Hanweir
Hanweir is a small but old coastal town on the storm-lashed northern shore of the [[Duchy of Greycliff]], answering in law to the [[County of Highmount]] but in practice often left to its own troubling devices. It lies in a crooked bay where dark cliffs hem in a narrow strip of waterfront, and a river of the same name empties into the sea through a constantly churning bar. Hanweir’s population hovers around 2,000 souls in town and another 500 scattered along the windswept farms and fishing hamlets clinging to the nearby coast. At a distance, its clustered slate roofs and solitary church tower look almost picturesque; up close, the salt-stained walls, damp alleys, and shuttered windows tell a different story.
Layout
Hanweir huddles on top of and beside a cliff on the sea, with only a partial curtain wall of old stone protecting the landward side; the seaward edge is defended more by jagged rocks and treacherous currents than by masonry. The enclosed area is barely a quarter square mile, dense with leaning houses, narrow lanes, and covered passages that keep out the wind but trap the ever-present smell of salt, fish, and damp stone. The Old Road from [[Stormwatch]] descends into town from the east, passing a squat gate-tower and a neglected weigh-station before opening into the crooked Market Green, a lopsided triangle of packed earth bordered by the town hall, a few inns, and the fish stalls. A separate, lower lane runs toward the docks along the river, ending in a small harbor cluttered with piers, net-racks, and boathouses, all watched over by a stubby lighthouse built onto an outthrust of rock. On the higher ground to the north stands the [[Church of the Tidelord]] and a scattering of slightly better-kept homes belonging to shipowners, moneylenders, and those few families who have prospered in this peculiar town.
Districts
| District | Function | Est. Population |
|---|
- High Ward | Church of the Tidelord, magistrate’s house, wealthier homes, small school | 300
- Market Ward | Market green, town hall, common inns and taverns, shops | 500
- Dock Ward | Docks, fish hall, warehouses, shipwright, sailors’ lodging | 700
- Lower Ward | Poor housing, net-menders, tanners, waste trades, marginal folk | 500
- Outer Farms & Hamlets | Upland farms, scattered coastal cottages, seasonal fish camps | 500
Commerce
Food and Lodging
For its size, Hanweir offers enough places to sleep and drink, but few that feel truly welcoming. There are 4 taverns, two of which also function as modest inns (The [[The Squid's Beak]] and the recently purchased [[Gander and Goose Public House]]), 3 bakeries, 4 fishmongers, 3 butchers, and 3 small breweries that produce a rough coastal ale and harsher spirits favored by sailors. Most common fare is fish stew, dark bread, and whatever root vegetables the upland farms can spare; fresh fruit and good wine are rare enough to count as luxuries. Visitors who stay long quickly learn that the best meals are often found among private households, though ingratiating ones-self with the locals can be a strange and unnerving business.
Trade and Finance
Hanweir’s economy rests on fishing, scant coastal trade, and small-scale smuggling that everyone pretends not to notice. There is one central market green, one covered fish hall near the docks, 2 small moneylenders who also act as informal bankers and pawnbrokers, 5 warehouses clustered near the harbor, a single weigh-house, and 1 customs office that is staffed more diligently when a ducal inspector is in town. Most legitimate trade involves salted fish, whale oil, rough cloth, and timber floated downriver from inland camps, but rumours speak of stranger cargoes landed at night on out-of-the-way coves. Business is modest but constant, and coin flows steadily enough to keep the town alive, if not exactly thriving.
Craft and Repair
Hanweir maintains what it needs to keep ships afloat and people barely comfortable. There are 2 blacksmiths and 1 dedicated shipwright’s yard, 3 carpenters, 2 coopers, 2 tanners/leatherworkers, 2 masons, 4 tailors, and 2 cobblers. Most work, especially near the docks, shows a rough practicality: thick timbers, tarred rope, patched sails, and heavy boots. Finer craftsmanship is rare and usually commissioned by outsiders; any delicate work that does appear often carries strange motifs—curling waves, spiral eyes, or unfamiliar sea-creatures—that some locals swear are “just old designs” and refuse to discuss further.
