Trostenwald

Trostenwald is a small rural town in the Marrow Valley in the Western Wynandir region of Wildemount. The town is bordered by the blue waters of the Ustaloch. The town is under the rule of the Dwendalian Empire and is a trade stop on the Amber Road. Notably, Trostenwald also served as the place where the Mighty Nein adventuring party first met.

The town is most notable for its unique strain of grain and wheat, which led to a boom in breweries around the turn of the century. Of the initial glut of breweries, three brewer families have survived and prospered to this day. The town now primarily exports fish, crops, and ale.

Trostenwald also has a contingent of Crownsguard who act as law enforcement for the town. The Lawmaster (local Dwendalian leadership) is a dwarf named Norda.

Demographics
In the southern, more rural region of the Empire, especially near Felderwin, which is one of the largest tilling and farming areas of the entire Empire, there is a very heavy halfling population. While Trostenwald is not its core, 13% of the population is halfling. The total population of Trostenwald is about 8,900 as of the year 835 PD. Humans consist of 66% of the population and half-elves encompass 8%.

Notable Breweries

 * The Baumbauch House
 * The Husseldorf House
 * The von Brandt House

The Ustaloch

 * &rarr; Main article: The Ustaloch.

The Ustaloch is a kidney bean-shaped body of water that borders Trostenwald's wards on their eastern sides.

Lochward
Bordered by the Ustaloch, the Lochward is the most eastern and central ward of the town and is where the docks and fishing village are. The five to six main dock structures of this ward protrude out into the lake from between ten to thirty or so feet and service the small fishing boats that work on the lake.
 * Rinaldo's House: This house belongs to Rinaldo, a meek middle-aged man with kind eyes, an unkempt chin beard, and cracked calloused fingers.
 * Jacklewere Smiths
 * The Old Mud Hole Tavern: A small dark tavern containing four tables, it was described as being like a dive bar and smelling of old wet wood, ale stain, and peanut. The barkeep of this tavern is Vosna.
 * Lochward General This large wooden barn type building in the lochward has a door that opened two ways and is run by an old woman named Harper Mince. Among the goods that lined the walls of this general goods store tools are tools for farming and building, packs of supplies, lumber, iron nails, maps of the empire (7sp), and healer kits (5gp).

Natural Remedies - Herbs and Medicinal Things
This shop sells herbs, incense, medicinal things including means of tending to wounds and loss of stamina, but many come in for 'performance-enhancing' fungus. The store has basic health potions (60gp). The proprietor of the shop, Davies, has a small satchel filled with skein that he was willing to sell (1gp).

The building is a small humble shack that has a strong musty pungent smell of fungi, which can be detected even while approaching from the street. On the outside where the doorways open, there are strings of herbs that are tied up and left to dry out. On the inside, there are shelves upon shelves of flora and fauna that are being cultivated in pots for various remedies and for sale. Some of the fungi have grown beyond their shelves.

Hillward
This area, with the safety provided by the Crownsguard barracks, is where the guild halls and wealthy reside.

Crownsguard Stockade
The Crownsguard Stockade is a tall, single-story, rectangular building made of large stone. It is the main operating center for the Crownsguard in Trostenwald. Built for function, it is evidently made to be defensible rather than aesthetic beauty. The front of the building has two double doors flanked on each side by banners of the Crownsguard. The interior of the building is an open area with two central chairs for guards who are posted to watch the main gates of the front door. Beyond these chairs on the right is the lawmaster's office.

The Lawmaster's Office A simple darkened room with a stone desk in the far end of the room from the door. The room also containing crates filled with pieces of paper, gathered evidence and confiscated weaponry.

Jail Bypassing the lawmaster's office is a staircase that leads a heavy locked door, that opens from the other side into a subterranean basement area used for holding prisoners. Consisting of a long hallway, the length of holding area is flanked on both sides by ten iron-barred cells. The bars of each cell being two inches apart, and there is a general smell of mildew, compost, and urine that permeates the area.

Judgement Chamber A large chamber with a stark barren stone interior with benches. In the center of the chamber, there are four or five steps leading down into a pit where prisoners are kept during the trial. Above the pit is a desk where the lawmaster sits in overseeing trials and rendering her judgement.

