Sandpont: Rumors in Sandpoint

As in any small community, gossip accents every business transaction and spices every evening meal.

• Sheriff Hemlock shares a long-running, "secret" romance with Lady Kaye, madam of the town brothel.
  
• The ghost of the murderer Chopper haunts Chopper's Isle, just north of town.
  
• The White Deer Inn used to be the Black Deer Inn, but was tastefully renamed after the fire.
  
• Ask Ven Vinder at the general store to see the "wine cellar" and he'll sell you a jug of disgusting but potent orc rotgut.
  
• Farmer Grump claims the Sandpoint Devil, a horselike monster with bat wings, once flew off with one of his prized sows.
  
• Old Ilsoari at the museum sometimes wanders the beach at night, looking for treasures.
  
• Don't go down to the junktoss after dark: goblins steal the trash at night.
  
• Solsta Vinder claims Sczarni (the local thieves guild) stole her sheets last week and two cooling pies a week before that.
  
• The new cathedral is magically protected from catching fire.
  
• Murdermaw, a giant red snapper big enough to bite a boat in half, lurks in the Varisian Bay.
  
• The Deverin family was once affiliated with the Chelish resistance, but was forced to flee to Varisia.

Sandpoint: Sandpoint Cathedral

Easily the largest building in Sandpoint, this impressive cathedral is also the town’s newest structure. Built over the foundations of the previous chapel, Sandpoint Cathedral is not dedicated to the worship of a single deity. Rather, it gathers under its eaves the six most commonly worshiped deities in the region, providing chapels for all of these deities in a communal forum. In a way, Sandpoint Cathedral is six different churches under one impressive roof.

The original chapel built here was a collection of six different shrines, each its own building and connected to the others by open-air walkways. Avandra’s worship was incorporated into these shrines as part of the peace accord with the local people, but the original builders also incorporated five other deities as well. Four of these (Moradin, Pelor, Corellon, and Melora) were patrons of the original founders of the Sandpoint Mercantile Consortium, while the fifth, Bahamut, was the most popular among the initial settlers.

When the chapel burnt to the ground five years ago, Mayor Deverin set into motion a bold initiative. Not only would the chapel be rebuilt, but it would be done on a grand scale. A cathedral would be built in place of the chapel, and it would be made of stone and glass. Funding for this project came partially from the founding families, partially from Sandpoint businesses eager to earn favor in the eyes of the gods, and partially from the respective churches.

It took years to finish the cathedral, but the end result is truly impressive. To the south, facing Sandpoint’s heart, are the shrines of civilization: Avandra and Corellon. To the west, offering a view of the Old Light and the sea beyond, are the shrines of Melora and Moradin. And to the east, offering a view of the Sandpoint Boneyard and the rising sun, are the shrines of Pelor and Bahamut.

The previous chapel hosted less than a dozen acolytes, led by a well-loved cleric named Ezakien Tobyn, who sadly perished in the fire that claimed the church. The new high-priest of Sandpoint is his most accomplished student, a pleasant man named Abstalar Zantus. Himself a worshiper of Avandra, Father Zantus is very open about matters of faith and has slipped into the role of adviser for worshipers of other gods of Sandpoint with ease.

*

It was Father Zantus who took Guillaume in a couple years back and gave him a place to stay. Though it was not much because for last five years, the faithful of Sandpoint have attended church in smaller wooden structures rebuilt after fire destroyed the previous temple. Guillaume has been assigned by the high-priest to officiate on the practices for the shrine to Corellon. Now, the new cathedral is finally done. All that remains is for the Swallowtail Festival to renew the site’s blessings from the gods and it will be as if the Sandpoint Fire had never occurred.

* * *

Arao has been sent by the Church of Pelor from far off Magnimar as an escort to the acolytes who would serve as the Church’s representatives in the upcoming Swallowtail Festival. The trip has been uneventful having arrived by boat two days ago. Arao’s duties to the clerics have been fulfilled and there is no obligation to him to stay in Sandpoint. Father Zanthus, however, has requested that Arao stay in town and join them in the celebration of the festival.

Sandpoint: The Land and the People

The Land

A rolling, lightly forested land of limestone escarpments, rugged tors, and verdant moors surrounds Sandpoint. Most who populate the area live off the land and sea. Numerous farms spread over the surrounding countryside, while the homes of fisherfolk dot the coastal cliffs. Viable farming land is a coveted commodity around Sandpoint, as rocky hills and expanses of limestone pavements uneven areas of flat rock—break the lush landscape. Wolves, snakes, and oversized weasels primarily stalk the deer and hares common to the area, along with the occasional stray farm animal, making attacks on humanoids rare. When the fogs common to Sandpoint’s stretch of shore rise, though, every dark shape in the mist becomes a monster, giving rise to numerous local legends of hungry wild men, winged terrors, and reeking things from the sea.

The People

A welcoming, largely unprejudiced community of colorful locals call Sandpoint home.

Presented here are but a few of the town’s most noteworthy residents.

