Blackbarn

Blackbarn was a small market town located at the intersection of the Long Trail and the Scelptar Road in the southern part of the Border Kingdoms.

Geography
Blackbarn was located on the southern bank of the River Scelptar, just north of The Land of Two Princes. The streets were paved with cobbles and most buildings were made of brown stone, with maroon-tiled roofs.

Despite its name, there was no barn within the town. "Wagonhouses" were used instead to store produce for trade. These warehouses were designed so that a wagon could be filled via chutes located along the bottoms of the buildings.

Government
Blackbarn was governed by a council of local merchant lords called the Trantors. They elected a High Trantor from their numbers who acted as head of state.

Trade
Blackbarn was a prosperous town and was home to many merchants. These merchants would travel the Border Kingdoms in caravans or river barges towards ports along the Shining Sea for export to Calimshan and beyond.

Local inns included The Silent Knight, The Black Boot, The Unsnug Snail, The Laughing Cat, The Minstrel's Folly, Old Nag and Dance With The Knights.

Defenses
The town was a peaceful and safe place to live thanks to the presence of the Ghost Lances, also know as the "Black Knights". They were the ghosts of knights exiled from Tethyr centuries ago, who resided in a crypt under Blackbarn, cursed by a powerful wizard named Kulaskular.

The Lances hunted thieves and brigands, leaving the law-abiding locals in peace. They appeared in small groups whenever criminal action occurred in the town, from kicking a dog to murder, or when the town was under threat from outside forces. They usually appeared in groups of three to a dozen. The spectral knights never spoke but were elegant in their gestures and could write messages in many languages.

History
The town was founded when exiled female mercenaries of the Silent Knife from Calimshan settled the area. The town's name derived from one of the early large structures, a large black barn built with duskwood.

Some time in the late 14 century DR, the town became infested with gremlins. They committed many acts of thievery and vandalization, persistently resisting the residents' efforts to exterminate them. Eventually residents started to refer to them as "the Blackbarn Curse" and bodies of those killed were strung up on posts. To circumvent the gremlins many things in the town began being made from stone or were locked away behind cupboards or with stout locks.

Inhabitants

 * Althalas, a local sage who resides on Barwinter Street. Originally from Tethyr.
 * Thurbald, another loca sage who resides on Crowns Street. Originally from Calimshan.