Wyrd, The Chronicles of Yarnia - Age of Thaw

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FOREVER PEOPLE GAMES & RPG PRESENTS

Chronicles of Yarnia 1 ~ THE AGE OF THAW ~ Book 2 in the Wyrd series Written and produced by David Sharrock Illustrated by David Sharrock with additional material by David Revoy, Biswajit Das and Mizu Sasori and photography resources from Jim Linwood, Don Graham and Jeff Buck

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Contents Introduction The Weave Wyrmen Using This Book Chronology Days of the Week Months of the Year Periods The Age of Futh Age of the Loom The Epic Age The Age of Hammerfall The Age of Thaw Festivals & Celebrations Nimrosel’s Day (New Year) Tallowsday Day of the Gigaerack The Dooming Day Carnival of Dewisant The Vertical Marathon Merrydew Summersdue Annual Gathering of the... ...Tablemen of the Mountain Candle Auctions of Stratum The Halig Festival Unleashing of the Swarm Day of the Grotto The Mop Fair Day of the Wise All Gloo's Eve Night of the Reaper Festival of Fyrnys Winter Solstice Jols Day

7 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 12 12 17 17 17 17 18 18 18 18

19 20 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 22 22 World Map (Yarnia) 23 Map of Ereth 24 Yarnia 25 Ereth 25 Lands of the Thaw 25 Endeleas and the Inland Seas 26 Morturth 26 Annarr 26 The City of Thieves 26 Civilizations of Annarr 26 Merendir & Frothrein 27 Urtol 27 Modern Races 27 Beyond the Thaw 28 Niflhelm & the Arkhold 28 The City by the Sea 28 Cormysyeth's Nation 28 The Founding of Celtrein 28 The Return of Caynum 29 The Living Gods of Yarnia 29 The Eagles of Doom 29 Urd Unleashed 29 March of the Weavers 30 The Wyrm of Havoc 30 Return of the Bitterblade 30 The Motian Crusade 31 The Glowing Embers of War 31 Mythyar Num, Last of the Wise 31 Truce of Sanas Morcorm 31

the Jaguar Jarls of... ...Drood-Cynncarn The Whispering Malice The Decline of Cornoval Rumours of Caynum The Anglians The Roots of Elvia The Feudal Lords Monsters in the Sailing Hills The Finding of the Shrine... ...of Vanir The Wandering of the Weavers Return of the Wythywyr Kenwythi and the Lost... ...Book of Mot The Rill Blade Aftermath of War Tablemen of the Mountain Beneath the Haligvalt The Fall of the Loremasters The Vale of Dread and Chaos The Albion Wall The Fynereth Canal Gungingeth, City of Thieves The Haligentsia & Forallum The Legacy of King Amon The People of Lung The Gigaerack The Fell Territories The Islands of the Inland Sea Niflhelm The Arkhold

Map of Niflhelm Map of The Arkhold Map of South Niflhelm Ancien Valley Auroch's Haven Cape Caer Castle Novus Mount Corona Map of Losia Crackator Cliffs &... ...the Losian Plateau

Map of the North Mountains Mount Elra Mount Eret Floa Valley Gehydder Vale Giganteen Coast Mount Kaldyrhorn Kaukaurau Cliffs Mount Mithrael Naburen Nordens Pass Phrygia Mount Solgora Scartaris Vanyir Vale The Wearywend Listholm

Map of Listholm The City of Tunturthis (& Key)

Map of Tunturthis Balmyrasoth Blaedart

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31 32 32 32 33 33 33 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 36 37 37 37 38 38 38 38 39 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 42 44 44 44 44 45 45 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 47 47 47 47 48 48 48 48 49 52 52 53 59 59

Derwose Woods Dingerein Castle Druncnen Marsh Dunmüthyl Keep Dunom Pass Faelan Ridge Fyrstnum Gadria The Haldan Hills Karek Fort Mount Medrina Motsmarch Cliffs River Nova The Twain Gate Sanas Morcorm The Cudha Death

Map of Sanas Morcorm Cornoval Drood Cynncarn (& Key)

Map of Drood Cynncarn Arvorest Road Mount Ascona Brecon Brow Ostia Hills Cormis-Meurth Denlath Wadi Drygia

Map of Brecon Brow Karkadier Valley (& Key)

Map of Karkadier Valley Khasma Ravine Stenlorn Karbrin Pass Lawesmoor Lagoon Mount Menethret Mount Menydhra Minak Cliffs Monzosun Hills Moon & Tewas Cove Pelkarek Citadel Powsow Foundry Rinandroor Bridge Spunbone Mesa Tansys Desert Tenros The Weaving Road Wythra Wadi Zenor (& Key)

Map of Zenor Zork Wood Dunmonia

Map of Dunmonia The City of Old Urd (& Key)

Map of Old Urd Anglestan River Damnum Channel Draedan Bridge Efodruin Jarlstone Cliffs Keep of Hagria Sidantun Unerin Marsh Wyrgrove Wood Celtrein The City of Tarantel (& Key)

60 60 60 61 61 61 62 62 62 62 63 63 63 63 64 64 65 65 66 67 69 69 69 69 69 69 70 70 70 71 74 74 75 75 75 75 76 76 76 76 77 77 77 77 78 79 79 79 80 81 81 86 81 82 85 86 86 87 87 87 87 87 87 88 88

Map of Tarantel Map of Celtrein Beard Marsh The Bwydcors River The Druncdrood Coast Falcer Point Gwaedleg Swamp Monigarn Jungle Whytney Bight The Angle Wodoak & Landmarks

Map of Wodoak Anglia Verdandi (& Key)

Map of Verdandi Arvortun (& Key)

Map of Arvortun Carnuntun (& Key)

Map of Carnuntun Dunkunom (& Key)

Map of Dunkunom Pelgallo (& Key)

Map of Pelgallo Map of The Angle Albion Wall Amdarn Hill Bargenham Breetun Calendar Woods Catamite Falls Coalpit Heath Cormislew Drawn Dunrevy Elowen Granger Fields The Immortal Wall Iyfelion Pass Jesterton Loofarn Merwen Cove Nabuland Hills Naderma Lake Naderos Heath Nordroor Bridge The Sailing Hills Tanowder Vale Tregeagle Mire Ulyan Hills Ylyntor (& Key)

Map of Ylyntor Mortun Pandi

Map of Mortun Pandi Gungingeth (& Key) Map of Gungingeth Santun Morvagh (& Key)

Map of Santun Morvagh Arnun Mened Arn Merrtor Map of South Mortun Pandi Cornkarro Ridge Dwalmeer Cove Dwarro Engel Plage Evenshade Wood

89 93 93 93 94 94 94 94 95 96 101 103 104 105 106 116 117 125 126 131 132 138 138 142 141 143 143 143 144 144 144 144 145 145 145 145 145 145 145 146 146 146 146 147 147 147 148 148 148 148 149 151 152 154 154 161 162 171 171 172 172 172 172 173 173

Gor Mount Guncorn Gunginhame The Helterlands

Map of Lorel Lorel Mount Menedrune Menhirnar The Middle-Vale Plains of Felgin-Gal Scalar Mened Shadowvalt Skyhook Creek Werrow Lake Windham Hills Xenolith Crag Yrmynsyl Iyfel

Map of Iyfel Alluvia The Draegen Croft Felmist Marsh Flay River Gethling Hills Halig Ruins The Hammer Dwale Hordruen Crater The Marowan Flatlands Ninel

Map of Ninel Algaron Andvar Efodruin Elderbarren Woods Flaybren River Ketal Keep Mithrune Citadel Mogthrandrill Hills Skabryos Hills Skuld Map of Skuld Thrymrein Mountains Verlan Vale Skytor Skyssa (& Key)

Map of Skyssa Stratum (& Key)

Map of Stratum Yrmeneth

Map of Yrmeneth Fyrnysforge Axton Sereth Tortas

Map of Sereth Sunbream Coast Jungle of Helterborg Index of Terms Image Attributions

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173 173 173 173 174 174 174 174 174 174 174 175 175 175 175 176 176 178 180 180 180 181 181 182 182 182 183 183 184 185 184 184 184 184 185 185 185 186 186 186 186 186 186 187 191 191 199 202 209 210 209 210 211 211 212 212 212 213 215

Note on Maps Unless specified otherwise on any given image, all maps presented in this volume are oriented with North assumed to be at the top of the image and south at the bottom, east to the right side and west to the left.

WYRD (Book 2) Chronicles of Yarnia 1, the Age of Thaw Game Design (first Edition): David Sharrock Additional Elements: Catherine Badjan Graphic Design: Far Country, Bristol Cover Art: Atelier Sommerland Cover Design: David Sharrock Art: Atelier Sommerland, Corey Ford, Dusan Kostic, Jeffrey Thompson, Anti Namasalu, David Sharrock, Nej Ron, Jesse Lee Lang, Fernando Cortes De Pablo, David Revoy, Biswajit Das and Mizu Sasori and photography resources from Jim Linwood, Don Graham and Jeff Buck.

Antique Map Backgrounds: Malgorzata Kistryn Map designs and artwork: David Sharrock Playtesting and acknowledgements Catherine Badjan, Wyn F Dawkins, Tony Jordan, Ian Clement, Lilli Neilson, Derek Wilson, Jayne Lagunov, Phil Grove, Michael McLinden and Alec Webster.

Thanks also to Tony the DM without whose inspiration this volume would not exist Copyright Š Forever People Games & RPG 2014 Forever People Games & RPG is a registered business: Praa View Cottage, Newtown Germoe, Penzance, Cornwall TR20 9AG All rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced or redistributed without the express permission of David Sharrock or any official representative of Forever People Games & RPG. All non-Creative Commons based content in this volume is entirely original and any similarity to works both fictional or nonfictional or to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Where the product is downloaded in PDF format the publisher and author may not be held responsible in any way, shape or form for damages sustained to computer systems or reading devices as a result of the download or the downloading process.

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This is the second volume in the Wyrd series. In order to play a game based in the fantasy realm of Yarnia the player group will also need a copy of the Wyrd/Elderune System & Setting, volume 1. The GM will also require the Wyrd Pandemonium, a concise bestiary covering the lands detailed in this book. The Overmaster's Companion, a GM aid featuring spot rules, character generation guide and a full campaign for players new to the system and the setting is also recommended.

THE WEAVE

Introduction

Yarnia, cradle of creation, once home to the manifest spirits of elemental lore; to Womad, the living embodiment of vitality, and to the globe-spanning Wythyreach forest whose mighty oaks echoed the form of that great cosmic tree - Yggdruskyl.

Long long ago on the marshland coast of Gondaras, in the southern arm of the land now known as Ereth, king from the stars, Mot Elyeth, landed his vessel Karrack-Lorn, Lord of Ships, and rode ashore upon the back of the mighty Nader Roselvia.

There he beheld the Wythyreach and the Wythywyr tree clambering like leaf-pricked and branch-pronged fingers into untold reaches of the sky. And he beheld Womad, spirit of life, whose antlers scraped the very belly of the clouds. And Mot named the land Ereth and built there his kasbah, the citadel of Yseldyr.

And he called forth from the sailing stars a host of allies that they should rule by his side.

Many allies there were, and they took for themselves the title of Oak Lords, for they were as kings beneath the spearing trees whose peaks rose like the spines of a crown.

Not least among their number came Seth Elgan, the All-Father. Mot was his son, and Tesheba was his wife. His daughter, Merriday, there came also and consort to Mot, the beautiful Vanyir Num. A ladder to the sky was grown from the sacred acorn of Womad and its name was Yrmynsyl, for it was as a tree but greater even than the epic shafts of the Wythywyr. Upon Yrmynsyl's summit Seth Elgan crafted the mountain of Haligvalt upon the Weighting Stone of Karrekith, a palace wherein he might dwell and gaze down upon all the realm of the world below.

To the Haligvalt came many more men from the stars, and though Mot Elyeth reigned as a king upon the soil of Yarnia, the gods of the stars reigned still in the realm above. And they were the Eagles of Seth, experts in flight and war. They were the Engel and loyal to the mighty crown of Seth above all others.

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In harmony the gods of the sky and the gods of Ereth lived with the spirits of elemental lore. Womad moved among the Oak Lords, striding above the treetops, the molt of his antlers falling like snow. Syldaer breathed through the sky and through the sighing branches of the Wythyreach. Through the blue of the sea Rinan gushed and foamed and in the depths of the sacred soil was Eret, spirit of stone and the bones of the world. Fyrnys of the primal fire burned as a living flame and all was surrounded by the divinity of spirit and all prevailed for many long ages of the world.

Such were the early days of Yarnia, named by Mot Elyeth as the Long Story Thus Spun. For here the tale of all that passes unfolds, the weave to which all threads are destined, the pattern of a cosmic tale wherein all stories are found and all beginnings will one day meet their end.

Undulating and flowing, a long tapestry within whose stitched fabric the story is made, billows and waves in the currents of infinity.

At the core is Yarnia, dense and profound and always where past and future vanish and only the present is known. Here the shuttle shunts to and fro as the treadle is pumped and the loom churns. Here the crafted lines emerge ceaselessly one after the other, drawing the warp across the weft to entangle reality and set firm the plot. And there is no end until the story is done and the yarn is told. Only then will the loom fall silent.

The gods and the spirits are an audience to the work, observing the weave and advising the pattern, leaning over the shoulder of the craftsman as he bends to his task, cheering his work or lending aid when deft fingers falter.

Who then is the weaver - he who works the treadle, shifts the harness and feeds the shuttle? Who inhabits the face of the one who crafts the pattern, he who decides the fate of the tapestry and the colour, shape and story thereon? Who is this maker of worlds?

Wyrmen The wyrmen and wyr-women, a mortal race forged by Mot Elyeth and his sister Merriday in the age of Oak Lords, dwell upon the world of Yarnia.

Much of the planet is covered either by ice and snow or by water, the respective north and south ice-caps of Merendir and Frothrein and the great Endeleas ocean. The Age of Thaw takes place at the end of a global 'winter of discontent' triggered by the detonation of an apocalyptic weapon. The Hammer of Merrlith brought to an end both the age of the gods and their destructive war and plunged Yarnia into a nine thousand year ice-age.

The world is gradually warming again and the glaciers receding, revealing in their wake the colours and greenery of lands long buried under an endless expanse of white.

In the heart of this vast and largely uninhabitable globe are the relatively diminutive continents of Annarr and Morturth. These spits of land harbour the nations of the wyrmen and the majority of all life on Yarnia. Collectively they are known as Ereth, the Land where the Spirit of Earth Dwells.

But for the exception of a few survivors of Merrlith and the winter of discontent, the gods no longer stalk the soil of Yarnia. Their spirits now inhabit the Web of Wyrd, a universal and cosmic plane formed of vibrating strands of energy (the weft and the warp of the loom) and the vacuum gaps between the strands. Upon the energetic lines, whose plucked threads resonate with the music of the cosmic soul, dwell the righteous Oak Lords and the spirits of the Elvian pantheon. In the abysmal gaps between, where there is no sound, no energy and no substance, the dark gods of the Elgan host languish.

The wyrmen live only with the guidance of the spirits of the Oak Lords and the Elvians and no longer dwell in their manifest presence.

Certain of the Elgan pantheon still exist as physical entities, but their power is limited and in some cases their location is unknown.

Those dark gods who lurk in the lightless gaps between the strands rage with incalculable hatred for the wyrmen and for the righteous gods whom they consider to be their usurpers and their gaolers. And ever do they scheme to be free and to exact their revenge upon those whom they loathe.

level of detail compressed into an area which, in reality, would be a relatively small landmass. Distance is exaggerated, as is the disparity between different regions, in order to provide a manageable area in which to play without too much game-time spent travelling from one place to the next. The emphasis is on variety and the presentation of new ideas without diverging too much from the kind of location players have come to expect from their fantasy setting. The intention is not to reinvent the wheel, but to increase its aesthete and intensify the number of new experiences without throwing the game group into an entirely alien world for which they have no comfortable reference point.

Second is divergent styles of play, with each nation within the Erethian sphere providing the potential for an entirely different type of game, from the traditional medieval fantasy of the Angle or Listholm to the steam punk and Victoriana of Skytor (and semi-science fiction of Stratum); the dark and savage realms of Mortun Pandi and Iyfel or the fairytale realm of W천doak, to the apocalyptic wastes stalked by undead victims of a viral pathogen found in Sanas Morcorm. This allows for different approaches to game play with the potential for one game session to feel different to the next.

Using This Book

Chronology

The wealth of detailed information presented in this, the first volume of the Chronicles of Yarnia, is designed to flesh out the setting and give the GM a reference to fall back on when crafting campaigns, composing rumour lists, running impromptu adventures on the fly, or simply looking for inspiration.

While the volume can be read from cover to cover, this may be unnecessary for most GMs and should certainly not be a requirement for players. The players will enjoy their game better if they embrace the idea that the characters they play are somewhat naive in the ways of the world, have lived sheltered lives in city, town or village communities and possess only a limited understanding of the histories, myths and religions of surrounding cultures.

As the player character explores and learns, so too will the player, revealing each facet of the setting with every newly explored location.

This is a particularly ideal way to introduce Wyrd to new players, with the game group then possessing a greater understanding of the setting in subsequent campaigns (allowing for the creation of older, wiser and more experienced characters).

Ereth has been crafted with two things in mind. First is depth of game play, with a high

The official Erethian calendar (the Cormys Calendar) pertains both to time keeping and to the periods or cycles of passing time. It was designed by the Listians originally (the Listnum Calendar) and refined by the Cornovish under the guidance of the immortal vanyirborn Cormysyeth Num. The Calendar is maintained by the Weavers of the Angle who rely heavily on the aid of Santun Morvagh's Stellamancers to keep track of the passage of the different stages of the moon, the various solstice dates and the motion of the houses of the gods - the constellations as they wheel through the night. The basic method of keeping time in terms of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years has been the same since the days of Drood-Cynncarn when the calendar was first perfected.

Within every day there are 24 hours. Those of daylight and those of night are divided according to location and season but clocks and sun dials divide the period into two sets of twelve. Each hour has sixty minutes and sixty seconds to each minute, all in accordance with the universal constant of time keeping as a division or multiplication of the sacred number three and strict adherence to the duodecimal system (a divine or 'starborn' system based on the number twelve).

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DAYS OF THE WEEK Within each calendar week there are seven days, the word 'day' in the old tongue meaning wisdom, or the wise, and pertaining, in this instance, to the wisdom that comes with the passing of time and the onset of age.

Sanday (day of new beginnings, formerly Day yn Sanas or Day of Wisdom. Sanday is the first day of the week in both the Listnum and Cormys Calendar and is traditionally a holy day or a day of festivals). o Monday, mon meaning wyrman or man, Monday is the day of men, of wyrman activity specifically, and is typically recognized as the first day of the working week. o Tuesday, either an etymological corruption of Droodsday in the Cormys Calendar which itself was derived from Day yn Tun in the Listnum calendar (meaning Day of the Town) or a result of the term 'Choose Day' given to the day in which guild and political elections would take place, but most likely a mixture of the two. Tuesday has always been a day of town and city trade and a day when the affairs of city politics, inaugurations, elections and guild administration take precedent. o Wensday, day of Womad, in recognition of the spirit of fertility and vitality, formerly Womsday, the modern term being an accented corruption of the original pronunciation. Male elkenwyr born on Wensday are believed to be naturally vital and likely to sire many children, while females are believed to be fertile and capable of producing numerous and healthy offspring. o Thawsday, the day of Listnum Hammerclaw's arrival in the location where the city of Tunturthis would be built. The thaw refers to the melting of the ice of the Winter of Discontent that allowed for the emergence of wyrmen from the Arkhold and lends itself also to the Age of Thaw, the modern period proceeding immediately after Hammerclaw's settling of Tunturthis. o Phryday, marking the day when the working week becomes a history and a traditional two day time of rest begins.

The word phry - meaning 'of historical matters' or 'in the past'. o Saturday (from Satunsday, ssa or sia meaning populace and tun meaning town, Satunsday was a day of rest for the population of Tunturthis and has thus remained a traditional end-of-week day of rest from work).

MONTHS OF THE YEAR The twelve months of the year are derived from the Listnum Calendar and were unchanged by the Cormys Calendar system. o Vanuary, month of Vanyir. As the first month of the year, Vanuary is associated with rebirth, the cyclic nature of the year being analogous to the immortals born of Vanyir's womb - the vanyirborn. o Febuary, month of Febb Elyeth, goddess Oak Lord who aided Merriday in the crafting of the wyrmen. o The March, month of the exodus out of Yseldyr and Carnuntun and into northern Morturth prior to the Age of Hammerfall; usually referred to as simply March. o Apryl, month of the Playful Fawn. Apryl is the name of the patron spirit of love, spring and fertility. o Merriday, month of Merriday Elyeth, alchemist who sowed the seed of the wyrmen within the womb of Vanyir using the Golden Acorn of Womad. The month of Merriday is associated with the seeding of new life. o Rune, month of runes, typified by the use of runes to bless the new summer season. o Zeuly, month of the anointed. Zeuly marked the month in which Zeuselra, first of the wyrman kings, was given the gift of the Chalice of Life and thereafter married Merriday Elyeth. In modern tradition couples marry in Zeuly if they hope to bear children. o Augurs, month of prophecy.

Traditionally a month in Listian tradition in which prophets of the Arkhold would foresee the coming of a new Laird - hence in-augur-ation is the inception of a leader whose coming was prophesized by augurs. Prophecies were also deemed omens as they usually foretold the coming death of the current Laird and the end of an era. o Sethsemba, month of Seth Elgan, the AllFather. Though Seth is often portrayed as a figure of evil, he is also recognized as the head of all pantheons, and the original head of Mot's Council of Twelve. o Motsober, month of Mot Elyeth. Motsober is associated with the end of abundance. It is a positive association, however, marking the construction of the Arkhold and the protection of the wyrmen during the Winter of Discontent. Motsober is a month of preparations, of the storing of wood and fuel, food and water and other winter necessities.

o Nirvemba, month of the Whyte Wytch.

This month has complicated and various associations with the fables of Nimrosel, mortal husband of the immortal vanyirborn Mythyar Num. According to legends never confirmed nor denied by the reticent Mythyar, Nimrosel was beloved by, and the secret lover of, Jadisfroth, the avatar of Rinan, spirit of water, who stalked Yarnia during the Winter of Discontent as a melancholy Winter Queen. The month holds a strange place in the hearts of wyrmen as a time of fragile beauty when the world is drifting into the frosty embrace of winter, but also of coming doom, cold and darkness (the evenings growing darker more swiftly than in the summer months). The various festivals of Nirvemba tend to be macabre in theme, or play on the underlying fears the wyrmen harbour for winter's chill. o Dancemba, month of the Winter Solstice.

Associated both with Dannan, spirit of winter and Dannanion Num, the last high born of the Arkhold descended from the Mythyar/Nimrosel line. Dannanion's son was List Num, known more commonly as Listnum Hammerclaw, first Laird of the land of Listholm.

PERIODS Within each calendar month there are 28 days or four weeks each of seven days.

In each year of passing there are 336 days and twelve months with three seasons; spring, summer and winter lasting three, three and six months respectively.

The passing of years is divided into short, long and epic terms. Short terms last twelve years, long terms last 144 years and an epic term lasts 1,728 years. Thus a short term is 1yr x 12, long term is 1yr x 12 x 12 and epic term is 1yr x 12 x 12 x 12.

Short terms are commonly referred to as duodecades and epic terms as millennia. Long terms have no other common name.

The history of the cosmos is divided, so far, into five historic ages, these being counted by and lasting interminable periods depending on events rather than the sacrosanct system of 3 or the duo-decimal.

The Age of Futh Year zero to the first day of the Age of the Loom.

The Age of Futh is recorded as the timeless age (the Dream Time) when the cosmos dreamed the long vision of all that would thereafter come to pass. Also sometimes called the Age of the N端sphere and the Age of

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Chaos, this period predates the existence of the Elvian spirits, the gods of righteous and wicked pantheons and the creation of the Cosmic Cavern. The Age of Futh is also deemed to be a timeless period before the multiverse sprang forth, thus there were no planes of existence, only the formless mind of the cosmos, the absence of soul and the mindlessness of chaos.

Certain fringe cults, particularly those practised by the Sectans, believe the cosmos is still in the Age of Futh and that all that the wyrmen know as reality (or Entopic, literally meaning The Internal Thoughts of the Futh) are in fact merely dreaming visions within the sleeping mind of the Futh. If this were true then the real age of existence has not yet come to pass, and may not resemble the dream but a version thereof, dependent on the outcome of the cosmic vision. Such ideas are refuted by the major religions as either insubstantiated or blasphemous - the cult of Allum in particular taking a dim view on such beliefs.

Age of the Loom The cosmos awoke from the dream of reality to behold the face of Yneur, spirit of time. This moment marks the flowering of existence and the 'blooming' of not only the world of Yarnia but the entire Entopic Plane, the Cosmic Cavern and the multiverse beyond the Outer Threshold.

In mythological terms the Age of the Loom is described as the first pumping of the treadle, the first moving of the shuttle, and the first thread of the warp to be thrown across the weft. This seems to contradict esoteric belief that the artisan working the loom of creation is the wyrman, since the wyrmen would not exist for another two ages.

The Age of the Loom is also a period of time in which the early Elvian spirits of the base elements along with Womad himself came into being. The exact length of this period is unknown and, perhaps, unknowable. It is, however, believed to be 'a vast span of time beyond comprehension'.

Wythian lore asserts that Yarnia, at this time, was a verdant world, yet to be claimed by the endless white wastes of Frothrein and Merendir. And all across the continents, known then as the Wythy (the Prime) grew the sky-reaching Wythywyr oak tree, made and tended by Womad.

The Epic Age A period lasting 228,096 years (132 millennia) during which sixty rotations of the ruling houses of the stars turned and the family names of the star lords ascended to and descended from power eleven times.

These were (in order of coming to power) Elyeth, Num, Elgan, Arani, Anu, Ninigiku, Apsu, Eltari, Mu, Ninurtia, Canaan and Enlil and each epic term was given its respective

ruling house name, thus there were eleven Epics of Elyeth, eleven Epics of Canaan, etc. and each epic was thus numbered.

The Epic Age ends with the arrival of Mot Elyeth upon Yarnia just five years prior to the ascension of his ruling house for the twelfth time, and so is this period known as the Twelfth Epic of Elyeth, though where calendars accurately record the beginning of this period it is written as the Age at the End of the Eleventh Epic of House Enlil.

THE TWELFTH EPIC OF ELYETH The start of this period marks the arrival of Mot and his family upon Yarnia and lasts 1,733 years exactly. The start of the Epoch is also the start of the official calendar of Yarnia and thus the period begins at year zero (the arrival of Mot and his construction of Yseldyr in the southern swamps of Ereth).

Notable Dates yr0 Mot's sky-sailing vessel, the Karrack Lorn arrives in the Yarnian sea. Mot Elyeth rides his horse, Nader Roselvia, ashore and begins construction of the mansion of Yseldyr. yr3 Yseldyr is completed. The long ship Oseberg arrives on Yarnia carrying Vanyir Num, consort of Mot. She subsequently dwells in the mansion of Yseldyr. Mot and Vanyir create the garden known as The Vale which they alone tend for many long terms of the world. yr4 Mot discovers Womad in the depths of the Wythyreach. He names the world Yarnia, the Long Story Thus Spun, and his homeland he calls Ereth, Domain of the Spirit of the Earth. yr5 House Enlil descends and House Elyeth ascends. Mot Elyeth is anointed ruler of his

house and king of his domain. The Elvian spirits, manifest in Yarnia, come to behold their new king. yr864 Womad leaves the Entopic Plane, his manifest form sinking into the Wythywyr and returning to the earth. He sheds a single tear which becomes a sacred golden acorn. Mot plants the acorn and an oak sprouts, growing into the largest of the Wythywyr trees. Mot names this Yrmynsyl, the World Tree. At the summit of Yrmynsyl Mot places a great floating mountain named Karrekith (the Weighting Stone). yr865 Seth Elgan comes to Yarnia and decides to remain there. yr870 Construction of a mountain palace at the summit of Yrmynsyl which is also named Leviaseth (Seth's Ladder) and Hoscion (The Sky Hook). yr892 Construction of the Haligvalt (Holy Hall) is completed on the summit of Kerrekith. yr893 Merriday Elyeth, sister of Mot, and Tesheba Elyeth, wife of Seth and mother to both Merriday and Mot, arrive in Yarnia. yr894 Seth names the Oak Lords and forms the Council of Twelve. yr900 Mot creates the Megdart. yr903 The immortals of Seth Elgan's ruling house arrive in the Haligvalt. Loyalists of Seth, they begin harvesting resources from the Wythyreach with Mot's blessing. yr913 The Elvian spirits give their prophecy of the fall of Yarnia to Aura Num and counsel her to warn Mot against the destruction of the Wythyreach. Mot will not listen and in a fitful

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rage, Aura Num leaves Yseldyr to live alone in the Wythyreach. yr915 Seth Elgan warns Mot that the harvesting of the Wythyreach requires a greater workforce. Mot tasks Merriday with the creation of a slave labour, presenting her with the life giving vitality and magick of the golden acorn of Womad as a base material. yr917 Merriday crafts the alchemy of life within the womb of Vanyir. yr918 The child named Fyrst is born. Mot names him wyrman, The Labouring One, Fyrst Num. But Fyrst dies shortly after birth.

Merriday works to refine her alchemy. yr924 Mythyar Num is born to Vanyir from the pip of Womad. She is the first of five immortal wyrmen, born of Vanyir's starwomb and Womad's divine seed. yr926 Wegwyr Num is born to Vanyir. Second of the immortals. Mythyar celebrates her 2nd birthday. yr928 Cormysyeth Num is born to Vanyir, third of the immortals. Mythyar is four and Wegwyr celebrates her second birthday. yr930 Zeuselra, first of the male immortals is born to Vanyir. Mythyar is six, Wegwyr four and Cormysyeth two. yr932 Cayn, second of the male immortals, is born to Vanyir, but there are complications at birth and Vanyir's health is weakened.

Mythyar is eight, Wegwyr six, Cormysyeth four and Zeuselra two. yr942 Mythyar celebrates her eighteenth birthday. One wyrman is born in the period between, but Vanyir is no longer able to produce immortals. Mythyar is set to task in the Wythyreach, watched over and kept safe by the immortals of Seth - the pilots and flyers of Seth's honour guard; the Guardian Eagles, or Entengel as they are known. yr948 The immortals of Vanyir, or vanyirborn as they are known, and the first of the mortal wyrmen join Mythyar in the forest. yr1000 Zeuselra receives the Sceptre of Asnir and is anointed the first king of the wyrmen. yr1020 The first of the mortal wyrmen, Knell Num, dies of old age. yr1200 The mortal wyrmen number more than one hundred.

THE TWELFTH EPIC OF NUM A period beginning in the year 1733 and marked by the descent of House Elyeth and the ascent of House Num, family name of the mother goddess Vanyir.

Vanyir becomes the righteous queen of Yarnia and Mot remains king by her side. Together their dominant houses create a period of unmatched peace and tranquility.

Notable Dates yr1760 The mortal wyrmen under King Zeuselra begin construction of Carnuntun (Town Under the Mountain) with the

guidance of Mot. Storta Dewisant, foreman of the project, interprets the architectural schematics of Mot Elyeth and becomes the first of the great wyrman builders. yr1823 Carnuntun is completed. Work begins on the Tariyorn Forge which will serve the mines and industries of the Guardian Eagles of Seth.

THE TWELFTH EPIC OF ELGAN Beginning in the year 3461 and marked by the descent of House Num and the ascent of House Elgan.

Seth Elgan and Tesheba Elyeth become king and queen of Yarnia respectively. As their son, Mot Elyeth remains dominant and rules beneath the Haligvalt as the Prince of the Underworld while Seth and Tesheba remain on high in the Haligvalt. During this period Seth is officially titled Jarel Karrekith (King Upon the Weighting Stone).

Notable Dates yr5186 Seth summons Mot to the Haligvalt and requests a union of House Elyeth and House Elgan in order to retain dominion over Yarnia. Upon returning to Yarnia the Elvian spirits come to Mot and beg of him to relinquish Yarnia, that the Wythyreach might recover from the industry of Seth. They impart the prophecy as told to Aura Num and predict the doom of Yarnia if the combined houses of Elyeth and Elgan are given leave to rule for another epic term of the world. yr5187 Mot emerges from deliberation and refuses his father's offer. Seth is enraged and leaves the Haligvalt. He takes his ship Elkarrack-Khas-Ma into the deep of the Agg. The lords of the stars warn that transition is imminent and House Elgan is in descent.

House Anari is in ascension and Lord Irein Anari will presently be conveyed to Yarnia in order to claim rightful dominion over both the world and the Haligvalt. yr5188 Seth arrives at the mansion of the star lord Irein and slays first the patriarch and then his sons. Seth defiles his own sister, wife of Irein Anari, Iranya Elgan, threatening to slay her daughter Blavat if she refuses him. yr5189 Uselyorn Elgan is born to Iranya Elgan of Seth Elgan's seed. The usurping of Irein Anari and his successors is deemed legitimate by the star lords and house Elgan ascends once more to rule a second term. Uselyorn is judged to be a pureblood of House Elgan and rightful successor before Mot Elyeth, son of Tesheba. yr5214 Seth returns to the Haligvalt with Uselyorn, now a man and ready to rule. Seth resumes his place upon the throne of the Haligvalt and takes Uselyorn to the soil of the world below to claim his place as king of Yarnia. Uselyorn is declared commander of the Oak Lords and of the Entengel stationed within the Wythyreach. Uselyorn takes the Crown of Cynn from Mot and the Sceptre of Asnir from Zeuselra. He dismisses the Ent Engle back into the stars.

yr5215 Uselyorn grants Yseldyr to the Oak Lords and begins construction on the fortress of Uselrein north of Yrmynsyl. yr5223 Construction on Uselrein is complete.

