History

heraldry The white, snow-covered slopes of Kelvin’s Cairn loom large behind this quiet lakeside town. Caer-Konig started as a camp for a group of mountaineers from the northern Moonsea region. As the camp grew, a wooden palisade was added to discourage raiders. Later came the stone castle of Caer-Konig. Alas, neither the palisade nor the castle fared well; both fell to orcs before falling into ruin.

Caer-Konig as it is known today consists of terraced rows of houses that recede from the shore of Lac Dinneshere like the tiers of an amphitheater. The harbor is frozen, its docks skewed and broken by the shifting ice. Buried under the snow on the slopes above the last row of houses are the ruins of the Caer that gave the town its name—a reminder to the people of Caer-Konig that nothing lasts in this corner of the world.

Travel to and from this remote town was expedited by the ferry that ran out of Easthaven, but with the ferry shut down, Caer-Konig is completely cut off by mountains, lake, and snow. Forced to live on what they can haul out of the iced-over lake, the people of Caer-Konig are bitter and angry. They believe that the rest of Ten-Towns has abandoned them. The only thing that keeps the townsfolk from leaving is the beer at the local tavern, which never seems to run out.

As if things weren’t bad enough, the town has suffered several mysterious break-ins recently, with no evidence of the intruders except dwarven boot tracks in the snow leading north. Since there are no known settlements in that direction, the townsfolk assume that Auril’s everlasting winter has taken its toll on the dwarves of Kelvin’s Cairn, forcing them to come down from the mountain in search of food or beer. In truth, the town is beset by invisible duergar searching for chardalyn.

The town speaker, a heavy-drinking dragonborn named Trovus, patrols at night to keep an eye out for trouble. In his inebriated state, however, Trovus is prone to wandering out onto the icy lake or passing out on the ramshackle docks, and he almost never remembers his nightly patrols once his head clears.

View From the Road

The journey to Caer-Konig brings to sight quite a contrast. On one side of the road is the crumbling remains of an old castle that once dominated the landscape, and on the other is a well-built, two-story mansion where the current speaker, Trovus, lives.

Beyond that a semicircle of stone buildings wraps around a small inlet around Lac Dinneshire. A row of homes and shops line either side of the streets, each looping around to the edge of the lake, where several small piers reach out into the frozen waters of the lake.

Snowflake Ratings

Comfort Friendliness Services
❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️

Places of Interest

Population and Politics

Speaker Guard Captain Guard Lieutenant
Trovus Sydney Marchfield Selmar Vespian

Economics and Taxes

Caer-Konig's economy is relatively strong for such a small town, mainly due to bands of adventurers seeking fortune in the buried depths of the frozen wastelands, and expeditions to the Spine of the World mountain range by prospectors attempting to find new sources of gold, silver and other precious metals.

With just one Inn and one tavern, it can get crowded when the weather is prime for travel, though with the recent weather changes, it has been a lot quieter in the town. This has brought a slow down to the economy, but there is still enough travel that the town stays quite well off financially.

Atmosphere and Architecture

Many of the buildings in Caer-Konig are made of heavy cobblestones, and are built more sturdy than homes and buildings in many other towns. Being situated in the open right on the lake front, and being heavily windswept, they require stronger, more well build structures.

The atmosphere of the town is genuinely friendly, though with the heavy winds, bitter cold, and lack of daylight, many of the townsfolk have a slightly harder edge to their voice. They still have a very welcoming spirit however, and know not to be so harsh as to drive away good business.

Law and Military

Population Militia Veterans Militia Troops
150 2 25

Travel Times

Town Travel Time Town Travel Time Town Travel Time
Bremen 16 Bryn Shander 12 Caer-Dineval 2
Dougan's Hole 12 Easthaven 10 Good Mead 10
Lonelywood 20 Targos 14 Termalaine 18
Town Map