Kethira-720TR-Harn-Kaldor-Kobing
Kobing (keep)
From "In Genin's Footsteps" by Julian Verdreth, 715 TR: [1]
Kobing itself is only a couple hundred people, but very much the local center of civilization and a common resupply point for caravans in both directions.
Lord Orsin Firith is a very active Lord, keeping a hand in many local matters. However, he is caught in something of a political trap. In addition to being the Lord of Kobing, he is the Lord Marshal of the Oselmarch, which requires him to patrol the Genin Trail between Kobing and the Oselbridge – deep in Pagaelin territory. He has repeatedly asked the king for permission to build a crenellated keep right at the bridge, so as to be able to better protect travelers (and his men). Thus far, his requests have been denied; he seems to believe that this was because of the influence of the merchant guilds. They want to maintain trade with the Pagaelin, and – understandably – feel that a fortified keep in disputed land would give the Pagaelin tribes reason to begin a sustained general attack.
An unstated but very important point is that the mere presence of the keep would give Lord Firith the power to tax travelers for military protection and maintenance of the keep. It’s another point the merchants aren’t happy about.
I suspect that it is because of this conflict that he tends to react quite poorly to traveling merchants. In general, Lord Firith has a reputation for decisions that are rather firm but fair. Still, his support for the Crown seems to be fading.
Just 2 or 3 arrow-shots beyond Kobing lies Mornisar…
Kobing sits in a bowl and is visible from long distances away, in the middle of the bowl and surrounded by lesser villages. It is small for being "The trailhead to Chybisa". [2]
The fields do well and are quite fertile, and the village is relatively prosperous. A blacksmith can be heard from the edge of town and the sound of horses show where the ostler is clearly enough. Somewhere a carpenter is sawing. [2]
Places
Kobing Keep
The keep is built on the highest hill of the area and is a smallish place with three stout towers built tall for a commanding view of the area. The outer wall is of huge timbers, 12' above ground and several feet in diameter, with the gaps chinked. The corner towers are of good pale stone, well-maintained and solid. Two liveried guards stand their ground outside the gate. [2]
Hard to the right inside the massive timber wall, the keep itself rises up, three stories of strongly-built pale gray stone ending in a triple tower with battlements all around. The timber outer wall extends farther back, creating a larger courtyard to the rear of the keep. The stone of the keep shows little sign of age and wear; there were some slender cracks here and there, and the mortar could stand cleaning in places, but no vines cover the stonework to provide possible climbing lines for an enemy. The timber of the walls have been stripped of bark, weathered, and coated with creosote. [2]
The heavily-built stone gate has a strong wooden door, normally closed with a stout wooden crossbar, that opens with a rattling clang of metal-on-metal due to a hidden noise-making mechanism. [2]
The gate opens to a dark inner chamber with both a steel portcullis gate and an inner wooden door. The room is ten feet wide and fifteen feet long, entirely of heavy stonework. At night, the only light source is a single torch in a sconce towards the rear. In daylight, it would be reasonably well-lit from light leaking around the edges of the two doors. The ceiling is arched to a point, peaking at about ten feet high in the middle but only six feet at the walls, enough for a knight on horseback to ride through. Slots in the ceiling and near the inner end of the room make it easy for archers inside the walls to cover this inner gateway. [2]
Around the back of the keep, a steep ramp leads up to the second story. It is heavy wood with cleats to provide solid footing. The bottom rests upon a secure stone buttress, perhaps a foot high. The upper end rests upon an outthrust portion of stonework, effectively a balcony with no railing. A heavy door, made as a pointed arch with iron bands, provided entrance to the building. The ramp can be easily removed and there are no openings at ground level. [2]
Dragon and Damsel Inn
The inn is a large rambling structure, half-sunken in the dirt, and strongly built of timbers between ends of stone. The roof is high-peaked and thatched with openings for light and smoke. A massive chimney suggests that the fireplace occupies nearly one entire end of the building. [2]
Large flagstones make an entrance walkway with a pleasing pattern and ensure that the steps down to the entrance are higher than the surrounding ground and bounded by stone walls to keep out puddles. A stout set of doors stand read to latch into place to seal it against rainfall. [2]
The sign over the entrance is hung from a beam protruding from the main framing. It is old and fading but the painted image is clear enough: on the left, a massive reptilian beast with great leathery wings, facing a young woman wearing a good checked dress. The beast’s long tail is entwined around half the sign. On the right-hand side of the sign is carved, “Dragon and Damsel Inn”. [2]
Prices are a bit high but the food and rooms are good. [2]
The ostler is a thin old man but he knows his stuff and takes excellent care of his charges. He's also stronger than he looks. [2]
Mill (Edwald of Grunwick)
There is no sign on the building but the building itself is distinctive enough that no sign is necessary: No one but a miller would have an undershot water wheel quietly turning, or have the approach canal with its tethered log to help trap debris before it fouled the wheel. [2]
This miller obviously is having a hard time. The building is old and unadorned, not even whitewashed. The lower story is stone to give a solid support for the heavy machinery inside. The high-peaked second story is strong timber with a number of shutters to let in light and let out the clouds of grain dust. Up close, it needs repairs here and there and the wheel creaks more than it should as it turns: the wheel had shifted a bit in its supports and no longer mated correctly with the shaft into the mill proper. The seating for a water wheel is one of the most important parts of the entire construction, and one of the most carefully done as it is that connection that transfers power to the millstones. It wasn’t being corrected and that doesn’t speak well of the miller. [2]
There is a smell of baking bread: Wheat and rye, strong with yeast, and a bit of honey. A good recipe, from the smell. [2]
Inside, the place was much brighter than usual if all the shutters are open. It will be warm from a big stone oven at the far end of the room when cooking. In the center of the room is the mill; the stones turn slowly, driven by the wooden gearing linked back to the waterwheel. A hopper overhead feeds a constant stream of grain into the central cavity, and a slow but steady rain of white powder falls around the edge of the lower stone into the waiting catch-trough, which itself is angled enough that the flour drifts down a chute into a waiting barrel. [2]
Edwald is a stout young man, possibly not yet twenty-five, and perpetually unhappy. He has dark brown eyes were in a ruddy face, and a nose that is redder yet; he likes his ale. He tries to sell to those passing through and grossly inflated prices but can be negotiated down. [2]