The first wave of military loyalists descend from the Haligvalt to replace their predecessors, the Entengel, and take residence in Uselrein. They are called simply the Engel (the Eagles) and immediately claim control of the skies about the shaft of Yrmynsyl and above the lofty canopy of the Wythyreach. yr5230 Uselrein expands. A second wave of Engel loyalists arrive on Yarnia. yr5234 A third wave of Engel arrive in Yarnia.

Uselyorn announces plans for the construction of an Engel city and demands the wyrmen are utilized as slave labour for the project. Zeuselra rebels against Uselyorn's demands and is supplanted by his brother Cayn as leader of the wyr. yr5235 Cayn is anointed lord of the wyrmen, but the title of king is not awarded and instead Cayn becomes Conteth of Yseldyr (He Who Keeps the Count) and the Engel know him as Caynum. His duties are few, among them the necessity to count the heads of his brethren as they march from Carnuntun into the site intended for Ramat, city of the Engel, that no man among them should shirk the task set by the ruler of Yarnia. yr5236 Construction begins on the city of Ramat. The wyrmen are forced to build under the firm rule of Conteth Caynum. Mot despairs and abandons Yseldyr, fleeing into the Sailing Hills with Zeuselra and Vanyir and vanishing into the underdark of the Cavernlands below, there to reflect and formulate a plan away from the watchful eyes of his brother. yr5237 Nader Roselvia is seen wandering the Sailing Hills. The Oak Lords take this as a portent of doom, that Mot has abandoned them and the Elgan rule is turning sour.

Uselyorn demands gold and plans are made to mine for this precious mineral. yr5238 Construction begins on the city wards of Halig and Alluvia, both aspects of the now sprawling megalopolis of Uselrein. yr5240 The first gold mine is delved by wyrman slaves. Many deaths occur but Uselyorn declares the dead to be martyrs to Elgan need. yr5243 The first shipment of gold mined from the depths of Ereth are shipped out of the Haligvalt and delivered to the stars. yr5253 Aura Num returns from self imposed exile and comes upon the half constructed city of Ramat. There she sees the subjugation of the wyrmen as they are forced to toil for Elgan and Engel slave masters, but she is powerless to save them. yr5254 Uselyorn takes Blavat Elgan, his own sister, as his consort in a forced union approved by Seth and the lords of the stars.

They marry in the finished halls of Ramat and Blavat is crowned upon the summit of the

11

ziggurat of Alluvia. yr5255 Blavat gives birth to Crewel Elgan. The second shipment of gold leaves Yarnia, bound for the stars. yr5258 Blavat gives birth to Mardock Elgan. yr5261 Blavat gives birth to Mercwynn Elgan.

The children of Uselyorn are called the Ganyorn (Those Born Unto the Throne) by Elgan loyalists and Dunmerr (the Dark Powers) by the Oak Lords and the wyrmen. yr5266 Blavat gives birth to Neomatt Elgan. yr5270 Blavat gives birth to Manye Elgan.

Crewel turns fifteen and is given the title of Conteth of Ramat. He forces the wyrmen to begin work upon a moat surrounding the city. yr5271 Vanyir falls ill in the Cavernlands beneath the Sailing Hills. The Elvian spirits attend and Yneur warns Mot that Vanyir is as one with the suffering of the wyrmen and the world of Yarnia, and she is dying. yr5272 The moat about Ramat becomes known as the Torture Pits of Crewel, for he lives therein and takes delight in the torment of wyrman slaves. Aura Num flees from the sight and seeks solace in the south. yr5273 The city of Halig is finished. A youthful but eager Mardock is given command of the wyrmen, a role taken from Crewel in an effort to save their numbers. Caynum falls under his watchful gaze. Though Caynum is the elder, he is diminished by Mardock's godly presence and feels himself to be in the company of a great patriarch. yr5274 Aura Num enters the Cavernlands, seeking rumour of Nader Roselvia in the Sailing Hills. She finds Mot and Zeuselra and beholds Vanyir upon her deathbed. Aura and Zeuselra tend to the mother goddess but Mot wanders in the dungeons, restless and in search of a cure. yr5276 Mot beholds the Web of Wyrd for the first time and sees therein a hope for the future. Yneur counsels Mot that the Web is 'a gift from that which made all things, the Supremacy Beyond Reckoning' and it is described as an eternal harbour for the souls of those whose deeds in life had been fair and an infinite prison for those whose deeds in life had been foul. Vanyir dies and the Elvian spirits depart the Entopic Plane, entering the Web of Wyrd. Mot despairs but is touched by the spirit of Womad and shown Vanyir at peace in the Web. yr5277 Mot emerges from the Sailing Hills and liberates the vanyirborn from Uselrein.

Mythyar, Wegwyr and Cormysyeth return to Yseldyr. Mot, Zeuselra and Aura are reunited in Yseldyr with Merriday and Ostia. yr5278 Mardock takes his sister Mercwynn as his consort but discovers he is barren and Mercwynn will bear him no progeny. Mot denounces the slaying of Irein Anari as an evil and a lustful spirit now abroad within the hearts of the incestuous Elgan house - he names the spirit Irgin-Lucifan (meaning the

Lustful Desire Without Love). Zeuselra is given the gift of fertility by Merriday that he continue the line of the wyrmen. Zeuselra declares his love for Merriday and takes her as his wife. yr5279 Merriday gives birth to Amon-Elyeth, a demi-god born of the seed of Zeuselra. Seth names the child Balmot (Malignancy of Mot) and declares Mot a traitor and defiler of starborn gods. yr5282 Caynum is anointed high office by Mardock and is given a post within Mardock's own house. His ascension from the ranks of the wyrmen to the ranks of the Engel is marked in a lavish ceremony upon the summit of Alluvia, at which Mardock presides but which Uselyorn refuses to attend. yr5295 Neomatt Elgan takes Manye, his sister, as his wife. Seth decrees the Oak Lords in violation of the laws of the star lords and rules they must leave Yarnia. yr5299 Mardock honours Caynum's continued loyalties by gifting him the starforged blade Unhelming and announcing him to be a marquis of his house. Uselyorn warns Mardock against becoming overly fond of the vanyirborn - a wyrman in all but his recent deeds - and accuses his son of adopting the son of the enemy in order to fill the void wherein should naturally stand the seed of his own loins. Mardock is rumoured to be unsettled by his father's words, but Caynum remains in a position of power. yr5300 Uselyorn denounces the spirit of Womad and calls for open war with the Oak Lords. Mot leaves to confront Uselyorn in Uselrein and is trapped in an avalanche of stone caused by the mighty weapon Tomescar (That Which Cuts the Fundament). Mythyar, Wegwyr, Cormysyeth and Amon flee into the Sailing Hills. Ysyeldyr is subsequently attacked by Elgan forces. Merriday is captured and Aura and Ostia are slain.

Zeuselra is beheaded by the Engel shield maiden Babilu. Merriday is taken to Uselrein and commanded by Mardock to make a new race of wyrmen to replace those broken and killed by the tortures of Crewel and the ceaseless toil demanded of them by their slave masters. Merriday refuses and is taken to the Torture Pits of Crewel to suffer for herself the talents of that despicable Elgan god. yr5301 Mot is rumoured to be dead. In fact he lives still but remains entombed. Merriday is tortured for many months until finally she breaks and acquiesces to Mardock's demands. She mixes the seed of the vanyirborn Caynum, now deep in Mardock's counsel, within the womb of Mercwynn, Mardock's sister and consort. yr5302 The first of the myrmen is born.

Myrcwinyn the Myrman (the Monstrous Man of Mercwynn). Mardock steals the child away to dungeons beneath Ramat. Merriday is incarcerated in Uselrein for the amusement of Uselyorn and his cohorts. Mot finally breaks free of his tomb after many long months of struggle.

yr5303 Mot arrives in Uselrein and uses the Runes of Naming and the power of the Web of Wyrd to denounce, dethrone and humiliate his brother. He destroys Uselrein, Halig and Ramat along with much of the Engel military. He liberates Merriday and leads the wyrmen out of bondage. Caynum begs for and is awarded forgiveness, though he remains hated by the wyrmen. Uselyorn is unseated and removed from power in the north. The Engel are renamed the Nadmer by Mot (Monstrous Flies) and Uselyorn is stripped of kingship and renamed Lornad Lord of the Flies. yr5304 The wyrmen return to Yseldyr and Carnuntun. Mot crowns Amon Elyeth righteous king of the wyrmen and of Yarnia and he is given the Crown of the Cynn. A new Council of Twelve is formed. yr5320 Merriday weaves fertility into the alchemy of the wyrmen, allowing them to reproduce as the gods do. The wyrmen call the gift The Chalice of Life after that which was given to the king-father, Zeuselra. yr5321 Uselyorn emerges from self-imposed hiding and climbs Yrmynsyl to Karrekith, there to request an audience with Seth. The All-Father hears Uselyorn's counsel and determines to seek the aid of the star lords. yr5340 The rulers of the stars grant Seth permission to use a mighty weapon to unseat Mot and the Oak Lords from their illegitimate occupation. yr5344 The Hammer of Merrlith is delivered from the stars and arrives in the Haligvalt.

The Hammer is given to Uselyorn.

Mardock hears of Uselyorn's plan to detonate the weapon and begs Seth leave to bring the myrmen to the Haligvalt. But Seth refuses and Mardock turns his back on the Elgan house, fleeing with Mercwynn and the myrmen into the Cavernlands.

Seeing this rout from the north, Mot suspects the worst and begins to make plans to move the wyrmen out of Gondaras and into safer lands.

Thus is 5344 in the Epic Age the year of the exodus. Mot leads the wyrmen north toward Niflhelm. Merriday rides to the Rooting Road of Yrmynsyl and Amon Elyeth remains in Yseldyr with Cayn to protect those unable or unwilling to flee.

Cayn reveals his true allegiance and slays Amon then runs to join Mardock in the Cavernlands.

The exodus arrives in the north and Mot creates the fortress of the Arkhold using the magick of the Runes of Naming and the power of the Web of Wyrd. He hurries east, hoping to save Merriday from the coming doom.

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The Age of Hammerfall Beginning on the first day of the month of Apryl in the year 5344 and lasting for a period of nine thousand years, the Age of Hammerfall is marked by the detonation of the Hammer of Merrlith.

This age is more commonly known as The Winter of Discontent by the wyrmen of the modern realm.

Merrlith (the Stone of Power), an apocalyptic weapon from the stars, annihilated both the Oak Lords and all remnants of the Elgan House. Merriday Elyeth perished in the heart of the fires of the cataclysm, but not before she had managed to devastate and remove the only means of escape from Yarnia available to Uselyorn and his cohorts.

The wyrmen ensconced within the fortress of the Arkhold in the mountains of Niflhelm survived the detonation, among their host the vanyirborns Mythyar, Wegwyr and Cormysyeth. These undying successors to the age of gods would become influential matriarchs in the absence of the ruling Oak Lords.

The myrmen hiding in the Cavernlands, along with the Elgan god Mardock, his wife Mercwynn and the turncoat Caynum also survived, though they were thereafter entombed and unable to emerge into the aftermath of Merrlith's terrible legacy.

So great were the banks of dust and soot thrown up by the flowering flame of the Hammer that the skies themselves were blackened and the eye of the sun was hidden.

A terrible choking dust fell like rain and covered all the world in a blanket of grey while a mounting and unremitting cold replaced the usual seasons with one, long and ever worsening winter.

The grey rains turned to snow and great glaciers crept upon the land until all was buried under an endless veil of white.

The Age of Thaw The Age of Thaw began with the founding of the first settlement of the wyrmen, the town of Tunturthis, following their first excursions out of the Arkhold and into melt-water wetlands of the south.

The beginning of this age also marks the end of all preceding ages, whose measured years are deemed to conclude in the year 14,344. All periods before this time are referred to as BC (Beforan yn Calescence, Before the Warming) and all periods afterward are referred to as AD (Aefter yn Dun, After the Darkness).

The current year of the Age of Thaw is 1963 AD. The events and periods of the Age of Thaw can be divided into two versions due to contradictions between the historical accounts

of the wyrmen of Listholm, the Angle and Mortun Pandi when compared with the accounts of the wyrmen of Skytor.

What follows is the timeline of the worlds of the common wyrman, the sowyr, elken, ethenan and norwyr and discounts the history of Skytor which, in this volume, is told elsewhere.

TIMELINE (MORTURTH/SOUTH ANNARR) yr1 Laird (Lord) Listnum Hammerclaw of the Arkhold takes his Motian followers south into the marshlands on the fringe of the melting glaciers and settles the town of Tunturthis (Town by the Lake). The region becomes known as Listholm (Kingdom of List). yr4 The Argos, with Captain Strongburg Dracks at the helm, sets out from the west coast of Niflhelm along with a fleet of deep sea vessels. yr5 The Heartstone of Tunturthis is discovered. The Listnum Calendar is introduced. yr8 The people of Ascona emerge and head for the northern coast of Annarr. yr9 The land of Skytor is settled. The village of Skyssa and the coastal estate of Stratum are established. yr12 The island of Sereth is colonized and the village of Tortas established. Caynum and his loyal myrmen emerge from the Cavernlands and occupy the ruins of Uselrein. Narpanum Orbweaver comes out of the lands of Losia. He settles the morcelt in the ruined ziggurat of Tarantel. Caynum begins construction of the Arkhein and establishes the city of Old Urd (Ancient City of the West). yr13 Cormysyeth takes her followers out of the Arkhold and into the south. She settles the town of Drüth (now Zenor). Cormysyeth creates the Lawesmoor Lagoon. Mardock emerges from the Cavernlands and occupies the dungeons of Ramat with his loyal myrmen (the Mummer Men of Mardock). yr14 Mardock discovers the Grislic Khasma (the Abominable Gap). He frees the Froncüdha and houses them in Ramat. yr18 Mulnum succeeds Listnum as Laird of Listholm. yr22 Cormysyeth's people construct a settlement under Mount Ascona called Droodcairn (now Drood-Cynncarn). The Cormys Calendar comes into use. yr23 Construction begins on the Weaving Road out of Drood-Cynncarn. yr39 Caynum and Mardock bury their enmity and form an alliance, uniting the forces of Ramat and Old Urd. yr42 The Listians officially refuse to acknowledge Cormysyeth's rule or the nation of Cornoval (Source of the River Nova). yr54 The Argos returns to Ereth, landing on the east coast of Listholm. Captain Strongburg Dracks, now 81 years old, is given

the highest order of heroism by Mulnum Hammerclaw. He also learns of his twin sons Clave and Elsen, both now aged fifty. yr55 Captain Strongburg Dracks reveals a fortune amassed during the voyage of the Argos. He buys a large tract of land in northern Tunturthis and builds Dracks House. yr58 Captain Strongburg Dracks dies, aged 85. His eldest son, Elsen, inherits his fortune. yr59 Elsen Dracks dies in mysterious circumstances. His brother, Clave, inherits the family fortune. yr63 The War of Sanas Morcorm.

The forces of Old Urd are unleashed, attacking the morcelt and Cornovish simultaneously. The morcelt repel the invaders but the town of Drüth in Cornoval is utterly overrun. Refugees from the destruction are able to flee into the north and reach the southern outposts of Listholm. Listholm responds to their pleas for help by sending a military force to Drüth. A battle is fought at Frona Pass where the myrmen are pushed back. At the same time a force of myrmen attack the Twain Gate but they are stopped by archers in Dingerein and perish in the Druncnen Swamps. Two Froncüdha in this force are also killed, the first Dread Soul Stones are recovered along with the Sphere of Gonloric.

The armies of Cornoval mobilize and force the myrmen back to Old Urd. Cormysyeth is slain before the gates of Urd by her brother Caynum who wields the Bitterblade of Seth Elgan.

Caynum is thereafter known to the wyrmen as Caynum Bitterblade. Amonir Salver establishes the Asylum in Drood-Cynncarn where the victims of war are treated.

The Urwhorl attacks the Listian army in Frona Pass. Advancing myrmen lose the battle of Dunmuthyl and the Urwhorl is banished by Motians into the caves of Meruthyl where it remains.

The Weavers and Motians meet on the Weaving Road and advance on Old Urd. The city is razed and its denizens slain. Caynum Bitterblade escapes into the snowline beyond the Damnum Channel. The bridge is thrown down to prevent his return.

The Weavers form a theocracy to rule in Cormysyeth's place. yr65 The Cornovish attack the northern enclave of Celtrein, intending to unseat the morcelt and destroy Narpanum Orbweaver. yr70 Aurulent the Just succeeds Mulnum as Laird of Listholm. Aurulent calls for peace between Cornoval and Celtrein but is ignored.

He sends an envoy to seek the advice of Mythyar Num. Construction of the Meresken Mansion begins on her instruction. yr74 The Meresken Mansion is completed and used to prompt a treaty of peace between Cornoval and Celtrein. The Nine Year War ends and the unified confederacy of Sanas

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Listnum Hammerclaw

Morcorm is formed. A truce is sworn upon the Sphere of Gonloric. yr78 Gudcrop, the 'spider god' settles in Narynbereth, marking morcelt descent into savagery. In the aftermath of war Cornoval is impoverished. yr85 The Kenjarl of Drood-Cynncarn emerge as a secular political force and denounce the truce of Sanas Morcorm. yr86 The Kenjarl of Drood-Cynncarn demand the Weavers declare Cornoval a separatist state from Sanas Morcorm. The Weavers refuse. yr90 The Kenjarl form the Jaguars of Drood.

Huge Gorzonite deposits are unearthed in the newly revealed lands of the south. yr92 Gorstone Quarry and Trestun Mill open for business. The Weavers pass legislation protecting the remains of Fawen from deforestation. yr94 Overwhelming support for the separatist Kenjarl grows in Drood-Cynncarn and threatens civil war. The Weavers agree to a sharing of political power. Jarl Megalamon Panthera is given a seat in the Woodhenge. yr110 Aurulent the Just calls for the dissolution of the Thane and secular government in Listholm. The Thane are forbidden from wearing dress robes in public. Many of their number leave Tunturthis and dwell in the outer forts on the Ward Wall. Aurulent withdraws funding to the Arkhold. Water shortages in the city of Tunturthis force many to source water from standing marshlands.

Disease and illness become rife. yr111 Jarl Megalamon calls for war against Listholm. The Weavers refuse to entertain his demands. The Marsh Plague claims hundreds of norwyr - unclean water is blamed. yr112 Germoe Num Evergreen, 92nd generation of the line of Mythyar, campaigns against Aurulent's ruling system and demands action is taken to source fresh water.

Aurulent restricts public freedoms and increases tax rates. Public protests as Germoe is exiled from Tunturthis and takes shelter in the Arkhold. Numerous attempts on his life are prevented by the guardians of the Literatii. yr113 The Kenjarl organize a senate of seniors in Woodhenge. Megalamon calls for war against Listholm and the senate approve his demands. The Weavers leave DroodCynncarn in protest and arrive in Listholm.

They discover the Froncüdha Meduselah is responsible for corruption in Tunturthis and warn of Cornoval's motions to war and the fall of Listholm. Their warnings fall on deaf ears.

Amonir Salver dies of age related illness. yr114 Meduselah manifests as the forces of norwyr and Cornovish meet in Sanas Morcorm. She is defeated but many are killed.

The Sphere of Gonloric is given to the care of the Weavers. Aurulent is penitent and abdicates the throne under immense pressure from the people and his own military. Germoe Evergreen returns out of exile and is crowned Laird of Listholm. The Weavers return to Woodhenge. The Thane return to Tunturthis. yr115 Germoe Evergreen discovers a well spring in the heart of Tunturthis. The spring brings much needed clean water to the city.

Skirmishes between Thane and Kengard forces within the city leads to a military clampdown. yr116 Germoe Evergreen entitles the Thane as Sentinels of Tunturthis. Unrest simmers between the Thane and the Kengard. yr119 Jarl Megalamon dissolves the senate in Drood-Cynncarn. The Cũdha Death infects the poverty stricken underclass and hundreds perish and hundreds more are exiled as undead into the growing wastes of Tansys. yr120 Germoe Evergreen draws plans for a sewage system and cathedral in Tunturthis. yr121 Megalamon establishes a military force intended to oppress the citizens of DroodCynncarn. The Weavers are bullied out of Woodhenge. Work on Tunturthis Cathedral and the sewage system begin in Listholm. yr122 Germoe Evergreen dies. His son Penhaligan becomes Laird. The Thane call for a declaration of war against the morcelt and the Cornovish as illegitimate occupying forces on the rightfully inherited lands of the norwyr. Support grows for their demands. yr124 Penhaligan Evergreen devises the Quest of the Thane. Calls for war are forgotten. yr128 The Weavers leave Drood-Cynncarn and head south. Jarl Megalamon outlaws the Weavers. Slavery legalized in Cornoval. The Weavers discover and explore Wõdoak. yr130 The Weavers send scouts into the white wastes toward the shaft of Yrmynsyl. The scouts never return. yr137 The Weavers settle a village on the north coast of southern Morturth and call it Verdant yn Dandy. Hearing of this idyll the

beleaguered Wythian family of Gwelenbryal arrive in Verdant. Their patriarch, Kenwythi, becomes a natural leader of the village. yr139 The wealth of the Gwelenbryals is used to defend Verdant from attack by Megalamon. The village becomes a walled town. The Salver's Guild is established in memory of Amonir Salver. yr140 Construction begins on Castle Levena.

Most inhabitants now refer to the town as Verdandi. yr149 Kenwythi discovers tunnels into caverns beneath Nimue Lake. He finds the Rill Blade of Amon and other artefacts. yr155 Arable fields south of Verdandi emerge from melting snow. Colonists from the town settle farms. Prince Morlu, son of Jarl Megalamon, is revealed to be a secret Wythian and sentenced to death in Drood-Cynncarn. yr156 Prince Morlu is liberated from DroodCynncarn by his allies, the Elowen family. He and the Elowens hide in Wõdoak. Morvagh and Loren Elowen discover the Elemendria Obelisks and the prophecy written thereon. yr157 The Elowens settle marshland south of Wõdoak. Prince Morlu helps to fund their efforts but settles himself in Verdandi. Loren Elowen establishes the Elemental Church of Talismanic Rune Casters. The first quest to liberate the Prong-wand of the Sacred Antler from Drood-Cynncarn fails. Many acolytes of the church perish in the attempt, including Loren's father Loretongue. yr158 The Chersya family of Wythians flee Drood-Cynncarn and construct a fort on a small island off the west coast (Garwan). yr159 Conteth Grange and Conteth Bargen are given land ownership rights by the Gwelenbryals. The widowed Orare Elowen and Conteth Bargen marry, unifying the two estates. Bargen is immediately condemned as a turncoat by the Gwelenbryals. yr160 Libra Bargen is born. The Olgalloseks land vessels on the coast of Gondaras. They discover the ruins of Carnuntun and the Tariyorn Forge. The first Fell breeds are encountered and slain. yr161 The Olgalloseks begin reconstruction of the city of Carnuntun and uncover the Chamber of Secrets Underground. Fell incursions increase. yr162 Garwan becomes a hill as glaciers recede and water drains from the west coast.

Chersyas fund the settling of a fishing village called Arvor and establish trade with Verdandi and the Elowen farms. Ice melts in Ulyan undermine construction efforts in Carnuntun. Provost Evergreen succeeds Penhaligan as Laird of Listholm. yr163 Morvagh and Loren Elowen establish the Elvian church in Elowen. The Weavers and Kenwythi prohibit the casting of elemental runes outside Elowen. Kenwythi and the Chersyas sign trade treaties and become firm allies. Kenwythi grants funds to

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Arvortun for expansion of its fleet. The Weavers investigate Yrmynsyl. They discover the Gungin Gap and the Fell city of Gungingeth. Glaciers finally retreat from the Sailing Hills (previously believed to be islands) and the Chersya family identify the location as significant. The White Horse of Roselvia is carved upon the northernmost hillside in honour of the occasion. yr164 The Mariner's Shrine of Rinan is established in Arvor (now Arvortun). The Weavers abandon their quest to Yrmynsyl and return to the Angle. They name the south of Annarr Mortun Pandi (Land of Immortal Divinity). yr165 The Gostyth family arrive in Gondaras, fleeing Drood-Cynncarn. They tell of the fall of Cornoval and take refuge in Carnuntun.

Kenwythi visits Carnuntun and donates considerable funds to construction efforts. yr167 The Gostyths explore the Ulyan region and settle a village next to the (then) frozen Lake Sulis. They suffer a bitter struggle against Fell incursions. yr170 Kenwythi funds the construction of Pelgallo Fortress to protect the village of the Gostyths. In return he asks for trade treaties and a unification of noble houses. The Olgalloseks delve the mine of Tremenva.

Myrmen emerge from caves in the Sailing Hills requiring a concerted military operation by the noble houses to defeat the threat. The Weavers discover Yseldyr, first mansion of Mot, buried beneath Ylyntor Hill. Exploration reveals the Tome of Kings and the Golden Acorn of Womad. The Tome of Kings disappears and is believed to be stolen. yr171 The Military Unification of the Lands of the Corner of Morturth is signed by the heads of the Chersya, Gostyth, Olgallosek and Gwelenbryal houses. Verdandi is given the status of a capital and use of 'The Angle' to describe the unified counties comes into common use. The Elowen, Morlu and Bargen houses refuse to sign the treaty and accuse Kenwythi of political subterfuge. The Weavers and Elvians create the forest of Dwarro. The Golden Acorn is returned to Ylyntor. yr172 Wythians find the Shrine of Vanyir in the Cavernlands beneath the Sailing Hills. The Chersyans construct Portstone Castle, a gatehouse about the cave entrance designed to protect the shrine. The cult of Erth is established in Carnuntun. Kenwythi establishes the Chieftain's Lodge in Verdandi. The scuppering of trade ships in the Damnum Channel by Cornovish bandits begins. yr173 Conteth Bargen announces unification with Conteth Grange. The borders of their land are declared independent from the ruling power in Verdandi. Kenwythi grants independence on the understanding the two lords will sign the military treaty. The Verdandian ship Nyjas disappears in the Damnum and is later found grounded and stripped on the beach at Tewas Cove.

Cornovish bandits are blamed.

Levena Castle - overlooking the town of Verdandi

yr174 Provost Evergreen of Listholm and Kenwythi Gwelenbryal sign the Sanas Morcorm Transport and Trade Agreement.

Work begins on the Hyns-Horn railway. yr175 Work stalls on the Hyns-Horn as a result of concerted attacks from DroodCynncarn on construction crews. Anglian forces meet the forces of Jarl Megalamon in Weaver's Heath allowing the crews to continue unmolested. yr176 Anglian forces capture Karkadier Valley and Megalamon's armies surrender defeat in Weaver's Heath, retreating back to the city.

Anglian forces lay siege to Drood-Cynncarn. yr177 The Hyns-Horn begins transporting passengers and cargo between Verdandi and Tunturthis but is ambushed routinely by bandits in Fawen Forest. Anglian forces abandon the siege of Drood-Cynncarn after heavy losses and low morale decimate troop numbers. yr178 Libra Bargen marries Prince Morlu.

They are granted land ownership rights by Conteth Bargen and build a series of farmsteads surrounded by a palisade wall.

Kenwythi, suspicious of Morlu, calls for the wall to be removed. Conteth Bargen condemns Kenwythi's paranoia. Conflict is averted as a result of diplomatic efforts from Carnuntun and the Weavers. Orster Beomeer is anointed head Weaver for his part. yr179 Kenwythi Gwelenbryal reveals he possesses the missing Tome of Kings.

Relations between Kenwythi and the Weavers deteriorates. The Salver's Guild in Tunturthis is established and purchases the Meresken Mansion which it transforms into a hospital.

The city of Dunkunom is officially recognized when the Wall of the Ammonite crumbles

revealing chambers leading to the town's Heartstone. yr180 Arrests of political dissenters in Verdandi. The old fortress on Garwan Hill is converted into a high security prison. Tax hikes from Verdandi require the Conteths of the Angle use force to collect duty. yr181 The Weavers condemn the political climate in the Angle and warn of looming disaster. Kenwythi anoints himself Keeper of the Tome and accuses the Weavers of attempting a 'power grab'. Division is encouraged between the Wythians and Elvians. Kenwythi renames the Rill Blade of Amon 'the Blade of Gwelen' and is widely condemned by the Weavers, Erthers and Elvians for his vanity. yr182 Work begins on the construction of Castle Darras in southern Sanas Morcorm, an outpost designed to root out bandits in Fawen and protect from skirmishing attacks by Drood-Cynncarn against Gorstone Quarry.

An assassination attempt by agents of Kenwythi against Jarl Megalamon in DroodCynncarn fails. Kenwythi blames the work of spies in the Angle and points the finger at the Morlu estate. Construction of Castle Darras takes just 10 months. The Red-Coat regiment is formed, the distinctive colour of their uniform a result of the wide availability and affordability of red dye. yr183 Despite heavy losses in the regiment of Red-Coats, Kenwythi announces the end of the Age of Bandits in Fawen, displaying the head of the bandit leader on a pike in the centre of Verdandi. Shipping and transport are able to operate unmolested. The Conteth of Darras is awarded an honour for his efforts and the Red-Coats are thereafter established permanently in Karkadier.

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yr184 Prince Morlu sends envoys to the nobles of the Angle warning of a conspiracy to destroy the cult of Wythia and a takeover by the cult of Motia, identifying Kenwythi as the ringleader. His claims fall on deaf ears. The palisade of Morlu's estate is strengthened as grenadiers practice maneuvers in the Granger Fields. Kenwythi bans the open worship of Elvia outside the district of Elowen. yr185 The Anglian Civil War. The armies of Gwelenbryal, Chersya, Olgallosek and Gostyth, along with the Weavers of Wythia, march on Elowen and Bargen. Leaders of the Elvian cult flee Elowen, taking shelter in W천doak. The citizens of Elowen surrender. The estates of Conteth Bargen and Conteth Grange are razed.

Conteth Grange and his family are arrested but Conteth Bargen and his family take refuge behind the Morlu wall.

The wall is breached and Breetun is overrun.

The Morlu mansion is surrounded. Prince Morlu is killed and the mansion is burned.

The Bargen family perish in the flames. Orare Elowen and the pregnant Libra Bargen flee the burning building. Orare is crucified and Libra is defiled by Kenwythi's men. Kenwythi himself slices open the belly of Libra and aborts the heir of Morlu, claiming for himself all the lands of Bargen, Grange and Morlu as the infant dangles in his hand.

The farmers and peasants of Bargenham rise up and Kenwythi's evil act turns many against him. The armies of Olgallosek and Gostyth and the Weavers join forces with the wyrmen of Breetun. A savage battle ensues with Kenwythi and Chersya victorious at the last.

The turncoats of Carnuntun and Pelgallo are exiled into Mortun Pandi. Enmity between north and south divides the Angle.

The Fronc체dha Barrowomb manifests and slays Kenwythi. Barrowomb is vanquished back into the Tome of Kings. The Weavers bury Kenwythi on Ylyntor. yr186 Canin Gwelenbryal becomes Keeper of the Angle. Morvagh and Loren Elowen settle on the east coast. Morvagh secures the ruins of an ancient town which is subsequently named Santun Morvagh (New Town of Morvagh). Loren takes his followers south and establishes the region of Lorel. yr189 The Weavers return to the dead city of Drood-Cynncarn and discover Megalamon's corpse and the Temple of Bone. They reclaim the Woodhenge Ziggurat and the Tablemen of the Mountain are formed. Lorel is attacked by the Fell of Gungingeth. The Loremasters establish the Soul Stealer's Guild. yr193 Provost Evergreen dies and is succeeded

by Jangrim, the first female Laird to rule Listholm. yr195 Rumour reaches Verdandi of Caynum Bitterblade's return to the ruins of Old Urd. The Berbrock are sighted for the first time in Dwarro by an elken female huntress. yr196 Canin Gwelenbryal attends Santun

The Anglian Civil War

Morvagh and begs forgiveness from Morvagh Elowen. The Fetish - the Heartstone of Santun Morvagh is discovered. yr197 Canin Gwelenbryal is found dead on Ylyntor Hill. His daughter Lornir Gwelenbryal is inaugurated as Grand Duchess. Loren Elowen vanishes from Lorel and is assumed dead. The Stellamancers are established in Santun Morvagh.

198 Construction begins on the Albion Wall.

200 Construction of the Albion Wall completed. The Anglians build Gor Castle in Menhirnar Valley. yr201 The wyrlung of Stratum arrive for the first time in the harbour of Santun Morvagh.

