Places

The Landmarks of Waterwheel

The Trouttrail River Valley, while not gigantic, is still sizable and home to many people. Here’s places that they might make note of!

Specific Places

The Mayor’s House

A large house with a pretty yellow roof of clay tiles. It stands on thick stilts and is maintained well enough that its age shows only through architectural style. Occasionally, one may hear the surprisingly deep squawling of two young dwarf children or loud clanging coming from the kitchen as someone busies themselves making food. On the inside, it is surprisingly grand, with high ceilings and elaborate millwork along the banisters, pillars, and trim. Brass knobs and fixtures are found throughout. A smaller building abuts it, a secure shed of similar style with large doors. Kept inside this building are the tools and supplies needed to maintain and repair the Water Locks, and specifically the specially made paddles that are used to operate them in the evening when the Locks are closed.

• Where the mayors and their family live
• The most upstream place in Waterwheel
• An old house that has traditionally belonged to whoever runs the water locks and has seen several families
• Though it is well over two hundred years old, Irondome Family has renovated it beautifully in the past couple of decades

The Water Locks

*The sound of rushing water is fairly loud here, owing to the impassible rapids. On either side of these rapids are the Water Locks, one large one on the South Bank, and two smaller ones on the North Bank. The dark wood they are made of is quite old and has been sealed tightly with resin and tar.

• Managed and run by The Mayor
• Three water locks
  • One large one on the north bank
  • Two smaller ones on the south bank
• A significant source of income for the town
• All boat traffic passes through them
• A raised wooden bridge crosses the downstream side of the locks
• Has a chairlift stop

The Hook and Tail Tavern

Large and lively, the “tavern” is an inn with a large, well-lit dining area and bar with large windows that overlook the river. It has its own dock where around a dozen rafts sit stacked up. Outside the front door is a sign - a worried looking trout hanging by its foul-hooked tail. Inside, succulent aromas of roasting waft from the kitchen, and an eternal chatter spills out the doors. The second floor, wider and larger than the first, is for rentable rooms that offer either scenic views or privacy. They are not large, but are well appointed and clean. The third floor is for private living, and is finely decorated, almost luxurious.

• A tavern upstream of the Upstream Docks and just downstream of The Water Locks, and likely the first one travelers will come to
• Run by Nerus Whithorn, his family, and of course various employees
• Patrons can rent a raft to go downstream, push it back into the river where The Pearly Perch Inn will catch it, and the With the Fish Tavern will tow them all back at the end of the day
• The largest tavern in town
• Below the Water Locks, but very nearby as a place to take a break or wait around them

Upstream Docks

Buildings sprawl over some roads and alleyways, settled into their spots. A few warehouses push for elbow room between the buildings and the docks where boats and barges moor, resting and taking stock before they can head further along their journey up or downstream. Strong backs and skilled hands load and unload cargo and perform maintenance, while other folk of a more leisurely pace fish and mill about the town.

• Essentially “uptown”
• Has a few warehouses and a number of taverns and inns
• Barges, rafts, and boats stop here to drop off people and goods
• Various mills and smithies and other crafts are here to
• Has a chairlift stop
• North and South Shore

What You Knead

• A bakery run by Mara Bellweather
• Across from Lincoln’s workshop, and frequented by Lincoln

The Tacklebox

The Tacklebox is a brightly painted, recently renovated, friendly looking store. Out front in the open air is a fishing counter, where one may rent equipment and bring catches for cleaning. Its tall shelves are stacked with things travelers may need, as well as daily essentials for locals. There is a funky smell that wafts out from the back side on the second floor, and it’s not fish…

• Run by Elrael Lynalen
• A solid store, well liked by the community for its middle-of-the-road reliability
• Features fishing equipment rental
• Upstream, south shore

The Inked Eye

This narrow, two-story building has a sign painted over the door - a black eye with a black droplet falling from the corner. The one window visible from the front sits square in the middle of the second floor, and is seemingly lit by candlelight all hours of the day. On opening the door, a bell rings, and shelves stacked with ink bottles, stacks of paper, and other stationery huddle over the modest counter in the tiny entryway.

• A scrivener’s shop, run exclusively by Withel Candleby Ethelsdottir, an ink-stained gnomish woman
• Can produce spell scrolls for high prices
• Mostly gets by with notary work, dictation for important meetings, and production of legal documents not handled by the Adventuring Guild Bridgehouse or the Guild Hall Betwixt Walls
• Upstream, south shore

The Littlefoot Farmstead

• Korwin’s family home, a humble farmstead which cultivates a variety of crops.

