The town of Sealwatch is located on the southern tip of Frosthaven – a large, cold, pine-choked island a few days sail north from the nearest civilized port.  The island was settled in three stages, between eighty and ninety years ago.  The first settlement, Croatan, was a venture settlement, hoping to find gold in the ground and furs and other luxuries in the woods.  Two years later, the settlement of Sealwatch was built a day’s march down the coast on a promontory of stone, to capitalize on the large seal population in the area.

A third and final settlement was started several days hike into the island’s interior, driven by an influential priestess of the Raven Queen.  She received three boats full of true believers and built an enclosed camp amid the deep pines, shutting off all contact with the outside.

As the town of Croatan expanded beyond crude tents and camps, the remains of an earlier settlement were uncovered, and a group of explorers were dispatched to see if any other traces of a previous civilization existed.  These explorers traveled into the high pines, led by legendary ranger Avron the Gray, never to be seen again.  Legends say that Avron still tracks the mist-shrouded pines, but it is unlikely as no trace of the adventuring party was seen again.  It was as though the island itself swallowed the ranger and his companions.

Then, one winter night fifty-seven years ago, all 355 residents of Croatan disappeared in the night.  Fires were left burning, plates left on the table with meals half-eaten.  The town was considered cursed ground, and no one tried to live there again.  Those who went to look for the missing settlers found no trace of them.  The people of Croatan did not leave – they simply ceased to be.

The same fate is thought to have befallen the Raven’s Nest walled town, but no one has been able to find the town to confirm this theory.

Now only Sealwatch remains.  It is a small community of just over 1,600 people, scraping out a meager existence on a pine-choked island of mystery.  The major tavern is the Tall Pines, a longhouse style building backing up against the woods.  There are a handful of shops near the water, but with the exception of Gideon’s Tackle general purpose store, most of the shops are very informal.  Most basic services are available, including blacksmith (Otto Kellis), tailor (Miriam Skaald), brewer (Tasmin Dellhove), baker (Tallia and Jeamas Quinnella), artisans (Jaccob Aeg – scrimshaw, Kellan Jule – woodcarver, Llewellan Glis – leatherworker), and light-armor crafter (Pytor Finn). 

There is a stone jetty in the harbor which allows big ships to dock, but none have had reason to do so in some time.  The island grows most of it’s own food, and makes it’s own wool and fur clothing, but finer goods have to be imported, and boats land every few days at Sealwatch to trade for local goods.

Local cuisine is centered around fish and pickled vegetables with the inclusion of potatoes in many dishes. In addition to fish, shellfish, and root vegetables, staples include vegetables in the kale and cabbage families, pork, cultured dairy products, rye breads, berries and stone fruits. Butter is the primary fat source.

Sealwatch is 62% human, 20% Elf, 6% Dwarf, and 6% Halfling, and 11% other.

The town is run by a council of three elected Aldermen.  These are Jaccob Aeg, Miriam Skaald, and Gunter Haevers – owner of the Tall Pines.  The large beer hall of the Tall Pines serves as meeting hall for town meetings, which are open to the public.