Silver Hills: Mining, New Beginnings, and a Struggle for Power

16 Nov, 2025

This town was built for use with my ongoing hexcrawl project, which you can find here. All hex numbers, factions and rumors, refer to other goings ons in the hex crawl.

Silver Hills

The end of the line and a place for new beginnings

The final stop on the south end of the Grand Rail, Silver Hills marks the furthest reaches of the angel's control. Mere days away from no man’s land. The town is best known for its mines. Each time the Grand Rail stops in Silver Hills, it returns with all the silver and coal it can carry. As demon sightings increase in the north, silver becomes more valuable, as it is the preferred material for demon slaying weapons.

Readily available work and its proximity to the edge of the angel’s sphere of influence make Silver Hills a popular destination for those seeking to start a new life, whether they aim to make their fortune through mining or escape the law or debt.

Population: 3,000. Silver Hills is primarily occupied by miners and their families, but the mining population has also drawn merchants and traders, as well as criminals, although the latter rarely stay long.

Government: Run by Mayor Joshua “Jotchie” Lloyd VII. The role is hereditary and has been in Jotchie’s family for decades. Jotchie handles social programs, establishing laws, and mobilizing the guard, but shares law enforcement responsibilities with Deputy Marsha Burns, who enforces the will of Ramiel, the Archangel charged with keeping peace in the region.

Religion: Silver Hills citizens mostly worship the Caregiver, patron deity of angels. The town is just a couple days walk away from Archangel Ramiel’s temple.

Sights, Smells, etc: Smells of dried leather and a cow’s ass. Dust on everyone’s pant legs, tumbleweeds lazily rolling through town.

Exiled dissidents

When Archangel Ramiel arrived in Silver Hills 50 years ago, the community was split on welcoming his authority. The dissidents were led by a witch named Pandora. When a plague spread through Silver Hills, Ramiel and Mayor Joshua Lloyd VI laid the blame on Pandora and exiled her, along with anyone who had expressed support for her or dissent against Ramiel. The exiled citizens stuck together and eventually formed The Reclaimers.

The Reclaimers have since harassed trade caravans and merchants that deal in Silver Hills. Recently they've become more aggressive.

Private pasts

Silver Hills is full of people running away from their past, whether it be criminal, traumatic, or both. Townsfolk are friendly and warm on all topics except for their past before Silver Hills. It's considered a faux pas to ask too many questions about anyone’s history prior to their arrival at Silver Hills.

Ramiel's Absence

Much of the status quo in Silver Hills is implicitly enforced by their proximity to Archangel Ramiel, who's temple is just a couple days away. Several weeks ago, without warning, Ramiel and several of his best deputies marched north to help fend off an influx of demons.

Power Struggle

The previous mayor worked closely with Ramiel and the deputies he employs to establish and maintain the laws of Silver Hills. While the deputies have no official position in Silver Hills, they have historically had great latitude to enforce local laws and Ramiel's orders. The current mayor, Joshua Lloyd VII, doesn’t have the same relationship. He is skeptical that Ramiel’s deputies have the best interests of the town at heart, especially since Ramiel himself isn't present.

Deputy Marsha Burns, in turn, sees Lloyd as a pushover and hopes to seize power from him. Lloyd attempts to manage the town without the aid of the deputies whenever possible, while the deputies take every opportunity to publicly embarrass the mayor.

Noteworthy Locations

1. Town Hall

A red brick building with a tower at the top housing a clock that looks over the main thoroughfare. Two guards stand by the front and back entrances all day and night. A town meeting is held once each week, where citizens can speak directly to the mayor and air their grievances or call attention to concerns.

Occupants:

• 8 guards are in or around town hall at any given time, armed with revolvers and knives.
• Mayor Joshua “Jotchie” Lloyd VII: Most recent in a long line of mayors, Jotchie is a young man who wears a gray rimmed hat over well-trimmed brown-hair and a beige duster. He regularly visits the Tumble Inn to drink and play darts, as he wants to shirk the reputation his father had for behaving as though he was above the citizens.

2. Get the Point: Smithing by Beezer

The only stone building in the market, this shop has singed walls with wooden supports and a chimney that is constantly smoking. You can feel the heat off the building from a few steps away.

Forge: The inside of the building is 90% forge. A huge smithing stone flanked by racks of hammers sits in the center of the room, and a stone basin built in the wall holds a simmering fire that spews smoke into the chimney.

The shop: A cramped corner of the building has a shelf stuffed with weapons and a small desk with a cashbox on it. They have crude armor and hand and field weapons in stock and can make fine weapons on commission.

Occupants:

• Batholomew Barrington (Beezer): old man blacksmith, hard of hearing, hates the business side of the store, just wants to forge all day.
• Greta Barrington, Beezer’s daughter: young woman, shrewd businesswoman, very curt and direct. Stops Beezer from giving away work for free.

3. Perfect Stitch

A small tailoring shop tucked away in the Silver Hill’s market. You’re likely to see the bright colored clothing drying outside before you notice the building itself. The entrance and windows are obscured by lilac curtains.

Interior: The shop is a mess of cloth, needles, and partially constructed garments, dimly lit by a scattered array of candles. The corner of a trap door is just barely visible beneath a pile of linen.

The Basement: A small room with locked scroll racks and bookcases lining the walls. A small table sits in the center of the room, topped with a single candle. Owner Liu Ying is a skilled seamstress, but her most valuable asset is information and smuggling. She takes trusted customers to this basement to negotiate or deliver reports.

Services: Perfect Stitch specializes in expensive, fine clothing and alterations. Liu Ying’s signature style uses a lot of bright colors and silk. Liu Ying will secretly sell her services as a spy or smuggler if she thinks the client is trustworthy.