With the Fish Tavern

Barely a tavern, it’s more of a waterwheel contraption in the shape of a shack sitting on a wide raft. The smell of spices creeps over the water as folk fish off the side, more for the excuse of something to do while drinking than for the fishing itself. The selection of food and drink is limited, but the times and company are good.

• A floating tavern (and the only one, at that) which starts upstream and follows the current downstream, then makes its way back upriver
• Pulls some rafts from The Pearly Perch Inn back to the The Hook and Tail Tavern
• People fish off the docks while they drink, and if you catch a (properly sized) fish, they’ll cook it for you, limit 1 per person
• Has crawfish traps that the restaurant uses to get boils going
• The waterwheel on the side winds a spring that the owners, Michelle Ulatra and her brother Tonio, use to help spin the waterwheel in reverse to get it back upstream

The Widebend

Here, the river swings wide and slow. A sandy south bank proves a good spot to beach boats for repair or for folk to simply swim and relax. The sun shines brightly, reflecting across the water, and the breeze cools the valley basin, making a truly pleasant spot. The rockier north shore is more poorly suited to walking or relaxing, but makes for easy water access for laundry or otherwise fetching water.

• A wide section of the river that flows slowly
• Here’s where most boat repair is done, on the upstream section, and the downstream section is frequently used for recreation
• There is a small, rocky island in the very middle of the bend

The Boatyard

On the upstream side of the Widebend, some ways back from the shore, is a workshop and a small open barn next to it. Frequently, there are smaller boats suspended from the ceiling. If larger boats and barges need emergency repairs, there are logs that can be used to roll such a vessel on to the beach where it can be patched and fixed, but this is seldom an issue. There is almost always a vessel of some sort sitting on the beach, however, left nearly unattended. With such a glut of boats, who would take one?

• Somewhat downstream of the Upstream Docks
• Naminix Shipwrong is loosely affiliated with this place, though he can be seen here or at the Downstream Docks

Old Cemetery

Perhaps the quietest place in Waterwheel. Old-growth trees shade lichens that have scattered themselves over large rocks that were once grave markers, now all illegible and sunk into tall grass. Monoliths have crumbled from great spikes into nubs, and tombs and mausoleums molder in place, their doors shut or blocked. This cemetery is dead and decaying, itself a corpse that is being reclaimed by nature, as is the fate of all corpses. This is not an unsettling place, but one of undisturbed peace. Only quiet contemplation and simple reverence feel appropriate.

• No one has been buried here since Peepaw was very young
• Most of the grave markers and memorials are illegible
• The Witch can name every one of them and give details
• Has several tombs and mausoleums
  • One tomb has an entrance to the Underearth
  • Three tombs have much deeper complexes to them, small dungeons in their own right

The Bathhouse

Before you sits a round, wide building with a short conical roof. A small stream is fed into one side and out the other. Inside, the constant trickle of water and the crackle of fire underscores the murmured conversation of various bathers. There is a scent of various soaps in the gentle crossbreeze flowing across the room between window blinds that filter sunlight. Most of the light comes from lamps that provide a glow that relaxes the eyes, and private bath stalls are darker and more relaxing still.

• A bathhouse fed from a stream running downhill
• The water is filtered as it comes in and the stream is split, sending some water flowing over a fire that’s kept going to ensure it’s warm, and some water is kept separate for a cool plunge
• The fact that water is constantly flowing helps keep it sanitary
• Features a lobby, some changing stalls, a warm bath room with some bench seating and several large tubs, and a cool bath room, with more of the same
• Run by two friends, Reedy Bytheby and Tavrel “Wrinkles” Janelleson

Bridge Watchhouse

The tallest structure in the valley juts from the riverside, a four-tiered square tower of hewn stone which stands astride a wide drawbridge. A banner flaps merrily in the wind, hanging on for dear life from a flagpole - a brown wheel on a blue background, flanked by fields of green. Often as not, there’s a large, scarred orc fishing from the side of the drawbridge and smoking a pipe.

• Led by Beltisse DuFelrose
• Old refurbished ruins that serve as the main city watch headquarters
• On the north shore
• Drawbridge
• Contains a small armory and small barracks
• Because it’s on a small rise to help keep it high, it makes for a good watchtower
• Has a chairlift stop

Adventuring Guild Bridgehouse

A less impressive mirror of its twin, the tower only has two tiers, and the scantest remains of a third. That said, it is still a cheery place - the covered notice board out front is a great place to find jobs from people out of town for people out of town or to trade information, and benches and chairs

• Run by Ferdiad Felustrone
• On the south shore
• Fairly central to the town
• Other side of the drawbridge

Cemetery

Here lies generations of residents of Waterwheel. Not all of the townsfolk will end up here, even if they pass away in town, but all are welcome in this place. The gravestones are old, but fairly well-tended, though the far edges may see some overgrowth. The only truly untended thing in this place are the flowers, which are allowed to flourish and fade at their own whims.

