The traits that define Harbin Wester are emblematic of the things common folk expect of the noble class. Pompous, calculating, duplicitous, and singularly focused on the concentration of his own personal wealth – hidden beneath the veneer of polite and effusive courtesy.

Despite these poorly concealed flaws in his character, Phandalin’s residents have shown enough faith in Wester’s business acumen to elect the pretentious banker as their Townmaster. Outside matters of finance, mediation, and record-keeping, few townsfolk truly like the man. But since Phandalin has prospered under Wester’s stewardship, few have found cause for electing a new Townmaster.

Under Harbin Wester’s governance, Phandalin has seen an increase of merchants and adventurers passing through Phandalin on their travels between the High Road and the Long Road. Many of the towns residents attribute the frequent presence of adventurers as the deterrent keeping the Cragmaw goblins in the grasses and marauding orcs in the hills and mountains – away from Phandalin’s borders.

Unbeknownst to the townsfolk, Phandalin’s relative peace and safety in recent years is due largely to the presence of an ancient and powerful guardian living among the townsfolk in secrecy: a vampire who is not only a resident of Phandalin today, but was a resident of Phandalin at its founding hundreds of years ago.

His name? Harbin Wester.

Before Phandalin fell into ruin, the frontier town was Wester’s fertile hunting ground, flush with miners, merchants, and travelers frequently traveling throughout the area and allowing the predations of this creature of the night to go unnoticed.

After several centuries of slumber, Wester awoke to find Phandalin a desolate ruin. In the years since, he has gone about the tedious business of rebuilding the frontier town into a destination worthy of visitors for the purpose of restocking his personal hunting ground.

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