Alfield

Alfield is a small, rural farming town in the Marrow Valley in the Western Wynandir region of Wildemount. It serves as a trade stop on the Amber Road between Trostenwald and Zadash, and it primarily shuts down post-sunset. The town falls under the rule of the Dwendalian Empire and is overseen by Starosta Kosh.

On the night of 20 Sydenstar 835 PD, Alfield suffered significant loss of life and the destruction of several buildings during a gnoll attack.

Description
Slightly smaller than Trostenwald, Alfield is an open farm village with occasional waist- to shoulder-height partitions instead of walls surrounding it. With open fields to the south, the town is flanked by clusters of trees known as the Alfield Wood on the eastern and northeastern sides. The town is also close to some hills which are mined for their tin, copper, and quartz deposits, supplementing its economy.

Alfield is shaped like a small diamond, only a couple of miles across on all sides. Two main streets, the Dustway and Harvest Path, bisect the village in its central square. One street spans from the northwest to the southeast, and the other from west to east. The town is largely made up of ramshackle wooden buildings.

Points of interest

 * The Candleglow Inn is located in the central square. It was once built by Reedus Candleglow, who left the inn to his grandson, Thadeus Candleglow. Thadeus was proud that his inn once had the highest quality of salted, dried, fresh, and butchered meats in town.


 * Ruddy Top Butchers is located near the Candleglow Inn.


 * The Broad Barn is located on the western edge of town, selling both basic supplies and farming supplies. The name comes from the fact that it once was a barn. The proprietor is an extremely old gentleman with a giant, gnarled tuft of a chin beard that merged with a lion's mane–like halo of white hair with a thin, long, crooked nose.


 * On the Wind Stables is located in the northern part of town. Durmas was the main stablehand.


 * The Salt Trench Jail is the only prison in the city and the furthest building towards the forest. It is a small weathered shack made out of stone and covered in dark grey colors.


 * The Feed and Mead Tavern is managed by Crute. The tavern has two or three rooms for rent upstairs; one of them had four twin-sized beds tightly jammed in the room. It is not the most comfortable establishment.

Demographics
Alfield is a small rural town with a population of 3,410 as of 835 PD, most of which are humans (61%), halflings (22%), and gnomes (11%).

Factions
The Crownsguards' attention in the city is mostly split between policing the borders and watching over public safety. The lack of support from the Empire and the relatively small Crownsguard presence has made the town vulnerable to criminal activity. Charlatans and thieves regularly target the people of Alfield, and the Myriad views the town as a target for a potential takeover.

History
The Broad Barn was once a barn, though poor crops led to the farmers who owned it giving up farming and selling the tools they didn't need. As that happened, the farmers saw that they made more money that year from their tool sale than from the crops, so they started importing more tools and converted the barn into a general store, which has been serving this part of town since 805 P.D. Due to the store's success, the town eventually grew in to fill the gap between it and the town proper.

Gnoll Attack and Response
When a Crownsguard patrol reported seeing a small hunting party of gnolls to the south, Watchmaster Bryce Feelid sent out a troop of more than half of the town's guards to find and slay them. This decision left the town vulnerable when a large force of gnolls struck two hours later.

When the party that would soon be called the Mighty Nein approached Alfield, they noticed several flashes of orange light and the curl of flames spreading from rooftop to rooftop, along with a handful of buildings on the eastern side of the village that had already been consumed by flame. Quickly making their way closer to within a few hundred feet of the western side of the village, they saw a few hundred people running out of town into the fields.

Reaching the Alfield's central square, the party engaged the gnolls in battle. A brief battle ensued but ended when two of the party members were knocked unconscious, leading to the gnolls escaping with three carts full of various loot, corpses of the villagers they had slain, captives, and almost all of the village's meat supply. As the villagers began to emerge from their homes, the party helped put out fires and collected ears from the dead gnolls.

As thanks for their help in fighting the gnolls, the Crownsguard and Watchmaster Bryce lodged the Mighty Nein in the Feed and Mead Tavern, and they would have continued paying for their stay as long as the party continued helping deal with the aftermath of the attack. The party was lodged in one of the rooms that had four twin-sized beds tightly jammed in the room.

At the Broad Barn, the party found Watchmaster Bryce involved in an argument with Starosta Kosh (whom Jester happened to recognize as a former client of her mother's). As they approached, Kosh stormed out, and Bryce greeted them with an offer of further work: 30 gold per gnoll ear, 25 for a returned living villager, and 10 for a dead citizen's body. The party purchased some supplies at the Broad Barn, then convinced a Crownsguard under the effects of Mollymauk Tealeaf's Charm Person spell to loan them a horse to use during their mercenary mission.

After coming back from the Rill's Mouth Mines, the party rented additional rooms for the night. The next day, before leaving town, the party collected payment for their gnoll ears from Bryce. When asked again for their party name, they settled on The Mighty Nein, marking its first use as the party's name.

Consequences
At least five villagers were confirmed dead, including the previous lawmaster, Ruben. Several villagers were captured by the gnolls, at least 9 of which were rescued by The Mighty Nein and Shakäste. Many buildings were destroyed or otherwise damaged in the attack.

Preparation for demon incursion In the Yeenoghu's Army adventure hook from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, this raid was just a way to test the town's defenses for the full-scale offensive actions. The gnolls sacrificed the townsfolk captured during their raid to open a portal to the Abyss, letting demons loyal to Yeenoghu invade the Material Plane.

About two-and-a-half months after the gnoll attack, the party returned to Alfield on their way south to the Wuyun Gates. They discovered, much to their surprise and joy, that Thadeus was well on his way to rebuilding with the help of his neighbors. They drank and ate with Bryce in the Feed and Mead Tavern. While in the tavern, they were recognized by the other patrons as the saviors of Alfield and were given free drinks. After they discussed the war and their journey to the Menagerie Coast, they decided to stay the night in the tavern.

The Mighty Nein visited Alfield a final time on their way from Nicodranas to Felderwin. In addition to the normal Crownsguard presence, about one hundred Righteous Brand soldiers were stationed in the town. The party checked in with Bryce Feelid, who told them about the attack on Felderwin. Bryce believed Felderwin was targeted because it supplies a lot of food to the Empire.

Fjord urged Nott to get Luc somewhere safer. After discussion, Jester used Sending to ask Bryce in Alfield if Edith and Luc could come there, and Bryce agreed. Jester visited Edith, introducing herself as a friend of Veth, and told her Veth wanted Edith to take Luc to Alfield. Edith agreed, and the party hired some friends of a townsguard named Geoff to escort them.