Brimin's Burrow: places of interest (map legend)

Map:

1. Council Hall: A rather imposing building, the Council Hall serves as the Burrow's ceremonial venue, as well as a place of gathering for all its inhabitants when announcements of note or village meetings must be held. The building's streaked white-and-black marble dates back to the Burrow's founding date many many years ago: it was the first kind of stone extracted from the Clatspur's depths and despite its foreboding appearance, it is Brimin's Burrow trademark building.

2. The Sapphire Candle: Brimin's Burrow only inn is a single storey timber framed building, with unusually low ceilings and poorly lit by the hearth's light and a few torches. The inn rarely sees guests from outside the village. Accommodations consist of well-woven woolen blankets near the hearth. Embedded in the stone wall above the hearth is a small sapphire that radiates soft blue light at random times, seemingly of its own accord. The innkeeper, Kathil, is a female Gnome in her middle adulthood, with blonde hair, bright green eyes, and prominent ears. She wears tailored clothing and a fox fur cape.

Kathil:

The menu:

3. The Arms House: The village's barracks, it is the focus of the village's military efforts. Solidly focused on the defensive, the gruff Tisbarth, Keeper of the Pick, can be found here along with a part of the village's inhabitants that serve as part of the Bolts, the village's militia. Kept exceptionally clean and in good shape, the building is active with the various drills and weapons upkeep that Tisbarth conducts regularly and relentlessly. The current Captain is a solemn and no-nonsense scout, named Midrick Quickbryn. He is never seen without his black ferret companion, named Aelf.

Midrick Quickbryn:

4. Immina's Sparkle: Host to the village's only dedicated magic-user, the Sparkle's sturdy stone walls are ladden with magic trinkets and beautiful blue- and green-stained windows. It is the only place catering to the alchemical (mainly) and magic-oriented needs of Brimin's Burrow. Owned and run by Immina, Tisbarth's daughter, an accomplished illusionist whose light and mischievous manners are in sharp contrast with her father's dour manner, it boasts of a small collection of magic items, although its main purpose is to provide the various acids and catalysts needed in the refinement of the ore and gems mined in the Delving.

Immina:

5. The Starview Garden: The village's cemetary, it consists of a series of well-tended stone cairns that are almost choked in predominantly pink and red wildflowers, such as clover, moss campion and primroses. Named after the cemetary's exceptionally favourable location as a vantage point to Oerth's starlit sky, the small cemetary exudes an aura of serenity and gentle repose. Its caretaker, the young Keeper of the Hearth, Barkkan can be often seen here, performing small remembrance rites according to Garl Glittergold's dogma and performing some top-notch gardening.

6. The Little Delving: A small gem mine, it has been another community staple for many decades, with almost everyone having visited its dark corridors. Malachite and violet garnet veins are often found in the mine, dutifully mined by the diligent gnomes. The discovery of a huge amethyst-like vein recently has sparkled a climate of euphoria amidst the village, which look forward to the prosperous days ahead of them. The Keeper of the Lore, Lillylotta, serves as the mine's overseer, with duties delegated evenly among the most experienced miners.

7. The Scratch: A gigantic clear rock (pure quartz) quarry, the Scratch is a testament to the skilled gnomish mining of the village and their endless efforts. Named after the phrase Tisbarth used the first day mining begun ("Let's put a scratch in the Mountain's back"), it is mainly operated in springtime and summer when the mostly clement weather allows its outdoors activity to be performed efficiently. A good amount of the extracted quartz is then refined and traded with the Elves of Syrlaen.

A small stony trail to the northeast leads to a flat meadow looking over the quarry, where the Hearth is located: the Watchful Protector's temple. Surrounded by eleven menhirs and a pristine mountain pond, a carefully chiseled stone set of stairs lead to a tiny underground temple of Garl Glittergold, where Barkkan, the Keeper of the Hearth keeps the village's sacrosanct flame lit at all times.

8. Dwarf's Lament: An oddity, in stark contrast with the rest of Brimin's Burrow buildings, this sordid and scorched ruin has stood at the eastern edge of the village for as long as anyone can remember. Believed to be cursed, it is avoided entirely by the villagers who believe it a place of bad luck (or worse) and cast fearful glances at its direction the rare few times when they must exit the village. The Lament is a devastated and scorched lump of degraded stone, which is obviously of ancient Dwarven craftsmanship, though none in the village or its records ever recall or recorded encountering a Dwarf. Its sole ruined entrance made of gaping molten rock leads to stifling, daedalic corridors, covered with thick dust and sticky cobwebs.

The Lament's does hold a single inhabitant, who is as old and strange as his home: the Hermit, an extremely old Gnome, who is universally considered to be a madman and to whom nobody in the village is related to (or dares to admit such a fact). Mumbling and raving incomprehensibly for days upon end, the rag-clad Gnome survives on the charitable scraps left for him hastily at the Lament's entry by angst-filled and hastily retreating gnomish patrolmen. A shrieking snarl from the Lament's top is usually the only acknowledgement of their presence that they are given back, accompanied by copious amounts of small rocks ferociously hurled at them.

The Hermit:

9. The Outpost: Lying within eyesight of the village, despite its misleading name, this lone building serves as the village's sentry post at its entrance. It is manned at all times by a single guard, mostly young nervous Bolts at their first assignment or their veteran counterparts, seeking some easy time spent away from the labours of mining and/or Tisbarth's drills.