Occupants:

• Liu Ying: A small woman with short disheveled hair that’s been dyed red, dressed in loud, colorful silks. Around people she doesn’t trust, Liu Ying acts naive and unassuming. Around people she does trust, she is incisive and highly critical, to the point of rudeness. There is a bounty on her head, but under the name Xiǎo Huì, and with the description of a woman with long black hair.

4. Church of the Caregiver

A well-kept wooden building with a spire that holds church bells. Its wooden doors are kept wide open, revealing a mural of Archangel Ramiel standing in front of a kneeling demon, reminding Silver Hills of its protectors. A sermon is held twice each week.

Church bells: The church bells sound at the top of each hour.

Interior: The hall of worship is lined with candles, rows of cramped, hard wooden benches are lined up before a marble pulpit capped with a heavy leather tome that lies open, pages have been neatly torn from the end of the book.

Sermons: The sermons are delivered by Priest Miranda Cuthwell. Her sermons focus on praising angels for protecting the Hallowed Lands and cautioning against consorting with demons. Sermon attendance correlates with the town’s faith in the deputies and respect for their authority. Attendance has been light since Ramiel’s absence began.

Occupants

• Miranda Cuthwell: Well dressed, jet black hair pulled back in a bun. Gregarious and personable. Miranda is very stressed about low church attendance. She is considering making a trip to Ramiel’s temple in the northwest to inquire about the Archangel’s recent absence.

5. The Tumble Inn

Where you tumble in and stumble out

A raucous two-story inn built from aging wood with peeling white paint. There are several dartboards below the catwalks on either side of the common room. A freshly painted sign displays the inn’s name in huge bold letters on the front of the building.

Common Room: Huge, plenty of tables and chairs in the center of the room during the day, but when miners return from work at night, you have to fight for a seat.

Guests: Primarily miners looking to drink, dance, and take the edge off from a long day of work. Whenever a train arrives, the inn is full of visitors or folks looking to start over in Silver Hills. On these nights, a few grifters try to make some coin off of naive newcomers.

Owner: Owned by the bartender, Chummer, a mellow chestnut-furred ratling who doesn’t look like much but breaks up fights with the wooden sword he keeps behind the counter. He’s the best dart player in the establishment, but he’ll only bother playing against someone who proves they could be a challenge.

Services
Food: Average quality, simple meals. Lot’s of fish and meat pies.
Alcohol: Beer and wine from Chateau Taven, double price since it’s in short supply.
Lodging: Average quality shared rooms, cramped private rooms.

6. Guardhouse/Prison

A wide, practically featureless 2-story building. Windows on the outside peak into living quarters for guards and deputies. The entrance at the east end is constantly guarded, as it leads into the town’s prison.

Living Quarters: Common rooms in the guardhouse are minimalist. There are usually a few guards either getting ready for their next shift or winding down from a previous one. Bookshelves are stuffed with religious texts and scrolls explaining local law. Bedrooms are just large enough for a bed and a closet. Each floor has one shared washroom.

Occupants:

• Most guards in town sleep here

• Deputy Marsha Burns: The leader of the local deputies by seniority, Marsha is an older woman with a friendly face and a tendency to deliver friendly barbs. Beneath the surface, she is calculating and conniving. In private she drops the friendly facade.
  

• Deputy Barnabas Gibbles: The muscle of the Silver Hills deputies. Barnabas is a hulk of a man with a mean scar on his left cheek, a circlet in the center of his forehead, and massive Bowie knife affixed to his breast. Barnabas acts as though he is above the law and will use his authority to demand goods and services from others.
  

• Moseley Barnes: A 16 year old apprentice to Marsha. Moseley is bright-eyed and idealistic, and idolizes Marsha and Barnabas. He hopes to be deputized himself by Ramiel one day.

Prison Interior: A single guard with a logbook for visitors sits in front of a hallway with 3 cells on either side. They are currently occupied by:

• Gregor Gills: Former leader of a gang called Gills Gunners, arrested for robbing Silver Hills Trust Bank, though the money was never recovered.
• Lee Westerly: Awaiting execution for jaywalking.

7. Grand Rail Station

This is the last station on the south end of the Grand Rail. A train arrives each week, greeted by a sign that reads “Welcome to Silver Hills, the end of the line”. Sometimes merchants will set up stalls by the station on days a train is coming in to try to win business from visitors.

8. Silver Hills Trust Bank

A huge brick rectangle that is windowless save for a pair of windows that peer into the front office. The vaults behind the front desk are open and barren. A closed sign sits on the reinforced door.

Random Silver Hills NPC names

1. Carlos Brewer
2. Lei Wang
3. Karen Moriarity
4. Jill Xu
5. William Tiller
6. Robert Wilson
7. Gloria Costa
8. Maria Flores
9. Victorio
10. Martha Brown

NPC quirks

1. Crabby
2. Friendly
3. Gossipy
4. Repeats themselves a lot
5. Fast talker
6. Slow talker
7. Meanders
8. Easily annoyed
9. Forgetful
10. Thinks they are smarter than they are

Events

Hoop Snake

A 4 foot long, sausage like reptile that plagues the hallowed Realm. Hoop snakes are only mildly venomous but are able to move quickly by biting their own tail to roll at threats at an astonishing pace. They can leap 7 feet in the air while rolling.

Hoop snakes are known to snore as they sun and sleep on top of rocks when it is warm outside.

Stats

4 grit, 8 Brawn, 15 Agility, 4 Mind

Venomous Bite: 1d4 damage and the target must make a Brawn Check or take 1d4 Brawn damage.
Roll: A hoop snake can loop into a ball as an action, allowing it to move twice as fast as a human. When it rolls into someone, they must make a Brawn or Agility check to avoid falling prone.

Rumors

Art used

Picrews from Deerinspotlight and Baydews