Sandpoint

[DM Innkeeper]

Sandpoint #31. Wheen’s Wagons
A lanky man named Bilivar Wheen owns this workshop. Bilivar is a down-on-his-luck wheelwright who’s lately been spending more time at various taverns (especially the Hagfish—area 33) than here working—ever since his daughter Tanethia drowned in the Mill Pond last year, his wife Vorah has grown more and more shrill and paranoid that her remaining two children’s days are numbered as well. Bilivar’s been heard to mutter about packing up and skipping town to some of his drinking buddies at the Hagfish, but no one thinks he’ll really follow through on this plan.

[DM Innkeeper]

Sandpoint #32. Scarnetti Mill
As with the Sandpoint Lumber Mill, this building is owned by the Scarnettis. All of the flower and grain produced here is supplied by local farmers. Mysterious fires have claimed the Soggy River Mill, the Biston Pond Mill, and most recently the Cougar Creek Mill, leaving this mill the only functioning grain mill in the region. Accusations of Scarnetti-sponsered arson have been flying high, but the manager of this mill, constantly worried and sneezing Courrin Whesterwill, has gracefully lowered the prices for its use to record lows until the outlying mills can be rebuilt, a gracious move that has alleviated, to some extent, extensive public outcry.

[DM Innkeeper]

Sandpoint #33. The Hagfish
One of Sandpoint’s most popular taverns, especially among fishermen and gamblers, the Hagfish is also Sandpoint’s best bet for a good old-fashioned seafood meal. Owned by a gregarious one-legged man named Jargie Quinn, the Hagfish gets its name from the large glass aquarium that sits behind the bar, the home of a repellent hagfish that Jargie affectionately calls Norah. Hanging from a nail next to Norah’s tank is a leather pouch bulging with coins: prize money for anyone who can drink down a single tankard of “water” scooped from Norah’s tank. It’s a single silver coin to try, but the trick is that, since she’s a hagfish, the water in Norah’s tank is thick and horrifically slimy and foul-tasting. Few can stomach the stuff, but those who do get to keep however many coins have accumulated in the pouch, and then get to carve their names in the ceiling beam above the bar. To date, there are only 28 names carved there, and the Hagfish has been in business for nearly 10 years.

But there’s certainly more to this tavern than Norah. Jargie’s game tables are always well-attended, with games ranging from cards to checkers to dice to darts. Tall tales are a favorite pastime here, with one popular game called “yarning” involving seeing how long a local can string along an impromptu fable without contradicting himself. The most popular subject of these tales is traditionally Old Murdermaw, the legendary giant red snapper who might or might not dwell in the depths of the Varisian Gulf. Jargie himself is quite an accomplished yarner, with the everchanging story of how he lost his leg being his favorite starting point for his tales.

[DM Innkeeper]

Sandpoint #34. Valdemar Fishmarket
Like the Grocer’s Guild across the market, the facade of this long building is open to the air. Here, locals can shop among the day’s catch, picking out cod, salmon, tuna, shellfish, and even the odd octopus for the evening’s meal. Turch Sterglus, a retired fisherman with a lazy eye and a wild white beard, runs the fishmarket in a lovably crochety manner, constantly complaining about the weather or the day’s catch or the antics of local youth, but always packaging his customers’ purchases with a smile and a wink. The fishmarket itself is owned by the Valdemar family, but most locals act as if the building and business were Turch’s, often tipping the loveable old man a few extra coins. Turch’s five sons, each smarter than the next, have made a career working for their father as fish cleaners, haulers, and even cooks.

[DM Innkeeper]

Sandpoint #35. Sandpoint Market
On most days, Sandpoint’s marketplace is empty save for the odd group of children who enjoy using the wide-open area to play whistleball or other games. Twice a week, the market fills with vendors. At the start of each week, the farmer’s market radically increases the daily selection of goods available at the Grocer’s Hall, while all day at the end of the week merchants from Magnimar, Galduria, Nybor, Wartle, and beyond take part in the Town Market. Goods purchased at the Town Market adhere to Sandpoint’s 800 gp limit, but prices are generally 75% of the regular asking price.

