Minaria RPG
Fursten- DM Notes
last update Feb 4, 2026
These notes expand upon information found in the Players Guide to Fursten.
Four Elms (Inn and taproom)
This two-story wooden frame building is Fursten’s medium quality inn. It is named for the four elm trees that delineate the four corners of the inn’s property, casting a tree cover over the entire building. The inn is cool and shady, even in the heat of the summer, making it a popular stop for travelers.
Like any respectable inn, it is also a drinking establishment. Although it primarily caters to out-of-towners and soldiers from the redoubts assigned to Fursten, a few locals are also regulars. A private room costs 5 sp a night. Staying in the taproom overnight costs 1 sp.
The innkeeper, Murat op Firbek, is a veteran of the Siege of Fursten. He decorates his taproom wall behind the bar with his battered pike. It also comes in handy for keeping order in bar brawls, although much of that work is now left to his twenty year-old son, Arin, who lugs wood and barrels back and forth with ease. The remainder of the decor of the inn is plain and unprepossessing, but clean. Service and cleaning of the inn rooms is done by Murat wife, Celicia, a Mivioran émigré, and their sixteen year-old daughter, Jaci.
Murat is originally from Freeport in the Banished Lands and a convert to the beliefs of Huisinga. He is a conscientious and careful man, who also honours his debts, and never betrays a friend.
Didweyll Ruscus – Wizard’s Tower
Didweyll Ruscus, the resident wizard of Fursten, is a private sort, rarely coming into town except to pick up supplies. He spends most of his time working on crossbreeding berry plants, trying to create a berry that can be planted early and harvested twice a year.
Didweyll is well liked in town, if dismissed as eccentric, and is a friend of Earl Ostigan.
The fields surrounding tower of Fursten’s resident wizard are full of a variety of berry crops. Vineyards and fruit orchards are all arranged in careful rows, emanating from the tower. A few workers tend the crops, and can readily explain the wizard’s breeding program.
The air inside the tower is earthy and sweet smelling, and his labs (should the PCs ever gain access) are full of ripening, ripe, and overripe fruit. In his study, where visitors are greeted, a variety of berries float suspended in mid air in stasis. The wizard is quick to explain the relative merits of the various breeds of fruit to anyone expressing an interest.
Ruscus wears green robes with deep pockets and sports a closely cropped grey beard. He has a dangling gold earring in his left ear. He wears faintly comical puffy slippers when puttering around in his tower, only visible when he moves quickly and his robes billow.
Ruscus is a Courtier 5, Wizard 6, LG, with access to a Rod of Cancellation, which can dispel magic as though cast by a Level 12 Wizard. Ruscus is quite good at alteration magic, but is not a sage.
He came from Mandora in his youth and knows Boarhort personally, having tutored the young prince. He has little regard for the king’s intellectual abilities. (“Brain like a shrub, that one has.”)
Nethol’s- Dwarven Weaponsmith
Nerthol (Expert 6) is a dwarf from clan Axegrinder, which has a long and rich tradition of weapons smithing. Nerthol was born in Alzak around 1190 AC but disillusioned with his people turning upon each other in the 13h century, emigrated westward in the aftermath of the Dwarven Civil Wars.
He never married, but has engaged a number of apprentices, to whom he has taught his skills. Most of the day-to-day work of the smithy is carried on by the journeymen smiths, especially Nerthol’s adoptive heir, Berog Axegrinder. Nerthol himself handles only the special orders. He is tremendously proud of his work, and is currently working on a breastplate for Earl Ostigan’s eldest son.
Now over 180, Nerthol is a slightly stooped dwarf with a long brown beard, going grey at the tips. He walks with a hunch, a product of his time at the forge, but has powerful arms for hammering. Although thin for a dwarf, Nerthol is pure iron. He is so mild-mannered, speaking softly most of the time, that it is hard to imagine the depths of his anger at his people, particularly the current ruling house of Ghem.
Nerthol’s shop is a well-built two story wooden structure, made of logs, with a large walled off compound made of stone within the wooden walls. The second floor houses the three dwarven apprentices, Berog’s room (which doubles as the accounts payable office), and Nerthol’s quarters.
