The hills of Trielta do occasiona lly offer up some
impressive bounty, in the form of heretofore- undiscov-
ere d gold and silver. While such finds are usually sm all
lodes that a re played out a lmost before other s become
aware of them , Trielta has pl ayed hos t to full-on gold
rus hes fr om time to time. Someone stumbles on a
pa rticul arly la rge vein of ore, and p ros pectors and for-
tune-seeker s come pouring in by the dozens. Trielta n
folk tend to see the s e occas iona l influxes of gold-hungry
seekers the way other settlem ents look upon periodic
pl a gues of locus ts: aggravating, inevitable, a nd thor-
oughly dis ruptive, but also part of the natura l order, a nd
so nothing to get bothered about.
Indeed, e ven the la rgest of these discoveries is n't s o
lucrative as to be wor th the construction of the full-scale
mining operati ons that can be found in other l ands. No
la rge nati ons or tra ding consortiums are wa iting in the
wings to invade and ta ke ove r the mines of Trielta. They
a re what a dwar f acqua inta nce of mine once referred
to as "scratch mines"-close-to-the-surface operations ,
with decent yield for a sm all amount of digging, but
not worth the constructi on of "prope r" (by whic h he of
course meant dwarve n) mines.
I was in Trielta resting after my escape from Najara
when jus t s uch a n outbreak of "gold on the bra in" (as
the locals term it) occurred. T hough most of those w ho
com e at s uch times a re honest pros pectors seeking to
ma ke their fortunes, the sudden opportunity for wealth
does attract less scrupulous sorts, including all m anner
of thieves, swindler s, and claims-jumpers - not to
mention monsters th at prey on unlucky or ill-prepa re d
m in ers who unknowingly inva de their territory.
T he most intense traveling I've done through these
hills was in purs uit of a band of ma rauding lizardfolk.
T he head of the kindly gnome family I was staying with
was taken prisoner, along with his oldest s on. I help e d
the local ha lfling sheriff and th e small ba nd of militia he
put together t o track the ba nd, and to do so quickly, res-
cuing the captives. I've been welcomed in this ar ea ever
s ince, and have gotten to know the goodly folk he re well.
HARDBUCKLER
At the southern edge of the hills lies the walled settle-
ment of H a rdbuckl er. It is a town of mostly gnom es, w ith
the occasiona l huma n , halfling, or half-elf a mong th eir
nu mber. It is one of the best-defended towns I've vis-
ited, with a several batteries of ba lli s tae on impressive
cog-run cranking mounts that allow for a nearl y con-
ta nt cycle of fir ing and reloading fr om a ny of the wall
e mplacements. Though the folk of Ha rdbuckler don't
have cause to use them very often, these weapons us u-
a lly discourage the bandits, raid ers, a nd occasiona l ore
bands tha t would lay cla im to Hardbuckler 's wealth.
The town eschews the sort of s treet network that
1ends to delineate most la rge settlements; ' in s tead it has
a si ngle street running ins ide the circula r town wall,
and anothe r pair of stra ight road s crossing the tow n
north-to-south a nd east-to-west that meet in th e center
of town in a crossroa ds marke tplace. Ma ny buildings
1 ructured for la rger folk line these streets, for t aller
"olk tend to prefer the comfortabl e familia rity they pro-
·ide, but th e rest of the town is m ad e up of a series of
narrow pa ths between the sm aller-p roportione d build-
ings tha t are the homes of the ci ty's gnomes.
The fir st time I walked a long these tight la nes, I felt
as though I was only seeing a sm all porti on of th e actua l
settle ment, and I was right. Later I discovere d tha t
beneath the slate-roofed houses, with their modest little
a djoining gardens behind pl ank fe nces or field stone
walls are the tunnels th at cons titute the true thorough-
fares of Hardbuckl e r.
Be neath each s m all dwelling is an exte ns ive cellar,
often three or more levels in depth. These s paces a re
w he re the indus trious folk of H a rd buckl e r e ngage in
the ir live lihoods. S ome of the cellar s paces a r e shops
or works paces for arti sans who sleep in the house
a bove. Ot he r of t hese crofthold s r e nt out t he ir extra
s pace to tr avele rs, setting asid e a few ro om s for rent,
a nd us ing a single la rge s pace as an open taproom ,
ser ving t he sor t of far e one might find in a n inn. The
food in s uch a n establishment is odd- a great deal
of mushrooms, potatoes, turnips, dense lichens, a nd
stews made of shrews a nd voles-but filling and tasty in
its own way.
The cha mbers in these underground inns are well
heate d by generous hear ths, a nd thus provid e for very
comfortabl e accommoda tions. More tha n a few me r-
cha nts arra nge their travels so as to be in Ha rdbuckler
ere winter a rrives, so that they can s pe nd the cold
months besid e a hearth, with a slice of fri e d pi e in one
ha nd, and a tanka rd of bitte r gnomish stout in the other.
Any cellar s pace not devoted to anothe r purpose is
used for sto rage rathe r than be ing left vacant. Almost
every family in the town has som e space that it uses for
its ow n needs or ren ts out for use by others. Those who
buy storage from a Hardbuckl er mus t purchase their
s to rage crates a nd oth er necessary goods fr om local
a rtisans, who also m a ke locks , latches, waxy sealants
for waterproofing crates and boxes, a nd the like. The
crates a re all built to specific sizes, with shelvin g and
space in the cella rs measured s o tha t each conta iner fits
s nugly and exactly.
Ha rdbuckler has a well-pa id wizard who provides
magical security for s tore d item s, for those who wish it.
Outla nder w izards a ren't permitted to lay wa rds or pro -
tecti ons on goods destined for the cella rs - s uch mus t
be applied by Daelia Inchtarwurn, the latest wizard in a
long line of folk who have worked in Ha rdbuckl er over
the generations. S he wear s a set of m agical bracer s
passed to her by her fathe r.RURAL SETTLEMENTS
Mos t of the outlying settle me nts in the Trielta Hills
cons is t of a dozen or two dozen ha lfling or gnom e fam-
ilies, living in homes molde d gently into rolling hills.
Rela tively shallow valleys ser ve as agricultural land,
while the slopes a r e used for growing vin e crops (such
as pumpkins and s trawbe rries) or grazing small herds
of the large- horne d s heep ma ny of the ha lfling families
keep, or the orner y b ra id -bearded goa ts favor ed by
gnome goatherds.
Most of these s m all communities a re n't exclus ive ly
popula ted by ha lflings or gnomes, s ince s uch groups
seem to pros pe r be tter when me mber s of both races