Elstrich Locations and Characters
by HåvardElstrich is a town in the western part of Darokin and part of what fans have dubbed the Westerlands. Inspired by the works of James Mishler and other fans on the region, I ran a short campaign in Elstrich using the D&D 3E rules back in the mid 2000s. I have lost many of my notes from this campaign, but here are a few things I remember:
REGNAR'S TOWN HOUSE
This is the home of Regnar Westbridge. The house is one of a handful of larger buildings in the center of Elstrich. It is the headquarters of Regnar's Trading company, which is a subsidiary of one of Darokin's Merchant Guilds. Regnar himself is a handsome, but eccentric character. He organizes several trading operations and caravan routes between Darokin City, Port Tenobar and the Atruaghin Clans. He is also a known art collector and has an interest in the occult. Because of his arrogant personality, his financial dealings and his family history, he has a number of enemies and also a number of people who depend on him, but still dislike the man. In my campaign, I used him as a patron for the party as he has a constant need for caravan guards, investigators, body guards or even assassins.
TOWN HALL
This is where the Elstrich Council of Elders meet. It is also the home of the Mayor. The current mayor is Giorgino Westbridge who happens to be Regnar's brother. A wealthy land owner, he despises his brothers dabblings as a merchant and has an even stronger dislike for adventurers and meddlers who come to town to cause trouble. Even if they have good intentions, Giorgino views outsiders as nothing but troublemakers.
THE TEMPLE
This temple is dedicated to a number of Immortals commonly worshipped in Darokin. Most of the people attending the temple are laymen and laywomen, but there is also a handful of 1st-2nd level Clerics here under the leadership of Bishop Philbur Swampwood. Swampwood is cousin to the Westbridge brothers. Phlibur's main concern right now is that he has not been able to cast any spells for the last two years. He deals with this mainly by insisting that he is always busy, trying to avoid quieries or request for help. If adventurers need healing, his 2nd level Clerics take care of this. None of them suspect anything wrong yet. Philbur dislikes the Westbridge brothers.
WESTBRIDGE MANOR
This ancient manor house is located outside of town. It has been abandoned for some time. It is the property of Giorgino Westbridge, but he stays in town. Meanwhile his manor has been occupied by wraiths and lesser undead. Among the treasures and secrets found here is a magical key granting access to the lower levels of the Westbridge family crypt in the Old Cemetery.
OLD CEMETERY
While there is a new cemetery near the temple in town, the old cemetery is reserved for the more prominent farming families of Elstrich. Of note in this near abandoned cemetery is the Westbridge Family Crypt. The deeper levels here can only be accessed by using a magical key found in Westbridge Manor. Exploring deeper will reveal that the crypt of family founder Edyngarde Westbridge has disappeared from his crypt. Indeed he is a Vampire and is secretly manipulating the happenings in town. Philbur once confronted the Vampire, but his faith weakened from fear and Edyngarde forced him to forsake his Immortal.
THE GATOR HEAD GANG
This band of robbers have grown wealthy from robbing caravans going in and out of Elstrich. Through the use of potions of animal control, they have been able to control large aligators guarding their secret hideout somewhere in the northern part of the Malpheggi Swamp.
I had plans to develop the family history of the Westbridge/Swampwood clans and various secrets that would be uncovered. Unfortunately, the campaign did not last as long as I had hoped.
One of the ideas I had was that Edyngarde Westbridge would have been turned into a Vampire by Lillian Corran from Corran Keep (See WotI), but not sure how well this fits with the timeline.