Chapter 2

Sunvale and Brightwell

Golden fields, a river that bends and a town built round a well. Gentle creatures on every side, and a mountain in the north-east everyone keeps an eye on.

The map

Numbers on the map match the list. Levels are the creatures' levels round each place.

Brightwell Safe
Home: the square, the harbor, Artisan Row, Cottage Lane and, up the top of the lane, Wellspring Hill.
Meadowlands Lv 1–3
Mosslings, moonhares and pebblecrabs. A gentle start.
Whisperwood Lv 4–8
Old trees, lanterncaps, imps and thorn rollers. Something big roams the deep woods.
Gloomhollow Lv 6–11
An old graveyard. Teacup haunts guard the graves, and inkveils drift out at night.
Dragon's Spine World boss
It wakes every two hours. Bring an alliance.
Rustwind Crags Lv 10–17
Windy high country under the northern ridge. Cinderbats and clockwork wasps come in packs: bring a party.
Sky Dock Airships
A pier for airships. Build one here (your party can chip in), then board it and fly over the mountains.
Briar Orchard Lv 5–10
An old orchard gone wild with briar. Thorn sprouts by the fallen wall, briarbacks in the west rows and, at the bottom of the cart road, the way down into Matriarch Hollow.
The Stonewake Road Lv 15–22
The old quarry road up into the mountains. It climbs to the Stonewake Highlands, where Stonewake hangs on its lifts and chains, and the roads from all three homelands meet. It opens once A Mother of Thorns is done.
Pippin's Hollow Lv 1–4
A halfling hamlet of round green doors dug into the hill, a duck pond and a beekeeper's orchard. The pie contest on the green is taken very seriously. So is the judge.
The Wheel & Kettle Lv 2–6
A coaching inn where the east road crosses the old field tracks. A fire in the common room, supper, the coach to Brightwell, and travellers with more news than sense.
Hobb's Mill Lv 3–6
A windmill farm over the river from Pippin's Hollow: wheat, haystacks, scarecrows, and moonhares who think the wheat is theirs. Seed and feed for your garden.
Gullhead Light Lv 5–9
The lighthouse on the isle's north-east point, red bands on white. Pebblecrabs on the shingle, a wreck on the tideline, and a keeper with rules nobody remembers the reasons for.
Bracken Camp Lv 6–10
A hunters' camp in a clearing of the north-west wood: tents, drying racks, a fire that never quite goes out. Imps and thorn rollers in the trees round it.
Delvers' Cut Lv 9–13
The dwarves' quarry at the foot of the Dragon's Spine, where Brightwell's stone comes from. A shrine in a tunnel mouth, cinderbats in the old cut, and an old round pit with names on the stone beside it.
The Sunward Watch Lv 11–15
A ruined watchtower on the north cliffs, facing east over the sea. Rattlebones keep the stair, frostmaws the cold ledge, and the tower door has been shut longer than anyone can say.

Don't miss!

The Bakery
The Common House is in its dining room. Dot Marrow teaches Tales there, and the baker wants your feet wiped. Both are important.
Old Bram
Out on the west pier of the harbour. Once you can forage he'll teach you to fish, and he knows the water better than the fish do.
Delvers' Cut
The dwarves' quarry at the foot of the Dragon's Spine. Look for an iron-bound door with a little bell over it. Bring friends, or at least a pot.

Who's who

Job mentors in the square: Captain Rook (Knight), Apprentice Juno (Wizard), Sister Tamsin (Cleric), Fen the Quick (Thief) and Big Bo (Brawler), in Brightwell. Battle trainer: Drillmaster Pell.
Teachers of the callings: Gran Ottoline (Foraging), Old Bram (Fishing), Grandad Wicket (Digging), Auntie Bramblewick (Cooking), Miller Agatha (Farming), Huntmaster Garth (Woodcutting) and Shipwright Odessa Saltash (Shipwright)
Tales players: Dot Marrow, Kip, Ben, Lamplighter Tomas, Watchman Ollie, Night Owl Pip, Mara Fen and Hester Croft
Doors worth opening: The Bakery, Guild Hall, Flower Shop, Smithy, Carpenter, Weaver, Harbor Office, Fish Market, Warehouse, The Wheel & Kettle, The Tea Room, The Bell House, The Stables and The Bakehouse

Pro Tip

Whisperwood is lovely and the imps are pickpockets. Keep your buttons close, lu.

Local creatures

The full stat boxes are in the Bestiary.

Spoiler: tap to peek Where the Oolen village might be

Rumours from round the homeland. One of these places is where the village has its door this week.

The Hush, under the quarry road: Carter Joss swears he heard humming in the long grass under the quarry road. He says it hummed back when he whistled. He also says his horse can count.

The dunes along the south shore: Somebody built a row of tiny sandcastles on the south dunes, every one with a pebble door. The tide never touched them. The gulls won't go near.

The eastern downs, past the Wheel & Kettle: Lanterns on the eastern downs again, out past the Wheel & Kettle. Small ones, low to the ground. The landlady leaves a saucer of milk out and swears it comes back washed.