Berog Axegrinder (Expert 3) is a young dwarf, with no grey in his beard. He is very protective of his adoptive father, and quick to challenge the impertinent, even before the mild-mannered Nerthol can raise an eyebrow. Berog handles most of the finances of the shop, and arranges exports to Port Lork, where Nerthol’s work is known.
Currufieri Merchant Coster
The Currufieri Merchant Coster owns a number of buildings in Fursten, being the primary trading coster in the area. This group of Zefnarite traders runs a private dock in the old quarter, owns a warehouse, and enjoys a fortified townhouse where the groups, factor, Skarp Ferrum (Rascal 6), lives behind barred windows and triple-locked doors.
The Currufieri are known as less than scrupulous traders, undercutting their competition’s prices, forcing monopolies where possible, and dealing in shady goods and questionable (but cheap) produce. They export Fursten’s crops to the Shucassami and Muetarian markets. The coster keeps things very tightly secure. Ferrum’s townhouse is a veritable fortress, as befits this paranoid weasley individual, who has no compunctions about selling out anyone and selling anything.
Because of their reputation, Earl Ostigan keeps a short leash on the trading coster, periodically raiding their shipments to search for contraband. So far, however, Skarp Ferrum has kept everything just above aboard, or at least disguised enough that it looks that way.
The Ostigan Family
The Ostigan family has been prominent in Fursten for centuries as breeders of superior horseflesh. Their villa is just north of the town proper, in proximity to the keep.
The family was appointed to rule the town in 1254 AC, in the aftermath of the fall of the evil wizard, Monard. Earl Ostigan’s great grandfather served as a general in King Melwert’s army and was justly rewarded with the earldom. His descendants have kept tight control over the land granted to their ancestor with a generally just and fair rule and unwavering loyalty to the Crown.
The Ostigan family also owns the town’s most luxurious inn, the Ostigan Arms, where the Earl’s second cousin, Sencarius Ostigan (Commoner 3) trades upon his grandfather’s name and caters to the crowd coming from the royal court. He is looked uphold as the lesser part of the family line by the Earl’s family, but they are quick to drink at his fine establishment.
The head of the house is Earl Sagin Ostigan (Knight 10 of Lork), an even-tempered man, with an intelligent mind and military experience. With a variety of wrinkles, he also sports a cropped brown beard, now going grey. Sagin Ostigan is well known for his love of jousting, and is grooming his eighteen year-old son, Ryan (Pal 1 of Lork) to represent the family at Boarhart’s annual tournaments in the capital.
The Hegalli Family
Fursten’s second oldest family is the Hegalli. This clan consists of old barbarian stock from the pre-Milkyaten Kingdom days, and they are keen to ensure that everyone knows it. The Hegalli are actually as wealthy as the Ostigans, but their ancestor was not as politically shrewd and the family has never achieved the same degree of Crown favour.
The Hegalli (plural form is the same as the singular) raise excellent horses suitable for all facets of life. Certain ranches of the family east of the town specialize in military-trained steeds, while even the worst draft horse from their stables will command a premium price. Most outsiders would agree that the Hegalli actually produce superior horses than the Ostigans, if only because the Ostigans are spread out in a variety of mercantile and political endeavors and the Hegalli by necessity focus on one thing. They do it very well.
The head of the house is Baron Andor Hegalli (Man-at-Arms 4), a taciturn middle-aged fat man more at home on the range than in the courts or fine houses. While he enjoys fine food as much as the monarch himself, there is no doubt that Andor Hegalli retains a great deal of his barbarian heritage, preferring the outdoors.
The Vinandi Family
The Vinadi Family comes originally from Muetar, and have Meuta blood in their veins. They are in some respects a fallen house, having been the last great house to rule Fursten before the Ostigans, but lost power when the Meutar Empire was kicked out in 1098 AC. However the Vinandi did not pack up and leave with the imperial forces, preferring o stay behind and hold on to their lands by swearing allegiance to Melwert.
In a risky move, the new king accepted their fealty and his descendants have been well rewarded, as the Vinadni family continue to amass wealth and spend it wisely in the service of the town as dutiful subjects of the Kingdom of Hothior. The Vinadi are cattle breeders, unlike the other two leading families. They hold a great ranch on the outskirts of the town and the family villa is more akin to a vast sprawling ranch compound southeast of the town on the road to Tadafat.
