild it.
The Riddle House Players are a bardic group that travels the lands around Kowal, delivering the latest news and performing the people’s favorite plays. Their large wagon is called the Riddle, and it is also their stage.
They have long been a part of Kowal. Since Odrunus joined the troupe, they have made more money than ever, and they attribute it to his leadership and his patron deity.
A citizen of Kowal and owner of the Darkwinter Tavern. He was a solider in the Return Wars, fighting with other citizens against the ghuls and then the invading Tirens. He was then a merchant, known for delivering the goods on time, no matter the danger. He “retired” by opening the tavern.
The Storehouse is the best place in Kowal to unload goods found in the ruins and wilds of Atheles. Its proprietor, Sascha, is well known to any adventurer in Kowal.
Sascha is an ex-adventurer, who settled Kowal from the far lands of northern Uthgard after meeting his wife. He doesn’t miss his adventuring days, “too much walking” he always says. But by running his “storehouse” he still gets to play with all the trinkets and toys the adventurers bring in to trade and sell.
He is very knowledgeable, but can be a little irritable, cursing at his patrons in the Uthgard language if they get out of hand or ask too much for a “bauble”.
He is a collector of games, loving to experience new ways to test his strategic mind. The quickest way to this mans heart is a new game with good rules, and a glass of vanilla flavored liquor. Though watch out if the dice or games of chance are not going his way, prices may double on anything needed by those who best him in a game of chance.
Secton was once just Tower Six, one of the many guard towers along the borders of Kowal. Due to its location on the main road between Kowal and Fort Utliest, a small town sprang up next to it. After the great War and the Uthgard kingdom fell, the tower was no longer manned by soldiers, but the small town continued on.
In current day it is a town in change again. The Uthgard kingdom in its alliance with Kowal, has marked Secton as a place of interest. Uthgard and the Unelesia Church have begun construction on a school for those touched by God and blessed with powers. The Red Dragoons have also started to build a Keep here to fortify the road to the north.
Some of the old residents are unhappy about this, as they do not wigs to see their town change so much, while others see this expansion as a welcome growth.
Notable NPC’s:
Mayor Margery Ellebeth – the elected mayor of the town, Margery has made the Kowal government happy with ridgid tax collections, but has also gained the love of her citizens as she has been very fair and honest with them. She is strict to the rule of law, but has a kind heart and may look the other way if her people need it.
Lady Lanafar – Headmistress of the Divine Academy
Knight Hurst – the head of the Red Dragoons in Secton. He was appointed by the king to make the town and the school a stronghold for Uthgard.
Notable Places:
Tower Market
Merchants:
Eva Harls – Blacksmith and weaponsmith
Gurdris Gemstone – Jeweler
Sol – Rye distiller
Margery Ellebeth – Carpenter
Theodoric Predrow – Book, map and paper seller
The Dusty Shield Inn
The innkeeper is a male dwarf named Kjorni. He was once an adventurer, but retired to marry and raise a family. He is married to Margery.
A large wood and stone building, it was once the barracks for the tower. Old shields of Uthgard and Kowal adorn its walls.
Menu:
Roasted Mutton and Pinenut Bread, Tankard of Stout (9 cp)
Wheat Biscuits and Curd Cheese, Mug of Stout (2 cp)
Boiled Eggs and Oat Bread, Tankard of Ale (8 cp)
Vegetable Stew, Mug of Ale (5 cp)
Stewed Boar and Mushrooms, Tankard of Bitter (10 cp)
Stewed Deer and Barley Biscuits, Tankard of Stout (8 cp)
Salted Whitefish and Cabbage, Tankard of Beer (8 cp)
Other NPCs
Aledyn – A druid who is visiting the town to find out more about the school being built.
The Forgelighters – a feral elfling tribe. They are staying outside of town, but came in to trade.
The library of Kowal is many things to many people. It is a public repository of knowledge, free for citizens to peruse and read. It is the main printing press of the Eastlands, making books more readily available to all. And to a secret few, it is also a group that collects, catalogs, and experiments with magic.
The first floor of the Library hosts the public books, the printing press, and offices. The second floor holds the shelves of rare books and historical artifacts. Below that are the vaults and dormitories, their contents only known to the Society.
The Gathering of the Society
Twice a year, in a hidden level beneath the library of Kowal, a secret society meets to exchange knowledge, artifacts, and magic spells under the pretense of collecting histories. Their aim is to bring magic back to its former power, before its disappearance so many centuries ago, trusting this amount of power only to themselves.
Highly skilled treasure hunters in their employ scour the lands searching for traces of artifacts and ancient tomes, bringing back all they can find to be studied. If a book is deemed to have magical value, it is kept hidden below. If the book is of mundane value, it goes into the public library above.
But little do many of its members know, there is a level even deeper, where the books are not only studied, but experiments are conducted by a faction of Librarians committed not only to restoring magic, but advancing it. Their motto is to commit no harm, but their ambitions often rule, and little has been spared in the research into magic.
History
The Library of Kowal was formed by a group of monks who were once part of the Unelesia Church. As the church grew more rigid in their practices, the Library grew separated. As time went on, the Library became less and less involved in religious institutions.
Outside the city of Kowal, there is a settlement of elflings. The elflings have built their buildings among the tall trees here in a mish mosh of styles and sizes. The one unifying thing is every building is decorated with plants and flowers. This creates an enchanting effect as the whole settlement changes with the seasons. In fact its name came from how elflings often referred to it. When asked where they lived, they said “Over there, in the tall garden.”
In the center of town is a project that has been evolving, or “living” as the elflings refer to it for as long as the settlement has existed. It is part community garden, part sculpture. It climbs and meanders up into the sky, almost as tall as the trees that surround it.
Tallgarden’s main export is honey, and people come for miles around to get it. The elflings take all manner of trade and payment for their honey, from gold coin to exotic flower seeds!
Tallgarden is located less than half a days march from Kowal, to the West.
The Den is the nickname for the Wanderers Hall in Kowal. The guildmaster in Kowal is Martyn Czemiel, a charismatic, if flamboyant man. His lieutenant is Garric Loshuul a quiet but friendly man. Both have retired from “the road” and happily help others find their calling in the wilds.
The Den is a welcoming place, everything inside made of old polished wood, and the fire is always burning. If you have a Wanderers Coin, then you are always welcome, and there is plenty of space in the common room or the upstairs to pass the cold Kowal nights.
Some say that there are a couple of secret passages in the den that lead not just into the sewers of Kowal, but deeper, into the darker underpass of Atheles. Of course, Martyn and Garric just laugh when anyone asks about them.
