Citizens of Eastguard
Eastguard is a working town. You hear boots on stone before sunrise. Doors open early. Most people keep their heads down and their hands busy.
Strangers are noticed. Not challenged right away, but watched. A new face draws a second look, maybe a third. If you stay out of trouble, that attention fades. If you don’t, it spreads.
People talk in short bursts. News moves faster than carts. A kind act in the square will be known by night. A bad one will be known before you leave the street.
Most homes sit above shops. Light leaks from upper windows late into the night. You can smell bread, oil, leather, and smoke depending on where you stand. The town is close. Sounds carry.
Trust is slow here. Once it’s given, it holds. Once it breaks, it stays broken.
Values
Work over words — If you say you’ll do something, you do it. People remember effort more than promises.
Order and stability — Fights in the street, loud trouble, or chaos draw attention fast. The town prefers things quiet and predictable.
Reputation matters — What people say about you shapes how doors open or close. A name can carry weight long after you leave.
Practical loyalty — Loyalty is earned through action. People stand by those who prove useful, steady, and reliable.
Self-reliance with limits — Most handle their own problems first. But when things go bad, neighbors step in if they trust you.
Standing in Eastguard
What the town thinks of you when you’re not in the room.
Eastguard tracks reputation on a scale of 1 to 9. Most newcomers start at 5 — neutral, unremarkable, neither welcomed nor turned away.
1 — Wanted — You are a problem, not a person. Guards act on sight. Shops refuse service. Locals flee or report you.
2 — Hated — Open hostility. Services denied. Shops charge extreme prices or refuse entirely.
3 — Shunned — Avoidance and cold silence. Minimal service. Inflated prices.
4 — Suspicious — Guarded interactions. Questions from guards. Short answers from locals.
5 — Neutral — Just another face. Indifferent law, standard services, polite but distant people.
6 — Known — Familiar warmth. Guards give benefit of the doubt. Locals share light rumors. Small shop discounts.
7 — Liked — Welcoming. Priority service in some places. Locals offer small favors. You start hearing things others don’t.
8 — Trusted — Warm and respectful. Guards may deputize informally. Locals will shelter or defend you. NPCs may confide.
9 — Exalted — Admired. Consulted by leadership. Locals will risk themselves for you. You can influence the direction of the town.
How Reputation Shifts
Good deeds build standing. Visible harm destroys it fast. Quiet acts of kindness move slowly. Public failures move faster than you’d like.
Saving the town, betraying it, or publicly lifting or humiliating a major figure can shift standing by two steps or more at once.
One rule holds through all of it: reputation spreads based on visibility, not morality. The town judges what it sees.