Ships from Arvortun sail the Fynyreth Canal and also discover Santun Morvagh. yr253 The Gigaerack arrives in the Angle for the first time. yr257 Lornir Gwelenbryal dies. Her son Pentecost Gwelenbryal succeeds as Grand Duke. Pentecost invites the Weavers to a stately meeting in Verdandi and extends the hand of friendship. The Weavers carve the

Turnway Road through the westernmost edge of W천doak. yr261 Haight Ashbury forms the Wyrthy Folk of southern Angle, a sect of the Wythian faith. yr270 The Togaedere established. yr271 Jangrim Evergreen is succeeded by Balthasar Evergreen as Laird of Listholm. yr294 Premantics emerge in Santun Morvagh. yr310 Pentecost Gwelenbryal is assassinated by Fell murderers. Succeeded by his younger brother Aethelwulf. The Weavers perform the first Wythian burial rites since Kenwythi's death. Aethelwulf devotes himself to the Wythian faith. yr311 Loric Magery developed in Carnuntun. yr319 Aethelwulf Gwelenbryal threatens to abolish all non-Wythian cults and sects within the Angle. His attempts to enforce this threat leads to a rift between noble families. yr335 Aethelwulf Gwelenbryal dies. Succeeded

by Ruthenwort. yr336 Ruthenwort Gwelenbryal, inheriting his father's Wythian decrees, relaxes the laws on

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non-Wythian cults but relations between the noble houses remains strained. Arvortun distances itself from Verdandi and the Weavers. yr338 Balthasar is succeeded by Rutland as Laird of Listholm. yr379 Aethelstun succeeds Ruthenwort as Grand Duke of the Angle. yr384 Dysraeli Numinar founds the New Romantics of Skytor. Numinism established. yr391 Juno the Exemplar succeeds Balthasar as Laird of Listholm. yr402 First use of chainmail to protect soldiers in the Anglian Grenadiers. yr412 Dysraeli Numinar, founder of the cult of Numinism, dies. yr422 Delphi Pythia becomes the first Empath. yr454 Eadred succeeds Aethelstun as Grand Duke of the Angle. yr473 Aaronmorr succeeds Juno the Exemplar as Laird of Listholm. yr506 Eadwig succeeds Eadred as Grand Duke of the Angle. yr555 Timon succeeds Aaronmorr as Laird of Listholm. yr559 Edgar the Peaceful succeeds Eadwig as Grand Duke of the Angle. yr628 Aethelruth succeeds Edgar the Peaceful as Grand Duke of the Angle. yr629 Macragon succeeds Timon as Laird of Listholm. yr642 Dydr체eth, queen of the Naderfell, emerges from the Gungin Gap and lays waste the city of Gungingeth before flying north to settle in Old Urd. yr680 Abbraxian School of Geomancy established about the Heartstone of Santun Morvagh. yr682 Edin succeeds Macragon as Laird of Listholm. yr701 Eadmund the Shrewd succeeds Aethelruth as Grand Duke of the Angle. yr746 The Chersya family purchase Gorstone Quarry, Trestun Mill and Castle Darras from Eadmund Gwelenbryal. Shortly thereafter demand for Gorzonite dwindles and much of Trestun Mill's industrial activity ceases. The RedCoat regiment in Karkadier Valley are reduced in numbers but is not fully decommissioned. yr748 A new friendship develops between the counties of Elowen and Chersya based on mutual enmity with Verdandi. The Chersyas help t0 found the town of Drawntun (meaning, Drowned Town and which later becomes known simply as Drawn). yr759 Glasglun succeeds Edin as Laird of Listholm. yr767 Gudwinson the Long Lived succeeds Eadmund the Shrewd as Grand Duke of the Angle. yr830 to 1208 Laird of Listholm successions:

Glasglun; Macargos; Schollen; Moyra; Tavish; Kyntyre; Morag; Killianum. yr872 to 1208 Grand Duke of the Angle successions: Longshanks; Eleanor; Henree; Yorrick; Cormwell; Polixeness. yr1228 First instance of plate armour worn by soldiers in the Anglian army and developed by sowyr armour-smyths in Carnuntun. yr1266 The Craft in Carnuntun opens as the first elkenwyr guild. yr1282 to 1439 Laird of Listholm successions (the line of Muls): Mul-Strathcarron; MulArchgrave; Mul-Clashwick. yr1284 to 1498 Grand Duke of the Angle successions: Tritus; Pentecost II; Bivotar; Gorm. yr1499 The Guild Decree of 1499 is passed by Gorm Gwelenbryal requiring all non-Wythian cults to acquire guild status and all nonWythian central churches to become statehouses. yr1500 The Mariner's Shrine of Rinan is forced by the Guild Decree to adopt the status of a guild. Devotees are outraged and relations between the Arvorians and Verdandi, for a long time uncertain, break down completely. yr1501 The Seige of Tornyth Mul-Dornoch succeeds Mul-Clashwick as Laird of Listholm. The Arvortians demand religious autonomy but the Chersyans force conversion of the Mariner's Shrine for fear of undermining Anglian unity. Worshippers of the Mariner's Shrine lay siege to Tornyth Fortress and the Chersyans call for aid from Verdandi. The city is surrounded by grenadier and the siege is broken. yr1502 Aethelruth II succeeds Gorm as Grand Duke of the Angle and withdraws troops from Chersya. Arvortian devotees of the Mariner's Shrine threaten war against Verdandi and denounce all fealty to the Chersyans. yr1503 Strange storms batter the west coast of the Angle. The giant squid Mikelbreg attacks Arvortun. Many die and the rebellion loses momentum as most of its adherents are slain.

The Mariner's Shrine finally becomes the Crewman's Guild. yr1504 Aethelruth II is lauded as the saviour of Arvortun when he invests wealth in reconstruction of the city port. Relations between the Chersyas and Gwelenbryals improve but the Chersyans lose respect among the people of Arvortun. yr1505 The Chersyans move to the city of Dunkunom where they take up residence in Portstone Castle. Tornyth Fortress is turned into a prison. yr1556 to 1693 Grand Duke of the Angle successions: Verona; Ecsetter; Fortinbras. yr1568 to 1704 Laird of Listholm successions: Maclyne; Langwell; Mul-Murkle. yr1752 Unstable electroplasm discovered in Stratum by the Steamsmyth Amber Electrum. yr1754 Mul-Clythe succeeds Mul-Murkle as Laird of Listholm. Cressida succeeds Fortinbras as Grand Duchess of the Angle.

yr1798 Bank of Rivage & Shore opens headquarters in Verdandi. yr1830 Eadred II succeeds Cressida as Grand Duke of the Angle. yr1831 Mul-Atheron succeeds Mul-Clythe as Laird of Listholm. yr1862 The Delver's Guild established. yr1872 Industrialization of Dunkunom begins with the construction of the Rinansarm Dam. yr1875 The Lundian Uprising Den Lund forms the Lundian Society and triggers civil unrest in Dunkunom. The riots of 1875 see the city ablaze, its factories smashed and burned. Den Lund is assassinated. Lead exponents of Lundian belief are arrested and imprisoned in Tornyth.

Riots on the streets of Dunkunom. yr1879 Pentecost III succeeds Eadred II as Grand Duke of the Angle. yr1880 Riots in Verdandi, Arvortun and Dunkunom in protest against attempts by the Chersyan family to disband the Lundian Society. yr1880 Pentecost III rules in favour of the Lundian Society becoming a legal institute within the city of Dunkunom. Civil unrest settles. Treaty constraints prevent further disruption to the industrial revolution in Dunkunom. yr1900 Guild of Magick is founded in Sanas Morcorm. yr1901 Mul-Lothclyde succeeds Mul-Atheron as Laird of Listholm. yr1927 Prentice succeeds Pentecost III as Grand Duke of the Angle. yr1940 Order of Cosmic Light opens its doors in Santun Morvagh.

1946 Triton succeeds Prentice as Grand Duke of the Angle.

1952 Mul-Gerenum succeeds Mul-Lothclyde as Laird of Listholm.

1963 Current.

FESTIVALS & CELEBRATIONS Notable days in the Erethian calendar. The following dates can be used to add colour to game sessions or as inspiration and an event about which a rumour might be based.

Players may also wish to deliberately visit a certain location on a certain day in order to enjoy the atmosphere and events of a particular festival. Events are listed in chronological order.

Nimrosel’s Day (New Year) 1st Vanuary marks the beginning of a new year and is usually celebrated at midnight in all areas of Ereth. The reason why this date is associated with Nimrosel is unclear and is probably embedded in histories only recorded in the depths of Literatii archives.

Tallowsday Tallowsday, which falls on the 1st Febuary, marks the winter equinox. The day takes its name from a ceremony in Verdandi where it is primarily celebrated, though other towns and cities in the Angle acknowledge the festival.

In the run up to Tallowsday all the leftover tallow from the stumps of candles used in previous months are boiled together to make one enormous candle. This is placed in the city centre and lit on Tallowsday eve. It is said that on the day the candle goes out a king or queen will arrive in the Angle and draw the Rill Blade from the tombstone of Kenwythi Gwelenbryal.

Though other towns and cities (and even villages) may have their own Tallowsday candle, only the one in Verdandi is deemed to be an augur. All others are merely ceremonial and extinguished manually when the flame in Verdandi dies, or left unlit if they go out before time.

Royalists of the Angle traditionally save their leftover tallow and take it to Verdandi specifically in order to add their contribution to the great boiling vat. A king or queen has yet to arrive on the day the Tallowsday candle goes out, but this hasn't dampened enthusiasm for the festival, the assumption being that eventually the prophecy will come true.

Day of the Gigaerack 12th Febuary once marked only a countrywide festival within the land of Skytor and was a celebration of the Skytorian love for the Gigaerack. In modern Ereth the festival is

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celebrated in all parts of the world visited by the Gigaerack (Listholm and Niflhelm do not recognize the festival).

Most locations where the Gigaerack visits will organize some kind of fair or public theatre, with comedy and stalls being the order of the day. The traditional fable of the Hyns-Horn and the Turtle (in which the Hyns-Horn brags of its great speed to the Gigaerack and challenges him to a race, but derails halfway to the finish line and must await repairs as the Gigaerack lumbers slowly to victory) is repeatedly performed by professional and amateur companies in inns and taverns.

The biggest event takes place in Cormislew in The Angle (a village southwest of Verdandi) where the Gigaerack arrives amid much splendour at this very location. A covered market in honour of the Gigaerack's scheduled arrival in Cormislew occurs with every visit, but the fair is particularly grand and includes jousting tournaments, dances, archery competitions and battle reenactments; the day's events ending with a reenactment of the battle between Kenwythi Gwelenbryal and Barrowomb, followed by his demise and then the defeat of Barrowomb by the Weavers and the armies of the Anglian nobility. If the Misty River is frozen over (as it invariably is at this time of the year) the fare also includes skating competitions and skate-dancing.

The Dooming Day Febuary 27th is marked as Dooming Day in the city of Carnuntun. Effigies of Edifus, spirit of industry and growth, are crafted out of wicker and naturally harvested wood then carried through the city by Erthen and Wythian devotees from the city. The head of the city council of twelve leads the procession onto the Terrace of Mened Mallion where the effigies are placed about the feet of the colossal idol of Womad. The effigies are then doused in oil and set to flame.

For so long as the effigies burn the city enjoys great feasting, drinking and raucous merriment, the loosing of fireworks accompanying the generally riotous celebration. When the last flame dies out the Watchers of the Fire blow the Horn of Salvage and festivities cease.

The Dooming Day is both a condemnation of the perils of expanding industry and obsession with industrial growth and a celebration of life's simplicities. It originates from the edicts of the original Carnuns whose opinions on industry were ever damning.

Carnival of Dewisant 1st March is the Carnival of Dewisant, or Day of the Madmen. This riotous festival takes place in Carnuntun (The Angle) and marks the founding of the city in the year 1760 of the

Epic Age and the name of the construction foreman Stortia Dewisant who interpreted Mot Elyeth's architectural schematics.

The festival, which usually lasts a lot longer than just one day, begins with a carnival march and dance through the streets (including male and female performers). At the end of this initial celebration the females gather outside the southern gate on the road to Gondaras and leave en-masse. The rest of the carnival involves a great deal of drinking, feasting, fighting and general boisterous merry-making by the sowyrmen and elkenwyr who inhabit the Lower City. It is customary for the women of Carnuntun to meanwhile make a pilgrimage into Dwarro Wood where they conduct ceremonies within a vast camp in the shade of the great trees and mark the day, week or month (depending on how long before a messenger brings word that Dewisant’s Day is over) in their own way.

The women of Carnuntun are a robust warrior breed, thus the men-folk waste no time worrying about their safety, though the joke is often made, to great roaring laughter, that mercenary protection should perhaps be hired to look after the poor Fell and Fae who inadvertently wander into the female camp.

Invariably the women return bearing great coffers of food, herbs and wood gathered during their ‘holiday’, most of which serve to fuel the city until the next year.

The Vertical Marathon 28th March. Specific only to the city of Stratum, the vertical marathon is a race beginning in the lowest levels of the city and ending in the highest. Runners are tasked not only with reaching this designated finish-line first but with surviving the various and dangerous chambers and corridors between and the required external climbs.

The race typically takes in the most interesting parts of the city but will also require the runners to sporadically leave the boundaries of the city and clamber up outside walls.

These climbs are considered the most perilous

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aspect of the race and, indeed, most events result in at least one death.

The winner of the Marathon is awarded a monetary prize (usually 10,000 Wealth) and granted a rise in citizenship status which allows him to move to a higher level of the city and into apartments of a more luxurious nature. Ten runners up are also given monetary prizes of a lesser value and better apartments in the same level they already occupy.

The marathon breeds a hardcore group of professional athletes who do nothing but train for the competition year-round, rising steadily in status and wealth with each new race. It is rare for anyone not of this inner-circle of 'runners' to win or even to place in the first ten but it is common for hundreds, if not thousands to try their luck.

In order to qualify for the race a runner must be a citizen of Stratum and possess a home within the city.

Merrydew/ Summersdue 1st Apryl is the official celebration, across most of the civilized lands of Ereth, of the coming of summer and invokes the names of both Apryl (patron spirit of love, spring and fertility) and of Leoht (patron spirit of summer's coming and renewal). In the Angle and Listholm the festival also venerates Merriday Elyeth as the alchemical crafter of the wyrmen and the Chalice of Life - that which allows the wyrman to reproduce - and her name will be uttered in most of the Wythian ceremonies associated with the day. In this respect Merrydew is marked as a fertility festival in recognition of natural spring renewal.

The wyrman's reliance upon sunlight and clear access to the summer sun, covered all too often in the winter months by thick blankets of cloud, marks this as one of his most important cultural festivals.

Celebrations begin on 1st Apryl and continue throughout the same month with a variety of

different fairs and festivals in different parts of Ereth.

The Merrydew fair is a reverent celebration with much ceremony and festivities, particularly in Wythian lands. Player characters will enjoy an abundance of markets, peddlers, competitions (archery, non-lethal/unarmed pugilism, jousting etc) along with numerous processions and exhibits.

In Santun Morvagh, Merriday, in whose name the festival was originally held, is not worshipped and here the festival, named Summersdue, marks only the seasonal spirit of Leoht and is a celebration of the coming of summer only.

The festival passes by entirely unnoticed in Skytor where the Skyssans and Stratians pay little heed to such things.

Annual Gathering of the Tablemen of the Mountain 18th Merriday. The Annual Gathering of the Tablemen of the Mountain is a crucial calendar date for any Weavers in the player group. This is a Wythian ceremony originating from the year 189AD when the Weavers returned to Drood-Cynncarn and reinstated their order in the Hall of Woodhenge. The date marks their arrival at the city in that year but is today more an appointed meeting time than a celebration of the order's return to the city and, despite the long centuries since the Weaver's restoration of the Woodhenge, Drood-Cynncarn remains desolate and uninhabited.

The Weavers travel from all over Ereth, convening on the 18th day of the month of Merriday in the hall of Woodhenge at the heart of the city's dominant ziggurat and there are seated around a vast round table made of oak where they discuss the state of the land, share tales and, on every twelfth meeting, appoint the new head of their order (see below).

The current head sits at every meeting in the Druwer’s Chair; a throne carved into the very trunk of a huge Roble tree whose boughs and branches emerge from the apex of the ziggurat and whose roots snake across the floor, providing benches and legs for the table.

Trickling in throughout the first ten days of Merriday, the Wythian Weavers arrive and depart regularly, passing usually through the north of the Angle, stopping traditionally at the Woodhenge Walk for a rest, a pint of honey mead or moonshine and some good food before moving on either along the eastern road through WĂľdoak or across the Hyns-Horn Bay. In the last year of every short term a new head of the order is chosen by trial. The prize is prestigious, the winning Rune-Reader

claiming twelve years of rule over the entire Wythian order before he must contest his claim to the throne once again. See Trial of the Tablemen below.

For further details on the order of the Tablemen of the Mountain, see Volume 1 of the Wyrd series, System & Setting.

TRIAL OF THE TABLEMEN Once every twelve years the Wythian Weavers participate in The Trial of the Table Men in order to elect a new head Weaver, known by the somewhat pompous title of Gardein of the

Order of Wythian Weavers, Keeper of the Sansoleth of Womad and the Runic Adheremics.

The head Weaver is considered not only a figurehead and shining example of the Wythian brotherhood but the final word in Wythian lore. The position is hard-won, but the option to apply and compete is open to all Weavers, regardless of their age, experience or personal politics. Where the annual gathering is an optional event, the twelfth meet is obligatory for all Weavers. Failure to attend should result in a loss of all Institutional Allegiance where a player character omits to participate, whether he chooses to or is unable to for some reason. Only death is taken as a valid excuse for non-attendance, though not always. Indeed it is traditional for the recently deceased Weaver to be carried by his fellows to one last Trial, his ashes brought in a ceremonial urn which will stand on the Bench of Ashes throughout the event. For this reason are Weavers traditionally cremated rather than buried as most Wythians prefer.

The event occurs on the usual date of the Annual Gathering, the current order collecting over the course of the month in the Woodhenge Hall. Gatherings about the round table occur daily, with Weavers coming and going throughout the day, servants employed specifically for the event serving drink and food while ballatron, harlequins, jesters and actors provide a continuous flow of entertainment. Unlike usual gatherings, Weavers remain once they arrive, setting up home in the old buildings of DroodCynncarn. The business of the lores of the Weavers are discussed only in the final week of the gathering when the Woodhenge will be packed to the rafters with pilgrim Weavers from all corners of Ereth.

Traditionally the early part of the gathering is a chance to catch up with friends, share tales, discuss rumours and pass on information about the state of the world. This is also a time to play games, wager with dice and cards, swap rune-lore and teach or learn new skills.

Non-Weavers will also attend in the form of peddlers, entertainers and travelling fairs, all seeking to pocket some wealth from the amassed crowd.

The head druwer, who must arrive on the first day in order for dutiful acolytes to perform the ceremony of Druwersmeet (a ritual involving blessings, chanting and much rune

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scribing before, during and immediately after) chairs every meeting.

Competition and games for the position of head Weaver begin on the 28th and involve a series of trials set in the most perilous regions of Sanas Morcorm. Generally, competitors are sent on quests to retrieve items proving they have visited the predetermined regions for that year. Entry is open to any Weaver, regardless of age or experience and any Weaver can, therefore, become Head Weaver of their order. Mercenary help is an accepted part of the competition but any aides used must be voluntary and unpaid.

The winner of each game amasses points depending on votes taken by a jury of elder Weavers. These points are then rounded up to determine a winner during the last week of the gathering. Drop outs are common, as are injuries, deaths and disappearances. On more than one previous occasion a head Weaver has qualified before the final challenges are complete simply because he is the last man standing.

The winning Weaver will preside over the Wythian religion for the next twelve years, thus the prize, most Weavers agree, is worth the effort and the considerable risk. Along with the status afforded to so lofty a title, the head Weaver also receives a yearly subsidence in the form of sansoleth taxes imposed upon all other Weavers. Collection of these taxes falls to the Weavers themselves and is a yearlong effort involving the general gathering of charity and donations from Wythian societies in return for blessings and ceremonial services rendered. Personal donations from individual Weavers are also welcomed.

The culminated donation coffers of each Weaver is deposited at every meet into a great cauldron called the Gover Pot. On the final day of the gathering and with a new Head Weaver appointed, all Weavers (and only Weavers) descend in a silent procession, their way lit by flaming torches, their faces hidden beneath cowls, to a deep stairwell beneath the Woodhenge and into the Cavern of Sacrifice.

Here they pass by the Gover Pot, the wealth within having already been divided into three parts. 25% is given directly to the Head Weaver who accepts his subsidence with much pomp and circumstance before being led to sit upon a high chair of office to observe the rest of proceedings. A further 25% is then distributed evenly between all Weavers present as means with which to spread further the Wythian religion over the course of the year to come.

The remaining wealth is thrown into a lava pit as an offering to Womad and to the spirits of the Web of Wyrd. Once the offering has sunk without trace the Head Weaver draws the ceremony to culmination by sprinkling sacred spring water upon the lava. The lava is representative of earth and fire while the water represents water and air in the form of

steam. Together they honour the elemental spirits of the Elvian pantheon - one of the rare times these spirits are specifically recognized in Wythian lore.

The Weavers then return by the same route and the gathering officially comes to an end.

It is customary for the Weavers to leave Drood-Cynncarn at their leisure in the proceeding weeks after the gathering, but the newly appointed Head Weaver is taken immediately to Verdandi for a traditional diplomatic meeting with the Grand Duke or Duchess of the Angle. This event is often as much about ceremony as about politics and will involve a meeting of all the heads of the noble families, celebratory banquets and several days of entertainment, both for the nobles and for the general populace of the capital city.

Candle Auctions of Stratum 6th Rune. Though this day has been recognized for many centuries in Stratum, it is only recently the event has attracted visitors from outside the city. The event is now controlled and organized by the Smyth's Guild, though it was once a free standing and unofficial function used by the wyrlung smyths to raise funds for their work during the rest of the year.

The artisans of Stratum work year round to create innovations specifically for the auctions. These are then displayed and offered for sale on the 6th day of Rune, auctions beginning at sunrise and ending at sunset.

Buyers the world over congregate within the city on this date and crowd into the huge Sala Bidding Chamber where they can inspect the works and make official bids. Items are first displayed for inspection and then auctioned with starting prices organized by the Smyth's Guild based on professional appraisals of the work.

As soon as a bid begins on any item a candle (called a Tinguish) is lit (fused) and when the flame has burned down or gutters out bidding must cease, irrespective of the price achieved. The Tinguish is well guarded during this process and contained in a fluted glass cylinder to prevent cheating. If the candle remains unlit until the end of the day for any given item the wick is lit (re-fused) and the first person to offer the starting price before the candle goes out wins the item. Items that remain unsold after this last chance are deemed to be re-fusals and are considered a black stain on the reputation of the artisan responsible. Re-fusals can destroy a smyth's career and may see him relegated in rank if he is a member of the Smyth's Guild or even thrown out of the guild altogether if this is not his first re-fusal.

The aim of the auction is both to raise the

greatest amount of money and the profile of the artisan, those smyths who make the most during the auction process generally recognized as superior among their peers for the rest of the year. When contractors from Skyssa (or increasingly from other parts of the world) attend Stratum looking for professional artisans they will typically seek out those who earned the most during the previous year's auction and avoid those known to have re-fusals in their history.

The Halig Festival 1st Augurs is the start of the harvest month, sometimes called the Harvest Festival, but more commonly referred to as the Halig Festival in reverent recognition of Halig, patron spirit of reaping and sowing.

The Halig Festival is further marked by celebrations for the harvest equinox on 22nd Sethsemba, the point at which the length of the day and the night are almost entirely equal.

It is traditional in Wythian culture to give offerings of loaves of sun-bread (Hlaff) at gatherings or masses called Hlaffmass. The bread is made in disc-forms which are then served to Wythians at the top of Ylyntor Hill in the Angle. The lines of Wythian cultists at such masses may stretch the entire length of the hill and down into the Granger Fields, sometimes as far as Breetun. The ceremony itself is conducted by the Weavers, with the bread placed in the mouth of each devotee by the head Weaver himself.

In previous festivals Empaths have often invoked the spirit of Halig within the fields of Bargenham, but the Tablemen of the Mountain have since outlawed this practice for its Elvian undertones. The people of Elowen choose to ignore this legislation.

In Santun Morvagh the fishermen of the city celebrate the festival with a feast in which all within the industry participate and which anyone willing to pay a 'feast fee' of 15 Wealth (covering all-you-can-eat but with drinks at cost) may attend. The feast, called the Mellsupper (mell, meaning mingle or socialize), takes place on the harbour-side and is extremely popular with seagulls.

The Unleashing of the Swarm On the first day of Augurs, generally the warmest day of the year in most of Ereth, the Jarhouse of Flies in Gungingeth releases billions of Tetsy Flies to swarm over the wastes of Mortun Pandi and the greenswards of the Angle.

The flies are cultivated within Gungingeth throughout the year specifically for release on this day. The unleashing of the swarm is both a celebration of Gungin and a deference to the

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Elgan gods, while the misery the flies inflict upon the hapless wyrmen living within range of the swarm is deemed to be a gift given solely to the spirit of chaos.

Where warm winds blow the swarm into the west they typically wreak havoc on the lands of the Angle, the Tetsy being a type of mosquito that lives on the blood of animals and the fae, including wyrmen and women.

They also spread various infectious pathogens and the event, which coincides with many of the summer fairs and other outdoor activities enjoyed by the sun-loving wyrmen (including the Halig Festival, which begins on the very same day), will invariably lead to uncountable bites and the widespread contracting of disease.

Day of the Grotto The Day of the Grotto is generally believed to be either the 9th day of Sethsemba or the 3rd, 6th and 9th day of the months of March, Rune and Sethsemba. Certain cultures believe the year is also significant (the next crucial date being 1971) though this is a rare belief.

The Day of the Grotto is believed to be the day upon which the three portals of the legendary Grotto of Niflhelm either unlock themselves or reveal themselves to the world.

The Grotto, said to be lost somewhere in the realm of Niflhelm, is known only from legends charted in chronicles said to be hidden in the texts of the Tome of Kings but is said to give entry to tunnels and chambers containing the wealth of the Oak-Lords of old.

Whether the Grotto is mythical or real is unknown. It has never been found despite numerous attempts and may be beyond reach within the mountains of Niflhelm, some of the harshest and most dangerous terrain on Ereth. It is, nevertheless, inevitable that at least one expedition sets out from the continents of Ereth into the mountains of the north to arrive on Grotto's Day in hope of uncovering the treasure trove of the gods.

The Mop Fair On the first day of Motsober every year in the Anglian region the Mop Fair takes place.

Each city, town or county serving any kind of aristocracy will have a local inn or tavern called The Mop Fair Taphouse and here, on the day in question, all menial workers (servants, maids, chefs, butlers etc) gather and offer their contractual services for a period of twelve months.

Those able to pay the wage of these men and women will attend the fair and offer employment in turn. Most families or individuals will attempt to renew the contracts of previously employed and favoured servants, but contracts are open to auction and the highest bidder is usually the one who procures the services of the desired

worker (the worker must agree to the job offer and is, of course, free to turn down anyone they deem to be an unfit or unjust employer).

Not only does this ensure each employee working in the service field offers their best during the twelve month period, it means the best of these servants will inevitably become employed by the wealthiest and most powerful individuals and families. The combined balance of motivation and reward on both sides creates a proven system of hard working servants and conscientious and well-paying masters. It also weeds out those servants who have little to no talent or interest for their profession.

Bypassing the Mop Fair method is frowned upon in almost all Wythian cultural circles, aristocratic and commoner alike and the menial workers of the Angle enjoy firm representation from both the City & Merchant's Guild and their local Order of Abigails.

Mercenary and exploration parties seeking pack-handlers, general dogs bodies or other aides to accompany them on their travels often loiter at the periphery of mop fairs waiting for the terminally unemployed to make themselves known. They will then offer minimum wage for maximum effort and drag the hapless local away on whatever quest their group have tasked themselves with.

Generally such worthies are flattered and excited by the prospect of adventure, the lure of an unorthodox job and the associated travel compensating for the low pay. The sad truth is that dogs bodies of this type suffer a high mortality rate and will inevitably perish in the dangerous situations their employers naturally seek. Unskilled, unarmed and without the means to defend themselves, they will come unstuck many miles from home and far from their friends and family.

Day of the Wise 12th Motsober is recognized across Ereth as the Day of Daytundra, a day that celebrates both wisdom and the wise.

Few citizens of Ereth will celebrate the Day of the Wise, an occasion associated with a sector of society above and beyond the status quo, but there may be the odd indication here and there that the day, and more importantly the patron spirit Daytundra, are acknowledged.

Ebbermen or those who work in a scholarly setting may be given free drinks at local taverns, or free lodging if they are travelers.

Player characters who are of the Ebberman creed or who have at least two years history of employment as either a Librarian or Scholar's Apprentice will qualify.

More common are discounts on training courses at the various universities of Ereth. It is customary for all universities to encourage admissions on the Day of the Wise by reducing course fees for the day. Fee reductions are left to the discretion of the GM,

but will usually be at least half that of the listed fee and may even be a 100% discount.

All Gloo's Eve 27th Motsober. All Gloo’s Eve (The Night of Gloose) falls on the penultimate day of Motsober and heralds the official first day of winter, the so-called Dark Season. It is also the eve before the Night of the Reaper (see below) which is often designated the same grim but necessary respect.

On the night of All Gloo’s Eve, Gloose, patron spirit of the dead, purportedly enters the Entopic Plane in physical form and strides across the wastelands of Ereth seeking retribution for wrongs committed against the dead or against the graves of the dead.

Most Wythian cultures hold great respect for Gloose and are therefore also respectful of All Gloo's Eve, a night in which the Weavers will conduct ceremonies and repeat consecration rituals over burial grounds. Elsewhere, superstitious folk merely acknowledge the date by locking their doors and retiring early to bed, terrified by the prospect of meeting Gloose as he drifts through hills, mountains, fields and streets seeking those who are wanted for the crime of desecration.

Meanwhile, those who have committed wrongs against the dead can only tremble in their hiding place and pray to the Oak Lords of old for forgiveness.

The fear most citizens of Wythian and Elvian regions harbour on this night gives Gloose the power he needs to enter the world, but also releases chaotic energies which interfere with the natural balance between the Entopic Plane and that of the Sublimating Plane. For this reason Gungin is also empowered and those beings who clamber from the Gungin Gap are generally more gruesome and abnormal than usual.

Night of the Reaper 28th Motsober. The Night of the Reaper is a specifically Anglian festival and falls on the last day of Motsober. In the Anglian realm the ground is usually frozen at this time of year, sun-food may be growing scarce if previous summer harvests were poor and farmers will be out of work or working temporarily in other professions.

The farmers traditionally gather in Bargenham and the Granger Fields, then enter the city of Verdandi en-masse. They light lanterns, don hooded robes and march in solemn procession through the streets of Anglian towns and cities shouting ‘pennies for the reaper!'’ while scraping the blades of their scythes along walls and cobbled streets.

A jester (the foal) wears a mask designed to resemble a horse and prances behind the procession accepting gifts of coin, food or other items from locals who respond. Those

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who fail to respond, it is said, can expect a visit from the spirit of Gloose at the stroke of midnight, at which point retribution will be inflicted.

The charitable proceeds from the Night of the Reaper help to feed and keep warm the farmers and their families. The evening ends with all participants in the procession arriving at the Reaper's Penny Inn in the middle of Verdandi. Here the wealthy patrons of the city will choose a farmer and attempt to ply him with as many drinks as he can throw back.

The aim is to be the first patron to successfully inebriate a farmer to the point where he either falls asleep, collapses or regurgitates. The winner is then traditionally carried through the midnight streets on the shoulders of revelers, the Foal dancing before him and declaring in a booming voice, "The Grim Passes! Make Way For The Grim!"

The comatose farmer is usually carried in the winner's wake so that those who join the procession can pay their respects and either shake his limp hand or kiss him on the cheek.

Much cheering, noise and boisterous behaviour is expected and encouraged.

Festival of Fyrnys 5th Nirvemba. Also called Night of the Bonfires, the festival celebrates Fyrnys, spirit of the primal fire and is marked primarily in the south of Morturth and especially in the cities of Tunturthis, Arvortun, Carnuntun and Pelgallo. It is also considered to be a celebration of Hellior, spirit of the sun, and of the sun itself, without whose fiery warmth the wyrmen would be unable to survive. Festivities take place as the last vestiges of the previous summer vanish and the winter cold and sunveiling clouds cast a chill pall over the world.

The early start of the day will see the creation of 'corn circles', black geometric designs made in the redundant winter fields of stubble using fire and sometimes powdered Chitinspore. The circles generally either imply or depict the face of Hellior and the sun.

Public festivities begin at sunset with the lighting of enormous bonfires, some of which will be lit in the centre of cities, others on hilltops and other high places visible from miles away. These fires will be surrounded by oak banquet tables with seats enough to house hundreds of wyrmen and women. Food is then served and much drink imbibed, with all revelers facing in and paying homage to the blazing fires.

Bonfires are created by delegates of the city's Order of Aedilists (a low level guild charged with organization of fairs and festivals) called Fawkers. The Fawkers attend the site of the bonfire early in the morning with wagon loads of hay, straw and other combustibles which are then forked into a heap. The Fawkers will then dig out the interior of the compacted heap to create a hollow shell wherein a complex arrangement of kindling is stacked to get the fire started. A line of combustible

Dymension is the closest plane to that of the Entopic on the Winter Solstice and for this reason the festival is celebrated most avidly by those of wicked ethos. Those of the righteous cults will typically only mark the solstice in terms of its significance in the Cormys Calendar.

Jols Day

powdered Chitinspore is sprinkled from the heart of the bonfire to a safe place nearby where it will be lit. Chitinspore is extremely flammable but rare, thus it is used sparingly as a detonating powder and not an explosive.

It is customary once all the bonfires are lit for all Weavers, wherever they may be, to cast the rune-spell Folly of Kamm, filling the sky with an endless barrage of fireworks throughout the night.

Winter Solstice Usually 21st and 22nd Dancemba. The Winter Solstice marks the point at which the sun is at maximum elevation in the sky. The measurement of the sun's elevation and the date upon which it will fall (any day between 19th to 25th Dancemba) are determined each year well in advance by Stellamancers in the Mansion of the Kingship in Santun Morvagh. Here the elevated terraces of the Ziggurat are used to accurately measure the passage of all stellar bodies including the stars, sun and moon. The precision of the winter solstice is marked only by the Stellamancers and the Weavers of the Angle. In most parts of the world it is recognized as Tidings Day (see below).

The Winter Solstice is a cyclic point of cosmic alignment and marks the longest night and shortest day of the year. The thresholds separating the various dymensional planes of the cosmos are at their narrowest and the planes become closely oriented. The Nether

Falling on the 25th Dancemba, Jols Day is the official celebration of the winter solstice, though the precise meaning behind the festival has long been surpassed by a succession of gradually encroaching rites and traditions which have, in the contemporary age, turned the celebration into a general day of thanksgiving. It is widely recognized as a day for family to congregate before the comfort of an open fire; for gifts to be exhanged as a symbol of the bond between family members; and as a time for all wyrmen to put aside their differences and make exception and charity for their fellow wyrman.

