Overview
Welcome to Harvest Hills, a quaint community of around five thousand nestled in the foothills of the Iron Maw Mountains. Initially settled by Halflings and Gnomes, its reputation for friendliness and hospitality has meant that many different peoples have joined this community over the years.
Being out of the way of the trade caravan routes, Harvest Hills is built on the backs of family farmers, but everyone comes into the township on market days, turning a nearly empty fortified square into a hive of robust activity.
The center of Harvest Hills is Hilltop on the top of the largest hill, where the market is held. Local Legend says that a noble was going to build a castle inside of the wall, but either went broke importing the expensive granite from the mountains, or died when their spouse caught them cheating with a goat. In either case there is no castle, and no noble ruling Harvest Hills. There are a few landed gentry, and other various people of high blood, but the town is ruled with an even hand by Mayor Ttillipin Gtillipin Tarragon (Fourth of his line, reminding you that the T and G are Gnomish Silent, if you please), serving in his second and final term.
Since there isn’t really any crime, and there are few monsters, there is no standing guard. On market day a community defense force comes together mainly to make sure that the drunks don’t make too big a mess of things. The Patrol as it is called are all issued a tabard, helmet, a halberd, and a solid wood cudgel. With the exception of the tabard, everything dates back several generations to when Harvest Hills mustered a unit to help defend the Iron Maw Mountains from the hordes of undead lead by a Death Knight. The First Harvest Hills Foot and Pike never saw action in the war, but still had one casualty (Digger McDuggan who was apparently allergic to bees).
Once a year the Mountaineers from the Steel Resolve Hold float down Egg Creek in large barges to come to Harvest Hills to exchange ores and finished metal goods for luxury items such as apples, strawberry jam, and cotton clothing. Egg Creek is named because of its smell, which is the strong sulfur odor of a natural hot spring. The Mountaineers don’t quite make it to Harvest Hills, they stop before Lightning Swampand hold a multi day trade and music festival. So many Hillfolk from Harvest Hills will make the trek around Lightning Swamp to get to Festival Landing to trade with the Mountaineers.
They avoid Lightning Swamp because it gets its namesake from the Will O’ Wisps that were said to inhabit the swamp, even though no one has seen one in an elf’s age. However, Lightning Swamp plays an important part of the life of Harvest Hills. The water from Egg Creek pauses in Lightning Swamp, cooling and losing its sulfur smell before going on to become Hickory Stream, which many of the family farms use to irrigate their crops. Lightning Swamp is also important because it is always hot there, even in the depths of the coldest winter. There have been times when families have taken refuge there during the winter due to some disaster happening on their homestead. There are still a few families that live in Lightning Swamp, but they don’t interact much with the other people of Harvest Hills.
Rarely, a delegation from the The Elven Kingdom comes to collect taxes, ostensibly for the maintenance of the army and roads, but most Hillfolk think that they can fix the roads just fine, and there hasn’t been much need of an army since there hasn’t been a war twenty years.
Legal Variances
There are several things that are illegal in Harvest Hills compared to the Elven Kingdom.
- Using enchantment spells on other Hillfolk is illegal.
- It is illegal to raise goats for fur, but it is legal to raise them for meat, milk, and scaring trolls.
- Fire spells are illegal inside of the Shield Wall
- Bastart Bart is banned from the Harvest Hills Region.
- Sacrificing Eggs to Bouncing Baby Boy Spring is forbidden.