Kendra Deverin: Town mayor.
Cyrdak Drokkus: Grandiloquent actor, gadabout, and proprietor of the Sandpoint Theater.
Belor Hemlock: The gruff but protective town sheriff.
Ameiko Kaijitsu: Ex-adventurer and proprietor of the Rusty Dragon inn, rebellious daughter to nobleman Lonjiku Kaijitsu.
Lonjiku Kaijitsu: Stoic noble, owner of the town Glassworks.
Jargie Quinn: One-legged owner of the Hagfish tavern.
Titus Scarnetti: Tradition-minded noble who controls Sandpoint’s
bustling lumber trade.
Ethram Valdemar: Oldest of the town nobles.
Ven Vinder: Owner of Sandpoint’s best-stocked general store.
Abstalar Zantus: Sandpoint’s mild-mannered local priest.

Sandpoint: The Law

Kendra Deverin has served as Sandpoint’s mayor for the past eight years. Lawmaker, judge, and general peacemaker, Deverin has proven to be both an adept diplomat and stern hand when need be—skills likely honed during her youth in Magnimar and adventuring in the region. With a personal—some say sisterly—style of governing, Kendra holds the abiding respect of most of Sandpoint’s people, charming them with her fiery temper and tenacity for justice (as demonstrated during the Late Unpleasantness). A council of several of the town’s most respected and affluent landowners aids Deverin’s work. While several councilmembers have their own agendas and visions for the town, the mayor’s no-nonsense attitude assures that council decisions ever work toward the common good.

Meting out the town’s good justice, sheriff and councilmember Belor Hemlock keeps watch over Sandpoint’s people. Held as something of a local hero, Hemlock is lauded with being the man who brought the serial killer, Chopper, to justice. Although rarely faced with misconduct more severe than vandalism and public drunkenness, the sheriff is both a keen wit and a skilled swordsman, and openly proves both when the rare crime requires it. While the town’s chief enforcer, Hemlock knows the difference between the word of the law and its intent, and often gives those under his protection the benefit of the doubt.

Their sheriff’s work aside, Sandpoint’s people realize they must often fend for and defend themselves, especially on the outlying farms. In the rarest and most extreme cases— and even then thoroughly discouraged—mob justice is sometimes all that satisfies the outraged people.

Sandpoint: The Town

“Welcome to Sandpoint! Please stop to see yourself as we see you!”
—Mirrored Sign Outside Sandpoint

A simple, relatively peaceful town with all the color and common oddities one expects from a tightly-knit community, Sandpoint sits at a point on the Lost Coast halfway between Magnimar and Windsong Abbey. Wood buildings and cluttered docks line the town’s natural harbor, while farms and the manors of wealthy citizens dot the surrounding countryside.

During the day, fishing, farming, lumbering, glassmaking, and shipbuilding occupy most of the townsfolk, who commonly retire to their homes by way of Sandpoint’s many taverns. A playhouse and would-be museum make unusual attractions in such a small community, but Sandpoint’s true landmark is the Old Light, a lighthouse of ancient origins that lies in ruins.

A relatively peaceful town, devoid of many of the dangers of a true frontier town and intrigues of a sprawling city, Sandpoint has nonetheless had its share of roubles. The fading scars of a recent terror still linger, a time most folk refer to as the Late Unpleasantness.

Just over five years ago, a madman stalked the streets of Sandpoint, killing dozens. Known as Chopper, the killer’s month long terror ended bloodily when an eccentric local artisan was revealed as the murderer and killed during his attempted capture.
Adding to the pain, less than a month later the local chapel burned to the ground in a conflagration that nearly consumed the town’s northern half and left the local priest dead.

Emerging from the shadow of these events, though, Sandpoint has healed and rebuilt, with many townsfolk viewing the coming dedication of a new church as a symbolic end to the healing and return to normality.

Key Points:
1. Sandpoint Cathedral
2. Sandpoint Boneyard
3. The White Deer (tavern)
4. The Way North (map house)
5. Jeweler
6. Junker’s Edge
7. Gorvi’s Shack
8. Sage
9. Locksmith
10. Sandpoint Garrison
11. Sandpoint Town Hall
12. Savah’s Armory
13. Risa’s Place
14. Rovanky Tannery
15. Red Dog Smithy
16. The Pillbug’s Pantry
17. Bottled Solutions
18. Cracktooth’s Tavern
19. House of Blue Stones
20. Sandpoint Glassworks
21. Sandpoint Savories
22. The Curious Goblin (bookshop)
23. Sandpoint Theater
24. Carpenter’s Guild
25. Sandpoint Lumber Mill
26. General Store
27. Turandarok Academy
28. Madame Mvashti’s House
29. Grocer’s Hall
30. Vernah’s Fine Clothing
31. Wheen’s Wagons
32. Scarnetti Mill
33. The Hagfish (tavern)
34. Valdemar Fishmarket
35. Sandpoint Market
36. Sandpoint Meat Market
37. The Rusty Dragon
38. Goblin Squash Stables
39. Two Knight Brewery
40. Sandpoint Mercantile League
41. Sandpoint Boutique
42. Fatman’s Feedbag
43. The Pixie’s Kitten
44. The Feathered Serpent
45. Hannah’s
46. Sandpoint Shipyard
47. Valdemar Manor
48. Scarnetti Manor
49. Kaijitsu Manor
50. Deverin Manor