In the Angle the Wythians choose Jols Day as a time to acknowledge and deify Womad, spirit of life and vitality. The likeness of Womad is carved onto a great branch and the branch is then burned in a fire. On the following morning (26th) the ash from the fire is used to make soap, clean silverware and scrub away sooty residue from glass, making fresh that which was worn and dirty. This symbolic gesture - practical in its way - marks the renewal of that which was alive into that which is dead but which still can bring vitality to the world - and simultaneously freshens the lodgings of the southerners in readiness for a new year. Anglians also mark the festival with banquets and feasts of roast boar, turkey and goose, copious quantities of honey mead or moonshine from the Tanowder Vale and fruit puddings whose ethanol-based recipe requires fermentation and preparation up to three months in advance.

In Skytor Jols Day is considered a heathen corruption of Alls Day, an Allumnic day of worship, beginning with numerous and spectacular ceremonies before the doors of the Temple of Forallum (one of the few times during the year the priests will present themselves to the general public). Throughout the city of Skyssa lamps with glass shutters shaped like eyes will be lit and the streets will blaze with the glow of paper lanterns, these latter released into the sky to float out across the Inland Sea. Public banquets take place out of doors, albeit under temporary covers if the

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weather proves inclement, and the citizens of the city indulge in quaint song and dance, polite revelry and, as midnight approaches, the releasing of thousands of fireworks.

In Santun Morvagh there seems to be a comglomeration of both Anglian and Skytorian tradition merged with something entirely unique and decidedly elemental.

On the eve of Jols Day at precisely midnight, the Empaths of the Elvian temple summon Dannan, spirit of the winter solstice. He arrives from the darkness of the night itself, flying upon a sparkling ship of diamond which seems to emerge from the stars, twelve galloping hart of glittering ice forming a magnificent figurehead on the fore of the vessel beneath the bowsprit, vast sails of billowing silk stretching before the high winds of the sky. The ship lands in the heart of the city and Dannan disembarks, bringing with him a great sack from which he draws forth morsels of food, gifts of holly, mistletoe, ponsietta and yew berries. These he will give to anyone he encounters as he wanders through the streets, ducks in and out of any houses whose doors have been left open to accomodate him and, of course, the inns and taverns of the city - presenting his gift with a hearty "Good Tidings of the Season!" or "Merry Jol!" He will return to his ship an hour later and both he and the vessel will return to the sky. Anyone bold enough to venture onto the ship will find themselves on the cold cobbles as soon as it leaves, regardless of where they were when Dannan returned.

Moreover they will find their heads now crowned with misteltoe and the lingering scent of holly in the air.

Dannan's exit heralds snowfall which comes without fail, blanketing the city in a great veil of white and filling all the land of the Valley of Cataclysm with great drifts of heaped snow.

The event is traditional and occurs regardless of any inconvenience caused. In any case, Jols Day is recognized city-wide as a day of holiday and, thus, few will be held on their way to work by the banks of white as it falls steadily throughout the day. By the 28th at the latest the snows are typically melting, the melt-waters pouring into the city sewers and washing them out in readiness for a new year.

Fairs See The Overmaster's Companion for a list of events likely to be found at fairs and festivals and ways in which player characters can participate.

Many of the events listed above will include some form of central tent and market which will house competitions, stalls and peddlers selling their wares. Only those events deemed to be private and attended by groups belonging to a specific order (such as the annual meet of the Tablemen of the Mountain) will be unlikely to include a fair.

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The following chapter provides an overview of the world of Yarnia and the lands of Ereth in the Age of Thaw. This overview can also be found at the beginning of the System & Setting volume. It is repeated here for ease of reference.

Wyrd is set in the aftermath of a nuclear winter on a world whose indigenous nonhuman people -the wyrmen - are recovering within the landscape of a post-apocalyptic wilderness, trapped between receding glaciers and encircled by a global sea.

Understanding the motivations of the wyrmen - the principle character race in Wyrd - requires rudimentary knowledge of their racial history. Players may wish to read The Oaken Myths of Yarnia in Volume 1, System and Setting before attempting to create a character. The GM will need to fully familiarize herself with both the myths and this section on the histories and cultures of Ereth before attempting to run a campaign.

The modern cultures and creeds of the wyrmen are built on a rich and exotic mythology, a history of survival against the odds and a complex pantheon of god-like beings, spirits perhaps, or highly advanced physical entities and elemental archetypes, all of which form an intrinsic aspect of the game.

The version of Yarnia detailed in these rules is that which emerges some centuries after the end of the global ice-age and takes place in a central spit of land between the receding glaciers of northern and southern Yarnia. A land known as Ereth.

Subsequent settings within the same world are planned (and may be available at the time of reading this) in which centuries have passed, the ice has receded further still, the nations as portrayed in the first series of core references have migrated and evolved and a greater proportion of Yarnia is available to explore. As a rule of thumb, newcomers to the game should start with Ereth in its first age and advance to future settings when they have fully exhausted the one specified in this volume.

ERETH

Yarnia

Ereth, the known world and the realm detailed in this volume of the Chronicles of Yarnia, is a small central isthmus between two vast polar continents of frozen ice in the heart of a global sea.

Here, as the ice recedes and the surviving races spread gradually across the revealed lands, are the mythical kingdoms of the Oak Lords where - before the world was turned to a marble of white - the brother-gods Mot and Uselyorn battled for supremacy over their right to rule.

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Here too stands Yrmynsyl, a colossal pillar of unknown material rising from the bottomless pit of the Gungin Gap, a fathomless rift wherein the roots of the shattered world tree still supposedly cling to the core of the planet.

The Fell breeds, monsters born from the stuff of chaos, claw forth from Gungin, tainting the sacred land of the known world and threatening the civilizations of the wyrmen.

Where the strangely geometric branches of Yrmynsyl reach into the stratosphere they hold aloft the physical bulk of Karrekith, a sky-born mountain surrounded by the Bracelet of Loof - a circling band of rocks which were once the stone lanes of the Rooting Road. On the mountain of Karrekith stands the Haligvalt, mansion of the patriarchal god Seth Elgan - the All-Father. Here he resides alone in his citadel, seated upon his heavenly throne and watching the unfolding story of the world far below.

Within this perilous and unstable world the player characters will make a life for themselves, finding their way in lands once stalked by Womad, spirit of life, and the divine forebears of the Wythyreach as they strive to avoid the dark sport of Elgan gods, a manifest evil trapped in, yet always seeking escape from, the Web of Wyrd.

Lands of the Thaw The known realm of Ereth is relatively small compared with the enormity of the world of Yarnia and covers an area of just 750,000 acres of land (around 1,500 square miles).

Much of Ereth is uninhabited or uninhabitable, but all can be explored in full and is charted in extensive detail in this volume, no stone unturned.

The small hub of Ereth’s landmass lies at the heart of a water world with an overall surface area of approximately six hundred million square miles. Much of this is frozen ice which may, or may not rest atop continental plates which could one day emerge as land when the ice melts. If there is land beneath the ice it is buried so far down that, during the age specified in this volume, its presence is of no current significance.

The wyrmen are essentially islanders adrift in the middle of an immense sea of water, snow and ice upon one of the only available spits of land to have thawed since the end of the global ice-age.

Despite their precarious position, the wyrmen lack an objective understanding of reality beyond their own borders and thus their culture is not dominated by the vastness of the sea nor the presence of the ice, or the fact that they are entirely surrounded by both.

Instead they possess a psychological blank spot which extends up to but no further than the edge of the Inland Seas, a boundary on the fringe of the various small and sub-tropical bodies of water surrounding the two Erethian sub-continents of Morturth and Annarr.

Similarly, wyrman civilization deliberately avoids the snowlines of Merendir and Frothrein, colossal glaciers to the south and impassable snow-capped mountains to the north respectively. Beyond both lie endless continental swathes of untouched and (presumably) uninhabited glacial ice which makes up the majority of Yarnia’s surface.

There is nothing here except death and frozen desolation, thus both regions are ignored.

Endeleas and the Inland Seas Within the mindset of the wyrmen, everything within the area surrounded by the imagined border of the Endeleas Ocean is Ereth. Everything beyond is part of the Endeleas (the Endless Sea) and therefore of little to no consequence. The seas in between and marking the furthest safe extent to which shipping may voyage without encountering the horrific denizens and perilous weather of the East and West Endeleas are known simply as The Inland Seas .

Only a handful of nautical explorers have ever dared voyage deliberately and extensively beyond the boundaries of these seas and into the vast iceberg littered wastes of the globe-spanning ocean. Only one has ever returned - the Argos of Drood-Cynncarn - a ship whose colossal wreckage remains visible at low tide on the northeastern coast of Listholm. Here it stands as a prevailing and visual testament to that singular expedition and the perils of the sea.

It seems likely that the Argos survived a voyage covering the entire circumference of Yarnia, only to run aground on rocks as it limped within sight of home. Many of its sailors were rescued before the ship sank (including its famous captain, Strongburg Dracks) and much of what the wyrmen now know of the Endeleas comes from the feverish accounts and logs of those few stricken survivors and the cartographic charts created by their captain.

It seems that the waters beyond the Inland Seas are perilous beyond compare. The deeps are inhabited by monstrous leviathan and eldritch horrors beyond anything the mind alone can conjure; gargantuan sharks, jellyfish the size of islands and squid with tentacles capable of crushing a galleon to tinder-wood. Some stories, particularly those associated with the Argos, describe worse things even than these more well-known terrors, but such creatures belong firmly to the realm of speculation and if they do indeed lurk in the depths of the Endeleas they remain unknown to living memory.

There is land beyond the known world, but the few unfrozen islands and archipelago visited by the Argos were so small, so few

and so far between that their presence proved almost negligible - at least compared with the vastness of the ocean their intermittent appearance serving only to provide the sailors with fresh food and other rudimentary supplies while their indigenous perils proved too dangerous for any prolonged landing. In addition, the climate beyond the Inland Seas quickly becomes perilously wild, with hurricanes, whirlpools and raging storms more prevalent than calm weather.

Together these dangers combine to terrify the mariners of Ereth into plying only those bodies of water that lie well within reach of known land and safe haven.

Morturth The western continent of Ereth, Morturth (The Immortal West) is composed of the northern nations of Niflhelm (Uppermost Bosom of the Land), Listholm (Kingdom of List) and Sanas Morcorm (The Newly

Associated States of Cornoval and Cormysyeth) which itself is divided into the broken states of Celtrein (Home of the morcelt), Dunmonia (Land of the Dark Men) and the old nation borders of Cornoval (the Source of the River Nova).

Beyond the narrow bridge of land whereon the mystical Wõdoak Wood stands can be found the southern kingdom of The Angle wherein exists one of the most well established civilizations of the wyrmen and the cult centre of Wythian religion.

A harsh and waterlogged sub-continent in the north and marshland to the south during the early epochs, the Oak-Lords of old largely ignored Morturth, focusing instead on the (then) arable lands of Annarr (The Noble East), of which the Angle was then deemed to be a part. It was for this reason, perhaps, that the exodus of the wyrmen was able to march into the north and establish the Arkhold without encountering resistance from the Elgan gods (see System & Setting, the Oaken Myths of Yarnia).

The original seat of the wyrman civilization is believed to be the southernmost spur of the Angle, a largely barren region surrounded by high cliffs on the headland of Gondaras (Doorway into the Primal Land ).

In ancient times the wyrman population here would have been tiny in comparison with modern civilization and the entire enclave of Carnuntun was probably no larger than a modern town or village.

Evidence of this early wyr society can be found today upon the heath of Naderos in the form of megaliths and carvings and in Carnuntun itself whose name is mentioned often in the myths of Yarnia as the paragon city of the wyrmen.

Carnuntun is one of the most modern finds

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to emerge from the receding glaciers of Merendir and has, in recent centuries, been lovingly re-occupied and restored by the southern elkenwyr and sowyr sub-races.

Annarr Land of the Gods, Annarr (The Noble East) the eastern and smaller sub-continent of Ereth, stretches from the Skytorian city of Stratum to the southern lands of Mortun Pandi and the glaciers of Merendir.

In between lie the desolate barrens of Iyfel and Niñel wherein once stood the main body of the great fortress Uselrein and the cities of Halig, Ramat and Alluvia, a dire place now marked only by the presence of monolithic ruins and the Hammer Dwale mountains, twin peaks of jagged stone thrown up by the exploding Hammer of Merrlith.

From the middle of this sub-continent rises Yrmynsyl, the once formidable World Tree, now but a sliver compared to its former vastness and still visible upon the horizon in all parts of Ereth as a vertical band dividing the sky. Its apex spreads into a crown of geometric ‘branches’ like the spokes of a wheel and atop these is supported a great sky borne mountain of stone named Karrekith. Upon the mountain stands the Haligvalt (the Holy Hall) domain of Seth Elgan whereon the gods once dwelled and wherein the All-Father is still purported to live.

the City of Thieves At the base of Yrmynsyl lies the Gungin Gap, a bottomless chasm delved not just into the earth but into the fabric of reality.

The deeps of Gungin are a form of spawning ground, filled with the Abysmal Dunlight of the gaps between the Web of Wyrd, and from this fathomless pitch crawl every manner of abomination known to the wyrmen.

These are the Fell Breeds and where they have emerged from the chasm on its southern bank they have settled a foul city named Gungingeth, a tumbledown chaos of hovels, alien architecture and filth mired alleyways. So vile is this place that it is known to the wyrmen most commonly as The City of Thieves .

the Civilizations of Annarr To the south of the Gungin Gap is the land of Mortun Pandi, domain of the elemental wytch and the line of Queen Morvagh. Here, bordering the fringe of Gungingeth is the sprawling city port of Santun Morvagh, while

further south can be found the realms of Lorel where now the towns and villages stand empty, overrun by Fell and the watchful Loremasters who once called this land their home.

To the north of Iyfel and NiĂąel is the great civilization of Skytor and the advanced wyrman sub-races. Here stands the handsome city of Skyssa and the towering shambolic of Stratum, home to the steamsmyths and their fabulous creations.

Merendir & Frothrein The ice lands of the far north and extreme south stretch seemingly into a white oblivion.

Featureless and apparently infinite these are the remnant ice lands of the Winter of Discontent, receding still but at so gradual a pace that many generations of wyrmen will pass before even the north of Morturth and south of Annarr are free from the murderous clutches of snow and cold.

The ice lands jut inward from the poles and deep into the Endeleas, defining the boundaries of two vast oceans - the East Endeleas and the West Endeleas. These two enormous seas meet on one side of the world where the sub-continents of Ereth and the energies of all the world of Yarnia converge to create the strange pinch of land known as WĂľdoak.

Urtol On the remote side of the West Endeleas lies the unknown land of Urtol, a similar isthmus to Ereth but believed to be largely frozen still beneath its own glaciers.

Urtol is named and spoken of only in the logs of the Argos - that ancient voyage and the only known expedition into the Endeleas ever to come back with crewmen alive and sane enough to recount their experiences - as a canal flanked on either side by eldritch statues, colossal and alien to behold. Of their origins or the history of Urtol itself nothing is known, nor shall be known for none have ever followed the path of the Argos and returned.

Under those glaciers yet to recede may lie as yet undiscovered lands and continents to match the vastness of the Endeleas itself. In epochs yet untold, beyond the days of the modern realm, children of wyrmen will likely migrate into these lands as they are revealed, expanding from the sacred continents of the known world or forced to abandon them to the rising waters. For as the floating ice shelves melt back from the helm and tail of the planet, so those mighty glaciers resting atop unseen lands beneath slip steadily into the Endeleas. There they turn to melt-water and the sea level rises ominously along the coasts of Morturth and Annarr, as it surely does about the toes of the spurs of Urtol.

It is said that even within a thousand years the inland seas may close upon WĂľdoak and

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pour into the Cursus Chasm between Niflhelm and Listholm to separate the subcontinents into three or four different lands.

And it is further said that one day, when finally the ice is gone (if ever it is), only Mount Scarta, whereon the Arkhold of old stands, will rise above the waters, an island alone within a drowned world.

Modern Races There are various major sub-races of wyrman and four clearly defined civilizations on Ereth, though there also exist several small barbarian nations and emerging civilizations.

The main sub-races include the norwyr of Listholm (Listians), the common wyrman of the Angle (Anglians), the elkenwyr and sowyr of the southern Angle (South Anglians), the mystical ethen, the common wyrman of Mortun Pandi (Morvanians) and the people of Skytor (Skytorians). This latter is divided into the wealthy inhabitants of Skyssa (Skyssans) who themselves are closely related to the norwyr, and the largely impoverished and overworked wyrlung of Stratum (Stratumians or Stratians as

they are various known and known to call themselves).

Lesser nations include the morcelt of northern Sanas Morcorm (a savage breed of common wyrman) and a few small settlements without sovereignty within the west and south of Sanas Morcorm. The city of Old Urd is home to an emergent nation of Fell breeds and

wyrman loyalists to the Cult of Flies. In the past they were known as the Dunmerr and the rumours carry this name also.

Old Urd and the Hammer Dwale in Iyfel are also both home to nations of myrmen, the wyrman’s closest racial relative.

BEYOND THE THAW Here are the gathered stories of the histories of the wyrmen after the thawing of the Winter of Discontent, as recorded by the scholars of the Literatii of Arkhold and passed down to Anglian seats of learning and the historians of Santun Morvagh.

It may be worth noting that certain of these chronicles are disputed by the people of north Annarr (the folk of Skytor) who claim a different origin for not only their own lineage but an origin of lesser importance for the lineage of the people of Morturth and southern Annarr. The Skytorians refute the claim that Amon Elyeth perished in Yseldyr and that he survived much of the Winter of Discontent as the champion of those wyrmen ensconced by Mot into the Cavernlands beneath Mount Ascona; the ancestral home of all Skyssan and Stratian people.

Niflhelm and the Arkhold Niflhelm is the northern-most territory of the known and habitable world before the continent of Morturth flares into the vast and uninhabitable glaciers of Frothrein.

Here stands the Arkhold Keep, wherein the matriarchs and their people took refuge during the Winter of Discontent.

Today the Hold is kept by the sacred Motian Order of the Literatii and of the original immortals only Mythyar, their founder, remains in residence.

Niflhelm itself is a cold, mountainous and windswept country, almost entirely uncivilized and entirely uninhabited by the wyrmen. Wild animals are found in the southern regions, while the north is buried still beyond the glaciers of the receding iceage, with great sky reaching mountains jutting from the gradual thaw.

As the northern glaciers of the Winter of Discontent continue to retreat so Niflhelm will likely become a place of migration for future generations. For now it remains a place of primordial mysticism and dangerous terrain, ripe for exploration and adventure but perilous and ultimately inaccessible to all but the most determined traveler.

the City by the Sea It came to pass, as the snows fell away and new lands were unveiled in the sight of the Arkhold Keep, that the heirs of the legacy emerged from the great fortress and made their way toward new frontiers. With them went a great host of wyrmen.

Laird of this age, List Num (more commonly known as Listnum Hammerclaw), heir of the Mythyar line descending at its root from the coupling of the vanyirborn and her wyrman husband Nimrosel, was the first to emerge from the Arkhold.

This most kingly of men settled the town of Tunturthis (Town by the Lake) next to what was then considered to be a wide lake but whose snowy banks eventually thawed to become a finger of the Inland Seas.

Today Tunturthis is a thriving city port. The city and the lands thereabouts are ruled by the 681st generation of the line of Mythyar, Laird Mul-Gerenum Evergreen, whose people are known as the norwyr (Northern Wyrmen).

Mul-Gerenum wears the star forged Crown of the Cynn (Crown of Kings), as first worn by the olden and divine kings of the wyrmen and as brought into the world of Yarnia by Seth Elgan himself.

Listholm is a nation of Motians devoted to the name of Mot, to the pantheon of the Oak Lords and to the rune magick practiced by Mot; the sacred school of the Runes of Naming as divined first by Mot Elyeth when he first beheld the Web of Wyrd and thereafter perfected into the forms of spell casting by the sorcerous Ostia Num. They are a tall, strong and goodly people, though they are ruthlessly territorial when defending the small land they control and can be notoriously prejudiced toward the wyrmen of the south.

Culturally, Listians are noble and stalwart, fiercely proud of their heritage and their sovereignty. The norwyr differ from those wyrmen of other lands in the great wiry beards of pine fir and cone that grow upon their jaws. The beard is the mark of a Motian, and few indigenous Motian or Listian males would be seen clean-shaven.

Listholm is a rain-lashed country of rugged landscape, deep ravines and wetlands. The clay-rich soil, bedded on a continental shelf of granite, has never fully drained from the thawing of the ice and persistent rains coming off the Endeleas to north, east and west ensure the marshes and swamps remain saturated.

Like the land beneath their feet, the norwyr are a seemingly adaptable sub-race but have a core of stone. They are well used to harsh conditions, capable of surviving against all odds and prevailing with the smallest amount of resources at their disposal.

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Cormysyeth's Nation United no more, the realms of Sanas Morcorm, south of Listholm and making up the larger portion of the continent of Morturth, was once a land divided into three separate nations.

When King Listnum Hammerclaw took the Crown of the Cynn into Listholm in the first year of the thawing, the matriarchs of the Arkhold were divided.

Cormysyeth, finding herself the head of a household of Weavers and Wythian cultists at the end of the Winter of Discontent, led her people deeper south than Listnum, travelling along the meandering length of the River Nova, aiming for the sliver of Yrmynsyl and the ghostly floating mountain of Karrekith the former a tantalizing spear rising from the horizon and dividing the sky, the latter an ethereal spear tip at the sliver’s highest point.

She carried at her side the Talisman of Womad, Prong-wand of the Sacred Antler, a rune-stave given to her by Mot Elyeth before the fall of Merrlith as a sign of his trust in her.

The natural lie of the snowline and the murderous conditions of the eastern glaciers at that time forced the vanyirborn instead toward the southwest, away from Yrmynsyl and deeper into the newly emerging forest lands of Fawen. There in the east, Cormysyeth established settlements along the western coast of the Inland Sea and founded the town of Drüth (now named Zenor). With the rune lores of Weaving she established the beautiful and tranquil Lawesmoor Lagoon and filled it with life that her people might fish and eat.

Thereafter, though much later, Cormysyeth’s people expanded south and established within the proliferate forests of Fawen the majestic city of Drood-Cynncarn. Therein Cormysyeth became high priestess of the Wythian faith and the first to sit at the great table of Woodhenge. And it was here that she first called to council the Twelve Weavers of Ereth and there still the stone likeness of Cormysyeth in statuesque pose and tableau adorns the vastness of the walls of the Woodhenge.

And so the nation of Cornoval (the Source of the River Nova) was established; the largest growing power in the newly revealed land of Ereth.

the Founding of Celtrein Nar Pan Num, or Narpanum Orbweaver as he prefers to be known, is the immortal grandson of the vanyirborn Cormysyeth and her husband Wythydruth Pennmorch founders both of the Wythian faith - and son of Wegwyr Num (sister of Cormysyeth) and her mortal husband Morcelt, together the original founders of the Drogen cult.

Narpanum had long dwelled in the shadow of the Losian Plateau with his deranged mother and her cultists. So strange and violently destructive had his parents’ behaviour become in the time of the Arkhold that Mythyar had exiled them into Niflhelm, sending them high into peaks rising from northern melt-waters to settle their own culture as they saw fit and to lead their own followers according to their own exotic beliefs.

Seeing the snowline fall back, Narpanum abandoned his mother and the infirm ancients of Losia and came south in search of new hunting grounds, bringing with him a youthful warrior band of loyalist Drogen cultists and warriors.

Within the jungles of Monigarn he and his people found a ready made collection of ancient megaliths dating from the time of the gods and, using these as a foundation, constructed the ziggurat city of Tarantel.

Narpanum’s people nurtured in the lands hereabouts various species of exotic spider.

Some they used as mounts, others to guard their expanding borders and others still were consecrated as divine and treated as sacred entities. The land of the spiders became better known as Celtrein (Home of the Morcelt) and would soon become greatly feared by the emerging nations to north and west.

the Return of Caynum But greater terrors were to rise in time than the simple minded and lunatic morcelt.

In the south of Monigarn, where the march of the jungle ceased and the land became treacherous with swamp and quagmire, Cayn Num, known once again as Caynum Bitterblade, traitor of the vanyirborn and loyal servant of Mardock, emerged from the dungeons of the Cavernlands wherein he had dwelled for nine thousand years.

He laid claim to the remains of an ancient western spur of the Uselrein fortress, naming it Old Urd (Ancient City of the West), and established upon its mighty but ruined foundation slab a great temple dedicated to the Elgan gods.

The Arkhein, this temple was named, Fortress of the Throne. And Caynum populated his new nation with a loyalist breed of myrmen, twisted and sprained by their long interment underground.

The Living Gods of Yarnia During the Winter of Discontent, Mardock, son of Uselyorn and survivor of the Elgan pantheon of old, had lived also, dwelling with Caynum for many thousands of years alongside both his consort Mercwynn and the

myrmen of the underdark.

Long had Mardock lurked in the blackened pits of Ereth’s dungeon realms, hidden from memory and from sight by a thousand feet of snow and ice with only the ailing mind of his wife and the brutal culture of the Mummer Men for company. Many hundreds of years before the end of the Winter of Discontent, however, Mardock grew weary of the myrmen and of his consort and, taking a small and loyal company of original Mummer Men (among them Myrcwinyn, the first of their vicious ilk to be forged by the goddess Merriday), he occupied distant caves far from his wife, Caynum and the majority horde of the myrmen.

When the snow thawed, Mardock clambered into the light, but so long had he languished in the dark that his eyes and withered flesh could no longer tolerate the fierce blaze of the sun. So, leading the Mummer Men through eastern branches of the great subterranean realms which they now knew so well, he broke into and repopulated the catacombs of Halig and Ramat.

Above ground, the pride of Elgan architecture had been flattened and turned to dust by the hammer fall of Merrlith, but under the foundations of the ancient cities there stood still and untouched the cavernous catacombs of old.

And where the grounds had been heaved upward by the force of mighty Merrlith there now stood two mountains, which Mardock named the Hammer Dwale. And within the bodies of these twisted spires of stone had the upper catacombs and throne room of Uselyorn been lifted. They now lay high above the wastes of Iyfel as strangely twisted chambers and meandering passageways like the hollow bellies of serpents entwined under the ground.

Fissures and ledges formed in the raising of the mountain were as doors and arrow loops and thus was the Hammer Dwale deemed to be a fortress gifted to Mardock by the spirit of fate, and thus did he lay claim to the land thereabouts whose very name now means Evil.

the Eagles of Doom Here in this place made bitter and unholy in the memory of the devastating hammer fall, Mardock broke open chambers untouched in long centuries to reveal strange wells and broken shafts leading into the belly of the world. And from within came the manifest ghosts of beings long banished from the world of the living.

Six such entities did Mardock unearth, servants of the stars, once mighty and resplendent, but now malformed and hideous as though revealed in true form from behind false masks long worn. And in them he recognized the sprained minds of Elgan gods, for here were six of the last of the Elgan pantheon, ranked six through twelve in the

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Council of Uselyorn, sons and daughters all of that evil god's line.

They were reborn from the lightless depths to which the chimneys and shafts were connected. A great chasm beneath the snow and far to the south. And they called it the Grislic Khasma (the Abominable Gap), a gateway into dymensions unknown, as yet hidden to the wyrmen and to the merciful light of day.

Therein squirmed Gungin, for the spirit of chaos had been unleashed by Merrlith and had festered during the Winter of Discontent in frozen pits beneath the charred roots of Yrmynsyl. Now finally the land was breaking as the air warmed and into the cracks Gungin was disgorged, manifest and physical as things that should never walk upon the sacred Warp walked and snarled and slashed the air.

Mardock brought the six gods into the Hammer Dwale and there gave them lodgings in the spires of the mountain fortress. He named them the Froncüdha (Those That Languish, Long Restrained) and awarded to each the title of Captain of the Armies of Iyfel.

To Caynum in the west he bade them show loyalty, for now was the last chance they would have to slay the wyrmen and reclaim the lost lands as their own.

Urd Unleashed Thus with chaos to the northeast, civilization to north and west and evil mustering in the east, did war come inevitably to Ereth.

Caynum came to the Hammer Dwale with his armies of myrmen, intending a conflict, and met before the great door of the twin spires the ancient god Mardock. But when he looked into the lined and wearied face of his adopted father a sentiment born of his Womadic core awoke and he fell to his knees, proclaiming his allegiance and his love for Mardock, regretting all that he had intended to do.

And Mardock placed a hand on the son of Vanyir and blessed their reunification, for though he could not reciprocate Caynum’s love, he understood the value of alliance.

And so, under instruction and encouragement from Mardock in Iyfel, and with the six Froncüdha at the head of his myrman armies, Caynum launched an offensive into both the central lands of Cornoval and Celtrein.

In the north the myrmen were repelled, the morcelt a formidable enemy and at home in the trees from whose branches they fought. The battles were hard won, but the morcelt were supported by their many arachnid allies and somehow they turned the tide, routing Urdian forces south and back into the swamps below Monigarn.

But in the west the Cornovish were ill-prepared for the abomination of the Froncüdha and the town of Drüth was swift to fall. Its rising towers and newly built homes, constructed for comfort but not for defence, were pillaged and burned,

the Wyrm of Havoc As the events of Swelgan unfolded, another arm of the Elgan assault was meeting a firm resistance of Kengard soldiers in another advance on the Frona Pass.

The myrmen were many this time, and the Listians few, yet the pass was narrow and the Elgan legions could not push through.

Then the base of Mount Menydhra erupted and from within came a squirming horror born of the Gap of Gungin.

The Laird of Listholm and the advance of the Kengard

its people slaughtered, man woman and child alike. Such atrocities as had not been known since before the fall of Merrlith revisited the wyrmen of Ereth, and thus did the Listians answer the call for help from Drüth, rallying their ranks against a vile enemy long thought destroyed.

From the north came the Kengard, marching beneath the banner of Hammerclaw and eager now to clash with these rumoured Elgan ghouls returned from the dead.

The ragged ranks of the myrmen heard of the coming threat and met the Listians in Frona Pass. But from there they were pushed back, unprepared and surprised by the strength of the noble Kengard companies.

Simultaneously the myrmen marched on the Twain Gate of Listholm, only to perish in the quick sands of Druncnen and fall beneath the feathered arrows of Dingerein archers. Two of the mighty Froncüdha were slain, their corpses bubbling like fetid jelly into the dust, their Dread Soul Stones emerging to the light of day and to the astonished gaze of Listian defenders.

From this defeated army also was recovered a treasure thought long lost to aeons before the Winter of Discontent. The Golden Sphere of Gonloric which the archers of Dingerein quickly conveyed to the Laird of the time, Mulnum Hammerclaw, along with the Dread stones of the fallen monsters.

March of the Weavers Word of war reached the southern lands and from Drood-Cynncarn a force of Weavers, led by the queen, Cormysyeth Num, fell upon myrman units resting in the grasslands of central Cornoval.

But as the Cornovish pressed their advantage, forcing the gruesome armies of Caynum back toward Old Urd, the gates of that city opened and a new enemy emerged.

Creants, they were, and are still called twisted wyrmen from origins unknown, embittered and broken in mind and body, and led by the mightiest of the Elgan captains, the Wrath of Azirpan.

Here were elite priests of the Cult of Flies, donned all in black, their bodies flayed and mutilated by the rites of their order, baying for blood in the shadow of their great daemonic champion. At their side came also an army of Blodmonites - blood elementals formed within the unhallowed temple of Arkhein using the magick of Craven runes and the sacrificed prisoners of Drüth.

This legion of chaos streamed forth from Old Urd to meet the Weavers. Terrible runes were employed by both sides and much blood was spilled before the end. The trees of Fawen burned and sorrow filled the sky with blackening smoke and searing embers.

The wyrmen of Cornoval were enraged to see their brethren so deformed by the dark influence of Urd and their outrage gave them renewed strength. The myrmen fled, their numbers ruined, and the Creants were almost entirely destroyed.

Emboldened by this victory, the Weavers surged forth into Swelgan, the swamps about the feet of Urd’s curtain wall and, though their own ranks were sorely depleted and those who lived still were exhausted and bleeding and though their beloved Fawen was a raging furnace threatening to engulf the rearmost of their ranks, they intended now to march on Urd itself and nothing would stand in their way.

Cormysyeth was at the fore of the Weaver ranks and they would follow her unto death itself, for she was unharmed and resplendent upon her piebald horse, clad in Wythian armour, red flowers blooming in her hair like flecks of fire. Her eyes blazed and she rallied her people for a final assault on the enemy, rune stave held high.

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The Urwhorl, it was called, a monstrosity from untold dymensions, a blasphemous incarnation of chaos and evil. Drawn into the war by the Creants of Urd and sent forth beneath the ground to burrow to the aid of the ailing myrmen. The hideous thing crushed the Listian resistance and the myrmen streamed onward into Listholm.

the Return of the Bitterblade In Swelgan, the Weavers and their queen halted before the mighty door of Urd, the Dread stone of Azirpan held aloft.

From within came the lament of a horn and the gates rumbled open. Caynum stepped forth, daunting in rune-scribed bone armour and plates of iron made mighty with Craven magick. He advanced on Cormysyeth and the vanyirborn fought; brother and sister set one against the other.

Wielding the Talisman of Womad, Cormysyeth carved her brother’s face and set within his flesh a terrible fire. But then Caynum revealed a great blade of rancorous iron, the Bitterblade of Seth Elgan, slayer of Irein Anari, plucked from the hands of Iranya Elgan herself even as Seth planted within her the seed that would become Uselyorn.

