Village Map: Sturmfelden (updated version)

A small village our group designed and assisted to build in-game during the p&p campagin "Sturmgeboren" for the system "the dark eye". The village of Sturmfelden ("stormfield") is situated in the storm-lashed plains of Hardorp, up in the north of Aventuria and has about one hundred villagers. As a shelter against the storms, goblin raiders and the dangerous wildlife the village is surrounded by grass-grown earthworks topped by palisades as well as a swampy, water filled trench. Also, there are a handful of turrets for defense against attackers, as well as a high motte-and-bailey watchtower called the "long Alrik". Another fortified, motte-and-bailey construction is the temple of Rondra, the goddess of knighthood, honor, ligntning and storms. It's a reinforced, two story block house that doubles as a "castle" for the last retreat. The small cottages of fhe simple peasants are dug into the ground about one foot and topped by wooden roofs covered with sods. They have only one room, no windows and no chimney, therefor they are not very comfortable, rather dark and smoky, but still warm and dry. Each of them has a small parcel of land, surrounded by wicker fence, for a kitchen garden and the farming of some small domestic animals like goose, chicken and the like. The large building in the center is the manor, inhabited by the local nobility. It has outer walls of stone on the ground floor, as well as a walled courtyard paved with stone tiles. The upper floor has outerior walls of solid wood and balconys on all sides, covered by the roof. The manor also contains stables and the tithe barn. Even in case of an attack inside the village, the manor can be defended for some time. The spiritual heart of the village is the harug, the sacred grove, where twelve oaks surround a holy banner standing in front of the sacred oak in the middle. The harug is located in the outer bailey of the temple and can be used as a refuge in case the outer walls are taken by enemies. A smithy, run by our dwarven blacksmith, is located right outside the village by the stream, due to the fire hazard.

Sketch hand drawn, digitally edited with Gimp 2.0