The Vinadi are led by Baroness Gladyys Vinadi (Noble 6), a shrewd bargainer and very active in the day to day operations of her house’s trading arrangements. Her husband, Baron Gow (Noble 5), a non-entity in local politics, tends to the family’s ranch operations while the Baroness hustles the markets and ensures that the family remains preeminent in town, securing movement of goods, be they livestock or cured meat to markets in Plibba and Tadafat.
Duktoer’s Scourge Hold
This strong two story fieldstone building is a fortified hold for Duktoer’s Scourge, a well-known Hothioran mercenary band. Duktoer’s Scourge is named for the band’s founder (now deceased), a ranger who led a behind-the-lines group of warriors against the Elven invasion of 1307 AC. The band of mercs achieved such fame, that they were hired for many other small wars in the Coastal Heartlands and Immer, to the point where the mercenary company established a safe house in almost every town of a thousand or more residents in Hothior, Mivior, Rombune, as well as in Immer and western Shucassam. Duktoer died several years ago, and a trio of high level fighters assumed leadership. The merc band is known as reasonably honourable, only switching sides in cases of surrender (and not on a whim or bribe, as is the case for many mercs). Their Fursten post is home to Naglin Hossa (Ercii, Man-at-Arms 5), who maintains the group’s local affairs, and a number of low level probationary mercs (Man-at-Arms 1s).
The Glove and Cross
This inn and tavern is a upscale establishment, catering to the wealthy local and prosperous traveler. Located on the town common, the Glove and Cross sports a sign with a gloved knight staring up at a crossroads signpost. The three story wooden building has beautifully carved baseboards inside and extra moulding on both interior and exterior windows and doors. The private booths inside the large 1st floor taproom are screen with heavy purple cloth, designed to suggest velvet. The private second floor rooms are designed for the average resident and cost 10 sp per room. These rooms have clear straw beds and a wooden table/chair, but it is the luxurious third floor rooms, each the size of three regular rooms, that visiting dignitaries rent for 20 sp a night. Throw rugs, poster beds, wooden writing desks, complimentary ink and quills, and a chest of draws in each room mark these rooms as luxurious.
Behind the tap room is a kitchen and the staff quarters. The cook, a flamboyant Mivioran named Sigfreid (Expert L3), who is a culinary genius, has his own room. The owners of the inn, Nasha and Dorp Manup (both Commoner 2) are masters of the innkeeping field, and can even muster hospitality for a Hacidar Botanni.
The Manups do not permit wayfarers to sleep in the taproom overnight. (“Such… COMMON behaviour!” Nasha will sniff disparagingly)
Saxt Ergum’s Imports
Saxt Ergum is an independent merchant from Mivior known for his propensity to help out the less fortunate. In fact, his good will and hospitality is often abused by the less than scrupulous, which explains why Ergum’s stable is so often filled with halfling wanderers sleeping in the hayloft and why Ergum’s profit margin seems so be so slim. A short balding man, Saxt is often accused of having Gnomish blood in his veins, and he cheerfully lives up to expectations.
Saxt Ergum (Expert, 2) emigrated from central Mivior after his shop was destroyed by a Gnoll raid some dozen years ago. Despite his good nature, he harbours a slow-burning hate for humanoids and can be riled up if plied with drink and/or tales. His shop is only partially equipped, but rates are very reasonable.
The Sanctuary of The Lady - Shrine to Sankari
This chopped red sandstone building is one of Fursten’s most unusual buildings. It is one and a half stories with a rounded low dome topping a circular central hall supported by four rounded pillars. Carefully constructed to deceive the eye, the shrine’s exterior seems to lack any squared edges at all. On the central wall facing the doorway is a stylized oil portrait of the Lady Sankari. The pillars create an enclosed (but still open) space on each side of the main chamber, dominated by a bier in each. Private prayers and healing are conducted in these alcoves.
