The Campaign centers on the village of Woodbridge which lies along the western bank of the Lorisaine River, within the natural protection of an Oxbow Lake. The village, according to a census taken by agents of the Lord, Caliorus Anticus, at Castletown, has a total population of 327 Human or Demi-Human citizens.
Woodbridge, itself, is a modest community of well built single story and two story wooden buildings with slate tile roofs (the people in Woodbridge have been demolishing their older homes and building newer ones under the guidance and with the assistance of the “New” people who have moved into the region, the Alodoans). The population of Woodbridge is growing, as more people arrive in the town of Castletown, to the northwest, and are granted permission by the Lord to move out of the town and into surrounding villages. However, most of the people who live in Woodbridge have lived there all their lives, and some back several generations. It is said that Jeromy Dallopwinter, a man who came from the kingdom of Westerly, founded the village and built the first bridge across a portion of the lake that allowed him to access the land bounded by the Oxbow. The area of land bounded by the lake is approximately one tenth of one square mile. It is accessible, normally by boat only, but there is a single well constructed wooden bridge located in the southwest corner of the village that crosses the narrowest point of the lake, thus giving the village the name, Woodbridge.
The Human People of Woodbridge, so far named in this adventure
1) The Ballinig Family – Lakeside: (5) Anna Ballinig, eldest daughter
2) The Barrow Family – Riverside: (1)
3) The Dale Family – Riverside: (3) Marcus, and his parents
4) The Dooley Family – Lakeside: (6) Eghan, married to Lynne (Flaherty) and four children, three sons and one daughter(Eghan’s sister is Rebecca Flynn)
5) The Flaherty Family – Riverside: (2) Old Sean (his sister is the widow Ginny MacNorra), (Lynne Dooley) and Patricia
6) The Flynn Families (2) – Lakeside: (4) Michael, married to Corrine (O’lehig) and (2) Mitchell married to Becky (Dooley)
7) The Foregan Family – Lakeside: (5) Sean, carpenter
8) The Galihan Family – Riverside (4) Geoffrey, Fiona, and two children, they keep Chickens
9) The Goodwell Family – Riverside: (5) Ulan and Charlotte, Elizabeth is their oldest daughter, and they have two small children
10) The Gresham Family – Lakeside: (2) Wiscara, and her Mother
11) The Holman Family – Lakeside: (4) Lorre Holman, 14
12) The Macintyre Family – Lakeside: (5) Robert age 17, parents are John and Melanie, brother Benjamin 15, and sister Margaret 12
13) The MacNorra Family – Lakeside: (2) Ginny MacNorra (Flaherty) the second wife and widow of Duffy MacNorra, youngest Son is Corky
14) The Mitterson Family – Lakeside: (6) Logan, he is the mason, his son is Tram Mitterson, 14
15) The Oakley Family – Lakeside: (5) Chance
16) The Oghan Families (2) – Riverside: (4) Oscar and Lulu (Molu Woolorly) sons are Sean and Roan, and the other Oghan Family, (6) Thomas the potter, Oscar’s older brother
17) The O’Lehig Family – Riverside: (5) Connor and L’sbirr, their children; Donald, (Corrine), Young Connor, and Willow
18) The O’Narro Family – Lakeside: (4)
19) The Panforey Families (2) – Lakeside: (5) Corlew Panforey, married to Rowelliwyn (Woolorly) they have three children, Rebecca, 18, Tabitha 13, and Thomas 11, (1) Auria is Panforey’s sister
20) The Roarke Family – Lakeside: (4) Brother Phineas, Samuel
21) The Sharety Family – Lakeside: (6)
22) The Toolwoad Family – Lakeside: (2) Margie and her daughter, Tammy
23) The Woolorly Family – Riverside: (2) Martin and Jeanine Woolorly, (daughter is Molu (Lulu) O’ghan)
24) The Onahugh Family – Riverside: (9) Torrey, mentioned in opening
Number of individuals mentioned by name above – 52, total count so far – 107 (of a total of 210)
Castletown
Castletown lies twenty four miles to the northwest, near the confluence of the Lorisaine and Worran rivers, where they join together to become Lake Handemere. Lake Handemere is a large narrow fresh water lake that is connected to the ocean. Castletown is a very new community made up almost entirely of Alodoans (a mixture of Humans, Elves and Halflings from the Empire of Alodoa, across the sea).
For as long as anyone can remember the land where Woodbridge is located has been under the control of a succession of terrible Kings. These Kings (mostly Humans who call themselves, Urandomans, but also some Sashi-Anhain, snake-people) have been, for the most part tyrants and have been at war with one another for generations. These wars mainly derive from an intense internal, ancient feud among noble Urandoman families, and the power struggle between the Sashi-Anhain and the Urandoman people.