[DM Innkeeper]

Sandpoint #36. Sandpoint Meat Market
Local butcher Gunthor "Butcher" (even his wife calls him Butcher) Bladstal runs the Sandpoint Meat Market. Half of this building doubles as a slaughterhouse, with the meat itself put on display for sale in the front half of the market. Most of the meat processed here is from livestock or animals caught by hunters, including Butcher himself. Ask anyone in the village, when it came to hunting big game in the plains south from the Turandarok River, they’ll mention Butcher Bladstal. Once a year, Butcher heads into the Mushfen to hunt the giant crocs found there.

Butcher is short a finger on his left hand, and claims a croc snapped it off, but it's more likely the result of his being in a profession where he handles razor-sharp knives. His missing tooth is the result of a hunting accident: a stag he brought down with a fine bow-shot still had a one last kick in him, which landed square in Butcher's face.

Bladstal is married and has three children. The boy Riggor is a promising acolyte at the cathedral and his two daughters Ororli and Ketra are giving his wife Marta prematurely gray hair as they enter their teen years.

[DM Innkeeper]

Sandpoint #37. The Rusty Dragon
This large structure is Sandpoint’s oldest inn, notable for the impressive (and quite rusty) iron dragon that looms on the building’s roof, doubling as a lightning rod and decoration. Owned and operated for the past six years by the lovely and popular Ameiko Kaijitsu, the Rusty Dragon is not only one of the town’s most popular eateries (made so, in large part, by the spicy and exotic food served here), but also a great place to meet visitors from out of town, since most newcomers to Sandpoint come upon this inn first, the north Lost Coast Road being less traveled. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Ameiko’s exotic beauty is more than matched by her skill at music, and few are the evenings that pass without at least two or three songs by the talented woman. Some bad blood exists between Ameiko and Cyrdak (area 23), and one never seems to miss a chance to badmouth the other, but no one in town really understands the reason behind their rivalry. Of greater concern to Ameiko is the long-running feud with her family—leaving town to become an adventurer scandalized her family enough, but when she returned, rich and successful (and with a seemingly endless supply of eccentric hairstyles), with a desire to purchase and renovate Sandpoint’s oldest tavern, her family officially took to shunning her. The Rusty Dragon is probably the most adventurer-friendly establishment in town, with its ubiquitous “Help Wanted” board near the bar and Ameiko’s “discount rooms for anyone who tells an exciting adventure story” policy.

[DM Innkeeper]

Sandpoint #38. Goblin Squash Stables
The sign above this door perpetuates one of the greatest fears of the lowly goblin—being trampled underfoot by a horse. Tended by a retired hunter named Daviren Hosk, Daviren’s hatred of goblins is nearly legendary in Sandpoint. In a somewhat grisly display, over the entrance to the stable’s covered barn is his collection of goblin ears: preserved and nailed to three different rafters, each bearing the goblin’s name burned into the leathery flesh—mostly because Daviren knows that writing down a goblin’s name is one of the worst things you can do to desecrate his memory. The hosteler’s pride and joy is a large glass bottle filled with brine in which he’s preserved the body of Chief Whartus of the now extinct (due in large part to Daviren) Bonegrinder Tribe.

[DM Innkeeper]

Sandpoint #39. Two Knight Brewery
While Sandpoint’s taverns serve a wide variety of spirits, they all proudly serve the mead, ale, and rum brewed here at the Two Knight Brewery. Established almost 40 years ago by two brothers (cousins of Mayor Deverin) only a few years after Sandpoint was founded, their expertise at brewing has only increased over the years. Tragically, Wade Deverin was one of the first of Chopper’s victims, a murder that has shaken his brother Gaven Deverin’s faith. Locals whisper that since Wade’s death, the brew from here simply hasn’t tasted as good, but they would never say something to this effect to Gaven’s face.

[DM Innkeeper]

Sandpoint #40. Sandpoint Mercantile League
This large building serves many purposes. One can book passage on a ship bound for other ports, arrange for caravans or carriages for overland travel, or send messages to folk in town or as far away as Korvosa or even Riddleport. Day-to-day business is handled by the capable hands of Sir Jasper Korvaski. In his younger years, Jasper was a paladin of Abadar, and although he’s long since given up the more dangerous lifestyle of a crusader, he remains loyal and devout. Despite his best efforts, his romance with Cyrdak Drokkus (area 23) has become one of Sandpoint’s worst-kept secrets.