Godshand is an oasis town in a hostile desert, named after the nearby hand-shaped mountain. Access to water made it an important stop on a trading route; pilgrimage and religious tourism then helped it grow.
Water and pilgrimage
Water falls from the Hand into a lake below, although the source is unexplained. Stairs carved into the mountain lead pilgrims to a temple at its summit. Other temples stand at the bottom, where competing religious groups claim the landmark for their own divinity.
Town life
Places mentioned in the campaign include Aldrich’s inn beside the brewery, Tibin Quickstep’s clothes shop, a blacksmith, a flower shop, and a bakery near Hilda Mirin’s home. The apothecary cooperative sells medicines, and the city guard operates from a station.
The magistrate and councilpeople are involved in selecting the judges for the Hand Debate. A thieves’ guild also has a presence in town, with Heron an important figure or possible leader.
The festival season
The yearly Debate brings religious arguments, miraculous healing, visitors, and trade. The campaign shows both its commercial opportunities and its pressures: gambling, leaked judge selections, an innkeeper’s debts, and a missing corn shipment from a nearby farm.
Surrounding dangers
The desert contains bandits and aggressive wildlife, including burrowing ants and worms. Closer to town, anti-magic fields, strange metal in cultivated fields, and changes associated with eclipses remain unexplained.
Related
- Settlements
- Godshand
- History
- Godshand worldbuilding notes
- CSI Godshand
- The Great Popcorn Disappearance
- Desert
- The Hand Mountain and Pilgrim Stair
- The Lake and Waterfall
- Aldrich
- Tibin Quickstep
- Hilda
- The Apothecary Cooperative
- The City Guard
- The Hand Debate
- Godshand’s Thieves’ Guild
- Heron
- The McReady Farm
- Anti-magic fields
- Strange metal shards in the ground
- Eclipse