Stromdorf
Stromdorf is a small market town in the Reikland of the Empire.[1b]
The town is located south of the Reikwald Forest on the confluence of the rivers Ober, Teufel and Tranig that flow down from the Grey Mountains into the River Reik. It is about 150 miles as the crow flies from Altdorf and is connected by road to Ubersreik (40 miles away), Nuln (140 miles distant), and Auerswald (25 miles).[1b]
The surrounding region, known as the Fleuchtschussel, mostly consists of a marsh called The Oberslecht, due to the three rivers and near constant rain. Further south are dotted some goblin-infested stony hills, called the Blitzfelsen Hills.[1b]
Contents
Defences
The town is protected by a ten foot high stone wall erected in the Time of Three Emperors with a pair of gatehouses, a Great Cannon mounted on each, nicknamed 'Screaming Gertie' and 'Silent Meg' by the locals. Silent Meg is rusted and nonfunctional due to it being exposed to the elements for too long, while Screaming Gertie was protected by a wooden shelter before it suffered the same fate. The town has a volunteer militia of 30 men, armed and given rudimentary training once per year, as well as 15 actual soldiers who act as watchmen. Both groups are commanded by Captain Arno Kessler. Screaming Gertie is crewed by six elderly men from the Imperial Gunnery School who serve in Stromdorf instead of retiring.[1b]
Trade
Stromdorf barely subsists on the crops and mutton they can grow/rear in the drier parts of the Fleuchtschussel, they used to have more successful farms in the Blitzfelsen Hills until the goblins arrived and drove the farmers out. They have enough to avoid starvation, but not much more, and river traders tend to avoid stopping at the town, preferring to hurry past it to Ubersreik due to the weather. What they do have in good supply are the tasty Reik eels that inhabit the rivers. These are skinned, smoked and barrelled for export. The Brenner family also produce the famous Thunderwater Ale which even dwarfs consider a decent brew for something made by humans. In exchange for these two lots of goods, Stromdorf imports whatever it can, particularly coal and dry timber.[1b]
Government
- Burgomeister Phillip Adler has ruled for a decade on behalf of the von Jungfreuds, having also married one of their distant relatives. However, he has become a recluse and refuses to work, convene the town council, or see visitors, leaving the day-to-day governance of Stromdorf to Captain Kessler.[1b]
History
Before the time of Sigmar, human tribesmen found a magical stone that granted prophetic visions which they erected as a menhir in honour of Verena whom they worshipped as a seer-goddess. A trading post grew around it as pilgrims came to the Fleuchtschussel to see glimpses of the future. Later, the post grew into a town - Stromdorf, the place of storms.[1a]
Once Stromdorf was brought into the Empire, the Church of Sigmar toppled the menhir, thinking it a site of Chaos worship, and replaced it with a Sigmarite temple. Their primary source of traffic gone with the pilgrims, Stromdorf's economy went into a steep decline.[1a]
In 2051 IC, during the Wars of the Vampire Counts, a vampire and his detachment of undead retreated here from Altdorf after the von Carstein armies had been defeated at the capital. The militia under Captain Olaus Stichelm fought them off. Stichelm slew the vampire at the cost of his own life and the animated dead crumbled away.[1a]
Around 2420 IC, the horde of Goblin Warboss Grom the Paunch turned away from the town despite it being directly in the path of his Waaagh! Legend has it they were deflected by a spectral host led by the spirit of Stichelm. However, one tribe of goblins - the Crooked Noses - defected from Grom's Waaagh! They settled in the Blitzfelsen Hills and have plagued the locals ever since.[1a]
A century later, an ambitious acolyte of the Celestial Order named Niklas Schulmann discovered the origin of Stromdorf's inclement weather - a nexus of Azyr wind, discovered by the elves when they first colonised the Old World, but abandoned during the War of the Beard and subsequently hidden by a redirection of the flow of the Tranig river, which now flows over it. In an attempt to take the power of the nexus for himself, Niklas attempted an arcane ritual to find its exact location, but in his overconfidence, he miscast it [1a] and caused the local weather to get even worse, agitating the local goblins and beastmen, and causing a storm surge that threatens the bridges out of town.[1a]
Locations of Import
- Garden of Morr: Guarded by a tall wall and legend has it rain has never stopped falling upon it since Stichelm died and was buried here.[1b]
- Marketplace: It is surrounded by grand buildings of merchants, the offices of Brenner Exports, the local doctor's office, and the Town Hall. In front of the Hall is a statue of Olaus Stichelm, the saviour of the town and a temple to Sigmar stands in one corner, a small shrine to Shallya by a well.[1b]
- Temple of Sigmar: a modestly-sized Sigmarite place of worship, but suitably grand. It has a crypt and reliquary beneath it that's closed to the public.[1b]
- Kessler's House: With the Town Hall closed by the Burgomeister, official town business is conducted at Captain Kessler's home office in his two storey townhouse.[1b]
- Barracks: A collection of three brick buildings near the western gate that house the town watch, their armoury, and the gaol.[1b]
- The Gerber Tannery: One of the few successful businesses in Stromdorf. Origin of the town's persistent pungent smell.[1b]
- The Stewpot Hostelry: A clean, comfortable, but boring and frequently empty inn despite serving exquisite meals.[1b]
- Thunderwater Inn & Brewery Produces the famous beer - whilst humans can only manage a pint or maybe two, Dwarfs eagerly down it by the keg. [1b]
- Stockyards & granaries: Where the town's grain supply is stored and, once a month, where it's sheep are kept for auction and butchering.
Notable Individuals
- Captain Arno Kessler: Former sergeant of an Altdorf regiment until he lost a hand and eye to greenskins, he is now the town Watch Captain and de facto Steward with the Burgomeister in seclusion.[1b]
- Sebastien Brenner: Owner of the Brewery and Thunderwater Inn.[1b]
- Marcel Gerber: Master of the Tanners' Guild and most influential of the town elders.[1b]
- Lector Magnus Gottschalk: Veteran Warrior Priest of Sigmar, noted for his stirring sermons.[1b]
- Hieronymus Köpfchen: Retired Altdorf University professor.[1b]
- Rolf Messer: Barber-Surgeon.[1b]
- Hildette Krass: Ragged apothecary and midwife, thought by some to be a witch. Only serves women and the impoverished.[1b]
- Hartlieb Schneider: Physician to the wealthy.[1b]
- Theoderic Grabbe: Elderly priest of Morr who never leaves his Garden.[1b]
- Keila Cobblepot: Skilled halfling cook and proprietress of the Stewpot.[1b]
- Fridrik Ulffson: The sole miller for the local grain supply, lives at his watermill a mile north of town.[1b]
Sources
