Promise Junction

Promise Junction is a town in eastern Arin, close to the western fringe of the Cardillic Desert. Its mayor, a half-drow named Labeese, wishes to turn the town into a place where creatures of many different races live together peacefully. The town's population consists primarily of humanoids, but there are also small numbers of Humans, Dwarves and Gnomes.

History

Promise Junction was built on the ruins of Fhegdh, a former Orcish outpost from the days of the Onyx Empire which was destroyed during the Wars of Arin. Remnants of the Onyx Army's occupation of the area still remain, including a network of underground tunnels beneath the village and a small fortress in the eastern woods.

The temple of Gruumsh, the largest structure to survive the wars relatively intact, was quickly revived by a local tribe, the Chipmunk Orcs. one of the few buildings to survive intact. With the Grazhnakh having been driven out of the region, small groups of humanoids -- primarily goblins, hobgoblins, gnolls, kobolds and bugbears -- began to settle the land to the west.

Development

Perhaps ten years ago, Labeese arrived in town from the north, and quickly recognized the potential of the area. Finding a small estate mostly intact in the woods, he took up residence and began the process of uniting the humanoid tribes under his leadership. He sent out a call to neighboring towns, offering land in the village for almost nothing, bringing a number of farmers and ranchers to the Junction.

Today, the town serves something of a symbolic function. The rebuilding has to date centered on the first branch of the Red Dragon Inn in the region, but is slowly beginning to expand from there. Increasing the population of the village remains a struggle, but slow, steady growth continues.

Layout

The town is built primarily along Onyx Road 46, which runs generally east-to-west, heading deeper into Arin to the west and toward Sandpit and a few other small towns on the fringes of the desert to the east. The temple to Gruumsh remains the most prominent structure in town, and it has been joined by a small temple to Hruggek along the north side of the road. Across from these are the ruins of what was once a temple of Perasin, which is currently being rebuilt by Great Priestess Shale, including a new arena adjacent to the temple. The few shops in the village are east of these, along with an open-air marketplace. West of the temples are the settlements of the humanoids, and beyond that lies the forest of Eskalikor.

Further to the east, a second road is being built by a group of Dwarves from the Thair Mountains, connecting OR 46 to the town of Gelb. They hope to turn this road into a major trade route, linking to the dirt path leading north to Fokhus Gru. This road runs north-south, and the Red Dragon sits on the northeast corner of the intersection of the two. Further north lies the mayor's manor, and beyond that Lake Shen. Beyond this road to the east are farms, along with a small shrine to Sedric and Ceiling Cat.