Hefting the blade with his non-withered hand, Caynum pierced Cormysyeth through the heart. Her horse reared and she fell to the ground where her brother then swung the weapon once more, bringing it down upon his sister’s neck.

Caynum, ever more to be known as Caynum Bitterblade, held the still living queen’s head aloft, cursing the wyrmen of Cornoval even as he scribed in the air the Craven runes of cremation.

Cormysyeth’s skull crumbled to ash and was gone as a smear of grey upon the wind.

Her body burned and her essence was wrenched violently from the sacred vessel of her living form.

The daughter of Vanyir passed into the Web of Wyrd and was no more upon Ereth. The Cornovish retreated in despair and Caynum Bitterblade returned to the shadows of his city to plot anew.

the Motian Crusade But all was not yet lost. For as the myrmen, confident after their victory at Frona, marched deep into the north, they came under the shadow of the great Ward Wall of Listholm and, upon its cliff top perch, the mighty fortress of Dunmuthyl.

From the passing point, narrow as Frona and a steep slope into the Listian highlands, came a massed army of Kengard elite led by the Laird himself. With them were the Motian Thane of Tunturthis and the Niflhelm warriors of the Literatii, potent with the Runes of Naming and armed with rune staves.

The myrmen were crushed by the staves and claymores of united Motian forces and Listian knights. Urwhorl was vanquished at last back into his hole beneath the mountain, there to be bound to his black lair.

Onward the Listians marched, intent on ridding the world of the Elgan curse. They met then the retreating armies of Cornoval and joined them as allies. Together they returned to the scene of Cormysyeth’s demise and broke open the doors of Old Urd, razed the city to the ground and sent Caynum Bitterblade fleeing across the Damnum Channel into the ice and snow beyond.

The bridge across the Damnum was cast down into the raging waters and anything living within Urd was slain.

The war was at an end, or so it seemed, and nothing remained, but to return to home and relish the peace of victory.

The Glowing Embers of War The Weavers and warlords of Cornoval returned to Drood-Cynncarn and regrouped.

And though their grief was bitter and their thoughts clouded by the agony of loss, counsel was held in the Woodhenge and a High Weaver was duly appointed to lead in Cormysyeth’s stead.

Chaos still lurked in the jungles of the northeast. The nation of the morcelt had not been toppled. But they might be broken, the Weavers speculated, with a concerted effort and then all of the lands south of Listholm would be free. Peace would be assured and the land might recover anew.

So did war return to the nations beneath the Ward Wall as the morcelt barbarians and the Cornovish Weavers clashed in the jungles and ruined wastes of the north.

And though the Weavers were fierce and driven, the morcelt were ever more wily, comfortable warriors within their own domain and impossible to oust, so that the war and the misery of conflict prevailed for many long years thereafter.

Mythyar Num, Last of the Wise

the Truce of Sanas Morcorm

The Lairds of Listholm watched the unfolding war with trepidation. If the Cornovish successfully conquered Celtrein, they would possess all of the lands south of the Ward Wall and would represent a powerful threat to Listholm’s southern borders.

It seemed unlikely the morcelt, with their lesser power and lesser territory, would be victorious, but such an outcome, unlikely as it appeared, would be an even greater threat to the north.

So the Listians called for a truce between the warring forces, requesting a gathering of diplomats from Cornoval and Celtrein within the neutrality of Listholm.

But neither side would lay down their weapons, one for fear of losing land already won, the other for fear of the other taking them while disarmed. It came then to the brink of full war, for the Lairds could not allow the conflict to continue and before long should be forced to take on the armies of Cornoval in order to maintain the integrity of its own borders.

A Listian envoy was sent to Niflhelm and the Arkhold, requesting audience with Mythyar, last of the righteous, seeking her counsel. At first Mythyar dismissed the envoy, uninterested in what she likely deemed to be the petty squabbles of wyrmen, but when she learned that her sister Cormysyeth was dead, slain by her own brother, she was moved to emerge from shadow and give counsel.

A mansion should be built, she advised, to house a meeting of rulers, its walls tattooed with the Runes of Naming that those who stayed beneath its roof would be enlightened for a time, disposed to peace and a sense of reason. Cornoval would be threatened with the flooding of its main watercourse, the River Nova, by way of damming at its mouth in Druncnen. Cornoval would drown and its remaining lands would become as a great inland lake if their head Weaver refused the meeting. And if the morcelt refused, then the Listians would join forces with the Cornovish and wipe them from the face of Ereth.

So did the meeting come to pass within the mansion of Meresken on the north coast of Listholm. There met the head Weaver, Helstone Shrinnill, the immortal Narpanum Orbweaver and the then Laird of Listholm, Aurulent the Just.

The Laird presented, as a gesture of good will, the golden Sphere of Gonloric and upon this he bade the rulers of the great nations of the wyr rest their hands, in remembrance of Mot, to declare peace and strength in unity.

And even Narpanum, calmed by the runic tattoos and given uncharacteristic reason through fear of the forces of Mythyar, was finally in agreement.

A truce was drawn and enmity buried. Maps were drawn and borders carved. Old Urd and the lands around were now ruined with black magick and ever more would be known as Dunmonia (the Place of the Dark Men), the property of neither southern nor northern nations. The truce makers hoped the Elvian and Animalian spirits of nature would eventually regain control of that dark place and Old Urd would crumble to ruin, ever to be forgotten for all its evil.

Narpanum would be given the jungles of Monigarn and the Wyrgrove forest down to the land of Dunmonia, there to dwell without persecution in whatever manner of society the morcelt chose to create, just as once Narpanum’s parents had been given freedom to live as they chose by the wise Mythyar.

The Cornovish would claim the western coast and all the lands up to the edge of the Fawen Forest, such as remained of that war ravaged woodland. The no-man’s land of Dunmonia would serve to separate both nations and into it neither morcelt nor Cornovish would stray.

As one, the reformed lands would be newly named the Land of Sanas Morcorm (The

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Newly Associated States of Morcelt and Cormysyeth).

The treaty was honoured and the Weavers returned to the south, Narpanum returned to his jungle idolatry and his barbarian cult.

Listholm continued as before, no longer threatened by the warring powers and peace appeared to prevail.

the Jaguar Jarls of Drood-Cynncarn Sanas Morcorm was a land of cratered battlefields ravaged by the devastating aftermath of rune-war. The spirits of nature did not recover the land of Dunmonia which became haunted and waterlogged, uninhabitable and bitter by the evils perpetrated upon its soil.

A darkness seemed to linger too in the realm of Celtrein and Narpanum Orbweaver became ever more paranoid and psychotic, convinced he had been tricked into the treaty by runic sorcery employed by nefarious Listian magicians. The morcelt became twisted in their cultic isolation and as generations passed all remnants of that which defined the goodness of the wyrman fell away, leaving them a savage and insular race.

Cornoval seemed, for a time, to be rebuilding its shattered structure. But then bitter factions emerged from the political debris of Cormysyeth’s passing. There were those who supported and those who opposed the Truce of Sanas Morcorm.

As prosperity faltered under the Weavers the people became restless and a new government formed to challenge the throne of Woodhenge; men seeking power and empire known as the Kenjarl, whose organisation was called the Jaguars of Drood. Listholm, the Kenjarl claimed, had employed runic magick to bewitch the Weavers and the savage Narpanum, all the while intending to claim imperial rule over the southern lands when the time was right. Moreover, the Lairds of Listholm were hoarding the Sphere of Gonloric, a symbol of Mot’s power and, by rights, the property of the wyrmen of the south. And so convincing were these arguments that the people were quick to rally behind the Jaguars.

In the name of magnanimity and in the hope of avoiding civil war, the Weavers retreated from political posturing in DroodCynncarn. The Kenjarl seized rule in their stead and the hearts, minds and hopes of the people in turn. They feared the Weavers and could not hope to match them in war, thus Woodhenge was given religious autonomy over all the wards of the city, but all power to write and keep law was removed.

The Weavers warned of the fall of Listholm and the rise in its place of a dark land, commanded by the manifestation of Meduselah. Their warning was confirmed in rare counsel with Mythyar, but the Listians would not concede the Sphere, even at the recommendation of their beloved vanyirborn.

The Weavers were expelled from Listholm and the armies of the norwyr mustered at the foot of the Ward Wall.

The Weavers trekked to the battlefields of Tansys and there awaited the meeting of the two mighty armies. The Jaguar Jarl of DroodCynncarn with the Prong-wand of the Sacred Antler in his hands and the Laird of Listholm with the Sphere of Gonloric, their many rank and file massed at their backs, facing one another across a wasteland of dust and death.

Jarl Megalamon Panthera, founder of the Jaguars, now took the throne of Cornoval. His council of twelve were given the name of Imperial Senate and before long were busy making preparations to war within Woodhenge itself. The battle-weary armies of Cornoval mustered once more before the walls of the city. The horns of war sounded and the standards were hoisted before the ranks. Celtrein and Listholm would concede or fall.

The Whispering Malice The Sphere of Gonloric was brought forth and runes cast about its mass, unveiling within the object the hideous face of the FroncĂźdha once named Medyn Elgan but now called Meduselah, the undying daemon known as the Shivering Greed.

For this object the nobility of Listholm waged war one against the other, their minds turned to hatred and murder by the will of the Elgan goddess locked inside the sphere's golden form.

The war was forgotten and all bitterness, lust for power and ambitions of empire evaporated with the humiliation of the Elgan goddess. The armies of Drood-Cynncarn and the forces of Listholm limped home and were, forever after known only to one another as distant kin.

The Sphere of Gonloric and the Talisman of Womad were granted to the Weavers who then returned with it to Drood-Cynncarn.

There the Sphere would be placed deep in dungeon vaults beneath the mountain and guarded by ward magicks to keep its occupant restrained while the Talisman would be lodged in a secret place within Woodhenge that it might never again be used to wage war.

But the FroncĂźdha was not so easily subdued and in Jarl Megalamon and the Kenjarl she found easy prey, for already they were corrupt in their hearts and secretly bitter.

The Jarl became a tyrant and his people became as his slaves. The city was debauched and violent, until greed and perversion overwhelmed all civility and the divide between rich and poor became as great as the difference between man and animal.

Rumours of Caynum

Grim was the scene and the Weavers were filled with sorrow to see the truce broken and their sacred hall and throne usurped by warmongers. Fearing the utter ruin of all three nations, Wythian envoys were sent on swift steeds to Listholm, there to find the Lairds embroiled in bitter rivalries and the looming shadow of their own civil war.

Something was amiss and the Weavers were quick to notice, for a black energy seemed hard at work in all of Morturth and even the heart of the righteous Motian Thane seemed twisted now with some inner turmoil.

The Decline of Cornoval

But then the Weavers rode into their midst and called for peace among the wyr. They recalled the histories of oaken myths and invoked those stories associated both with the Sphere of Gonloric and the sacred Talisman of Womad. They spoke also of Meduselah and her whispering malice in the minds and hearts of those who crave power and warned that a final proof would be revealed if the two lands continued their rivalry.

The Weavers were ignored, and mocked, and so the runes were cast and the Sphere of Gonloric opened like a flower to reveal the hideous daemon wytch squatting in its heart.

All the might of the armies of north and south were brought to bear on this common enemy and, though many were the victims of terrible Meduselah, eventually the daemon wytch was subdued then returned to her prison within the Sphere.

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In despair, the Weavers migrated south with the retreating ice to escape the doom of Megalamon and establish other lands and other stories, their mighty seat of power in Sanas Morcorm lost to the creeping powers of the abyss. And now the bridge across the Damnum Channel was rebuilt by hands unknown and the fires and smoke of life could be seen once more in the city of Old Urd. The Creants have since returned, and in modern days their Blodmonites are oft seen in Dunmonia, as are the black fleshed myrmen and worse things besides. Rumour is abroad that the Cult of Flies is establishing itself once more within the Arkhein and that Caynum Bitterblade has returned from the lands of Iyfel, the features of his face pinched by the fires of Cormysyeth's magick and his flesh pinned where her blade smote his skull. He has become a Creant and delights now, or so the hushed whisperers in dark shadows tell, in the agonies of flesh. Into his skull are driven nails whose points puncture the mush of his immortal brain, while his back is so abominably flayed that all is a scar or open bleeding wound.

Today Cormysyeth's pride, the mighty city of Drood-Cynncarn, has long since crumbled, its former majesty muted and the bustle and life that once filled its street replaced only by the

howling of ghosts. And though the architecture stands still as a memory of the power that once was, the city is now little more than a mausoleum to a lost people, a reminder that even that which seems deathless eventually fades; the glory of Cormysyeth Num and all that she had built, reduced to dust.

The Anglians As Cornoval collapsed under the weight of its own corruptions, the Weavers sought arable lands under the diminishing snow. And they found, beyond the narrow isthmus of Wõdoak, everything they had secretly hoped one day to find.

Here was revealed The Angle, meaning the corner of the world, a land of rich soil, lush grasslands and places long lost but known well from the stories of oaken myth.

A nation swiftly grew around newly established farms which were named Elowen, Granger and Bargenham after those wealthy farming families who first migrated from the tyrannies of the north and found peace among the Weavers.

Villages and then towns soon arose in the wake of the receding snow and thrived about the farmlands. And the Jarl of DroodCynncarn was powerless to stop them, for the forest of Wõdoak was strange with the mysticisms of Wythia and no Cornovish army that ever marched into her trees was ever seen again.

the Roots of Elvia The Angle was a land without a ruler, for the Weavers now lacked proper leadership and were wary of the corrupting forces of power.

In Elowen an imposing figure by the name of Morvagh, daughter of Loretongue and Orare Elowen, was quickly gaining support from locals with her interpretation of the oaken myths. She employed a strange variant of runic lore which had supposedly been given to her by fae folk within the trees of Wõdoak; a lore she called elementalism and which used hitherto unknown runes utilizing the power of the spirits of Elvia.

Her brother, Loren, inheritor of the Elowen estate and all the farmlands therein, was smitten by the teachings of his sister. With his wealth and his influence over the lands of his father he formed a minor cult wherein all the people of Elowen became followers of Morvagh and devotees of the Wõdoak teachings, such as they were known.

Morvagh called herself a wytch (She Who Casts Runes) and used her magical skills to ensure good harvests and favourable conditions for the farmers in the region. Those with ailments or troubled lives sought Morvagh’s magick and wisdom and, in time, her power within the Angle became great.

Loren named himself Loremaster (He Who Rules The Lawful Runes) and about him grew a secondary church of male elementalists whose interests seemed primarily vested in the procuring of talismanic rune-tools.

Most notably Loren seemed enamoured with tales of the Prong-wand of the Sacred Antler, which he desired most above all other talismans. He longed to liberate the talisman from its secret location in the hall of Woodhenge and for many years this quest consumed his life and the lives of many of his acolytes.

Among those who ventured to DroodCynncarn in search of the fabled item, never to return, was his own father, Loretongue Elowen, founder of the Elowen farmsteads and ever known to be his son’s greatest supporter.

the Feudal Lords Meanwhile, in other parts of The Angle, men of power and wealth from the decadent state of Cornoval began trickling across the channel, buying up land and building strongholds from which to oversee their estates.

Now beyond the reach of the daemon Meduselah’s wicked influence they could see clearly the horrors of the city left behind and were swift to distance themselves from the rule of the Jarl and his Jaguar warlords.

On the north coast, the Gwelenbryal family, under their patriarch, the good Conteth Kenwythi, established themselves as landlords of the Granger Fields. They became guardians of the Damnum Channel and built a mighty castle upon the foundation stones of a long ruined ziggurat beside an ancient lake, there to guard against any incursion by Megalamon’s forces. Within caves beneath the lake Kenwythi discovered a hidden lair filled with ancient artefacts from the time of the Oak Lords, and among these was a magnificent sword whose metal was as untarnished as the day the blade was forged and whose hilt displayed the runes of Amon Elyeth. Kenwythi named this the Rill Blade of Amon, an object which would one day come to be a most profound symbol within the lands of the Wythian faith.

Upon the summit of the Garwan Hills the Chersya family, related closely to the Gwelenbryal, landed ships and built a stone fort from which to control their interests on the west coast.

And in Bargenham a palisade arose around the farmstead of the Morlu family. At the head of this rising power was Libra Bargen, daughter of a union between the widowed Orare Elowen and Lord Bargen. Libra’s husband was Prince Morlu, exiled son of Jarl Megalamon himself. Their estate now included most of the territory up to the borders of Gwelenbryal’s land and where the territories met great unrest and distrust simmered. The Gwelenbryals refused to

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believe Morlu was no longer under the influence of his wicked father. They claimed, unjustly, that he was planted in the Angle to coordinate some kind of attack from the north.

Moreover, the rising power of the elementalists in Elowen was causing great consternation to the Weavers, long allies of the Gwelenbryals. Thus did they fear a union between Morlu and Elowen, reminiscent of the ancient Jarldom of Drood-Cynncarn as a rising threat to the Wythian cult. And in this way was a perfect storm of paranoia fostered.

In the south two families, the Gostyth of Pelgallo and the Olgallosek of Carnuntun, sailed the difficult waters into the southern ice-floes and both now laid claim to mining interests in that region. Moreover, the Olgallosek family were convinced that the southern coastland of Morturth was the original location for Mot’s first mansion upon Ereth, and promptly named the region Gondaras (Doorway Into the Original Land), swiftly setting about the reconstruction of Carnuntun, first city of the wyr.

The feudal lords were established and lived now within one territory as uncomfortable bedfellows. And if not for the emergence of mutual enemies at a provident time, their feudality of words and undertow of resentments might have spilled over immediately into the scourge of another war.

Monsters in the Sailing Hills As the snows receded into the newly settled land of the Olgalloseks many ancient landmarks arose from the draining marshes and thawing melt-water.

In the heart of the Angle the mythical Sailing Hills rose as hump-backed islands amid glittering crystal lakes. The waters soon evaporated or sank into the soil and in their stead were revealed the many mouths of the caves of Mot wherein that ancient god had languished and despaired during the subjugation of the wyr.

Exploration into the dungeons revealed nests of myrmen and as these creatures of the abyss emerged to lay waste to the new settlements of the Angle, so the noble families were forced to unite, combining their armies to drive the myrmen back underground, into deep and distant caves, there to be buried alive or cut off from their favoured tunnels. Only the Morlu family refused to lend aid, safe behind their palisade and wary of the other feudal lords.

Swiftly did it become apparent to the nobles of the Angle that the Morlu desired to make of Bargenham an independent state and a country with its own sovereignty, but borders in those days were capricious things and oft were defined not by men but by forces of fate and unseen destinies.

The Finding of the Shrine of Vanyir

the Finding of the Shrine of Vanyir During their campaigns against the myrmen the dungeon masters of the Angle uncovered a great vaulted sepulchre at the heart of the Sailing Hills.

Herein stood a mighty slab of stone and upon this the beautiful likeness of a goddess, as long as five wyrmen laid head to toe and reclining as though abed, her divinity rendered as a statue of polished marble. Upon the flanks of the great sarcophagus were carved ancient runes, etched into the stone as though by fire. They were the runes of sorrow, made by the tears of Aura Num, daughter of ancient times who had wept by her sister’s death bed as she passed into the Web of Wyrd.

Here, the Anglians now knew, was a moment out of myth made real and the dungeon masters and all those who came after them to that sacrosanct crypt, fell to their knees.

For here was the goddess Vanyir Num, mother of all the wyrmen, consort of Mot and the embodied beauty of all the world of Yarnia, fossilized in death upon the slab of her final resting place for the wonderment of all to see.

The Wandering of the Weavers To the east, the spire of Yrmynsyl was closer than ever and the Weavers, long expatriated in the Angle and without a hall or a home, became greatly encouraged by the discovery of the shrine of Vanyir.

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Toward Yrmynsyl they now ventured, hoping to re-establish their order at the roots of the World Tree’s remains. But after a long struggle across deep drifts of snow they found Yrmynsyl did not stand upon visible roots but was embedded within the gaping mouth of a bottomless chasm.

From within this hideous crevasse of lightless black came the fell children of chaos, crawling forth into north and south, infesting the lands and even raising a ragged town of clay and mud about the cliff tops of their pit.

Gungingeth, did the Weavers name this town; the Dereliction of Gungin. And the chasm they called the Gungin Gap, whose existence had long been rumoured by the foul tongues of the Dunmerr. And they called it the Womb of the Fell, for within was the Abysmal Dunlight of all that is chaotic and absent and all that sullies, destroys and disorders the world of wyrmen.

The Weavers retreated, returning to the Anglian lands to wander without home or base. They named the place around Yrmynsyl and the Gungin Gap, Mortun Pandi (Land of Immortal Divinity), for despite the presence of the Fell, all of the lands east of The Angle lay beneath the great stone underbelly of Karrekith at Yrmynsyl’s uppermost height.

In the Angle the elementalists of Elowen were gaining a greater foothold and the Elvian cult, such as it was named, now competed with the Wythian doctrines for dominance of the Anglian state, while a new faith called the Cult of Erth was fast establishing itself within southern districts.

Disenfranchised, dispossessed and undermined on all sides, the Weavers returned to DroodCynncarn, but Cornoval had by now descended into unutterable chaos and here was no longer a location for the settling of a peaceful life. The Listian treaty forbade the Weavers from venturing beyond the edge of Dunmonia, so they returned to the Angle, avoiding Elowen and its Elvian culture and arriving instead at the Granger Fields where they were welcomed by the Wythian society of old.

Here the Weavers first discovered the strangeness of Ylyntor and excavated the summit of the hill to discover a way inside.

And beneath the hill they found the remains of a vast pyramid whose buried halls, corridors and rooms predated the Winter of Discontent.

And deep within the lowest vaults of the pyramid they found many small bell-shaped chambers with earthen floors, and upon the floor of 0ne stood a plinth and upon the plinth a golden acorn. And within the coffers of another was found a book which was called The Tome of Kings.

Here was the mansion of Yseldyr, original house of Mot and seat of the race of the wyr, even now preserved as always it had been in ancient times by depths of earth fallen after the hammer of Merrlith. And here was the acorn whose pip had been merged with the

blood of Vanyir to create the wyrman race.

And here was the book of Mot, penned by Mot’s own quill in times before even the evils of Uselyorn were known to Yarnia, a log of the primordial days of Ereth before even Vanyir came to live by Mot's side and he alone walked the world in the company of Womad.

Return of the Wythywyr Into the barren plains and marshes at the southernmost edge of the Sailing Hills the Weavers took the acorn and amid much ceremony and ritual they sowed the seed within the soil.

And in time a shoot emerged, and then a stem with leaf. The Weavers stepped back, ever scribing in the air and on the earth those runes of the Web of Wyrd that invoke Womad. And into their midst came the Elvian wytch Morvagh and her brother Loren Loremaster, together with their great following. And Morvagh invoked the elemental spirits even as Loren held aloft the talismans of lore. And the shoot grew violently, a soaring trunk, boughs unfurling, branches snapping and popping in the heights of the sky. Acorns fell like hail onto the roots of the tree and were conveyed as the roots grew, snaking away across the earth, between the feet of the watching wyr. And into the earth they were deposited in their thousands, to grow themselves into budding life and a woodland of dizzying height.

Nine days passed, the Weavers and the Elvians tending the tree until finally, upon the ninth minute of the ninth hour, the ninth acorn fell and did not itself beget a new sapling, for it was formed of solid gold.

The acorn was plucked from the soil by the head Weaver and returned to Ylyntor where it was placed on the summit of the hill within a hall of worship that all Wythians, Elvians and Erthers might come to see the last seed of the Wythywyr and the tear of Womad as was shed in his final passing.

The sacred wood, the Wythyreach, had returned and stands still, unchanged and unsullied though it is now named Dwarro, the Sanctified Place of Great Importance. It is a sacred arboretum, ever guarded by the Weavers, the Elvians, the Erthers and the noble lords of The Angle as one of the holiest places upon Ereth.

And had evils long dormant in the roots of the Anglian land not then risen to spread their mischief, the cults might, at that time of peace, have merged into one to become a unified force and a potent archetype for good in the world. But such utopias were not to be, for the Elgan menace refused to die, and its influence was undiminished in the hearts and minds of certain men.

Kenwythi and the Lost Book of Mot Of the initial fate of the Tome of Kings little is known. It disappeared from its chamber and was believed to be stolen. But later it was announced, much to the ire of the Weavers and Elvians, that the Gwelenbryal family held the book within their keeping.

It was, they announced, kept under lock and key in deep cellars under the lake beside Castle Levena. Whatever the contents of the book, it was believed to be of too great a value to entrust to the Weavers or those who were already uncomfortable neighbours in Elowen and Bargenham. Thus did relations between the Gwelenbryals and the cults of the Angle become strained and threaten to destabilize the land.

Conteth Kenwythi Gwelenbryal of Castle Levena had become a bucolic character, goodly no more but a self-appointed guardian of the tome and an ambitious man growing in both stature and power. His city of Verdandi upon the northern coast, where Damnum meets the elbow of Wõdoak, was outgrowing all other powers in The Angle and the Rill Blade of Amon he had renamed the Rill Blade of Gwelen which many took to be a blasphemy against the Oak Lords.

Some ascribed the growth of Kenwythi’s estate to magicks imbued within the Tome of Kings or his mystical sword, but in reality Verdandi’s rapid expansion was as a result of secret trade treaties with the Listians and the Motian cult of the far north.

Dignitaries from Listholm seeking to establish a continental railway into the Angle had successfully persuaded Kenwythi to invest and had thus gained a foothold in the rising southern power. The result was a sudden influx and outflow of wealth from Verdandi in the form of duty taxation travelling along the Hyns-Horn railway.

At the same time the lumber camp of Trestun on the southern coast of Sanas Morcorm was expanding along with the associated stone quarry of Gor. The Gwelenbryals were trading routinely across the bay and were in the process of commissioning a castle in the woods overlooking the camp, hoping to expand into what remained of Cornoval in order to steal back the fabulous wealth and territories of Jarl Megalamon.

The Gwelenbryals harboured ancient enmity with the Jaguars of Drood-Cynncarn, but were thwarted in their efforts to unseat them at every turn. Kenwythi suspected the presence of spies in Verdandi and was swift to point the finger at Bargenham and Morlu, son of Megalamon.

The Bargenham family denied these accusations and accused the Gwelenbryals in turn of forming secret pacts with the Motian cult in efforts to undermine both the Elvians and the Wythian Weavers. Envoys were sent

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to the other feudal lords, warning them that the norwyr and Gwelenbryal were planning a great war in which all Morturth would be claimed by Motian cultists. Morlu himself demanded Kenwythi hand over the Tome of Kings and share its power with the lords of the Angle.

But Kenwythi, a statesman of great prowess and intellect compared with the non ambitious Morlu, had already been long engaged in an underhand campaign of diplomacy and sharing of wealth to gain the trust and allegiance of neighbouring landlords. Morlu’s envoys were turned away, their warnings interpreted as the increasingly deranged ranting of Megalamon’s son. Morlu’s increasing enmity toward the Gwelenbryals was further assumed to be proof that Morlu was indeed in league with both Megalamon and the Elvians and plotting the downfall of Kenwythi and the cult of Wythia together.

For long had Kenwythi now been planting seeds of paranoia in the minds of the Weavers. He lied to them, claiming word had reached him from spies in Elowen that the wytches of Morvagh and Loren’s clan were plotting a war against the Wythian faith, hoping at last to overwhelm Wythia and bring the doctrine of Elvia into the southern land. In the aftermath of this war, with the Weavers thus destroyed, Morvagh and her brother (claimed now by Kenwythi to be engaged in incestuous relations), would supplant all Wythian purity and outlaw both the runes of Wythia and of Oak. There were sorceries within the Elvian runes as yet unknown to the Weavers, Kenwythi warned - why else was Loren forever questing to recover the Talisman of Womad? - And there were secrets scribed within the Tome of Kings that spoke of these magicks; vicious wizardries capable of destroying the Wythian faith and a prophecy foretelling the doom of the Weavers delivered by the strange and alien spirits of Wõdoak.

Why, Kenwythi asked of the Weavers, did they think he had opened his arms to the Motians of the north? When the time came for war, he needed alliance with holy rune-casters and he feared the Weavers would not stand by him in his hour of need, for he felt they and he had been uncomfortable neighbours since the uncovering of Ylyntor.

Kenwythi’s campaign had the desired effect and before long the landlords of The Angle, the Weavers and even the Erthers of the south were rallying beneath the Gwelenbryal banner, marching armies into the estates of Bargen, Grange and Elowen.

The resulting war was brief and brutal, resulting in many dead and wounded.

Morvagh, her brother Loren and their clan of Elvians were wise to the coming threat.

Fearing war, they fled by ship into the Damnum, the simple farmers and peasants of Elowen surrendering without bloodshed in their absence. Morlu behind his palisade wall was not so easy to defeat, though against the

combined might of Gwelenbryal, Chersya, Gostyth and Olgallosek, and with the magick of the Weavers brought to bear, Bargen’s resistance did not last long.

Morlu, son of Megalamon was killed and all the Bargen family slain, trapped inside their wooden mansion as it burned. Orare, mother of Morvagh and Loren, was crucified upon a tree within the grounds of the house and Libra, wife of Morlu and daughter of the Elowens - pregnant with Morlu’s first son was torn from the house and defiled in the mud. Even as the screams of the dying rose into the air, Kenwythi slew Libra, using the Rill Blade itself to carve open her belly.

Holding aloft the aborted infant heir of Bargenham, Kenwythi declared the Morlu estate no more and all the lands south of Verdandi up to and including Dwarro to now be within the domain of Gwelenbryal rule.

Upon seeing their matriarch so befouled and the heir of Breetun assassinated even before he could emerge from the womb, the farmers of Bargenham rose up and many of Gwelenbryal’s allies, including no few Weavers and almost all Erthers, rebelled against the alliance, and turned the fight against Kenwythi’s forces. But this mutiny was swiftly crushed and those deemed to be disloyal to Kenwythi were exiled into the east, to return only if they desired death.

Most of the simple farmers and serfs of the region were content to simply switch their fealty from one landlord to another. Secret relations of the Bargens, Granges and Elowens and families of those exiled into the east remained for a time, but soon disappeared, seeking other surviving brethren and sympathizers in Mortun Pandi.

But something terrible now grew in the shadows and muster of Morlu’s grave. Even as his corpse moldered, Morlu rose from the shallow dirt to the light of day. And then did his flesh transform, a dire shape and a dire destiny emerging.

The vile Froncüdha Barrowomb - once the Elgan god Pazuzu - slaughtered in the Sanas Morcorm war on the battlefields of Dunmonia, had prevailed as a vengeful spirit into the snow lands of the south and fallen upon the Tome of Kings. His black soul now possessed the ancient book, knowing such an artefact would inevitably fall into the hands of future nations of the wyrmen and become an object of political desire.

Through the book, Barrowomb had infested the halls of power in the Angle and nurtured Gwelenbryal pride, filling minds and hearts with enmity toward former allies and great ambitions of power at all cost.

The brutality of murder had finalized the dark sorcery of the Froncüdha and through the bones of Morlu, slain by those so deep under the influence of the god that all reason had left their souls, Barrowomb was at last able to return to the material plane.

Within the rolling hills of Bargenham the

people beheld the return of a terror out of legend and called forth the Weavers. But it was Kenwythi who answered first, riding forth with the strongest of his men to meet the monster. Barrowomb took great delight now in revealing his subterfuge. Kenwythi had fallen for the toxic whisper of Elgan lies and promises he had been so eager to hear.

Kenwythi, Barrowomb rasped, was a weakened fool and a perpetrator of wicked atrocities; his soul now belonged to the Elgan host and would never know the company of the Oak Lords.

Enraged and disgusted by the words of the daemon and by the savagery he had perpetrated against innocent men and women, Kenwythi threw himself upon the monster and scored a blow. But Barrowomb was a foe beyond any single man and in turn slew the lord of Gwelenbryal, tearing him asunder and asunder again until all that remained was no longer recognizable as a man. And then the monster turned his ire to the ranks of soldiers who now stood leaderless and bereft.

A great battle unfolded and at the last the Weavers came and were able to finish what Kenwythi had begun. Barrowomb fell, but many were dead and a deep scar of regret and sorrow now sullied the spirit of all who lived to see the next day dawn. Where the servant of evil had fallen the grass was blackened and ever more has the area been barren and dead and no grass or crops will grow there and no cattle ever graze within sight of the place.

the Rill Blade Kenwythi’s remains were buried within the grounds of Ylyntor and the Rill Blade of Amon, renamed in honour of its former owner, was buried to its hilt within the tomb stone atop the dead Conteth’s barrow. Ever has it remained there, for it is said that the sword now holds firm Kenwythi’s soul as Eret's spirit within the stone holds firm the sword, keeping both sword and king from the clutches of the abysmal gods until such time as a true lord of the Angle can draw the blade and use its power for good.

Since the sword was driven into the stone many have tried their hand to claim kingship, but none have succeeded and thus the sword remains firm, a symbol of all that evil takes when it claims the sanity of good men but also of hope that one day the Angle will live under the rule of a just and righteous king.

Aftermath of War A treaty was drawn among the remaining landlords. In Verdandi, the Gwelenbryals would become a monarchy, Kenwythi’s son Canin was crowned as the first of his line and hoped to be named King of The Angle and Anointed Keeper of the Realm. But though he tried to draw the Rill Blade from its stone, he

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could not succeed and was thus titled steward only, the title of Grand Duke of Verdandi given to his name and to his deeds.

The Tome of Kings was identified as the Froncüdha object and given to the Weavers.

But they feared now that Barrowomb’s spirit had returned to the book and took it north to Niflhelm where Mythyar the immortal gazed into its heart and saw there the defeated Pazuzu lingering still. The Literatii of the Arkhold took possession of the object and of its fate nothing more has ever been heard.

Canin was an even tempered and righteous Duke, less vitriolic and nothing of the tyrant that his father had been. He was eager to right the wrongs already inflicted but upon his shoulders was born the weight of his father’s sins. And though he often tried to draw free the Rill Blade he never succeeded and indeed, in the long years of his later life, he was found dead one day upon the mound of his father’s barrow, his hands still clutching the hilt of Amon’s sword.

