Gatherhold

A gang of halflings strides arrogantly through the streets on their clawfoot raptors.

A Halfling with the Mark of Hospitality welcomes a homeless veteran into her Tavern.

A traveler of the plains, dressed entirely in colorful rags that obscure all of their physical features, browses a market stall and haggles with the owner.

Gatherhold is a large town and the largest in Brindinford.  Built on the northwestern shore of Lake Cyre, it is shared by all the Halfling tribes as a place to trade, hold celebrations and festivals, and have tribal councils.  House Goodseller has its headquarters here and maintains the town.  House Marquis maintains a Lightning Rail line that passes through the City and used to continue all the way to Metrol before the Day of Mourning.

All the Halfling tribes come to Gatherhold to trade, hold councils, and settle disputes.  House Goodseller maintains the town, but Gatherhold belongs to the people, not the houses.  Other Dragonmarked Houses offer their services here as well.  The town is on the shore of Lake Cyre, and people often come by boat through Grosden Swamp.

In the Third Age

The city that is now Gatherhold was once the location of the original Brindinford in the Third Age.  In that time it was a large town which was a trade center on a major river. Its food came from small farming villages scattered in the nearby countryside with no fields in the immediate vicinity. Forestation had been cleared in a radius of about a mile outside the town on the east side of the river, but much of the west bank was still heavily wooded.

This city was also the original location of the well-known Brindinford Halfling Carnival.  The event drew attendants from across Argones ever since the First Annual Brindinford Halfling Carnival, held from 3/25 - 4/1/849.  Ever since its inception, the Carnival has been a focal point in several key quests throughout history:

• Kashro attended the Annual Brindinford Halfling Carnival Centennial Spectacular in the year 949; this is where he first encountered the League of Diviners.
• The Heroes of the Ridge attended the 151st Annual Brindinford Halfling Carnival in the year 1000 (see "The Speaker in Dreams"); they saved it from being overthrown by a scheming Mind Flayer named Ghaerleth Axom.  Slaying the fiend released Baron Euphemes II from his evil clutches and returned things to a state of relative normalcy.