This thread will start off with some information about the town and its people, after which all Out of Character posting should be done here!

Steingart
This small Ostlander village lies in the shadow of the northern Middle Mountains, and is as inremarkable as it is small. Nonetheless it is mostly self-sufficient, although its spiritual guidance comes from the Shallyan priestesses who maintain a small church on the mountain, which also serves as an orphanage.

The town is governed by a council, formed by the patrons of the village's three most prominent families; Sepp Bundel, Werner Karst and Holger Altbreit. Each of these families is able to trace their lineage back to Steingart's founding, two hundred years ago. The council writes the laws and mediates in the case of disputes.

Holger Altbreit, one of the council members and owner of the local farm, is getting older, but his only son has no intention of taking over the farm- only daughters, and if they ever married then the farm would go to their husbands. While Sepp Bundel is constantly trying to convince Holger to sell him the farm, Holger has written a letter to his brother Lorenz in Unkerdorf, telling him he's willing to pass the farm on to one of his sons...

The people

Bundel family
Owners of the village's bakery, the Bundel family is one of the more prominent families, and they have no qualms about flaunting their position. Father Sepp Bundel is the town's baker, and all three of his children- Hans, Hilde and Anika- help him out with the baking and sale of the town's bread supply. His wife, Sabine, does little helping and much, much more gossiping.

The entire family sees itself as being more important than the other families,being able to trace back their bloodline to the founders of Steingart two hundred years ago.

- Sepp
- Sabine
- Hans
- Hilde
- Anika

Karst family
The Karst family is another one of Steingart's most prominent families, being able to trace their line back to the founders of the village. Unlike the Bundels, they don't lord it over the other villagers as much, although they do demand to be treated respectfully.

Again unlike the Bundels, the Karst family has diversified itself somewhat, owning the infirmary run by old man Werner, the butcher's shop run by Peter, and the brewery run by Dietrich. The two brothers share a bit of sibling rivalry, but other members of the family seem to get along.

Dietrich is the less fortunate of the two brothers. His wife died years ago, and of his five children, only his daughter Magda helps him in the brewery- despite him really wanting to pass the family business to a son, which irks Magda. In fact, his son Waldemar doesn't want anything to do with his father, and lives on the outskirts of town, working in the charcoal burner camp.

The rift in Dietrich's family was caused by his wife's death due to illness. Dietrich took her death very hard, and alienated his children as a result. While most four of them have been somewhat understanding of this, young Waldemar wants nothing to do with his father anymore.

- Werner

- Peter
- Catrin (wife)
- Heinrich
- Gitte

- Dietrich
- Ludo: works at butcher's shop
- Magda:
- Torben: blacksmith's apprentice
- Gretel: works with her grandfather as a nurse
- Waldemar: estranged son, works as charcoal burner

Holzen
The Holzens runs a family business in the town's inn, and are therefore possibly the friendliest people in town- out of necessity, mostly. They are also somewhat duplicitious, willing to sell poor lodgings and meals at high prices, just to make a few extra shillings.

The parents, Franz and Louise, demand much of their children, and while they present themselves as the perfect family, the Holzen children are treated harshly.

- Franz
- Louise
- Anne
- Rose
- Wilhelm

Tarasovich
Hailing from Kislev, Boykov Tarasovich came to Steingart years ago, taking up hammer and tong to work as the village's blacksmith. He's a quiet man who's hardly ever sober, haunted by something that happened in his past. He's unfriendly, but has formed something of a friendship with Torben Karst, whom he has taken on as his apprentice.

The other villagers look down on Boykov, and try to avoid him when possible.

- Boykov Tarasovich

Felsreich
The Felsreich family owns the local mill and, as such, is one of the few families which the Bundels entertain good relations with- bad blood would ruin good business, after all. The Felsreichs themselves are somewhat neutral- they don't like the Bundels much, but the rest of the village looks down on them as Sepp Bundel's toadies. Of course this isn't exactly true, but the Felsreichs are too isolated from town to be bothered by their reputation.

Both the couple's sons have something of a rebellious streak, and have chosen not to live with their parents or learn the family trade. Rather, they've gone and joined Waldemar Karst's charcoal burner camp. This leaves the Bundel family with the interesting possibility of buying the mill from the Felsreichs, since their children have no interest in inheriting the family business.