The master of the sanctuary is Robah (Divine 4, Cleric of Sankari 3). He is assisted by his youthful acolyte, Dum (Cleric of Sankari 1), who also doubles as the doorkeeper. Dum is fond of telling strangers that his name means “tail” in the Old Vidaran tongue, and is therefore most suitable for a disciple of the Lady Fox.
The Plough and Barrel
This wooden single story tavern is notable not for its service or clientele but for its odd trademark: an oversized cast iron plow welded to the top of the inn’s flat roof. The log frame triangles of the supporting beams, which would normally form the slanted roof sides, are exposed and the metal contraption is precariously perched at the peak.
Fursten born native, Jerrious Mellancampe (Commoner 3) whose family comes from Mueta stock, runs the inn. “Jerry” is fond of throwing games (axes, knives, darts, etc.) and loves to test his skills against his guests. Jerry caters primarily to the local peasantry, and is beholden to no-one. He also knows Murat owes money to someone from Lapspell (Roere Flenge).
Smee Odelig – Moneylender
As any robber would correctly guess, Smee Odelig’s house is well protected. Over half of the stone building with its barred windows and heavy metal door is given over to a secured vault. Odelig himself conducts his regular business from behind am expensive and heavy U-shaped walnut desk within the vault, which is accessed by carefully moving through a perfectly balanced cast iron door. The door, which can swiftly pivot and lock at the slightest push from Smee, could easily take off the fingers of the unwary.
Smee Odelig (Expert 3), a rather scrawny man with a piercing gaze and hair-filled ears, is reputed to have some less than savory connections in his past, for he brought his moneylending operation to Fursten some years ago from parts unknown. He used to work in Sephir, handling finances for one of Engar Blut’s operations but was discovered skimming money. Rather than killing him outright, Blut demoted the little man to money lending in Fursten and appointed Roere to supervise Smee. Smee was also forced to keep his scalp shaved (as was common for the slaves of eastern Shucassam) as an additional reminder.
The House of Controlled Chaos – Shrine to Huisinga
This bizarre looking 2-story building appears to have been constructed by two different architects, one on top of the other. The ground level has been constructed in an inverted trapezoid, angling upwards to a squared-off peak. It is composed of beige painted stucco, with a rounded double door entrance facing the main square. The second floor, however, appears to have been changed halfway through the construction, being made of horizontal wooden boards, somewhat crudely constructed and then slopped with considerable amount of smelly shellac. The darkly stained pine can be smelt half a block away. A black painted wrought iron “widow’s walk” tops this architectural monstrosity.
The interior is slightly less insane, although the swirling wall designs on the first floor public area are disconcerting to the eye, seeming to never end, and even to move in the corner of the observer’s eye. The second floor rooms are rickety, but stable, and the office of the shrine’s head cleric, Father Hetan, is almost tidy. Hetan, a surprisingly powerful cleric for all his mild mannered persona, wears the traditional vestments of the Huisinga clergy and upholds his patron deity’s shrine with only a single acolyte, a young woman by the name of Avize.
Despite his considerable power (Divine 6, Cleric 5 of Huisinga) he maintains such a low profile that few save the Earl, Arwand, and Castellan Karmir know of Hetan’s capabilities. Further, none of the three, nor Avize herself, know that Avize is Hetan’s daughter. Originally from Port Lork, Hetan’s wife died giving birth to the beautiful girl 19 years ago and he removed himself to relatively isolated Fursten to raise the child.
The New Redoubt
The New Redoubt is a square tower on the west side of the Floodwater. The tower houses the active patrols of Earl Ostigan and Lord Arwand. The small detachment regularly sends two riders to patrol the western bank of the Floodwater within a day’s ride of the town and as far west as the Kudurru hills. The master sergeant is Abezag (Man-at-Arms 4, Rover 1), a older man of medium build with thinning hair and wrinkled hands. Abezag is a fine warrior, but his lack of riding skills have always stunted his career, preventing him from social climbing and attaining a peerage. His social graces are modest too, as the burly veteran prefers a quiet beer at the Four Elms above a feast at the Earl’s hall. Abezag’s second in command is a veteran archer by the name of Abardad (Rover 3), who is slowly being trained in the art of command by his sergeant. Abardad may never rise above command of the Redoubt, for he can be naïve and easily duped.