The other lords of the Angle gained nobility and their families a considerable portion of the wealth now pouring into Verdandi. Their lands would also be secured in their names, all local taxes privy to a centralized tax, but all local policy and law left to the discretion of individual lords.

And so The Angle has remained ever since, with the descendants of Canin ruling as penitent stewards of Kenwythi’s legacy but none deemed worthy to draw the sword from its mystical stone.

the Tablemen of the Mountain Much angst and regret threatened to diminish the Weavers at this time, for many mistakes had they made in their alliance with Kenwythi and they now saw that his words were oft riddled with lies and halftruths and that they had abandoned their own principles for the sake of a political alliance and a permanent base.

They fled the Angle, seat of bitter memories, and sought unification within Wõdoak but found there only strange dreams and nightmare waking visions. So they drifted north into the old lands of Cornoval and then once more into Drood-Cynncarn, city of Cormysyeth and the evil Jarls.

Drood-Cynncarn, city in the shadow of mighty Mount Ascona; city where the wyrmen dwelled no more. For some unknown catastrophe had ravaged the once mighty nation of Cornoval and its people had withered to dust and memory. Jarl Megalamon was dead, his headless corpse tethered by the ankles to a gibbet above the gates of the city, the creaking of the hangman’s rope and the cawing of carrion birds the only sound in all the empty

hollow of that place.

What terrible final doom had befallen that isolated city on the edge of the desert nobody knew, and none were alive there to recount the tale. There were no signs of war, nor of destruction. The city remained, covered in a film of desert sand, but of the many people there was no sign. The sultan’s corpse was alone.

The lingering malice of Meduselah remained potent, a sinister whispering upon the wind.

And so the Weavers sought the Sphere of Gonloric and, placing it upon a boat, sent it drifting out to sea. Empaths among them, keeping strange company for so turbulent a time, invoked the name of Rinan, spirit of flowing rain, that she would claim the artefact and drag it into the depths and keep it safe beneath the waves. Thus did the Sphere leave Ereth, and thus has the memory of that strange object dwindled with the passing of the centuries, lost now into the bosom of Yarnia's oceans and an unknown fate.

The Weavers moved into the Vault of Lynyeth beneath the mountain where they broke into Woodhenge Hall and removed from the sacred chamber the debris of neglect and the dust of long years. And there they laid the body of Megalamon and burned him on a pyre that his soul might depart those sins that would otherwise bind him to his flesh and threaten to haunt forever the ancient city in the shadow of the mountain.

Orster Beomeer, Head Weaver of that age, was seated upon the Druwer’s Chair, a throne formed from the natural arcs and loops of the roots of the Woodhenge tree trunk, a mighty but lonely Roble growing from the floor of the cavern and rising to the vaulted roof above. And about the throne, the table of the Weavers whose vastness lay upon legs formed from the same roots of the same tree, the wyrmen gathered. Orster named them the Tablemen of the Mountain and thus did that most hallowed order meet for the first time.

The Weavers are now firmly established within Mount Ascona, and have long since returned to the Angle to ensure the doctrine of Wythia remains uncorrupted. Their influence is felt from Damnum to Gondaras and, for the most part, remains true to the spirit of Cormysyeth’s original ethos.

The Wythian faith is practiced in most areas of the Angle and southern Sanas Morcorm, with the exception of Elowen, almost a region apart from the rest of the country.

Here the memory of Morvagh and Loren Loremaster lives on, and pockets of Elvian belief still hold sway, a faith still close to that of Wythia, tolerated now by a monarchy humbled by the memory of Kenwythi’s shame and the baleful transgressions of their ancestry.

Beneath the Haligvalt Many are the strong sailors of The Angle, but the folk of Elowen were never counted among them. Thus it was that when the Elvian wytch Morvagh, her brother Loren and their entourage fled the Angle, they did not stray long upon the Damnum channel but put to port instead upon the shore northeast of Mortun Pandi. From there they moved inland toward the beacon of Yrmynsyl.

The Fell now numbered many in this part of the world and Morvagh and Loren’s journey toward the Gungin Gap was perilous. Along the way they lost many of their followers, until finally they came upon an ancient ruin on the eastern coast, dark under the midday shadow of Yrmynsyl and the Haligvalt, wherein they could shelter and make fortification against the chasing hordes.

Many moons later into this part of the world came the loyalists of Morlu and rebellious turncoats of the Gwelenbryal alliance, drawn by that which Wythians have ever named the Call of Yrmynsyl. And as they ran, with the Fell upon their heels, they came to a great gate in the Grail Mountains marked with elemental runes. Therein they found shelter with Morvagh and her ragged band and in the wilderness beyond they found walled towns founded by her brother Loren wherein the Loremasters of Elvian magick held the Fell hordes at bay.

A home was settled then and the people named the land Mortun Pandi and the city became Santun Morvagh (New Town of Morvagh) From Breetun and Bargenham the kith and kin of the exiled came, despite great danger along the way. And even when the Grand old Duke Canin, son of Kenwythi, later arrived in person, withered by the sins of his father, and sinking to his knees before Morvagh to beg her forgiveness, and even as he gave her free leave to return to the Angle as a lady of whatever estate she desired, the people did not stir and Morvagh did not accept. For Mortun Pandi was now their home and they would never again stray from its borders.

the Fall of the Loremasters Great evils befell the towns and villages rising within the lands beyond the walls of Santun Morvagh. For Loren, brother of Morvagh and Libra and son of Orare, had sought to tame the wild lands and make beyond the mountain enclave of his sister’s city a new district of Elowen which he named Lorel.

But there he faced an endless war against a ceaseless horror of Fell enemies, a bitter foe whose slaughtered ranks were ever replenished. For fresh denizens from the deeps of the Gungin Gap were always ready

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to take the place of the fallen and their numbers never diminished.

The Loremasters, original casters of the Elvian runes, stayed by their master’s side and refused with stubborn indignation to yield their homes to the vermin of Gungingeth. They refused to run to the shelter of Morvagh’s city where they might prevail and instead chose to fight and defend Lorel to the bitter end.

And so most of their number perish alongside their founder. Legend tells that Loren died a noble death by their side, and in the shadow of his demise did the creed of the Loremasters of Elowen become lost and forlorn and the towns of Mortun Pandi become bereft of all life.

the Vale of Dread and Chaos Long after the fall of Lorel came boats of crude wood flowing down from the north carrying small bands of fishermen and strange swimming folk who called themselves wyrlung. These were wyrmen from the north of Annarr, their origins unknown. They came, they said, from a great city far along the coast whose existence had long been known to the Listians of Morturth. They knew nothing of the lands of The Angle, but were keen to establish trade with Santun Morvagh and impressed by anyone who could tame so wild a land as that which they called The Draegin Vale (Vale of Dread and Chaos ).

These were the people of Skytor whose civilization had long been growing in Annarr. The tale of that land is told in greater detail elsewhere. For now, these chronicles return to the exploits and achievements of the people of Mortun Pandi, for here was the youngest civilization of the wyrmen now flourishing.

Trade routes by sea were quickly established and, though the folk of Santun Morvagh were offered passage into Skytor and new lives there, again they chose their newly formed home, for here they were masters of a new domain and lived within the spire of Yrmynsyl and the looming underside of heaven, that which is called Karrekith and wherein the pantheon of Oak Lords once dwelled and where great Seth the All-Father dwells perhaps still in the mighty Haligvalt.

Indeed, as the settlement grew, so the seafarers of Skytor found Santun Morvagh to be a new frontier, one of excitement and esoteric mystique. Many began to linger with the southern people and in time a population of note began to flower on the shore of Mortun Pandi and the city of Santun Morvagh grew greater and stronger with each passing year.

The Albion Wall

the Fynereth Canal

Shortly after Canin’s inauguration as Grand Duke of the Angle, word came to him of a city state rising in the east and envoys were sent to investigate. They discovered the devastation of Lorel and the ranging nomads of the Loremaster Creed. A land overrun by Fell monstrosities yet tamed in part upon the eastern coast wherein stood a mighty city port encircled by towering mountains. The gate to the city - a tunnel through the mountains - was firmly closed, its ramparts and bulwarks as a sturdy defiance against the unending threat of Gungin’s host. And all about were scribed the Elemental runes.

The Duke’s counselors greatly feared this massing of Fell strength and wondered at the nature of the strange indomitable city. Rumour had reached them of Caynum Bitterblade’s possible return to Old Urd and those who travelled the Hyns-Horn were reporting that the old lands of Cornoval, north of DroodCynncarn, were populated by monstrosities and wandering Fell.

Worse still, it was said that the incestuous Morvagh of Elowen had survived the war and alongside her brother now commanded the Fell breeds in Mortun Pandi, a wytch-queen harbouring bitter resentments and intentions of war against Kenwythi’s heir.

It was long after this time that Canin visited the city and fell before Morvagh, offering her free state within the Angle. Her refusal seemed to sow within him a final despair and his confidence and his health rapidly diminished so that his death came of little surprise to those who knew him well.

His daughter, the Duchess Lornir Gwelenbryal, came to rule in his stead. A young, ambitious character more akin to the turbulence and power mongering of her grandfather than the humility and pathos of her father, Lornir empathised with her counselors who feared the powerful city on the far coast of Annarr and the Elvian wytch-queen but advised against moves toward war which would likely result in the destruction of both nations.

At Lornir’s bequest great quantities of gorzonite were commissioned from the stone masons of Sanas Morcorm. At great expense these blocks of hewn stone were quarried and shipped across Gwelenbryal Bay into Verdandi, then dragged on cylindrical rails to the edge of Bargenham. A mighty barrier named the Albion Wall, eighty feet high on its Anglian side and one hundred and eighty combined with the great cliffs of western Mortun Pandi on the eastern, constructed along the bluff-top of those cliffs called Saddle Ridge.

This way were the lands of the wytch-queen Morvagh and the ruins of Lorel cut off from the Anglian civilization and so did the diminutive town of Breetun and the simple fields and farms of Bargenham come to stand under the shadow of so mighty and formidable a wonder as the Albion Wall.

In time the Anglian seafarers of Arvortun built ever more sea-worthy boats and inevitably ventured south into the Fynereth Canal (Canal at the End of Ereth ). They came out into the iceberg straits north of Merendir and turned north until they came upon the thriving harbours and port-ways of Santun Morvagh.

The truth was learned about the city in the east, though when the sailors returned home with their news they were greeted with skepticism. When trade routes were established and diplomats from Santun Morvagh started setting foot on Anglian soil, suspicions about the wytch-queen finally began to fade, for here were a people much like those of the Angle, who harboured no grudge and wanted only to live in peace.

By the time Morvagh passed into the Web of Wyrd and rule of the city had passed to her heirs, all enmity and suspicion was evaporated, though the Wythians and Elvians still made for uncomfortable bedfellows and the Elvians were ever aware that the Wythians coveted their location beside the sacred trunk of Yrmynsyl.

Today there is regular communication and trade along the Fynereth Canal between Santun Morvagh, the shipping merchants of Skytor and the merchant fleets of Arvortun.

Wealth now pours into Arvortun as once it did into Verdandi and much power seems to be shifting from the stately realm of the Grand Duke and Verdandi to the west coast city ports and towns.

Gungingeth, City of Thieves North of Santun Morvagh lies the Gungin Gap and around this mighty chasm, from whose belly spills forth all the derelictions of Gungin’s lawless imagination, is the tumbledown city of Gungingeth, known to the wyrmen as the City of Thieves.

Few wyrmen would enter Gungingeth voluntarily or at least not without good reason, for the city is a lawless hive of corruption, chaos and death. Fell crime lords hold sway over shrewd and ruthless politicians who, in turn, seem to bring some semblance of order to the ragged wards and murder-alleys of the city. Pikestaffs stand in long wavering ranks about the outer fringes of the place and atop these are embedded the crow-pecked skulls of long-dead wyrmen, the lost souls of Loren Loremaster’s age whose bones are still treated as spoils of triumph by the wicked Fell who inhabit the city.

In the south can be found the shanty wards of the Orflin folk alongside the imposing and bleak architecture of stone buildings erected by clumsy hands to house the wealthy and powerful of Fell society. While on the northern

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side of the Gungin Gap there exists only chaos and a nightmarish collection of the worst of the Fell, living together in a cesspit of violence, degradation and lawlessness that diffuses gradually into the desolate wastes of Iyfel.

The southernmost spurs of Gungingeth stretch almost to the sea. Here the cities are divided by the crater walls of Grail, the ruins and hovels of Gungingeth’s outermost border breaking about the roots of the mountains and sagging against their bulwarks like a tumour growth, the grisly pikestaffs with their morbid ornaments buried in the very soil that rises to harbour the city of wyrmen.

Beyond both cities lies the desolate wastes of the Helterlands where Fell wander unchallenged until they reach the northern edge of Dwarro wood and the soaring heights of the Wythywyr. Here only the ranging Loremasters, dispossessed of land and home, live a melancholy existence, hunting any stray Fell who venture too close to the borders of the Angle while subsisting as best they can in the limited sanctuary of Dwarro’s northern fringe. Though they remain a righteous creed, they are a people filled with sorrow, hardened by their treacherous environment and the constant threat of battle.

the Haligentsia and Forallum The history of Skytor, northernmost territory of the continent of Annarr, runs concurrent to the unfolding story of Morturth, but its details are oft disputed and rarely recognized as truth by the wyrmen of the south.

Their tale is told not within the history books of the Literatii of Arkhold, for of the Skytorians the Arkhold people - even Mythyar herself - know very little. Instead the story is told by the Skytorians themselves, as written within the holy Nomistic Eucholist of Skytor’s capital city Skyssa.

The roots of the tale begin during the exodus of wyrmen from Yseldyr to Niflhelm.

The Eucholist states that Amon Elyeth did not remain behind in Yseldyr as the histories of the Motians decree, but travelled with the wyrmen, the vanyirborn and with Mot and Merriday, his mother, into the north.

Contrary to the myths, none were abandoned in the southern vale as all the wyrmen - even the old and infirm - were born forth upon Nader Roselvia’s expansive back. Mot had plans for the less able of the wyrmen and even as the people left Yseldyr these plans were known only to him.

Nor did Caynum Bitterblade - then still known by his mother’s name as Cayn Num remain behind within Yseldyr. The exodus carried all the race of the wyrmen over the Sailing Hills and it was here that Cayn vanished from the travelers, revealing himself to be a traitor still and loyal only to the Elgan. He hid within the same caves

used by Mot during his self imposed exile and there survived the Winter of Discontent amid the languishing race of myrmen and in the company of his adopted father, Mardock.

When Mot led the wyrmen north through the flatlands of Morturth toward the highlands of Niflhelm, there to construct the Arkhold, they came to a great volcano which today is called Ascona (Of the Crown of Kings).

Here the sick, the infirm and the very young, along with their parents - for most would not abandon their children - were settled for fear that they would perish in the cold of the north. And they were called the people of Amon , for with them the wyrman king stayed and was sworn to be their protector. From that place, happy that her son was safe, Merriday set forth upon Nader Roselvia’s back to sabotage the rooting road to Yrmynsyl.

Within the warming heart of Ascona, Mot crafted a haven for the people of Amon using the Runes of Naming. Then he and the vanyirborn sisters took the rest of the wyrmen and set forth upon the harsh trail into the frozen northlands where only the fit and the strong would survive to build the Arkhold.

Under Ascona the people of Amon did not stray as the earth shook and the ice formed over the world above. Deep under the mountain they lived, in the company of their king, subsisting for a time upon the creatures living in the lowest reaches of the caves and warm above the volcanic trenches beneath the mountain.

The gia of Amon’s people adapted to salvage sustenance from mineral and stone instead of sun and light and as they mined in search of fresh rock they burrowed ever further, so that the few chambers and halls forged by Mot became the aspect of a vast labyrinth.

And though the old perished before long, the young soon grew and inherited the underworld, which they named Lynyeth, the Halls of Ancestry. And their sons and daughters were many and filled the halls of the labyrinth. They became skilled with stone and then steam, using the vast lava vats under the volcano as forges to smelt ore and build tools.

death, that he might rejoin his lost kin - the vanyirborn, and his long dead parents).

Those who believe Amon perished claim that before the coming of the end of his life he spoke to his counselors of a coming age of light and an awakening from ancient superstitions and subjugation by the rule of the stars. There was, he told his people, only one true divinity within the Nüsphere and it was that which was spoken of by the Elvian spirits, spirits with whom his father had conversed long and in depth during his exile in the Sailing Hills. Only this one divinity could save the wyrmen from evil.

The Supremacy Beyond Reckoning watched all that unfolded beneath the stars and was the great maker of all things. From the roots of Oak Lords had the wyrmen sprung, from the womb of Vanyir and the wisdom of Merriday. Mot had protected them and with fortune the strongest of the wyr now survived in the northern lands. But the Oak Lords were not divine. They were parents, deserving much respect and the gratitude of their children, but they were not gods. Rather, they were simply a people of higher mind, hailing from a different place on the far shores of the

Oily Sea. In truth, there was only one god; the Supremacy Beyond Reckoning, and to him and him alone should Amon’s people direct their worship.

A prophecy Amon made then, for he was between the worlds of the Warp and the Wyrd and could see unfolding histories yet to come.

Great war would befall the lands about Ascona when the ice thawed; a war between brothers and sisters and their many followers heralding evil times. His own people should not settle above Ascona, for they would perish in these wars if they stayed. Instead they should wait until ‘the time of great drowning had changed them’. They should then travel east into the continent of Annarr, to the remains of Yrmynsyl whose roots would be buried still in the depths of the snow, and from there go north until the land reached its end and they came before a great sea.

In this place, he proclaimed, lay lands unsullied and rich of soil where the ice would soon be thawed. There his people should settle their nation and name it Skytor, High Upon The Hill. And there they would make a nation that would one day come to rule all the world of Yarnia.

Amon Elyeth; as depicted in the Nomistic Eucholist of Skytor

The Legacy of king Amon According to the Eucholist of Skyssa, Amon Elyeth, king of the underdark, as he was then known, passed in the second age of the Winter of Discontent (though this claim is oft disputed, even in Allumnic circles, in favour of a belief that Amon lives still but suffers from the malaise of the immortal and lives in hiding, his mind weary of the world and its strife, his longing now only for the relief of

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the People of Lung The faith of Allum was born with Amon’s words and his people embraced it. The prophecy was written and over the many generations to come was passed from father to son, mother to daughter, that when the time came to return to the light of the world, Amon’s people would prevail.

The term of nine thousand years approached its end and the ice thawed, but the thaw sent great torrents of melt-water into the labyrinth beneath Ascona. The wyrmen were flooded and, though the volcanic heat warmed the water, it did not drain and most of the halls of Lynyeth were filled either with water or with steam.

As the water found the deepest culverts leading to Ascona’s volcanic vents it flooded those chambers and the homes of the wyr so that much that had been dry was now drowned. The gia of the wyr soon adapted to extract oxygen from the water and the rising steams, thus when the lands above warmed to degrees enough that Amon’s people could stand comfortably above ground, those who had for the longest time dwelled in the smytheries and vaults of the deepest chambers were become a semi-aquatic folk known to themselves as the People of the Lands of Lung. Moreover they had passed the centuries between the drowning and their emergence into the light of the sun harnessing the energies of water and of pressurized steam.

Even as Laird Listnum Hammerclaw was founding the city of Tunturthis in Listholm, the people of Lung were abandoning their subterranean realm and marching east across the then frozen Damnum Channel, over the white-laden frost grounds still covering the ruins of Halig and Ramat and into the shadow of Yrmynsyl. At their fore the Council of Twelve, ruling body of Ascona's upper caverns, marched. Here were proud wyrmen and women who would one day build the city of Skyssa and become known as Skyssan. And at the head of this council was a powerful Allumnist named Obereth Goldbinder.

They saw the World Tree, withered and dead, Karrekith and the Haligvalt untouched upon its highest point, and they saw, at the crumbling edge of drifts hundreds of feet deep, the bottomless pit of the Gungin Gap. They saw far to the northwest the teeth of Merrlith’s hammer blow, that which is now called the Hammer Dwale, and saw there the clouds of carrion flies who lived within the mountain depths. And though Yrmynsyl loomed, it was an evil place and the air was filled with a sense of coming doom.

So following the instructions of Amon’s prophecy, Obereth turned his people north and walked from these abominations until the snow fell away and their feet were striding over meadows of grass; until the flatlands rose into an undulating paradise of green hills and the land reached its end. For here the

breaking waters of inland seas lapped against golden shores, the ice foretold by Amon already thawing, the land High Upon the Hill already lush.

Here Obereth settled the nation to be named Skytor. Two cities would emerge as the wyrmen in Morturth fought their bitter wars, and the western nations of Sanas Morcorm rose and fell. In the industrial city of Stratum the wyrlung of Ascona's drowned quarters perfected their skill with metal and steam, building a progressive society far in advance of any other, layer upon layer, high into the sky. While in the temple city of Skyssa the cultists of Allum and the Council of Twelve forged their faith in the Supremacy Beyond Reckoning and built therein a powerful nation of enlightened and civilized people.

the Gigaerack In the year 253 of the Age of Thaw, after Skytorians had already established trade with the Elvians of Santun Morvagh, the people of The Angle were exposed, with no small ceremony, to the ways of the wyrlung of Skytor.

The farmers and peasants of the northern Angle watched in disbelief as a Gigaerack - a living vehicle used as transport by the people of the city of Stratum - crawled sluggishly over the Albion Wall and collapsed in the fields west of Elek, the great multi-storey gondolier upon its vast shell rocking dangerously as it sank to its knees.

The Gigaerack, stricken by a concerted attack by massed Fell archers on the eastern coast, languished for many days in the farmlands of Granger, and from that day forth the people of The Angle and the people of Skytor knew one another at last.

Seventeen hundred years have passed, and now the Gigaerack comes frequently to the Angle, lurching in from the western ocean and landing fields constructed specifically for the task. Trade and travel between Skytor and Angle is frequent, though the Wythians are somewhat wary of wyrlung technology and disapprove strongly of the Allumnic religion. Nevertheless, the ingenuity, natural charisma and imports of the Skytorians have succeeded in overriding such concerns and so do the Wythians find themselves warming to the men of north Annarr.

Modern Skytor is no longer the natural idyll of old, though it remains one of the most spectacular places on Ereth. The cultic city of Skyssa, which stretches across much of the north western coast, is a sprawling, waterlogged metropolis of saffron-coloured buildings of silver, stone and glass, stunning architecture and smooth white roads nestled in wetlands north of the mighty Thrymrein Mountains.

Here stands Haligen House and the government district, gateway into the

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northern wards and all-seeing government of both Skyssa and Stratum; Castle Festungern, a star-shaped fortress made from bronze, gold and crystal within the halcyon setting of the Earharben Vale, a training centre for the Skyssan military and, in particular, the Allumni paladins; and the formidable Forallum, Temple of the Arch, a grandiose ziggurat wherein the priests of Allum congregate.

In the northeastern corner of Skytor stands the sky-reaching metropolis of Stratum, a place as different from Skyssa as black is different from white.

Stratum is a towering city, squared at the edges, as wide and as tall as the highest mountains of Niflhelm. Seemingly, Stratum is constructed one layer at a time from a bewildering array of materials, giving it the outward appearance of a great metalic monolith striated with horizontal seams of different size, texture and colour. Within these layers, crushed one atop the other, live the wyrlung people, the Steamsmyths, Electrasmyths, Soulsmyths and followers of Numinar whose religion is science and whose otherworldly appearance is quite at odds with the manicured and well-heeled characteristics of Skyssan high society.

Much as the cramped cavern labyrinths of Ascona must once have been, the levels of Stratum are compressed sandwich-fashion to form a huge and crowded society of people who live shoulder to shoulder in an environment filled with steam, heat and moisture. The culture is complex and strange, ordinances of hierarchy, class, caste and structure maintaining a strict balance of selfregulating law and order based on status, responsibility and engineering talent.

Those who dwell in the core of the city may never see the light of day, and these are the citizens who possess median status. They are the Steamsmyths and Electrasmyths, the forge workers, engineers and conduit rats. They are tasked with the most grueling and mundane of jobs but are happy, in their own way, with their given lot.

The talented and indispensable citizenry those smyths deemed to be at the top of their profession or at least commanding the utmost respect from their peers - dwell in the outer skin of the city where they might enjoy such epicurean delights as a window, or an air-vent bringing in the fresh, cool scent of the world outside.

The wealthy, powerful and important (albeit of a lower class to the Skyssans) dwell at the top of the city, above the clouds in the balcony layers or in high ceilinged chambers with windows and arch-windowed cloisters that encircle the city edges like angular serpents.

Those who suffer such low status they are barely considered part of the social structure at all languish in the cellar levels into which all the effluence of the city above is poured.

Despite this apparently dystopian culture, the

wyrlung are a largely happy breed and accept their positions with a humility born of long years unquestioning loyalty in the service of their community. There are no restrictions on moving beyond the city walls, and many wyrlung have jobs outside the main bulk of Stratum. Some tend to the Gigaerack terminal and the Gigaerack themselves, while others man the many iron-clad steamships that ply the coastal waters. Others still are given the honourable task of maintaining the outer walls, a job with high mortality rates that require its engineers spider up and down the dizzying outer flesh of the city on rickety scaffolding, ropes, cradles and ladders.

Outlanders visiting Stratum will find the interior of the city, and the apparent subjugation of its lower caste citizens, unpleasant. However, the wyrlung themselves are well adapted to the city and thrive on the dank, cramped and gloomy conditions inside.

While there are obvious inequality issues to which the wyrlung are not oblivious and with which many are not content, there is a sense of security and indomitability about Stratian culture rarely seen elsewhere in the world.

the Fell Territories Between Mortun Pandi and the northlands of Skytor lie the dark and grey-washed wastes of Iyfel (Evil) and Nińel (pron. Nin-yell; Highland of the Holy Trinity). These are the ancient lands of the Dunmerr, of Uselyorn, of Crewel and of the flying Engel, of Myrcwynn, mother of the myrmen and of Mardock, Neomatt and Manye.

Here Uselrein once stood, wherein the wyrmen were enslaved to serve the whim of house Elgan and here the road to the roots of Yrmynsyl was broken by Merriday so that the Elgan should perish in the flames of Merrlith.

In Iyfel, whose southern border is the bank of the vast Gungin Gap, there stands still the foundation stones of the cities of Halig and Ramat. Here too are the monolithic remains of Alluvia, the mansion of Crewel, and the torture pits, a deep moat surrounding the crumbled ruins of a ziggurat filled with bones and the ghosts of an age long passed.

Where once a divine garden of breath-taking beauty surrounded the Elgan cities there is now only the Marowan Flatlands and the twin jagged fingers of the Hammer Dwale, fanglike mountain peaks driven skyward by the terrible energies of Merrlith. Within this unnatural massif the sprained and labyrinthine tunnels and chambers of the cellars of Ramat have been hoisted upward, crushed together into strange forms so that working fortress vaults have been transformed into twisted bores and tilting rooms, stretched chambers and bottomless pits gazing out upon the wastelands below through oddly angled windows.

Beyond the scorched earth of Iyfel, the gradual recovery into northern lands begin,

the river Flay carving a neat division between that which may one day be good once more and that which is forever dead.

Nińel is a hard country of dark stone and rugged highlands. Undergrowth is tangled and sharp, shot through with thorn and poison gorse. The flats are featureless, scarred as if by the fall of some mighty sword and quiet as a graveyard, while the gradual slopes of the highlands are covered with broken stone and heaps of jagged rock. Pools of acidic water gather here and rains often fall that are capable of melting leather and metal, or searing bare flesh.

In both Iyfel and Nińel the memory of the great evil visited upon Yarnia lingers and the influence of Uselyorn and his brethren can still be felt, palpable and unsettling as watching eyes crawling over the spine or cold fingers groping in shadow.

Mardock dwells in the labyrinth beneath the Hammer Dwale and there too lurk the Mummer Men of old, a mass as busy as black ants in their hive who dwell in pits and caverns filled with the filthy hum of carrion flies by the trillion.

The black fleshed myrmen wander in nomadic groups, meandering aimlessly from the lower gates of Mardock’s domain or as they emerge from Old Urd and across Damnum, seeking mischief in Annarr. Fell monsters inhabit these lands too, and in great abundance, for there are no checks to balance their progress and prevent their spread. To the far north the mountains of Thrymrein stand firm against all such threats and prevent ingress into Skytor, while the Pass of Obereth is routinely patrolled by Skyssan soldiery ensuring no wandering hordes or attacking forces from Urd slip into the Highland Ride.

But all the lands thereabout are untamed and southward as far as Gungin, all territory is perilous with the Fell infection.

the Islands of the Inland Sea There are two ‘islands’ within the known world of Ereth, though in actuality neither land mass is an island but is connected to a greater continent whose contours remain hidden beneath the ice of north and south.

Beyond the Inland Sea there exist many actual islands and archipelagos, though most of these are uninhabited or logged as being extremely perilous in the chronicles of the Argos. The majority of island land-masses beyond the Inland Sea are frozen and featureless and of no interest to the explorer, or are lost beyond the perilous band of the Iceberg Straits where few ships dare to pass.

To the south lies the basalt land mass of Yrmeneth, known to be devoid of wyrman civilization. Yrmeneth is home to Fyrnysforge, a large and active volcano whose regular

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eruptions have been known to cause tsunamis whose inexorable waves frequently threaten the harbours of Santun Morvagh.

Exploration of Yrmeneth’s strange greenearth wastelands has revealed much potential for colonization, particularly in the northeast where the ruins and foundations of some previous attempt to settle there would provide good grounds for a new town. However the volcano’s instability prevents any serious effort to build or settle, as does the presence of the Nader-Fell Crudent, a gigantic winged monstrosity who dwells in the bowels of Fyrnysforge.

In the crux of sea where Yrmeneth meets the frozen wastes of Merendir the currents of the Sargaso Bay have drawn inland immeasurable banks of a strange clambering seaweed whose immense mass has formed a vast and deadly landmass. Within this strange and undulating realm live a host of some of the most unearthly sea creatures known to roam the inland seas, while the seaweed shelf itself is the graveyard of many ships, ensnared and held like fish in a net, their crews long decimated by the denizens of the region, the ships themselves overrun with climbing weed.

North of Skytor and within easy reach of eastern Niflhelm lies the island of Sereth, original home to the Gigaerack. Sereth is a sub-tropical land of dense pine forests and rugged tundra, warm to the south, but frigid where the ice-floes of Frothrein infringe upon its northerly coast and icy winds flay the leaves from the palms. Here, wyrmen with origins in Skytor, have built for themselves a small and isolated community called Tortas which maintains a perilous existence against the many fae and wild animals indigenous to the island.

Sporadic Gigaerack landings occur upon the large beach under the western cliffs of Tortas and this way trade of goods harvested from the island ensures survival. Such exports include exotic sun fruit, berries and nuts from the jungles, large quantities of solar rice grown in flooded paddy fields east of the city and many unusual varieties of sun fish farmed from the shallow coral-rich waters of Tortas Bay. The island, and in particular Tortas (being an ideal starting point), are popular destinations for daredevil prospectors and fortune hunters eager to source Sereth’s hidden treasures. The pine jungles and shorelines are known to be riddled with diamond and gold-rich caves, though the caves are also home to many predatory forms of wildlife.

Cult: Motia Culture: none to speak of; Niflhelm is almost entirely uninhabited.

Notable Landmarks: The Arkhold, Losia, Mount Scartaris, the Vanyir Vale.

Prevailing Climate: Snow, ice, subzero/freezing temperatures, blizzards.

During the last days of Nirvemba the snowline advances down the mountainsides, passes are closed off by vast drifts of snow and temperatures plummet. By mid-Dancemba the cold and blizzards are such that anyone travelling in the mountains will swiftly perish unless they are particularly well equipped or exceptionally hardy.

Government Type: Minor theocratic enclave.

Government: Literati of Arkhold Ruler: Mythyar Num, high priestess and patron immortal of the Literatii.

Overview Niflhelm is the northern-most land mass before the ice wastes of Frothrein.

Travel in Niflhelm is perilous, requiring preparation and a good stock of provisions.

The terrain is mountainous for the most part and unforgiving. Apart from the obvious dangers and difficulties associated with mountaineering and travel in sub-zero temperatures, the great white plains, glaciers and passes can hide innumerable perils: chasms lie in wait beneath blankets of soft snow just waiting for a misplaced footfall; sudden blizzards reduce visibility to zero; colossal ice drifts shift constantly under foot; bears; frostbite and chronic exhaustion can all threaten the mortality of the ill prepared or unlucky traveler.

Preparation is key to survival. Cold weather gear is essential, as is some form of shelter.

The itinerant will require dry clothing during the night, a warm tent and sleeping bag, plentiful provisions, a reliable pack animal and, preferably, a guide and team of packcarriers to carry food stores and items of equipment. Climbing gear is crucial, as is firecraft equipment. Keeping tinder dry should always be at the forefront of the traveler's mind, even if they can fall back on rune magick to create fire (Orphic Plasm may be in short supply, rune-tools might be lost or broken etc.).

"Full many a glorious morning have i seen flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye."

Marching across the white snow covered plains of mid and north Niflhelm will require slow and steady forward progress, checking every inch of the way for crevasses hidden under the snow or thin ice under drifts covering subterranean pools within caverns heated by volcanic activity.

Niflhelm

In coastal regions the risk of encountering Fell enemies is low, but the shorelines are the

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haunt of snow bears called Giganteen and here they hunt seals and walrus in the sea.