Hillsbrook Parchment and Binding
This shop is a boutique laid out like a cross, with windows at the ends and a door at the back. The shop contains lots of books on farming technique, as well as books on how to grow and care for different types of vegetation, plants, and various beasts of burden. There are also books on the different seasons on what's best for different types of grain and wheat. There are a couple of books that deal with discussion on the Menagerie Coast, that talk about the Clovis Concord, and a discussion on the political structure that maintains the city states there. The shop is run by a man named Sheenah.

Warm Dew Bathhouse
This bathhouse serves upper-class clientele, this small bathhouse is seen as a bit pricey, a single bath cost 5sp, and adjoining baths for two hours is charged 8sp. The bathhouse is run by an unnamed young man.

Layout In the entryway, there are marble busts and tapestries that are pulled back over the windows on either side which led into a hallway with the smell of lavender and the sound of soft music played by a resident violinist. This hallway leads to two adjoining bath chambers separated by a low wall that came up to eye length, allowing for conversations but preserving privacy.

Sunlight is beaming in through glass fog windows that obscured any details, these chambers each have two central basins filled with freshly steaming water. These basins are designed with a hinged desk piece that folds over the water so that books, food, and drinks could safely rest while the guest bathes. Guests are also provided with linens, towels, and a pitcher of cucumber water.

Northward
The Northward is a place of industry, including the local breweries, bordering the fields. Jester, Beau, and Fjord helped load and move crates there for the Baumbauch Family Brewery, and gambled with the other workers. Indeed, it seems the general work around the water in this ward consisted largely of individuals moving crates around.
 * Baumbauch Family Brewery

Market Area
A small market street where simple wears, vegetables, meats, and handcrafted goods can be purchased.

Burnished Bibelots
This store is located on the southern portion of the Northward by where it borders the Lochward on the outskirts of the market street. Looking like a closet or a sort of storage shed has been pushed up against or bolted onto another building, it is made out of driftwood-looking, heavily weathered wood, has one door leading in, and the windows are blocked out by materials stacked up against them. There is a general dusty and moldy smell to the shop due to water damage in a far corner. It was described as a cluttered, crammed mess, with every space being taken up by stacks of knick-knacks, small stuffed animals, toys, books, art pieces, glasses, and goblets. Open for business at any hour, this book and trinket shop is owned by Oglen Hornsblower, who had bought, traded, and found the various items in his collection. He uses his smell to determine the values of the books.

Items of Interest
 * Old spell book, a note and sketchbook written in a strange language, that didn't radiate any magical aura, containing Arcane Lock and Unseen Servant. (10 gp)
 * "Fiends of Folklore", a book written in Zemnian (3gp)

The Nestled Nook Inn

 * &rarr; Main article: The Nestled Nook Inn.

Post Office
The post office have fast horseback courier services that run all along the roads in the empire and with approval outside the empire to the south and west. They have a courier that is a young boyish girl with shortish brushed hair, freckles and a bit of dirt on her cheeks, she wore leather armor.

Background
The Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities carnival had set up east of the Lochward on the southern bank of the Ustaloch, having their first show on the day of Grissen (see Calendar of Tal'Dorei). This was where Mollymauk Tealeaf and Yasha worked, with Molly as an entertainer and Yasha as a security guard.

"Session Zero"
Beauregard, Fjord, and Jester helped to load crates for the Baumbach family and swindled from their employees. They met Demedan Baumbauch during this job, though they came to calling him 'Dimmi-douche'. This house also has the blessing of Fryda Langer, the Starosta.

Rinaldo's House The house of Rinaldo was in the process of being repaired, as this is where Beauregard, Fjord, and Jester had saved Rinaldo's daughter from a giant snake that had come out of the loch. He had taken a collection of 4gp, 22sp, 48cp from among the other local fisherman as means of rewarding the party for their service for having come and aided when no one else would. A scrawny young man around 14 or 15 with a puffy red afro and pale skin, who lived three houses up, had been helping Rinaldo with various jobs and was using a large heavy butchering knife to carve the skin off the snake and fillet it for meat. The damage sustained to the dwelling included: destroyed furniture and cabinets, its door being ripped off its hinges, and the roof partially collapsed.

When the party arrived in the town, there was a new visiting carnival called "The Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities". This carnival was the site of a ravenous zombie attack when an old man suddenly keeled over and transformed. The new adventuring party, later known as the Mighty Nein, was able to kill the zombie with minimal casualties. However, all of the performers except Yasha were taken into custody for suspicion of wrongdoing. In the Hillsbrook Parchment and Binding found Caleb a book on hoe technique here called Jamison's Hoedown, priced at two silver pieces by Sheenah.

