Adventurers are drawn to borderland towns like flies to dung. Opportunities for wealth and glory lurk in borderlands and such towns are welcome places to rest, recuperate and resupply.

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Sights & Sounds

Several tarred heads decorate the iron spikes above every gate.
Everywhere the characters go, there’s a babble of foreign languages that tickles the ear.
A band of foreigners stride along, seemingly at ease despite the odd looks the townsfolk give them.
A gaggle of laughing, shoeless street urchins dart through the crowd.
A guard patrol shuffles down the street, eyeing every house and alley they pass with suspicion.
Wild dogs scrounge in the gutters and alleys. They growl at anyone who gets too close.
A man in chains hollers his innocence as he’s prodded along at the end of a guard’s spear.
The grizzled man lounging in the nearby doorway has the look of a veteran soldier.
A cart rumbles down the street. Small boys alongside it shovel excrement into the cart.
A band of dusty riders clops along the street.

Businesses

Stitch in Time (tailor) sees to the townsfolk’s clothing, mending and patching to extend their lives
Tolley’s Tongs (blacksmith) has kept the forge burning through war and peace. Both are profitable for a good blacksmith, though the latter is preferable.
Stalls (stables) has a lone, grubby stableboy who, despite his surly nature, loves horses and tends them with a careful eye and hand.
The Square (market) is a daily market where townsfolk get their groceries and other essential supplies. Many townsfolk—as well as several minor merchants—have pitches here.
Bubbling Brews (alchemist) works with tinctures most mysterious. Its patrons are often adventurers or hunters passing through town.
The Help (adventuring supplies) has a wide range of equipment and tools suitable for groups of mercenaries or adventurers seeking fame and fortune. Given time, they can secure almost any kind of mundane equipment—no matter how expensive.

Folk of Interest

Ghaen Oughel (LE male dwarf fighter 3) haunts the town graveyard, rusty battleaxe always in hand.
Issiv Luffle (NG female human cleric 3) is the local healer, a tired-looking woman with sad brown eyes but an easy smile.
Rother Elmint (CG male dwarf fighter 2) is a mute fighter who makes his living by tracking down bounties across the border.
Onkin Burer (N male half-elf druid 2) is part of the woodcutters group in town. They keep the surrounding land clear of trees for defensive purposes.
Ovuirt Upole (CE male halfling thief 1) likes tickling unwary townsfolk. And by tickling, he means stabbing with his needle-thin dagger.
Etyl Vesis (NG male elf fighter 1) spends most of his days lounging in a tavern, complaining about the lack of quality wine in town.

Adventure Hooks

A man in a dingy robe approaches the characters and claims to be a foreign noble in disguise who has fallen on hard times. He needs money to return home, but won’t forget the characters’ generosity.
The characters are offered a good deal of money to gather details about the town militia and provide the information to a merchant who will be passing through town in a few days.
The characters wake in the morning to find the town under siege by a large band of desperate bandits. All able-bodied folk are called to defend the walls.
In the dead of night, a character glimpses someone climbing over the town’s outer walls.
The characters round a corner to find the unconscious members of a watch patrol sprawled about the street. Of their attackers, there is no sign.
A rat infestation is spreading a nasty disease through town, and one of the party just got bit by a rodent.

Credit

This is a short system-neutral extract from Urban Dressing: Borderland Town by Josh Vogt. Urban Dressing: Borderland Town is available from Raging Swan Press in 5e, Pathfinder First Edition, Pathfinder Second Edition and OSR editions.

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