A compact cluster of timber and wattle houses around a wide stone-paved crossing, Fourways Hollow thrives on passing trade and local crafts while shadowed by nearby provincial tensions and a marsh that hides secrets, its tavern lanterns and watch fires keeping the crossroads alive at all hours.
Where four roads meet, every path brings a story—and a price.
A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.
Reeve
A wiry woman in her forties with clipped grey hair and an eye for ledgers and faces.
Mercantile Captain
A well-dressed man with silver-threaded cloak and a smile that rarely reaches his eyes.
Roadwarden Priestess
A middle-aged woman with braided hair and a cloak stitched with tiny road rune sigils.
Fisherwoman and reed-seller
A squat halfling with a voice like rippling water and sharp, observant eyes.
Sergeant of the Hollow Watch
A broad-shouldered ex-soldier with a scar across his cheek and a blunt laugh.
smithy and wagon repair
A blackened-forge workshop where wagon wheels are reshaped and travelers get rushed repairs.
general goods and caravan supplies
A cluttered stall that smells of oil and herbs where locals and travelers haggle for supplies.
caravans, locals, mercenaries, and the occasional noble on the road
A wide, smoke-dark common room strung with lanterns and a stage for travelers to perform.
local militia
A pragmatic force of locals who value stability and their pay from passing caravans.
merchant company
A well-organized company using charm and muscle to secure income at the crossroads.
folk-cult and watchdog circle
A loose network of reed-cutters, fishers, and spirit-keepers wary of outsiders.
Four carved stones at the exact center of the village used for rites and toll calculations.
A reed-choked stream that glows with strange lantern-light at odd hours.
A semi-underground communal grain store rebuilt after the Embermarch raid, now watched closely.
An old oak outside the gatehouse where toll records are nailed in leather pouches.
The marsh lights are partially created by a buried, ancient waystone reacting to recent roadwork.
Captain Hale receives periodic payments from an Embermarch noble to secure influence over Fourways Hollow.
One of the crossing stones houses a small, trapped spirit bound to the village's fortunes.
Lanterns in the Reeds
Track the source of the marsh lights, decide whether to destroy, bind, or bargain with whatever dwells beneath the brook.
The Missing Cart
Find the vanished caravan and retrieve its cargo before Hale's men claim it as 'forfeited protection,' confronting the mercantile company or recruiting them as allies.
Stonebound Favor
Discover the bound spirit within a crossing stone and choose to renew its binding, free it, or harness it for the village; each choice has consequences.
Hale's Ledger
Infiltrate the Hale Caravans' wagons to find proof of noble backing and decide whether to expose them to the council or blackmail for village gain.