The party, with Fjord's help, came to an arrangement with a boat owner, Noah, and acquired safe passage to Crookedstone island in the center of the lake in exchange for a bottle of fire whiskey, though he settled for a bottle of cheap wine.

On the passage back to shore, the party (bringing along Kylre's head) tried to buy Noah's silence with six gold pieces, but after seeing Fjord disguised as a Crownsguard he immediately gave up the party in an attempt to absolve himself of any blame, saying that they had taken over his boat and forced him to take them to the island.

Beauregard spent a night learning the Way of the Cobalt Soul from Expositor Dairon and Archivist Zeenoth in one of this brewery's warehouses. Bathhouse Caleb took Nott with him as his daughter, entered the bathhouse disguised as a handsome man with beautiful blond hair in fancy green robes and vomit stains down the front. Nott had eaten all the cucumbers from the bathhouse and tore the towels into strips to replace her wrap bandages. Additionally, Nott would go on to steal the brass doorknob to the room, and a decorative flower vase, and its contents which she later gave to Yasha.

Burnished Bibelots Caleb found two books of interest in the Burnished Bibelots. One of the books appeared to be an old note and sketchbook written in a strange language and although it didn't radiate any magical aura it had hints of arcane nature in the back of the book. The other was a book written in Zemnian and translates to "Fiends of Folklore". Using his smell to determine the books values, Oglen wanted 3gp in exchange for the book on fiends, and 10gp for the sketchbook. Oglen was not a fan of Caleb's cat familiar, which Caleb proposed trading for the books. Upon later study, the sketchbook was determined to be an old spell book. Although one of the arcane inscriptions at the back of the book was incomplete due to fire damage, the book did contain two complete spells;

Nott found and stole a shiny but dented brass baby-bottle and a tarnished platinum flask, which she switched out for her own flask filled with whiskey.

During their third visit to the establishment, Caleb managed to convince and then sell "Fiends of Folklore" back to Oglen for 1gp. During this time, while Oglen was distracted by that conversation, Nott stole back her original flask.

Skein After Mollymauk was hinting and fishing to perhaps buy some drugs from the Natural Remedies - Herbs and Medicinal Things, the owner retrieved a small satchel filled with fine blue-grey dust. The owner informed the party that it was a dried and ground fungus called Skein, called that because when you eat you can see the weave of time. An effective and popular drug it was mostly seen on the outskirt where it was not so heavily controlled and where there wasn't a huge jail time for it if caught. Mollymauk, Yasha, Fjord, and Beauregard each bought a (1gp) golden experience of the drug within a corked glass vial.

Through Fjord negotiating based on the going rate in neighboring towns and Beauregard intimidating the owner to ensure the party keeps his side business a secret, Fjord bought one healing potion for 50gp, receiving an extra vial of Skein for fun.

Jester bought a large map of the Dwendalian Empire at this store for 7sp from the Lochward General, and Beauregard bought a healers kit at the store 5gp, to replace the one she had given to Jester as a gift, and which she had previously overpaid for due to Jester having changed the price cards.

Post Office Jester utilized these services to send a letter to her mother requesting money to be sent to her in Zadash. Delivery from Trostenwald to Nicodranas on the Menagerie Coast cost her 5gp.

Beauregard pretending to be a representative of the Baumbauch family, fraudulently collected 3 parcels from the courier, paying them 1gp for their delivery. These parcels contained four letters:
 * A shipment ledger from Nogvurot
 * A smaller shipment ledger from Deastok
 * A complaint letter from the purveyor of the Rotted Stump in Rexxentrum
 * A letter from The Gentleman to Demedan Baumbauch



When the Mighty Nein arrives at the town it is as busy and lazy as they remember from when their adventures began together. People were coming up and down the various streets with carts and wares, and a lot of carts were built up on the outside that were either waiting for some sort of sign to continue travel or are still packing up before they leave.

They first visit the Nestled Nook Inn, followed by the stockade to pay of Gustav’s debt that stands at 2,100 gp. They bargain for a lower price and end up paying 1,500 gp to set him free. After handling his debt, they return to the Nestled Nook Inn to settle down for the night and prepare for the journey to come.

Trivia

 * The name Trostenwald loosely translates to "comfort forest" in German.
 * "Trost" meaning comfort (usually in the context of consolation)
 * "Wald" meaning forest