Stavelot sits atop a low hill at the confluence of the Merdret River and Verden Creek, in the hilly, forested countryside of northwestern Thuringia. From the east, where small villages and keeps lie strung out along the river, the town is reached by boat, or by a rugged, intermittent cart path that follows the river. From the more populated regions to the west, one must ascend the Vistula River to Neuss, in the northern marches of Armorica, and then travel northeast to Stavelot on the Forest Road, so named because a full hundred miles of it passes through vast, looming spruce forest. After the long journey through the forest, one crosses the Merdret at Brunhild's Ferry, and travels north through the Merdret Valley, through woods broken by villages and pastures, and finally reaches Stavelot. The town is surrounded by a stone curtain wall that is anchored at regular intervals by rounded guard towers. Beyond the wall, the crenelated towers of the keep and the stone steeple of the Church of St. Hildegard dominate the skyline.
The town is small but bustling, with shops occupying the first floor of most buildings, and crowded apartments occupying the upper floors. Most of the buildings in town are built with rough wood planks split from thick tree trunks, and most roofs are thatched, though some buildings, such as the Merchants' Guild and the church, are cut stone with slate roofs. The streets are narrow and cobbled. Though some travelers find the cacophony of voices, bleats, grinding wagon wheels, and raucous laughter jarring, many welcome it after the long, uneasy silence of the Forest Road. Armored guards, wearing the distinctive blue and white tunic of Carloman's soldiers, patrol the streets on horseback, while an inordinate number of mercenary and adventurer types wander from tavern to tavern, in search of cheap ale and free information.
Because the Forest Road is the only link to the cities and towns of the west, Stavelot is the center of commerce and trade in the region. As soon as the spring rains abate and the Forest Road becomes passable, wagons loaded with grain begin to arrive from the south, and wagons stacked with bales of wool, the Stavelot region's chief commodity, begin to rumble south. Myriad artisans and merchants converge on the town in the summer months to sell their wares, along with those who simply wish to buy. Trading parties of Celt travel to Stavelot from their tribal lands to the northeast, and groups of wild-haired, unruly elves emerge from the surrounding forests to trade goods and information. Fresh mussels and char, which the town's fishermen harvest from the river, and massive sturgeon, which they catch in Lake Sibylline to the north, are piled high in fishmongers' stalls. Small and remote though it is, Stavelot enjoys an economy that many larger towns envy.
The town also sees a steady stream of pilgrims throughout the summer months. The Church of Saint Hildegard houses what most people believe is the saint's shroud: a tattered woolen blanket bleached with an image of a wide-eyed young woman. Some scholars have pointed out that the scriptures depict the saint dying in battle, when she and her followers engaged a massive horde of bugbears in a desperate, rear-guard action that saved thousands of lives and cemented her legend, and would therefore have gone to her grave without accouterments such as a shroud, but few of the people who make the long trip to Stavelot to witness the shroud give those skeptics much heed, nor do the merchants and innkeepers who profit nicely from the pilgrims' presence.
The height of the season, for both the faithful and the entrepreneurial, comes at the end of June during the Feast of Saint Hildegard, a fortnight of music, dance, street fairs, and religious celebrations. During this time, the town's population swells, as people from isolated villages and lonely farmsteads across Northern Thuringia and Armorica travel to Stavelot to attend the festivities, spend their silver pieces, and forget their troubles. The festival culminates in an amateurish but exuberant play about Saint Hildegard's life, which is sponsored by the Craftsmen's Guild and staged in the Market Square.
The northern marches of Thuringia are dangerous, however, and neither commerce nor celebration is possible without substantial security. Carloman's garrison provides adequate protection for the town and surrounding river valley, but those who venture outside of Stavelot's environs, such as traders who travel the Forest Road and fishermen who cast their nets in Lake Sibylline and the river's lower reaches, hire their own protection. As a result, the Mercenaries' Guild in Stavelot thrives; membership is costly, but also lucrative, for the going rate in Stavelot is twice that in other places. Although hired swords seem to be everywhere in town, demand is high, and even a novice with rudimentary skills is seldom without work for long.
Adventurers also flock to Stavelot. The vast, desolate forests to the north, home to all manner of savage monsters, are broken only by ruined tombs and long-abandoned towns that date back to the days of the Ilian Empire. Stavelot is the last bastion of civilization, a town on the edge of nowhere. It is the perfect place to begin an adventure.
