Warmhearth
The Divided Village
Overview
- Type: Frontier Village
- Region: Interior Osweg
- Population: Small, halfling-majority
- Reputation: Quietly hostile, politically fractured
- Known For: Smuggling, factional violence, bad compromises
Warmhearth is a roadside village that pretends to be neutral and succeeds only in being dangerous. It survives by standing just far enough from authority to avoid oversight and just close enough to trade routes to matter.
Everyone here knows where they stand.
Description
Warmhearth is composed of low stone-and-timber structures clustered along a single road that cuts through the village. Smoke curls constantly from hearth chimneys, giving the settlement its name and lending it an air of domestic calm that does not reflect reality.
The village is visually divided:
- Green-painted buildings on one side of the road
- Brown-painted buildings on the other
This distinction is not decorative.
The Factions
Warmhearth is split between two rival halfling groups:
The Buds
- Identified by green clothing and markings
- Control portions of the dragonglass trade
- Favor ambush and intimidation
- Were responsible for the theft of the party’s cart and mule
The Brambles
- Identified by brown clothing and markings
- Rival smugglers and former allies of the Buds
- More aggressive when challenged
- Maintain grudging order within the village limits
Violence between the two is common—but carefully avoided within Warmhearth itself.
The Feud
The origin of the feud is well-known and bitterly remembered.
A marriage once meant to unite the Buds and Brambles collapsed after accusations of theft during the wedding feast—centered around a keg of Halfling Bitter. Blame escalated. Retaliation followed.
The intended heirs died.
The feud never did.
Dragonglass & Smuggling
Both factions are involved in the movement of Dragonglass, acting as middlemen between miners, slavers, and larger criminal interests tied to Zhellin.
Warmhearth functions as:
- A transfer point
- A holding site
- A place to sort cargo and captives
Smuggling is the village’s true economy.
Law & Custom
Warmhearth follows a single, ironclad rule:
No blood spilled within the village.
Outside its boundaries, all bets are off.
This rule is enforced ruthlessly—not out of mercy, but to preserve commerce.
Recent Events
- Theft of dragonglass cargo from the Sea Spray Survivors
- Capture and chaining of multiple party members
- Revelation of inconsistent dragonglass behavior
- Exposure of Buds–Brambles rivalry to outsiders
Warmhearth remains standing—but its secrecy has been compromised.
Reputation
To travelers, Warmhearth is:
- A place to pass through quickly
- A place where directions come with strings
- A place where hospitality is conditional
To smugglers, it is:
- Useful
- Replaceable
- Already dangerous
Current Status
Warmhearth continues its uneasy existence, balanced between two hostile factions and the growing pressure of outside attention.
How long that balance holds is uncertain.