- Lars
- Karla
- Reiner: charcoal burner
- Ingo: charcoal burner

Altbreit
Farmer Altbreit and his family have owned the local cattle farm and are, as a result, perhaps the wealthiest people in the village. They are far less mercantile than the Holzen family however, content to sit on their fortune and perform the hard manual labor farming demands.

Holger and Maria are respected members of the community, but, unfortunately, they are not young anymore. While both of them still have a few good years of tending the farm left, they are beginning to think of retiring and letting their children take over. Unfortunately, their eldest son Kaspar has no interest in running the farm- he lives at the charcoal burner's camp, working as the town's hunter. This leaves the Altbreits with two daughters, and while both are willing to learn the trade, Holger fears that one day they will marry, and the farm will fall into another family's hands.

- Holger
- Maria
- Kaspar: the town's hunter
- Beatrice
- Flora

Krutweit
Agatha Krutweit is an old, unpleasant and slightly mad woman, who lives on the outskirts of town and has an impressive knowledge of herbs and medicine. Her strange behaviour leads other families to suspect her of witchcraft, however, meaning most will only visit her in the direst of circumstances and shun her otherwise.

She maintains something of a friendship with Kaspar Altbreit the hunter, and the three charcoal burners- loners themselves, they are less afraid of Agatha. Their association with her is cause for concern among their families however, and spawns all sorts of scandalous rumours.

- Agatha

Town map

1) The large mill and smaller house owned by Lars and Karla Felsreich stand on a low hill overlooking Steingart.

2) The farm, along with its grain field and pasture, are managed by Holger and Maria Altbreit. Their daughters, Beatrice and Flora, live on the farm with them and help their parents as best they can.

3) The bakery is flanked on the left by its owner's home, Sepp and Sabine Bundel, who live with their daughter Hilde. On the right of the bakery their son, Hans Bundel, has his own house.

4) The large town inn is run by Franz and Louise Holzen, and their three teen children Anne, Rose and Wilhelm, who live in the house adjacent to their inn.

5) The town's smithy, operated by the Kislevite Boykov Tarasovich.

6) This cluster of buildings are the property of the Karst family- both their homes and businesses. The larger building on the left side is the town brewery, while the two largest buildings on the right are the infirmary and the butcher's shop underneath it.

The top building is home of barber-surgeon Werner Karst and his granddaughter Gretel. Her father Peter lives in the house directly below it, with his wife Catrin and their daughter Gitte. Peter's son Heinrich lives in the next house down, with his wife Anika Karst-Bundel and their infant children Walter and Helga.

Finally, the two houses at the bottom of this cluster belong to Peter's brother Dieter, who lives in the left house with his son Torben and daughter Magda, while Dieter's other son Ludo lives on his own in the house on the right.

7) The town graveyard.

8) The "burner camp", home to the town's charcoal burners Waldemar Karst, Reiner and Ingo Felsreich, who also perform the roles of lumberjack and carpenter. The hunter Kaspar Altbreit also lives here.

9) Agatha Kurtweil's hut, who gathers herbs and concocts potions, healing salves and the like.

Kristalsee; a small lake just outside town.

Valenberg; several days to the west lies Valenberg, a community no larger than Steingart.

Unkerdorf; several days to the north lies Unkerdorf, a community no larger than Steingart.

Shallyan temple; Steingart lies in the shadow of the Middle Mountains. An uneven road leads up the mountain, where a Shallyan temple lies only a few days climbing removed from Steingart.

Ok, little announcement; we're starting on Monday, October 2nd, not October 1st, since I'm sort of pressed for time on Sundays!

So, since the scene at the farm is only really important for the Altbreit boys, I went ahead and posted a new thread for what's going on with the secondaries. I realize Holger did offer them a place at his table, so if you want to, just assume it is about half an hour later and they have a belly full of stew .

You can pick any one of the secondary characters for this thread- just make a note of it at the top of your post and we should be good to go!

Noted, boss! Any one, you said?

Yup, just the one. There'll be plenty of time to play as the others!

Ok, sorry for the late update, I've been kinda swamped lately! Anyway Holger has three jobs for you, which you can do (or not do) in any order. Basically they'll introduce you to a few other people in the town- once that's done, the fun starts...

Also don't forget, there's still a scene to be done at the inn!

Genre point for Tarlen and Gankom, for deciding to go out in the rain to investigate...