• One of two burial sites in Waterwheel
• Fairly full
• Maintained by Saorise Bowe and Soren Bowe
• North-central of the valley

Good Herb

Lush herb gardens and tall trees crowd a small thatched cottage as a gust of wind rustles them all together. Smoke filters through the leaves, as the ever-burning fireplace inside helps dry hanging bundles of plants. A complex, herbal fragrance is carried through the air, earthy, floral, spiced, pungent. Behind the cottage is a heaped mound with a primitive door that leads into the hillside, where many mushroom cultures grow.

• The healer’s hut that belongs to Thrombin Bellowblast
• Can be smelled before it is seen
• Grows all sorts of medicinal herbs

Iron and Oak Smithy

A low, homey cottage sits across from a nearby open air workshop which is powered by a smoothly running waterwheel that powers various tools - a lathe, a grinding wheel, a bellows, and even an automatic hammer.

• A workshop run by Moloch and Peach Craft
• Produces some of the finest metalworking in town
• Not high volume, but good quality and good price

Guild Hall Betwixt Walls

• Primarily run by Bekker Strikemallet
• Built between two massive ruined walls

The Pearly Perch Inn

This large tavern is almost always bustling, and has a strong regiment of regulars. It rests at the base of a dock, where someone is employed as a dock hand to fish, handle boats, and catch rafts from the Hook and Tail. Above the front door of the Pearly Perch is a prominently hung sign shaped like an ivory-colored fish with pink stripes and fins. The inn itself is a tall building, red paint faded pink and squatting on low stilts, and features wide stairs up the front (facing the water) and the back (facing the road). The three floors, from bottom to top, are the open and raucous main tavern on the first floor, inn rooms and a common area for gaming on the second, and Tam’s cozy living quarters on the third.

• Run by Tam Humboldt
• A downstream, south shore tavern affiliated with The Hook and Tail Tavern and the With the Fish Tavern
• Catches the rafts at the end of the line and holds on to them to be transported back by the With the Fish Tavern
• The largest inn in Waterwheel, by virtue of being closest to the Downstream Docks
• If you wanna gamble, here’s where to do it
• Features the Unofficial Official Dragon Chess League
• Two cats are the mascots - both are unnamed

Downstream Docks

• Essentially “downtown”
• Barges, rafts, and boats stop here to onboard people and supplies
• Has a chairlift stop
• South shore

The Rat’s Pack

This hole-in-the-wall general store was originally named “Metzer’s Goods”, but was renamed several years ago because people wouldn’t stop referring to it as “The Rat’s Pack”. The small store footprint leads to crowded shelves stacked with bric-a-brac and narrow walkways. Were it not for some tall ceilings, the place wouldn’t have much room for stock and would be positively claustrophobic. The counter behind which Metzer is typically found is raised so he can see his customers. Don’t mind the dust and must - the goods are good.

• A general store run by Metzer Steeltrap
• Has a surprising inventory - sometimes you can’t find what you’d expect, but there’s always something you wouldn’t expect to find
• Downstream, south shore

Laundry Pools

Echo Rock

*A steep limestone cliff drops straight into the river, where a current gently sweeps around a large flattened boulder, nearly a small island. On the opposite side is a pebble beach and another limestone cliff rising. Seats, maybe steps for giants, are carved into the face, and in this place, the acoustics send even a whisper from the center boulder to anywhere in the amphitheater, even over the sound of the river lapping at the shoreline.

• A large, flat rock in the bend in the river that is surrounded by cliffs
• Truly incredible acoustics
• The oldest ruins and steps are carved into the cliff faces here, with old rocks worn by the river acting as stepping stones
• Crags have ancient carvings that remain undeciphered
• Common place for concerts - there is a music box here, but its music is rarely changed
• Has a chairlift stop
• Has a shipwright

Nonspecific Places

The Workshops

• Scattered throughout the valley near near the waterwheels
• Each one has a music box

The Chairlifts

The music of a waterwheel meanders across the incessantly turning apparatus of a chairlift, two tall posts with ropes and pulleys that carry two-person covered benches with footrests. These benches swing low, so much so that one can simply lean back and sit into it as it scoops them up, then carries them off to the next stop. If one must wait for a chair or to meet someone, there are more covered benches, and a stone seat on the downstream side of the waterwheel where one can dangle their feet.

• Chairlifts that carry people up and down stream
• Powered by the waterwheels
• Have comfortable little shaded awnings with benches for people to wait on
• They appear in 90 second intervals
• Each one has a music box