Bears tend only to approach human camps or caravans if they smell food, and only then usually at night. Generally, during the day, they will be glimpsed in the distance, or their unusual and startling prints (usually two sets of four paw prints accompanied by a long serpent-like mark dragged in the snow and invariably a great quantity of blood from some recent catch) may be seen meandering away across plains of virgin snow. Attacks will only occur if the bear is attracted by the strong smell of food, of blood or by the sounds of an animal or wyrman in distress (indicating easy prey).

Penguins and pinnipeds are likely to be encountered in coastal regions, with seasonal colonies gathering in great numbers during mating season in the months of Apryl and Merriday. Penguin colonies migrate south in winter and return north to spawning grounds in the ice-floes of Frothrein and may be encountered shuffling along the inland regions bordering the mighty cliffs of Losia during this time.

The Inland Sea to east and west are home to a variety of sea creature, including seals, walrus, squid, jellyfish, whales and sharks. The lone but deadly sleeper shark is numerous under frozen water and will attack anyone who falls through the ice and even those who walk over the ice, oblivious to the danger lurking below.

Dog sharks are also plentiful around the coast, hunting in small but frenetic shoals and often found massing in the shallows where their threshing motions may attract other curious predators.

Perhaps the most fearsome cold water hunter is the Great White, a hunter of seals and other pinnipeds found predominantly in the east Inland Sea between the island of Sereth and the cliffs of the Losia Plateau. Great White can grow up to forty feet in length and are ferocious when roused, able to easily capsize a small boat and devour any unfortunates who subsequently fall into the water.

Ancien Valley A horseshoe shaped valley in the shadow of the rugged shoulders of Mount Mithrael and Mount Corona to the west and the pyramid shaped Mount Eret to the east. An old roadway leads up the northern spur of the valley wall to a lower terrace of Mount Mithrael, from where it joins Norden’s Pass.

Arkhold, the Beyond the Cursus Chasm and the isthmus separating Niflhelm from the rest of Morturth lies a flatland of shale and flint whose contours rise steadily toward a sheer escarpment of glacier-worn granite which, in turn, melts into the block work of colossal stone battlements.

The Arkhold, a vast fortress built by the

hands of Mot Elyeth using the Runes of Naming and by those wyrmen and women who made the long exodus out of distant Yseldyr in the Age of Hammerfall, stands here in the southernmost tail of Niflhelm.

The sweeping terraces and block work loom above and beyond a great wall carved from the side of a granite plateau. Bleak architecture, designed to present a blunt and unyielding face to any and all perils rising from the south, bites into the jagged foothills and snowline of Mount Scartaris. And only in the shadow of this mightiest of all mountains does the enormity of the Arkhold seem diminutive by comparison. For behind and above the giant domes, grim walls and squat turrets rises the body of the mountain and the immense glacier of the Vanyir Vale, white with snow and so high as to be more a part of the sky than the ground.

A flatland of grey soil and hard rock forms the southern approach to the Arkhold and breaks with an uncompromising suddenness against the sheer escarpment. A visitor to the Arkhold will naturally approach the base of a curving road (1) flanked by mounted crags of basalt and wide enough for six wagons to drive abreast. This road hooks around to follow the ridge of the plateau and rises at so sharp an acclivity that even the fittest walker will be taxed to reach the top.

The road pauses at a corner formed by the meeting of two mighty ramparts (2). The

easternmost of these has been looming over the approaching visitor since he turned into the crook of the plateau, the towering end of a wedge hundreds of feet tall, tapering steadily and in concert with the visitor as he climbs until its parapet stands just sixty or seventy feet above his head. Here is a square terrace and two bastions, a southern and eastern.

Both are startlingly large and both are furnished with enormous solid oak doors in their outer arch and heavy iron portcullis blocking the inner, a no-man's land of deep shadow, black marble columns and polished flagstones sandwiched between to create an airlock vast enough to trap a standing army.

The visitor rings a great brass bell to attract the attention of Motian ostiaries dwelling in projecting gallery levels far above the gates. Both the doors and the portcullis are opened from these galleries using a system of levers, cogs and chain, the weight of either portal too heavy to be moved by any means other than the mechanical. Ostiaries may descend and emerge from smaller doors which open onto balconies twenty or so feet above the road if the visitor isn't expected or recognized.

Questions are directed into the upper end of vertical copper piping which runs from the balcony down to a grilled box at head height. Here answers

must be directed in turn if the visitor wishes to gain ingress.

The visitor who then passes through the eastern gate will emerge into a crescent shaped bailey. Ahead and above towers Fostrian House (3), primary keep of the Arkhold, whose featureless walls and black marble dome shelters the uppermost and sublevels of the main hold. Access to the top level is through a large gatehouse to the north whose three tiered sections are each connected by steeply sloping drawbridge and iron gates.

The Arkhold

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From the battlements of the last tier of these gatehouses the visitor might linger for a moment before entering the dome of Fostrian House to gaze upward at the dizzying bulk of the Motian temple (8) and its surrounding structures (4). Here dwell the latter-day Literatii priests and somewhere in dungeon levels far below those buildings visible on this high flanking ridge lives Mythyar Num, immortal of the Epic Age and patron founder of the Motian cult.

The visitor who opts to venture through the southern gate instead of the eastern will find himself at the northern end of an open air town (6) & (7). Here the road taken into the escarpment continues, widening and climbing steeply in a sickle-shaped curve with fingers cutting away to form avenues and alleyways.

Hulks of grey stone rise on either side, their windows mere slits where there are windows at all, doors incongruously narrow and low compared with the monolithic architecture into which they are set. Here and there a tiny wooden balcony or narrow stairway clings to the slab-like face of a structure, but for the most part the buildings are featureless, raw in their simplicity and intimidating in their size.

At the end of the sickle-road the steep incline becomes an improbably wide stairway of white stone flanked on both sides by plinths upon which stand statues of Mot Elyeth and Merriday, his sister. At the top of the stairs the incline levels off and flares into an octagonal terrace. Cliffs forming the buttress feet of Mount Scartaris present a brutal and sheer face to the visitor and here, carved out of the very stone of the cliffs, stands the Citadel of Narbureth (5). Narbureth was once both a palace of elder kings and queens and an entrance into the underdark of Niflhelm; the Labyrinth of Garrack Zans. Today the initial chambers of Garrack Zans house the library of the Bibliostella and the citadel is home to those priests and cultic scholars who have dedicated their lives both to its preservation and its study.

Beyond the library, caves leading into deeper secrets hidden beneath Scartaris are sealed by great doors of oak and Naming runes. Here are hallowed chambers, sacrosanct to the Literatii

as the living halls of the matriarchs when once they dwelled together in the Arkhold.

For more information on the Motian priests and current inhabitants of the Arkhold, see Volume 1, System & Setting (Creeds/Mission) and (Order of Mythyar).

Auroch's Haven A small bay and inlet into the boggy marshes of Phrygia. Auroch’s Haven seems like a reasonable spot to harbour a boat but in fact the waters leading to shore are very shallow and treacherous, covering water-logged mud that will quickly suck under anyone attempting to wade ashore.

The auroch, from which this cove derives its name, are a species of shaggy, four headed water buffalo found in the hillside slopes bordering Phrygia (see Wyrd Pandemonium).

Cape Caer A granite headland jutting into the east Inland Sea. On the tufted grass plains atop Caer can be found various barrows of tumbledown stone. Here too are the ruins of some kind of building whose roof has long since crumbled away, leaving only a variety of standing columns and a large platform. The place has no name and its history is likely only to be found recorded in the depths of the Arkhold's library vaults.

Castle Novus An ancient ruin of unknown origin now said to be home to the tremendous Naderfell Aurulent. The ruins stand upon the pinnacle of a mountain island jutting from the frozen sea of the far north and cuts a majestic vision, rising from the ice mists, the great white wastes of Frothrein forming an epic backdrop.

See The Wyrd Pandemonium, the bestiary accompanying the Wyrd series for details of the Naderfell Aurulent.

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Corona (Mount) Northernmost mountain of Niflhelm and one of the highest pinnacles in Ereth (28,000 ft above sea level).

Mount Corona (The Crowning Mountain) marks the last boundary between the landmass of Niflhelm and the great northern ice-wastes of Frothrein. A famous Anglian bardsong about this prodigious mountain describes Corona in poetic terms:

The summit of the jagged crown, an endless white doom laden land, sky turns steel to meet the ground, a silver desert; frozen sand, no life upon the frigid tain, the endless realm of cold Frothrein.

The base of Corona where it rises from Norden’s Pass and the flank of Mount Mithrael already stands at nearly 18,000ft above sea level and climbers reaching this region will already have faced a difficult ascent through the terrain of Niflhelm.

Any further ascent will take climbers toward the ‘death zone’ which lies at around 26,000ft.

At this height frostbite will affect any exposed skin and the air will be too thin to breathe without suffering ill effects. Here too the snow is frozen solid, every surface covered in slippery ice which may hide treacherous chasms and fissures in the rock below.

The debilitating effects of the death zone are so intense that most individuals will have their actions and movements reduced by about 75%. Thus the last part of the climb, at which point the climber is already utterly spent, will prove the hardest and take almost as long as the rest of the climb combined.

Where a climber loses the ability to continue from exhaustion, frostbite or lack of air they are almost certainly lost. Carrying them off the mountain will be virtually impossible for survivors and the body will quickly deteriorate if it stops moving, freezing solid within minutes.

Crackator Cliffs & the Losian Plateau The Losian Plateau, a flat topped mountain whose highest point lies at 15,000 ft above sea level, is banked on its eastern side by the near vertical body of Mount Skythirst, the lower escarpment of Skythirst forming the mighty Crackator Cliffs.

When viewed from the sea the cliffs present a daunting stretch of Jurassic coastline, countless strata of different hue and texture showing the primordial history of Yarnia in colourful layers. Various small coves and bays stand between immense natural buttresses that sweep upward to support the teramorphous mountain above. In days of old this place was named Land of the Giants and, indeed, the name Crackator is derived from Kraken Tor, which translates as The Hill of Sea Giants, though the modern interpretation is different (see below).

Scaling the cliffs is a feat beyond all but the most gifted climber. The slope is gradual to begin with, becoming sheer at around 7,000ft, with few ledges or terraces for resting or making camp. The uppermost face of the cliffs curve outward like a cresting wave, presenting an immense bluff of overhanging rock, almost

impossible to climb with conventional equipment.

To those drifting near to the enormity of Crackator one element of the view is likely to stand out above all others. A crack, jagged as lightning and unbroken along its length, crosses diagonally across the face of Mount Skythirst from a lower northern bay in the cliffs where the sea booms in its black depths to the southern shoulder of the mountain high above where, on most days, the peak and the end of the crack will be hidden by cloud.

The crack marks the end of a continental fault, this visible aspect being more than two miles long and with a width (at its widest point) of 20 feet. Depth is unknown but records in Verdandi dating from explorations made during the Age of Hammerfall suggest the crack may be several miles deep.

Excursions to explore the depths of the crack are known to have been planned by the Guild of Delvers, but thus far no crews have received funding enough to launch an actual expedition.

In modern language the name Crackator (the Cracked Hill) refers to the great crack across the face of Mount Skythirst and the original meaning (that of Kraken Tor) is now only likely to be found in historical records and ancient texts.

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The Losian Plateau itself is one of the most inaccessible places in Ereth, a land mass rising above most of the central mountains and ridges of Niflhelm, its summit a flat shelf up to the escarpments of Skythirst. The plateau is a mesa of uncommon size, its uppermost face covering an area of six square miles.

15,000ft above sea level, the top of the mesa is usually surrounded by or lost within a halo of cloud which, to anyone standing upon the wide flatlands of its summit, either gives the impression of an island on a turbulent sea of white foam or a land shrouded in thick fog.

Losia is known in the histories of the wyrmen as the location to which Wegwyr Num and her husband travelled after they and their Drogen cultists were banished from the sacred halls of the Arkhold by the vanyirborn matriarchs Mythyar and Cormysyeth Num. Though the majority of the Drogen cultists have long since migrated out of Losia and dwell now in the land of Celtrein, the whereabouts of Wegwyr and those loyalists who remained by her side is unknown. She may live still in Losia, severed from the rest of the world and hidden from the eyes of travelers and explorers by the barriers of Kaukaurau, Crakator and Mount Skythirst. Or she may be gone from that place and living elsewhere beyond the sight and memory of men.

Elra (Mount) A prominent peak in the north of Niflhelm whose summit stands at around 18,000ft above sea level. Elra consists of three separate peaks, each of about the same height. At the root of the peaks lie snowbound valleys called the Triborn March. These spiral gradually up from the Gehydder Vale and provide a slow, trudging route into the highlands of Mithrael and a direct road to Nordens Pass.

Eret (Mount) A pyramid shaped mountain in the north east of Niflhelm whose summit stands at around 21,000ft above sea level. Notable for its sheer western face carved with a variety of runes depicting the name of Eret himself, that of ‘sacred Mot’ and the cryptic phrase ‘That

Beacon Which Marks The Way for the Guardian Eagles Let No Lord of Oak Possess Nor Sunder'. The runes are hundreds of feet wide and immense, easily seen from the pass of the Wearywend.

The sides of Mount Eret are peppered with small holes, in some places so dense that, from a distance, they give the face of the mountain a honeycomb texture. The holes are thought to be bores excavated by some form of indigenous bird. No bird dwells here now and thus the holes must belong to a time before the Age of Hammerfall when life in Niflhelm was still abundant.

Floa Valley A narrow valley, the Floa offers a long but steady hike to the region of Noden’s Pass and Mount Corona beyond through a mixture of deep snow and

slippery permafrost, bypassing the alternative mountainous terrain.

The southern mouth of the valley lies at around 8000ft above sea level and climbs swiftly to 16,000 ft where the two horns of Mount Mithrael and Mount Kalderhorn meet at a glacial headwall.

Gehydder Vale Starting at sea level and climbing eventually to an elevation of 8000ft, the Gehydder Vale pass (meaning Hidden Path of Ereth) offers a hard but walking (as opposed to climbing) ascent into the heights of Niflhelm, weaving between the major peaks to bring travelers into the heart of the highlands.

As such the shore of the vale is a popular landing point for explorers and treasure hunters seeking the Wearywend or ways into the deeper mountain regions of Niflhelm without first passing through the lands of Phrygia or the snowbound plains of The Vanyir Vale.

Giganteen Coast The solidity of the coastline here and the fairly deep waters close in to shore make this a useful landing point for travelers intending to explore southern Niflhelm.

One of the coves found in Giganteen leads to an ancient cobbled path which winds up and along the north/south ridge-line of Naburen, affording a breath taking view of the Vanyir Vale and Mount Scartaris to the west and Phrygia to the east.

At points this path climbs so steeply that it becomes a

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staircase formed from what appear to be fossilized logs embedded in the mountainside. Lichen grows on the surface of these, making them slippery and treacherous.

The path climbs from sea level to around 14,000ft where it terminates at the foot of Mount Eret. A spur also winds away toward the west just before Elra, taking the traveler into the Wearywend and the Willodelve Stannary (see Wearywend).

Kaldyrhorn (Mount) Horn of Kaldyr, spirit of winter's coming, Kaldyrhorn is Niflhelm’s most northwesterly mountain and the last mass of land before the apparently endless ice shelf of Frothrein.

Kaldyrhorn summit stands 16,000ft above sea level, a mighty peak, yet still dwarfed by Mount Corona in whose unequalled shadow it stands, almost a mere rampart of that greater mountain.

Kaukaurau Cliffs The western escarpment of the Losian Plateau, the mighty Kaukaurau loom above the terraced steppes of Mount Hehtor and the marshlands of Phrygia.

With their base at an elevation of around 8000ft above sea level and a summit at nearly 15,000ft, the cliffs dominate the skyline in the east and overwhelm the senses of anyone travelling in the lowlands of the west.

Like their counterpart on the far side of Losia, the Cliffs of Crackator, the uppermost aspect of the Kaukaurau curls over like a breaking wave, forming a bluff which will stop in their tracks all but the most seasoned climbers.

In the north western corner of the region stands a single finger of rock, almost as tall as the cliffs themselves, but falling short of the uppermost crest of the bluff by some distance. A spiraling stairway, steep as a ladder at some points and perilous to climb, twines around the girth of the rock and weaves a path of sorts to the flattened summit. Here is a wide hill of

tufted grass upon which a solitary oak tree grows, its trunk bowed over toward the cliffs, its uppermost branches forming a natural bridge onto the flatlands of Losia. The tree is named in the histories of these lands as the Oak of the Wegwyr-Way and is believed to be the method by which Wegwyr Num and her followers achieved the summit of Losia.

Though the rock and the tree provide a more easily conquered climb to the plateau than the face of the cliffs, they both present a terrifying challenge and a dizzying ascent. One slip on the stairway will mean certain death, while the oak, standing almost six and a half thousand feet above the base of the rock, is no simple climb in itself.

Mithrael (Mount) Second most dominant peak of the northwest region of Niflhelm’s highlands, Mithrael’s summit stands nearly 24,000ft above sea level.

Mithrael means Legendary and Elevated King and the name may seem strangely fitting when the mountain is viewed from the south, for when the misty peak of Mount Corona seems to rise like the spires of a jagged crown above Mithrael’s prodigious head the mountain takes on what can only be described as a regal aspect.

Naburen More of a mountain range than a single peak, this long and treacherous ridgeline is named after Naburen Num, father of Dannanion Num and grandfather of List who would become Hammerclaw, first Laird of the Age of Thaw and principle founder of Listholm. The mountain is so named because its ridge was well travelled by Naburen and his dedicated followers. Naburen was a skilled and adventurous climber and explorer but purportedly a risk-taker and ultimately the mountains would claim his life.

Today traces of Naburen's presence on the ridgeline can be found in the form of occasional stone huts wherein he and his people would rest between climbs. At the northern end of the long north/south ridge can be found tumbledown cairns and barrows, the burial sites of those who died during Naburen's many risky expeditions into the high mountains.

Direct evidence of Naburen himself can be seen in an engraving marked on a high tombstone that stands over the barrow of several wyrmen, their names recorded as Mardun, Naban and Sarpanin, all of the family Damkina. Below these names is etched in a tongue resembling most closely that of ancient Cornovish the passage:

They passed into the Web of Wyrd because I paused in my resolve. Let it be known I shall forever grieve - Naburen Num.

Nordens Pass Norden, meaning Beast’s Lair of the North.

Situated at the base of Mount Corona, the pass lies nearly 18,000ft above sea level and is littered with crevasses hidden under drifts of powdery snow.

As well as the risk of planting a foot in one of these bottomless chasms, the thick snow covering Corona’s lowermost slopes is extremely unstable and the area vulnerable to quakes, thus the likelihood of an avalanche is high. These avalanches may be the beast to which Norden’s name alludes, however some believe there is a more literal interpretation in the name and that Norden is home to some great and terrible creature out of legend.

Phrygia This lowland region between Naburen and the steppes of Mount Hehtor is a perilous swampland of fens, peat bogs, marshes, quick sands and tar pits, all ready to suck into their wallowing depths the unwary and the careless.

Phrygia is at its worst toward the shoreline where the ground and the sea meld together to form a treacherous morass of mud flats hidden under inches of water.

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Many a sea farer, having put in at Auroch’s Haven, has stepped into what he assumed to be shallows only to find his feet swallowed by the ground. Once the mire has a hold it is all but impossible to break free and a horrible death is assured as the tide rises.

A breed of pig called the Phrygian mirehopper lives in this region and on the slopes of the flanking mountains. These creatures seem to have an instinctive knowledge of the location of safe paths through the swamp.

Any guide taking travelers through Phrygia will attempt to tether one of these pigs to a leash before allowing the creature to lead them and their charge to safety.

Unfortunately, due to its scarcity and its particularly tender flavour, Phrygian pork is considered a rare delicacy and poaching raids are becoming ever more frequent. The result is a sharp decline in their numbers and it is therefore much harder to find the animal in order to follow his footsteps through the bogs.

On the firmer ground of the hillside slopes bordering Phrygia can be found the great horned and many-headed beasts known as auroch whose shaggy pelt is oft worn by the Kengard soldiers of Listholm to keep them warm in their remote keeps and citadels.

Solgora (Mount) Known more commonly as Hehtor, meaning literally, High Hill, Solgora is a conical Mountain to the west of the Kaukaurau Cliffs whose summit lies some 16,000ft above sea level. At its summit stands the ruins of AgaLithrill, an ancient structure whose origin and purpose are unknown. Legend has it that this was once the home of Aura Num during her self-imposed exile from the lands of the Oak Lords (see the volume 1, System & Setting, The Oaken Myths) but few have seen the ruins personally and scholars remain skeptical.

The ruins are purportedly strange in design and stand atop hidden sub-levels which delve deep into the heart of the mountain. Rumours also persist, particularly in the Delver's Guild, that Hehtor is actually a snow-capped volcano and that the ruins of Aga-Lithrill are the uppermost part of a mighty tower that rises from the crater and the main vent below.

These rumours seem to be supported by the name of the ruin, Aga-Lithrill meaning Eye pierced by the Barb of Stone.

Scartaris The largest, but not the tallest, mountain of Niflhelm. In the southwestern corner of the mountain stands the Arkhold, while the eastern slopes graduate into the great glacier plains of the Vanyir Vale.

From most of the northern realms of Morturth and Annarr Scartaris dominates the horizon, a great bulwark against the more distant and oft ethereal mountains bordering Frothrein. When the sun climbs the eastern crest of the world, dawn washes the flank of Scartaris with a dull brush of deepest grey, the mountain's hulking silhouette rising like a breaking wave above even the highlands of Listholm. At midday the Vanyir Vale glistens like a white lake and as the sun sets toward evening Scartaris presents a wall of orange and red, like banks of distant fire raging upon the crown of the world.

change suddenly from mere inches to many metres and, where the snow is powdery, the traveler may drop down, forced to plough their way through the freezing drifts to lesser depths before frostbite sets in.

The vale is pockmarked with numerous crevasses, gulleys and chasms, all hidden beneath the snow and ever ready to swallow unwitting victims. These cracks in the permafrost open into an underground labyrinth of gaping caverns and frozen dungeons, ancient as the world and interconnected by a network of endless subterranean tunnels.

Wearywend, the Here is an exposed valley at about 9000ft above sea level, nestled between three mountains. The Wearywend (so named after the exhausting trek those who frequently came here were forced to make to reach their destination) is home to the Willodelve Stannary, a derelict tin mine dating from the early years of the Arkhold. The prominent tower pithead which, at a glance, may appear to be some kind of turret or the ruined remains of a castle, stands centre stage, white and gleaming in the snow, the metal wheel once used to winch the elevator cable into the main shaft embedded in the apex of the tower and now fused and inert through the long ages. Inside the pithead is a shaft leading to the extensive tin mines once worked here but now long abandoned.

The mine has fallen into disuse and its shafts, stopes and tunnels are both neglected and dangerous. Likely most of its tin has already been mined away, but rumours prevail abroad of the legendary gold and diamond seams that remain untapped yet accessible.

Treasure hunters come from time to time, vanishing into the pithead, never to be seen again.

Vanyir Vale A wide and steeply sloping glacier. The Vanyir Vale looks beautiful but is treacherous to the unwary.

The depth of snow can

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Cult: Mot Culture: highly devout religious cult centre of the Motian faith. Low levels of corruption but high austerity, social expectations and nationalism. Listholm has a history of isolationism and prejudice against other races of wyrmen and other nations.

Notable Landmarks: Tunturthis, Meresken Mansion, The Twain Gate, The Ward Wall Prevailing Climate: Rain and wet weather occur year round in one form or another.

The ground is invariably water-logged.

Government Type: secular Lairdom heavily influenced, but not controlled by the Motian cult.

Government: Laird of Listholm.

Ruler: Laird Mul-Gerenum Evergreen and his consort, the Lady Bethan Evergreen.

Known as the Land Where Rinan Dwells , for the weather is mostly wet (Rinan being the spirit of Flowing Rain) Listholm is the centre of the cult of Motia and home to those who cast the Runes of Naming.

As well as religion, weather is a common prevailing feature in the lives of the Listian people. A day in Listholm where the rains do not fall is a rare event. Summer monsoons create temporary steaming lakes on the Attercop Fields and the Fyrstnum Downs while winter rain, snow and sleet turn the ground to slush.

There are many marshlands fed by the endless rains and perilous to the unwary, the bogs and quick-muds claiming uncountable lives over the centuries. Only the capital city (and only city) of Tunturthis stands on solid ground, its buildings and roads constructed on a rare bedrock estate whose edges are flanked either by sea or waterlogged land.

People

"Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine, his honour and the greatness of his name shall be, and make new nations."

Listholm

Listholmers, or norwyr as they are most commonly known (Northern Wyrmen) are a stalwart breed, tall and stout with evergreen pine hair and beard and a stern countenance, they are both strong and proud, particularly devoted to their heritage and to the memory of Mot Elyeth. They know the marshes well and of the many safe ways which can be used to lose pursuers or lure invading armies to their doom.

The language of Listholm is a close relative of Cornovish, familiar to anyone from the south but peppered with odd colloquialisms.

The accent is unique, but soft and pleasant.

Tradition, ritual and religion are paramount. Casual meetings between strangers must be accompanied by a swapping of both the strangers’ names and that of their respective fathers. If the name

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of Mot is not honoured within the context of this meeting and one of the strangers is native to Listholm the native may grow agitated and demand to know the other’s religious leanings. Less casual meetings are usually marked with an exchange of gifts (traditionally a gift from the person’s homeland, but where both are natives of Listholm a gift of bottled mead or a joint of meat are customarily exchanged). Friends greet one another in a much less formal manner, but it is considered polite, upon parting ways, to utter the phrase, “ Rinan guide your feet,” which over the long years has replaced “may Rinan guide your feet by safe paths,” referring to the perilous nature of the wetlands surrounding Tunturthis.

Natives of Listholm can be divided into four groups; citizens, soldiers, priests and nobility. Nobility are exclusively family members of the ruling Gerenum clan, though their aristocracy is rarely a manifest aspect of their personality. A Listholm noble is encouraged to display humility and to lead not by force but by example, thus nobility will be found reclining alongside the common citizen in the baths of Tunturthis Cathedral, or sharing a dram at local taverns, enjoying the stalls at the Penhaligan Fair and eating at meaderies frequented by nobility and peasantry alike.

Military of Listholm’s military, the Tunturthian Company of Kentmorch (or Patrols

The Kengard as they have come to be known) will likely be encountered by anyone entering the country from the Ward Wall to the south, a region over which three Kengard fortifications stand sentinel.

The Kengard are an ancient and exalted order of secular Listian warriors, highly skilled and unswervingly loyal to the ruling clan of Listholm as opposed to the cult of Mot. They hold paramount above all other considerations the task of protecting their beloved land and laird from invasion or harm and can be ferocious when provoked.

The Kengard are an entirely separate military force to the Thane or Mission of Motia, though all three forces are deemed to be confederates and in any conflict where the cult centre must be defended they will fight shoulder to shoulder as allies.

The north and southeast of the country is less well guarded, the job beyond the Twain Gate left to the life-stealing wetlands of Druncnen.

The cliff top castle of Dingerein stands on the promontory of Balmyrasoth and affords an unparalleled view across the eastern territories. Anyone coming in through the Twain Gate or along the river Nova will be spied by watchers at Dingerein, particularly in daylight.

Wildlife

Culture

Wildlife in Listholm is diverse. Alligators and other swampland predators inhabit the wetlands while less troublesome creatures (foxes, badgers, hares, rabbits, hart and starfawn) roam the hills and fields. The Laird of Dingerein are a hunting family and may be found often in Derwose Wood hunting foxes, boar and hart, though never starfawn which is considered sacred and protected even against aristocratic hunters.

The white hart will be found roaming freely in the grasslands and plains around Tunturthis and while this is also a protected species, it will be hunted during certain narrow seasons by members of the nobility or those granted special license in order to manage the animal's numbers. The illegals slaying of white hart is considered a heinous crime worthy of harsh punishment, including imprisonment in most cases, though previous Lairds have imposed the death penalty on poachers. This penalty is now reserved only for those who dare to hunt and slay the starfawn.

In the Gethrin Marshlands, the Haldan Hills and the area of Fyrstnum may be encountered a smaller and less shaggy form of water buffalo than that of the Niflhelm Auroch. These oxen are well suited to the wetlands of Listholm and spend so much of their time wading through the slosh and mire of swamp and marsh that they may almost be categorized as semi-aquatic. They are used as workhorse by Listian farmers and are commonly used to pull wagons or haul carts.

Despite their sometimes pious and austere nature, the Motian norwyr are a cultural people, lovers of fine mead and scotch whiskey, fond of music and particularly keen on social interaction.

Musical tastes tend to err toward the military, with most norwyr favouring the traditional sound of skirl pipes played to a marching drum. A more gentle folk music is also widely appreciated, poetic in form and usually spoken rather than sung, with an accompanying fiddle or bellows-accordion keeping time in the background. Instruments are used to describe an atmospheric mood without overwhelming the speaker and formal tunes are rare, with each musician giving his own interpretation of the poet's words.

Rinan to Syldaer one day said; You push and I'll pelt the flower bed; They so smote the garden that Eret was awoke; And to Fyrnys Eret sternly spoke; "The flowers are knelt and lie lodged, though not dead"; "The business of spirits in mischief are wed"; Fyrnys to Eret just shrugged his flames; For t'was not his place to take down their names; Instead he deferred the soil's lament; From the sun to the moon were Eret's words sent; The moon spake aloud,

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for a wise man was he; "Oberor is my name and from on high can I see; That in Listholm no gardener should make firm his plans; For the rains always fall and the wind understands; That here is the dwelling of spirits still fey; A land where the elements play night and day; By soaking the earth and storming the trees; Flooding and blowing in equal degrees; They cannot be tamed and nor should they be; For in Listholm's domain are the elements free".

- Wise Oberor,

by the poet Roberan Frost

The norwyr are renowned for their prejudices and sometimes uncompromising traits. They view the southern races of Morturth as a lesser and heathen people and the wyrmen of Skytor are anathematized as miscreants whose blasphemous cult is an insult to the memory and the names not just of Mot but of all the Oak Lords.

Of the people of Mortun Pandi, the norwyr know very little, but this doesn't prevent them forming an opinion. Santun Morvagh, the norwyr know, is neighbour to the City of Thieves, Gungingeth, and therefore the wyrmen of that region are deemed to be savage creatures of chaos merely by proxy.

The Wetlands of Listholm

In most other respects the norwyr are a progressive, ethical and morally driven nation of righteous people. There are few gender restrictions, particularly in the Motian cult and military (the Thane being one of the few examples of gender inequality since only women may become Thane), and even fewer restrictions on the movements and rights of citizens - even those of other races. Faith in the cult of Motia is almost compulsory for all natives of Listholm, but the cult is bedded in righteous doctrine and despite being one of the most powerful temples in Ereth it remains largely free of corruption.

Norwyr nationalism, it can be argued, stems not from its religion, but from the generally held belief (supported by historical records and mythology) that the norwyr were the first to emerge from the Arkhold at the end of the Winter of Discontent. To the norwyr, this is irrefutable evidence that they alone are the rightful inheritors of Ereth in the Age of Thaw.

Other races, the norwyr believe, were given dispensation to rove freely in the lands south of Listholm because Motian doctrine supports freedom and the rights of all wyrmen to seek their own destiny. But such wanderers were ever deemed to be guests in lands rightfully belonging to the norwyr and so, when common wyrman, sowyrman and elkenwyr borders were established and nations emerged to challenge this preconception the norwyr felt their rightful inheritance had been, at best, ignored and at worst, stolen from them. The Cornovish, Anglian and Morvanian were tenants given freedom to dwell in the house of Motian lore yet suddenly seemed to be claiming ownership rights.

The Skytorian is an entirely different consideration belonging to its own category of irreligious wickedness. The Skytorian not only refutes the cults of Morturth and southern Annarr but many of its citizens refute the merit of faith altogether, banding together under the banner of progressive technocracy and steamocracy while shunning the

teachings of the very gods who gave the wyrmen life. The Skytorian is, in the opinion of the norwyr, a living example of that dangerous metaphysical precipice before the plunge into craven Elganism.

A nation of lesser constraint, the norwyr believe, might have taken war to the breeds of the south and the blasphemers of the east.

Instead the outrage of the norwyr turned inwards to produce isolationism and a culture of nationalistic pride. The balancing effect of Motia is perhaps what prevents these traits from evolving into something destructive, but the norwyr are, as a result, a somewhat schizophrenic people, eager to embrace the concept of free will, as preached by Mot Elyeth, but simultaneously resentful of the liberties taken by those who dwell beyond Listholm's borders.

Common Laws Many of the guilds found in other parts of Ereth are outlawed in Listholm, including The Assassin's Guild, The Craft, the Crewman's Guild (deemed to be a sect of Wythia), the Guild of Magick (considered to be an Elgan guild), the Guild of Starcraft, the Order of Cosmic Light and the Thief's Guild. That these guilds are allowed to function freely in the southern and eastern lands merely bolsters norwyr belief that those lands are civilized only on the surface and that beneath the shallows fester craven evils.

Exemption Certificates are not used or required in Tunturthis and the Thief's Guild has never been established, nor allowed to establish a foothold.

So devout are the people of Tunturthis in general that such a guild has no place in their midst and would perish even as a sub-culture, with too few corrupt individuals available to keep it alive. In Tunturthis there is no such thing as a black market and where the term underworld is used it likely refers to the sewers and cellars of the city.

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The lack of exemption and the balancing factor of the Thief's Guild, however, means all base values for items purchased within Listholm's borders increase by 50% compared with elsewhere in Ereth, the additional cost representing tax duty on goods. This also comes about as a result of Listholm's isolationism and, though import and export exists, it is so limited that international markets have a much smaller impact on the local economy.

Law generally in Listholm is stricter than anywhere else in Ereth and most crimes will result either in imprisonment or execution, the sentence depending on the severity of the crime. In every instance, those accused of wrong-doing will be immediately imprisoned in Mort Castle's prison block to await trial.