Civic and Protective
The town’s official defenses are thin, relying as much on isolation and bad reputation as on steel. Hanweir supports 3 guard posts (one at the landward gate, one at the docks, one near the market), 1 small gatehouse, a single town watch barracks with room for perhaps 40 men-at-arms, a combined town hall and court where the local magistrate sits, and a cramped lockup beneath it with space for a dozen prisoners at most. There is no separate prison, and serious criminals are usually sent south to Stormwatch—when they are sent anywhere at all. One modest infirmary, maintained by the Church, tends to the sick and shipwrecked, while two small almshouses provide bare shelter for widows, orphans, and sailors too broken to go back to sea. In theory the town could muster 200 fighting men in wartime, but in practice only about 80 are on any organized roll, and fewer still are well equipped.
Religion and Learning
Religious life in Hanweir centers on one major temple—the [[Church of the Tidelord]]—and 3 smaller chapels scattered among the lanes and near the docks. Officially, the Church venerates the same gods as elsewhere in the Duchy, but practically they only venerate [[Ex Mortia/Gods and Greater Powers/Evil/Thalor]], and any who seek communion with other gods are best served at one of the chapels. A tiny monastic house of 6–8 recluses keeps a lantern-lit watch on the headland and claims to maintain “vigil for those who are lost beneath the waves.” Formal learning is scarce: there is 1 small school in the upper ward where children of fisherfolk learn letters enough to read catch-tallies and simple contracts, and a handful of private tutors who take on the offspring of shipowners and merchants. Books are uncommon, and those that do exist are often locked away in the church vestry or in private collections rumored to contain sea-stained, unsettling tomes.
Politics and Mood
Hanweir answers nominally to the [[Count of Highmount]] and, through him, to [[Duke Cassian Blackwood]], but the town’s isolation and meager tax yield mean it is often governed in practice by its own magistrate and a loose council of shipowners and elder fishermen. Annual taxes are supposed to reach 3,000 gp, but most years only 2,000–2,200 gp actually make their way inland, with shortfalls explained away by storms, shipwrecks, and “poor catches.” As a result, repairs to the wall and harbor works are frequently deferred, the watch goes unpaid for months, and the town leans harder on petty fees and fines. Outsiders find Hanweir suspicious and inward-looking; locals are wary, fatalistic, and quietly resentful of mainland interference, yet curiously protective of their grim little town.
Taxes
Hanweir uses a simplified tax code, scaled to its smaller size and poorer traffic. The intent is that a brief stay for travelers costs a few silver, while merchants and smugglers alike feel the bite of repeated tolls.
Standard Charges
| Situation | Cost |
|---|---|
| Foot entry | 5 cp |
| Mounted entry | 1 sp |
| Pack animal | 5 cp per beast |
| Small boat docking (day) | 5 cp |
| Coastal trader docking (day) | 5 sp |
| Cart / small wagon entry | 2 sp |
| Large wagon / caravan entry | 5 sp |
| Trade goods inspection | 2 sp per load |
| Market stall, one day (open) | 2 sp |
| Covered stall, one day | 5 sp |
| Weighhouse / valuation | 1 sp per shipment |
| Warehouse storage, one day | 1 sp per crate or bundle |
| Harbor crane / loading use | 1–3 sp |
| Exit toll, no goods | 5 cp |
| Exit toll, with goods | 2 sp per load or 5% of declared value, whichever is less |
| Sales duty (within market) | 5% of sale value |
When Hanweir Charges
- Entry
Collected at the gate or docks when people or wagons arrive. - Inspection
If cargo is obvious, town officers or dock reeves inspect it when it is offloaded or before entering the gate. This is the main moment to distinguish personal gear from trade goods. - Market Use
Anyone using the market green, fish hall, or harbor-front stalls pays the stall fee in advance. Taxes on sales are taken immediately or recorded by a scribe when larger lots change hands. - Exit
Those leaving with bulk goods pay an exit toll, unless they can show that the goods were already taxed in the market. The town is cautious about double taxation, but not above using confusion to extract an extra coin from despised outsiders. - Services
Fees are collected when services are used: storage in a warehouse, weighing in the weighhouse, use of the harbor crane, arranging an armed escort inland, or special customs checks (often a pretext to shake down suspicious traders).