In the Eastern Reach, located in the Valley of Avontru lies Miller Dale, a pastoral region along the Merchant’s Road. Known for its breathtaking waterfalls, babbling springs and lush meadows, Miller Dale is a picturesque agrarian community, famous for good food, and fine spirits. Miller Dale is called home by a mixed community of humans and halflings, with a smattering of dwarves from the Heatherstead, sylvan elves from the Lilac Forest, and gnomes from Tinker’s Hollow. However, the valley is also home to the Moot of Avontru, an enclave of shy and secretive Firbolg giants who claim and protect the land. Though wary of strangers and seldom seen, the firbolgs of the Moot staunchly protect the valley from despoilers.
Miller Dale is a waterway town, with numerous canals and locks traversed by graceful, arching stone bridges. Hedgeways and flowerbeds line the canals and riverbanks, and frame charming stone and timber cottages with shingle roofs shaded by shrubs and fruit trees. Miller Dale relies on the river not just for food and water, but also travel and commerce. Boats and ferries work up and down the river, and through the canals, carrying precious cargo of grain, wool, and ale. The town is famous for its watermills, and the sound of water wheels softly turning is the music of the city. City Hall houses a great wondrous contraption in the form of a towering water clock, donated in friendship by the gnomes of Tinker’s Hollow. Near the river there is a large orchard and public park that is popular with sightseers, and acts as a fairground for Miller Dale’s famous festivals, most notably the Blossom Festival in the Spring and Brewfest in the Fall.
Miller Dale is governed by a mayor and council of elders, elected by the landholding populace and guilded merchants. The current Mayor is Podric Thistlefoot, who has held office for the last twelve years. Podric is a halfling with an inflated sense of self and station, but he has a basically good heart. The captain of the guard is Gallane Drakar, a one time adventurer who more-or-less fell into the station of Captain of the Guard and found he liked it.
The apple orchard is a favorite attraction, people like to walk its paths and picnic among its scenic beauty.
Though serene, Miller Dale is home to a clan of bandits called The Brotherhood of Stolen Blades. They're known to steal, maim, and kill if it will benefit them in any way.
Highwater Keep
At one time an ancient monastery, Highwater Keep is the seat of the Sheriff of Miller Dale, and the holding for the rangers, commonly known as the Foxhounds, that patrol the lands and keep the peace in the valley. Though the Sheriff is lord of Highwater Keep and commander of the Foxhounds, it is not a hereditary title. The Sheriff is democratically elected by the landholders of Miller Dale. The current Sheriff, Rhys Althane, has held the position for the better part of twenty years. He is an even-tempered and serious man, with a pragmatic sense of justice that has served Miller Dale well for a generation.
Inns and Taverns
The Singing Shepherd On the western side of the river coming into Miller Dale sits this simple roadside inn. The building is a sturdy two story structure, with the lower floor being stone and cob with an overhanging second story made of timber with a thatched roof. Inside it is cozy and comfortable, with a large common room with slate tiled floors scattered with straw. The accommodations are built more to halfling standards, so the ceilings are a bit low, but the establishment is welcome to one and all. The fare is nothing fancy, but it’s filling, and a favorite of the working folk around Miller Dale. For sleeping arrangements, there is a dormitory that shares a fireplace with the common room, where you can get a mat and a space on the floor for 5 copper, or rent one of the half dozen small upstairs rooms for a silver a night. The menu varies from day to day, depending on what the cook can get from the market, but commonly one can get barley or peas porridge or vegetable pottage for 4 coppers, lamb or mutton stew for 8 coppers, or roast pork or duck confit with buttered turnips and carrots for 15 coppers. The bar serves small beer, ale, bitters, stout, and cider, as well as apple brandy and blackberry wine.
The inn is run by a middle-aged halfling woman by the name of Nellady, and the staff consists of her two daughters and a son, as well as the cook and scullery staff.
The Fox and Flagon To the north of Miller Dale, along the Merchants Road. the Fox and Flagon is a roadhouse adjacent to a ferry crossing the Greatfork River. It is a large two storied stone building sporting a blue shingled roof, with a walled and gated courtyard, stables, and a small attached blacksmith shop. The innkeeper is an older human woman by the name of Eybeth Elkorn, a widow whose late husband was a member of the Foxhounds. As such, the roadhouse is a popular meeting place for the valley’s rangers, as well as a stopover for traveling merchants and adventurers, and it is a good place to catch up on gossip of things happening all over the valley and beyond.
Palladium Park
Connected to the river by a series of canals is Palladium Park, Miller Dale’s acclaimed merchant district. The city’s main thoroughfare, Grand Avenue, passes through the center of market square. The road is lined with fruit trees and flowering plants, and oil lamps that light the long nights of revelry. There one can find City Hall and it’s wondrous water clock, that keeps track of time, the planting seasons and the movement of the stars. Many shoppes line the market square, catering to all manner of exotic tastes, from cacao imported from the Hikitaw Jungle, to mercers dealing in exotic satins and angora wool and tailors weaving the latest in royal fashions, and tobacconists selling the finest in the valley’s pipe weed. There are a number of celebrated taverns and inns, including establishments from the three major family breweries in Miller Dale; Maplebranch Meadery, Sylindil Winery, andÜldenschlager Brauhaus. There is even a public bathhouse and spa that touts the healing effects of the Avontru River’s pure waters.
But most famous of all, perhaps, is the Amethyst Theatre, which is the heart and spirit of Miller Dale’s entertainment district. The Amethyst is a large, circular three story building, with an inner atrium, and three separate indoor stages and a dance hall. The Amethyst has a circus atmosphere, with exotic acts from all around Eluaria (and some even say beyond) including tumblers and acrobats, jongleurs, fire eaters, animal tamers, illusionists and dancers. It is here that The Prince holds court. The Prince claims to be foreign royalty in exile, yet no one is entirely sure what distant kingdom he once called home. Nevertheless, many consider him the Prince of All Bards, and he may be the most talented musician in all of Eluaria. A man of small stature, the Prince projects a presence far beyond his physical size, at once eccentric, charming and alluring. He can sway a crowd with a smile, yet he can also be moody and easily bored. The Prince is always on the lookout for new fashions, exotic art, or strange adventures, and to a lucky few he can be a generous, if fickle, patron.
Strange Things are happening in the Rose Courtyard. Energy is vibrating, the sensation of pure magic hanging in the air. The atmosphere is known to cause strange behaviors and possibly to fuel various powers while present: which is happening more and more often. A window is opening, its destination Dark Ire Swamp. Who knows what might come in or out?