Thirteen years ago, an army under the banners of an Emperor of a vast empire across the sea, landed, somewhere far to the north, and began conquering the land controlled by the Urandomans.
Nine years ago construction began on a hilltop near the confluence of the two rivers, of a magnificent and huge castle, and a town was constructed outside the walls of this mighty fortress. Ships sailing from the foreign empire began to arrive a few years after that, bringing settlers to the area. The town, now called Castletown, by locals, grew very large, and eventually these settlers began to seek permission from the local Lord (some noble of some kind, his title is unknown to the people of Woodbridge) to move away from the protection of the castle and settle in the wilderness to the south. It was well known that local, indigenous, populations existed, but the Urandomans who had been in power in these lands were long gone, and those locals that remained were not antagonistic toward the settlers.
Technically speaking the Human population of Woodbridge is almost exclusively of Urandoman genetic makeup, but they would not, now, call themselves Urandoman, and have taken to calling themselves Alodoans, in favor of the people who have invaded and driven the Urandoman tyrants out. In appearance there is a somewhat subtle difference in the Humans who are of Aldoan stock and the Urandomans. Mainly it is in the skin color and hair texture. Aldoans tend to be fair skinned, with thick curly, dark hair, while Urandomans are olive skinned (but can be quiet fair), with straight, fair hair.
Probably the most unusual aspect of this settling and expansion into the land once dominated by the Urandomans, is the presence, among the Aldoans, of races of human types never before seen in this part of the world. They are Elves and Halflings.
In addition to their strange appearance, the Elves and Halflings are different from the people of the land of Woodbridge, and the other Alodoans in very significant ways. While it is generally believed that the Human Alodoans were culturally and technologically not much more advanced than the Urandomans, the Elves and Halflings, brought a decidedly more advanced culture and technology with them. The common people of Woodbridge understand that where these people come from, some land across the sea, is dominated by the Human Aldoans, and that it is rumored that the Elves and Halflings, being more advanced, are from a civilization that was in decline before it was rescued, sometime in the past one hundred years, by the Aldoan Empire.
The campaign will be an exposition of the interaction between the people of Woodbridge and the settlers from Alodoa, as well as the prospect of the village growing to be too large for its location and the need to explore, branch out, to the south and east, where unknown dangers may be present.
In the past, before the arrival of the Alodoans, the village suffered brutal, often inhumane treatment at the hands of various Overlords and Kings of Urandoman, as well as occasional incursions and attacks from hostile monsters, organized (Goblins, Kobolds, and Bullywugs) and the rare random attack by large predators (OwlBears, Bullets, and small Green and Black Dragons).
The Setting
Woodbridge is a community of human, and demi-human beings spread out over four distinct locations
The main village of Woodbridge lies on an island within the boundary of an oxbow lake. The lake is formed by an oxbow in the Lorisaine river which flows from the mountains in the southeast, northwest through the community of Woodbridge, and then turns more westerly and flows into Lake Handemere some twenty four miles to the west/northwest of Woodbridge. The oxbow lake at Woodbride covers an area of approximately 25 acres.
The island within the oxbow covers an area of approximately one tenth of one square mile (64 acres). This area is known as Riverside. Riverside has a village square, a tavern, and a community well, as well as six other buildings (all small residences) on the north end of the island. On the south end of the island are three large and two small residences, and the bridge that connects the island to the land to the west of the oxbow lake. The land directly to the west of the bridge is known as Lakeside, and here there are 21 small, and medium sized residences. The area of Lakeside is approximately one quarter of one square mile (160 acres). To the west and southwest of Lakeside are dense woods and shallow ponds, eventually leading to marshes.
To the north of the island and the oxbow lake is a sharp bend in the river Lorisaine, and a small community of Mautaur. These Maetaur call their community Mingary bend.
To the south/southeast of the island and oxbow lake is a small community of Gymnagaopthians, and these folk call their community MacNorra House.
Together, Riverside, Lakeside, Mingary bend and MacNorra Hose make up the community of Woodbridge.
The total population of Woodbridge Village is 327 of which
27 are Gymnaga-folk, in five families
43 are Maetaur in seven families
18 are Elves in six families (some elven families share a residence while more cottages are being constructed)
15 are Halflings in four families (the Halfling families all have their own residence)
210 are Humans of Urandoman descent living in 21 residences Lakeside and 11 residences Riverside, for a total of 32 residences – there are 47 Urandoman human families (some families share a residence), but only 32 different family names (some identical family names occupy different residences)
14 are Humans of Alodoan descent (all Alodoan humans live Lakeside) of four families living in three residences