They will then be tried in a court presided over by the Laird of Listholm himself, indicating perhaps the rarity of crime and criminal trials alike in the land of the norwyr.

Fines are imposed only for crimes where victims must be compensated and in almost every case these are also accompanied either by a custodial sentence in the prison block of Castle Mort or execution.

Imprisonment is also a harsher affair in Listholm than elsewhere, prisoners regularly used in chain gangs to harvest peat and other natural materials from the perilous swamps and marshes of the country, their rights as free citizens deemed to be diminished just as soon as they choose to break the established law of the land; a land they have chosen to inhabit and the paragon guidance of a religion they have chosen to ignore or have failed to respect.

Arrow duty in the Druncnen Marsh is a particularly brutal form of slave-labour where prisoners are sent into Druncnen to collect the arrows of battles fought long ago and whose shafts have floated to the surface of the swollen swamp waters as a result of heavy rain. Deaths are frequent with prisoners routinely straying into bogs and quick sands then left to sink to a slow and horrible death by their guards.

Execution, the capital punishment given for any form of murder, sexual abuse, rape, political conspiracy or adherence to the Cult of Flies takes place without exception in the grim setting of Castle Blaedart on the southern shoulder of the Ward Wall cliffs.

Here the accused are taken to the Black Tower where they are unceremoniously thrown out of a high archway to fall 500ft into the depths of the Khasma Ravine.

Cult Motians are those cultists who hold the name of Mot Elyeth in the highest regard and consider him the one true god of Yarnia. The Motian order has cult centres in Niflhelm and Listholm primarily but also some adherents in the north of Sanas Morcorm.

The founding church of Mot is known as the Church of Eternal Fire, referencing the infinite flame of Yneur’s Wheel of Fire (Motians refuse to adopt the esoteric terminology of the spindle, yarn and weave which are all considered aspects of the Wythian and Erther cults) and Mot’s invulnerability to the consuming flame of time. The serpent rendered in a figure of 8 (sometimes as a two headed creature with the features of a serpent, representing Mot, and a wolf, representing Uselyorn, entwined about the face of Mythyar Num) is a recurring symbol throughout Listian culture, representing rebirth, the shedding of old skins and the nature of infinity.

Motian clerics practice the complex magick of the Runes of Naming. Most Motian culture revolves around the honouring of the powerful names of Mot, Vanyir, Num and Elyeth, recognition of piety within the holy pantheon and enmity against the evils of the Elgan gods.

They also venerate eleven of the twelve Megdart runes of the original Oak Lord Council, of which Mot is deemed to be paramount, shunning the rune of Seth Elgan in recognition of the All-Father’s diabolical betrayal not just of his own son but of all life on Yarnia. This despite Seth's recurring presence in iconography, carvings and pictures where Mot and Uselyorn are depicted as warring brothers.

Motians also apotheosize the Plane of Fawynwend as the epitome of all that is good and condemn the Plane of Sere as the roots of all that is bad. Mot, righteousness and the name of Elyeth are all synonymous with Fawynwend while Uselyorn, evil and Elgan are associated with Sere.

The use of wheels, rising curls of smoke, serpents, woven ropes and webs (but rarely spiders) as symbols in art, architecture and decoration commonly represent faith in Mot while the evils of the Elgan spirits are represented by images of flies, pestilence, famine and death, all against morbid and fiery backdrops designed to represent the Plane of Sere or the fall of the Hammer of Merrlith.

The majority of adherents to Motia herald from the cult centre of Tunturthis where no other religion is practiced. Ecclesiasts and high ranking professionals within the church must be of norwyr stock and utterly devoted to the cult and the cathedral. The Church accepts no racial diversity within the higher echelons and, indeed, is prejudiced even against common wyrmen.

The elken race of Gondaras are known to sometimes migrate to Listholm in order to become part of the Motian faith, but they are considered aberrations and are never fully accepted into the fold. Most are employed as soldiers, or labourers and placed on front line duties in far flung forts on the southern border.

Here their interest in Motia is generally eroded by the realities of Listholm’s exclusive culture.

Dilettantes of both the Church of Eternal Fire and the Temple of the Serpent exist all over Ereth and in all shapes and sizes, though few who claim to be Motian are actually following the correct ideologies of the Listian ideal but merely romanticizing the myths surrounding Mot or the figurehead of Mythyar.

Others have taken the name of the sect of the

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Serpent and misinterpreted Motian ideology as some kind of snake cult, with Mythyar Num, its patron founder, depicted as a naked goddess with serpents in her hair or snakes entwined about her body. Such cults, founded in misinformation, superstition and no small amount of imaginative fancy tend to be dark at their root and thus are swiftly corrupted by Elgan influence.

THE CITY OF TUNTURTHIS Tunturthis (Town by the Lake) was the first settled city of the wyrmen after the Age of Hammerfall and is thus considered by all wyrmen outside of Skytor to be the oldest modern metropolis in Ereth.

TUNTURTHIS

1 Temple Meadow Train Station A large terminal serving the Listian end of the Listholm to Verdandi railway, or Hyns-Horn as it is colloquially known now in both the north and south of Morturth.

The Hyns-Horn is a curious diversion from the usual Listian ideology of isolation-ism and the

link it forms with the civilizations of the south is a good example of the dualistic norwyr mindset.

The railway was established during the reign of Lord Kenwythi Gwelenbryal in Verdandi, perhaps as a gesture of goodwill, by the then Laird of Listholm, Provost Evergreen, to show support for a newly emergent enemy of the imperialistic Cornovish. The railway also offered a practical way to carry wealth between the two nations while purposely bypassing Cornoval and the fearful domain of Jarl Megalamon. Some historians believe the railway contributed largely to Drood-Cynncarn's downfall by carrying resources and wealth away from the city, but evidence for this can be easily refuted. What the HynsHorn did bring to both the north and south was unification and the first indication that the Motians long believed to despise the southern wyrmen - were finally willing to extend a hand of friendship.

Today the Listian attitude toward the railway is one of nervous tolerance. Guards check every disembarking passenger, with extensive questioning and searches are commonplace for first time and infrequent visitors. The discovery of suspicious artefacts or open carrying of weapons is likely to see the visitor locked in a cell until an official from the Kengard can examine them personally. Where the suspect is deemed to be guilty of strange religious affiliations a Thane or Mission may be called to cr0ss-examine them.

Fell who make the mistake of travelling the HynsHorn into Tunturthis will face summary execution just as soon as they are identified. Like all prisoners sentenced to capital punishment, the Fell will be hurled from Castle Blaedart, their Soul Stone subsequently carried by the river Nova into the north Inland Sea. See The Overmaster's Companion for Hyns-Horn ticket schedules and prices.

TUNTURTHIS

2ď€ Merenew Harbour The fishermen of Tunturthis sail daily into the waters of Wermerack Bay in roundboats called currach, a distinctive two masted vessel with dark brown hull made from the

upturned shell of a giant turtle, and deep red sails particular to this part of the world.

Merenew (New Ocean) Harbour provides shelter from storms and strong winds coming in off the North Inland Sea. The wyr-made northern arm of the harbour breaks the waves entering Wermerack and protects both the shipping therein and the southernmost lands of Niflhelm. Storms and other violent weather patterns originating in the East Endeleas and raging into the North Inland are common, particularly during winter, and will batter Wermerack and the Sound of Mul, gargantuan waves crashing into the breakwater of Brecwes which is usually dampener enough to save Merenew.

Fish, shell-fish and seaweed by-products form the cornerstone of composite trade in Tunturthis, sun-bream and weave-hake being the most common catch, their flesh, bones, oils and other by-products used in uncountable ways by the norwyr.

See The Overmaster's Companion, for a list of larger ships and vessels likely to be seen in Wermerack or berthed in Merenew Harbour.

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TUNTURTHIS

3ď€ Tunturthis Cathedral Here is the heart of the Motian cult in the form of the majestic Tunturthis Cathedral, a towering structure of gothic design with an ornate exterior of white ivory and black stone and a lavish interior of gold and silver, multicoloured ceramics and polished marble.

The cathedral is square in design with a large quadrangle, or cloister at its centre surrounded by high archways. A roof of crisscrossing oak rafters arcs above the cloister, the space between beams covered with a form of magickal crystaline rune-glass that stores even the smallest amount of sunlight, converts this into energy then radiates the heat into the space below.

In the middle of the cloister stands a huge white-stone well-spring named Germoe Spa, a structure about which the cathedral was built.

Aqueducts made of the same white stone and

furnished with archways channel water bubbling up from the spa into culverts that run around the east and western edges of the cloister. The eastern culvert disappears through grilles into buried pipes that carry the water into the city while the western spur empties into a series of rectangular pools. Here the water passes through each pool before being ejected into the sewers where it acts to flush the labyrinth pipe work beneath the city into the western bogs and drainage pits of Haldan.

The well and the natural underground spring that feeds the well were discovered by Germoe Evergreen, 92nd in the line of Mythyar and a Laird about which many fables and stories are told. It provides most of the water for the city and is abundant in its output.

On the southern side of the cloister stands a huge arched pergola of grey stone sheltering a throne of white marble upon which sits a beautiful statue of Mot Elyeth. On either side of the pergola wide stairways of marble sweep upward to galleries running around the edge of the quadrangle. Up here may be found a variety of chambers used by priests of the Motian cult and storage rooms housing items used during festivals and ceremonies. The higher floors of the cathedral structure are elevated above the level of the crystal roof, their uppermost rooftops peaking as ornate stone spires or gilded cupolas, their numerous gothic windows gazing into the space between and above the covered quadrangle on one side and out across the city, Wermerack Bay and the distant scenery of Niflhelm on the other.

Most of the cathedral (with the exception of the heavily guarded Keep Unto the Lower Vaults) is open to the public and the central cloister in particular is popular as a place to relax, meditate and reflect on the teachings of Mot. The crystal glass of the roof heats the waters of the pools on the western side of the cloister and

protects from the incessant rains, creating a rare oasis in the otherwise grim outdoors of Listholm. Here the norwyr bathe and relax, catching up with friends and family while cleansing themselves in the holy waters.

Anyone bathing in the spring water will feel extremely refreshed, relaxed and invigorated.

This translates as 1d4 points added to the character's Spirit value when they bathe for the first time (not exceeding maximum Spirit). A further one point of Spirit may be added if the character bathes again, but only if he waits at least 24 hours between baths.

As well as citizens of Tunturthis, a visitor to the cathedral will also encounter many of the city's paladiness Thane, either standing on sentry duty at the building's enormous front arch or engaged in some form of ritual worship within the building itself. Priests of the Motian cult will also be seen in large numbers in the Cathedral along with curates, wardens and attendants whose job it is to maintain the building and attend to those bathing in the pools.

Festivals and ceremonies are commonplace and will invariably take place in the central quadrangle, crowds gathering in the upper galleries and the surrounding cloisters to watch and participate. A separate minstrels gallery stands above the roof of the pergola housing the statue of Mot and here the cathedral choir will gather during ceremonial occasions, but may also practice at other times, their voices filling the cathedral with divine song.

TUNTURTHIS

4ď€ University of Provost Here the Listians have established an extension of the libraries of the Literatii and educate their own people according to the

University of Provost (Provost Tower)

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histories and magickal sciences passed down from the Arkhold.

The university is particularly exclusive and will allow only norwyr students or members of the Motian cult onto their courses. General and Orphic Knowledge err especially toward the histories of the Listians and the magick of Rune Naming and any caster of the Runes of Naming who gains +1 Skill Dice in AA Orphic Knowledge will also gain +1 Skill Dice in AA Orphic Talent (see volume 1, System & Setting for a list of courses and Skill Dice gains available at this university).

The University of Provost is also the statehouse of the Society of the Literatii, a large proportion of the campus given over to housing the guild and its premises.

Provost is noteworthy for its central tower, the Tower of Provost, which dominates the skyline of Tunturthis from most angles. The tower is a solid block standing some 200ft high, believed once to have been the base of a mighty pillar.

In records of the early years of Tunturthis it seems construction of the pillar began as a way to pay homage to the structures of the Oak Lords. The tower supposedly copies the original architecture believed to have surrounded the base of Yrmynsyl in the Epic Age, though there exists no documented evidence to support such beliefs.

TUNTURTHIS

5ď€ Museum of the Sea As much a veneration of the voyage of the Argos as it is a historical exhibition, the Pryendeleas (literally, History of the Endeleas) was formed as a means to house the various recovered papers, artefacts, notes and stories returned to the realm of Ereth by Captain Strongburg Dracks and the sailors of the Argos.

The immense and ancient shipwreck of the Argos lies half submerged on rocks under the headland of Balmyrasoth in the mouth of the river Nova, visible in full at low tide. The ship is almost 200o years old and was one of a fleet of six originating from the Arkhold, exploratory vessels seeking lands in the newly revealed oceans revealed by melting glaciers at the end of the Winter of Discontent - looking for islands where the ice was fully thawed and the wyrmen might settle.

The Argos (Spirit of the East) successfully circumnavigated the world of Yarnia, floundering at the last on the jutting rocks of Balmyrasoth and eventually sinking, though not before most of its sailors and its captain were rescued.

Those who came ashore had last set foot upon Morturth when the only seat of civilization was the Arkhold. Now they found a nation expanding in the form of Listholm and an emerging race of people in the norwyr.

The sailors spoke of a great journey across a

vast world of water, named thereafter Endeleas (The Endless Sea). For years they sailed, keeping always to the west, never deviating from their course even when all hope seemed lost.

The other ships of their fleet were destroyed by great beasts from the depths or howling typhoons so that only the Argos, crippled and ruined, managed to go on. Occasionally the sailors encountered small islands, uninhabited and wild, where they were able to provision themselves before sailing on. Finally, after the years of their lives were all but spent, they came back upon the continents of Ereth.

But here they found themselves in the wrong waters, to the east instead of the west. And thus was it learned that the world is a circle, just as the Agg is a circle, and all the dymensions beyond the Entopic are, in their own way, cyclic.

From the wreck of the Argos many items of great value were recovered. Much was identified as the rightful maritime salvage of the sailors and their skipper, but Captain Dracks was a keen patriot and declared some spoils to be worthy of historical or scholarly interest and therefore belonging to the rightful heritage of Tunturthis and the newly formed kingdom of Listholm. The museum of Pryendeleas was founded by Dracks with some of his own fortune and still stands today, free to anyone who cares to visit.

Among the exhibits visitors will see... o The figurehead of the Argos, Mythyar Num, whose carved and painted visage is now rotten and covered with barnacles.

The figurehead hangs above the entrance to the museum, Mythyar's hair a nest of snakes, her white eyes gazing profoundly into the distance; o A variety of strange shells, some as large as a wyrman, others small but exotic in colour and form; o A stylized oil painting of Captain Strongburg Dracks and the many sailors of the Argos standing at the mouth of the river Nova before the hulking wreckage of the Argos. o The mummified husks of hideous fish pickled in jars of formaldehyde and purportedly captured in far flung corners of the world. These gruesome specimens are singularly grim to behold, monsters with gaping mouths filled with rows of sharp teeth, blind eyes and strange, seemingly deformed bodies; o A mummified creature which, the accompanying plaque of text will explain, was alive when the Argos returned to Morturth and lived for some years with one of the sailors in Tunturthis. This creature is roughly the size of a dog and resembles a fleshy sack, small, strangely intelligent eyes flanking a tiny bird-like beak. These features sit centrally in the expansive doughy mass of its face. Two scaly legs and feet furnished with talons similar to those of

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a chicken protrude from beneath the creature and at either side of the corpulent head/body are two large orifices along with two hopelessly inadequate wings. The text will claim that the creature was named Runcle by the sailors of the Argos and, though it spoke an unknown language, it seemed intelligent and the sailors seemed to understand what it said. The creature was captured on a remote island in unknown waters and was purportedly one of many of its kind; An urn, or pot, shaped as though it were formed from the tentacles of a large squid, the tentacles curving upward to form the lower part of the urn, a lid of sorts then crafted (by hands unknown) to resemble a sea anenome. Accompanying text explains that the pot, which is made of glazed clay, was recovered from the ruins of a place the voyagers named Urtol (Western Atoll), a land believed to lie on the far side of Yarnia and a place where the sailors of the Argos encountered 'eldritch horrors of unwholesome proportion'; Many notes, diaries, journals and poems penned by the sailors, along with crude charcoal sketches (drawn by Captain Dracks, who was purportedly an artist as well as a first class seaman) showing nightmare creatures, terrifying birds and hideous fish; A suit of scale-armour made from the glistening multi-coloured scales of some colossal fish. The suit was fashioned for Captain Dracks and, before his death, he was often seen wearing the suit to formal and ceremonial occasions. The great girth of the suit's waistline is indicative of the size of the man, while its visual aesthete is testament to his eccentric and artistic temperament; The enormous barnacle encased anchor of the Argos, now so ancient that the metal has begun to fossilize. The anchor stands in the centre of the museum and is longer from base to tip than ten wyrmen lying head to toe; Timbers taken from the hull of the ship, showing tooth and sucker marks. Some of these are the size of a wyrman's skull.

The timbers are made of Wythywyr lumber and even now possess surprising strength despite their age; A bewildering array of crab and lobster shells mounted on one wall, no two shells alike, each one more bizarre than the one before; Oil paintings created by Captain Dracks.

Some depict the Argos, others its sister ships - the Wyrlock, the Arkannarr, the Gosmarck, the Bountiful and the Pathfinder. These pictures will give the visitor some idea of the grandeur and size of the fleet; A chamber with waxwork model exhibits

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made to resemble monsters the crew encountered based on their descriptions.

Most of these are either the size of a wyrman or scaled down and placed alongside recognizable objects of the same scale to show their real size. One exhibit displays the various ships of the fleet in model form, barely a foot in length from prow to stern, all except the Argos assailed by a different monstrosity - the creature responsible for each particular ship's demise or crippling prior to some weather-related end.

Other exhibits from the GM's own imagination can be added as necessary.

None of the exhibits are for sale and the proprietors of the museum will consider no offer - the exhibits are, in this sense, deemed to be priceless, at least to the Listians who stake a pride in their origins and their history.

TUNTURTHIS

6ď€ Castle Mort Largest and first of the castles of Listholm, Mort was built during Listnum Hammerclaw's reign. Some believe the castle is named after the fashion of the old dialect, Mort sometimes used as an alternative name for Mot and meaning The Immortal. In truth, however, the castle is so named after it’s hidden moat, a word transformed by the northern accent.

Mort consists of three separate complexes, each with many centuries between their construction. The initial keep, erected on and out of a craggy peak at the heart of the castle, was built to house the small company of Kengard soldiers barracked in Tunturthis along with Hammerclaw and his family. There were, at this time, no other nations in Ereth and nothing to fear but the frigid weather and the Giganteen bears of the north. When the keep was built it stood upon a relatively shallow shelf of stone. As the ice and snow melted away the shelf was revealed to be a high spur of granite surrounded on all sides by the loam more common elsewhere in Listholm.

The second complex and its sturdy curtain wall was constructed, along with much of the Tundra Wall (thus the architecture of both is very similar) during the Sanas Morcorm war as a contingency against incursions by enemies from the south.

The third and last part of the castle was added when the Kenjarl took control of Cornoval and the empire of the Jaguars arose in the south, posing a significant threat to the safety of Listholm.

This third aspect is an outer bastion consisting of various tall towers and parapets.

Where these merge with the curtain wall of Tunturthis stands a bleak prison block facing into the city. Here is Mort’s hidden moat, a

grass covered quagmire mix of acidic peat, slurry and oil surrounding the outer wall which, to the untrained eye, seems no different from the benign meadows of Gadria and Attercop. A drawbridge across the immense western gate may betray the presence of some unseen danger, but the hope when the moat was constructed was that most invading forces would be too zealous in their approach to stop and consider the drawbridge or, if the bridge was raised, would simply ride straight to the base of the wall.

When required, flaming torches can be hurled onto the moat to ignite the explosive peat and oil, though anyone setting foot upon its surface will immediately start to sink - the acidic nature of the quagmire eating through armour and clothing, then flesh and bone.

This defense has never been employed, yet burning torches are kept in the bastion guard-rooms in case the need should ever arise. Indeed, the entire outer facet of the castle never saw battle nor siege break upon its stone, yet it remains a part of Listholm’s heritage and an intrinsic characteristic of the modern castle structure.

Mort also houses the majority of Listholm’s military Kengard with anything from one to one and a half thousand guards stationed here at any one time. Most patrols into the surrounding land come from Mort and any ne'er-do-wells picked up by these patrols will be contained in the prison block until such time as the Laird can judge their deeds and pass sentence.

TUNTURTHIS

7 Meresken Mansion

By Listholm standards, Meresken is a relatively small and recent construction. It stands in a cleared dell within the Derwose Woods, its gothic turrets and crenulated rooftops peeking above the trees overlooking the Sound of Mul. Meresken (meaning Kindred of the Water, a subtle reference to the nations of northern Morturth at the time, whose civilizations were surrounded on all sides by the Inland Sea) was constructed toward the end of the Sanas Morcorm war as a palatial lodge for the express purpose of bringing together the clans of Celtrein and Cornoval.

When the warlord Caynum Bitterblade was defeated by the combined forces of Cornoval and Listholm, the Cornovish Jarls - whose rule replaced that of the Weavers - set their sights on conquering the broken morcelt and expanding their territory to the borderlands of Listholm. Fearing imperialism and the rise of a significant threat south of Listholm, the then Laird, Aurulent the Just, was advised, by the vanyirborn Mythyar Num to construct a mansion of tranquility wherein the warring lords could meet on neutral ground and settle their differences with diplomacy.

Meresken Mansion & The Sound of Mul

Mythyar's advice was misconstrued and, though the mansion was built in the form of Meresken, the building was imbued with numerous magickal runes designed to lull those within into a false sense of security. The very interior layout of corridors and rooms is arranged in the shape of potent rune-strings, while everywhere the runes of Naming are used they are hidden within the walls, the stone and the timbers of the structure imbuing a school of magick intended for righteous use with deceptive facets. So potent is this magick that even when the castle is viewed from the outside; from the bays and harbour of Tunturthis, or from the woodland of Derwose, the place seems strangely romantic, relaxing the mind of the observer and giving all the land hereabouts a sense of the mythic and the profound.

When the rulers of Cornoval and Celtrein were assembled in Meresken the runes were activated and there seemed hardly any need for talk. A treaty of peace was immediately established and the unified realm of Sanas Morcorm was formed.

Upon learning of the deception, the treaty was deemed to be both an insult and a fraud, both the Jarl of Drood-Cynncarn and Narpanum of Tarantel denouncing the agreement as a cynical ploy by Listholm to subdue emerging states.

Thereafter both nations deteriorated, their trust in the norwyr shattered and their sense of morality shaken to its core. The Jarls fell open to the suggestive and bitter whisperings of the Froncüdha while the morcelt fell to barbarism in their jungle idolatry. The norwyr embraced anew the concept of nationalism and isolationist politics and withdrew from the rest of the world.

Meresken is thus considered by the people of modern Listholm with mixed feelings. On the one hand here was the historic meeting place of all the nations of Sanas Morcorm and the site where peace was forged and war was brought to a close. On the other hand, if not for the collapse of Drood-Cynncarn, war might eventually have come to the borders of

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Listholm. Few norwyr accept that the trickery employed in the construction and use of Meresken was responsible for the subsequent social collapse in Celtrein and Cornoval. Most believe either that both nations were already barbarian and merely embraced their natural state or that the deception was the fault of Mythyar Num who, with her immortal wisdom, could see all ends and should have envisaged the consequences of her own advice.

Today Meresken is the property of the Salver's Guild which purchased the estate shortly after construction of the Hyns-Horn and now use the mansion as a place to house convalescents.

The northern wing has been turned into an asylum where those whose minds are troubled beyond the help of conventional medicine may benefit from specialized treatments and the magicks of the runes hidden in the mansion structure.

TUNTURTHIS

8 Penhaligan's Meadow A meadow within the Tundra Wall used during festival time to house markets and as a site for public ceremonial events.

At the southern end of the meadow stands the Ivory Temple of Mot, the first Motian temple constructed during the founding of Tunturthis and widely believed to be one of the first structures built in the initial decade of Listnum Hammerclaw's reign, before even the creation of the Tower of Provost. The temple is formed entirely from hand carved and crafted White Elephant ivory - today a material which is illegal to harvest and trade and even under the bleak weather and grey light of Listholm's prevailing climate the building is widely regarded as an architectural marvel.

On the last day of every month Penhaligan is home to Temple Fair, with gambling stalls, ventriloquists, jesters and harlequins, merchant tents, amateur theatre, animal acts

and numerous other attractions designed to entertain the people of the city all setting themselves up in the meadow.

One of the more celebrated attractions is 'Hoisting the Parbuckle' wherein the strongest and fittest of Tunturthis's fishing and sailing community (and any visitor to the city who wishes to try their hand) compete to winch the heaviest weights they can from the ground to the height of a yard-arm (around 40ft). The competition takes place in 'legs' with the amount to be winched increased in weight (formed by barrels filled with water) until one of a pair of competitors is eliminated.

Surviving competitors then go on to compete against one another until only one remains standing. The winner is awarded as many free drinks as he or she can down at the Lion's Haunt (good for that evening only) and a prize purse of 300 Wealth.

TUNTURTHIS

9ď€ the Westering Gates Security at Tunturthis is far less stringent than in Verdandi and visitors approaching either of the Westering Gates will be able to step through and into the city beyond, even though each gate will probably be manned by between two and four Kengard soldiers. Once inside the city the character's presence may then engender prejudice or disapproval in the indigenous population, but a visitor will rarely face such judgment at the gates. Only obviously Fell or Craven characters (or those characters who are easily mistaken for Fell or Craven) will be stopped and immediately arrested. Neither will be turned away to wander freely into the wetlands of Listholm.

TUNTURTHIS

10ď€ Tunturthis Amphirena The Tunturthis Amphirena is a grand stadium wherein various games and events are held throughout the year, culminating in an annual spectacular lasting four weeks.

The rectangular site houses a large gaming field with a raised central hill. The field is flanked on both long sides by covered spectator stands and on both short sides by open-air terraces (a cheaper alternative to the more expensive covered seats). A box for the Laird and his family is situated in one of the covered stands but the Laird generally sits with the rest of the spectators while the box is given over to visiting dignitaries and priests from the Arkhold or Tunturthis cathedral.

The Wetland Gathering takes place every year on the first day of Augurs and lasts for the entire month. Each week the stadium houses a different sporting event with all competitors starting the week then a process of gradual elimination culminating in an end-of-week

Hoisting the Parbuckle If player characters wish to participate in Hoisting the Parbuckle the GM should roll up eleven NPCs, requiring only their AA Might and AA Endurance values which should be determined using d12+10 for each Active Ability. Each NPC should be numbered and (if the GM feels the need) given a name.

The player rolls d10 and is matched with the respective numbered NPC. Player and GM (representing the NPC) now make one AA Might dice check with Dd1 incurred. Both characters are allowed to make a number of dice checks equal to their AA Endurance value, combining the total instances of (1) rolled.

The first character to achieve more instances of (1) overall is deemed the winner of that leg. Where the instances of (1) are equal, playoff dice checks, rolled one by one, should be introduced until one character has a greater number. Where the player character is eliminated there is no need to continue the process and one of the NPCs is assumed to go on to win.

Assuming the player character remains in the game, the GM then eliminates the five NPCs with the lowest AA Might value or, where more than one NPC has an equal value, in numerical order.

For example, where NPCs 1, 2 and 3 all have an AA Might value of 14, 1 is eliminated before 2 and 3 and 2 is eliminated before 3. Where NPCs 1 and 3 have an AA Might value of 14 but NPC 2 has an AA Might value of 15, 1 is eliminated before 2 and 3, but 3 is eliminated before 2 (having lower AA Might). In short, AA Might trumps numerical order, while higher numerical order trumps lower numerical order.

The surviving five NPCs are renumbered 1 to 5 so that lower numbers are allocated to lower numbers (for example, NPCs 1, 4, 6, 8 and 10 are renumbered as 1=1, 4=2, 6=3, 8=4 and 10=5).

The player rolls 1d4 and is matched with the corresponding numbered NPC. Player and GM (representing the NPC) now make one AA Might dice check with Dd2 incurred. Both characters are allowed to make a number of dice checks equal to their AA Endurance value, combining the total instances of (1) rolled.

The winner of this second leg is determined in precisely the same way as before and then two of the remaining NPCs are eliminated using the same method used for the first leg (AA Might values trump numerical order and higher numerical order trumps lower numerical order). If the player character is eliminated there is no need to continue the process and one of the NPCs is assumed to go on to win.

Assuming the player character survives, this leaves three competitors requiring a three-person round.

In this round AA Might dice checks incur Dd3 and the character rolling the fewest instances of (1) is immediately eliminated, leaving just two characters. As usual, where the player character is knocked out of the game there is no need to continue with the dice check process and one of the surviving NPCs is deemed to win.

If the player character survives dice checks are resumed from scratch, the remaining competing NPC and the player character making a number of AA Might dice checks (this time with Dd4 incurred) equal to their respective AA Endurance values then combining total instances of (1).

At the end of this round, if there is not a clear winner - the character with greater instances of (1) - a draw is declared and the prize money is shared (150 Wealth per winner) and both champions may drink for free at the Lion's Haunt.

Only one outsider (i.e. player character) may participate in any one competition (though there will be 1d6 competitions in total). Where there are too few competitions for each player to have a go the group will need to discuss between themselves who competes and who does not. A solution where dispute arises is to share winnings between all members of the group which may then compensate those players who cannot participate. In this instance it makes sense to let the strongest player characters compete.

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final. The games are opened with a military parade accompanied by skirl-pipe and drums and closed with an award ceremony.

Week one is Wicket. Two teams compete, with one acting as 'heathens' (those who occupy the heath or field) and the other as 'wickens' (those who stand before the wicker).

Heathens position themselves around the field of play, while one of their number acts as 'cannon' (he who hurls the ball from the fighting box). Each member of the wicken team takes it in turns as 'shielder' (he who shields the wicker from the ball). The shielder stands at the end of a long rectangular court in front of a wicker pylon, armed with a round wooden shield and a club. The cannon throws the ball and the shielder attempts to bat the ball away using his shield (and only his shield, on pain of penalty). If the ball hits the wicker pylon and knocks it over the shielder is deemed to be 'out' and is replaced by the next member of his team. If the shielder successfully bats away the ball he may attempt to 'run', a process where he rushes at the cannon, wielding his club. The cannon can either defend himself with his own club or remove himself from the 'fighting box' so that he is 'out of bounds' to the shielder. The shielder scores one point every time he enters the fighting box and one point every time he returns to and touches the box containing the pylon. Heathens must attempt to collect the ball once it is shielded and return it to the cannon. The cannon may hurl the ball whether the shielder is present before the wicker pylon or not, but he may only hurl from the fighting box. Where the hurler is engaged in pugilism with the shielder he will be unable to catch the ball.

Each team takes it in turns to act as heathens and wickens and respective points amassed are then compared once all shielders are out to give an overall winner.

Week two sees a variety of athletic events, most of which are concerned with displays of strength, from Hoisting the Parbuckle (see Penhaligan's Meadow) to Hefting the Hammer, Driving the Wagon, Tossing the Horseshoe and Lifting the Windlass. Running features largely during this week with a variety of races of different lengths and a marathon starting at the stadium but taking in much of the city and even some of the

The Buncombe

surrounding countryside before returning to the finish line inside the Amphirena.

Week three is Elephant Polo, considered the sport of aristocracy and a favourite of the Laird's family (traditionally the Laird himself will compete along with family members of age). The Listian white elephant is used as a steed, with competitors (macmauds) striking a small ball with an extremely long mallet and aiming to land the ball in the opponent's net.

Week four is generally considered to be the best week of The Gathering. Sluice gates are winched open in the walls of the stadium and the entire field between stands and terraces is flooded to a depth of thirty feet, the central hill rising from the waters. With the stadium converted to a vast lake the Carnage Games then proceed.

Currach, small boats made from the upturned shells of giant turtles, manned by teams of six and armed with cannon, catapult and ramming weapons, take to the water. The cannon and catapult fire balls of flaming peat and each team member is armed with a staff of bamboo, fire-retarding armour and a metal shield. The order of the day is all-out war between two or more opposing currach (usually more, with anything up to ten teams and an equal number of boats fighting in the same event).

The aim of the game is threefold; to sink the currach of opposing teams, thereby eliminating them from the event; to capture the currach-flag (a black flag marked with two entwined serpents hidden somewhere on the central hill); and to survive attacks from other teams.

The hill at the heart of the stadium is transformed prior to the event. Four landing jetties are erected at equidistant positions and raised panels, walkways, rope swings and other perilous hazards are constructed on the slopes of the hill. These latter are riddled with traps and pitfalls and are designed to make capturing the flag (or trying to stop other teams capturing the flag) as difficult as possible.

Carnage is a daring sport requiring courage and endurance from competitors. Injuries are common and, in the history of the sport, deaths have been known, though organizers and referees go to great pains to ensure the risks are minimal. Where more than one team lands on the hill the event typically devolves either into a race for the flag or a pitch-battle. Any injury resulting in blood automatically disqualifies a competitor, ensuring combat is non-lethal.

This rule fails to account for bloodless internal injuries or damage caused from crushing blows, falls from a great height or drowning

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and most fatalities are a result of these types of injury.

At the end of week four the award ceremony takes place on the summit of the hill. The ceremony begins with a speech from the Laird followed by the presentation of gold medallions to winning teams. A vote is then taken by a panel of judges for an overall Gathering winner. This accolade awards one team or competitor in the games a large sum of wealth, an award in the shape of a large gold cup designed to resemble the Chalice of Life and the title of Wetland Champion for that year.

The games are a prominent aspect of Tunturthis culture, with all teams coming from local wards of the city and preparation, training and practice often consuming the time, effort and energy of competitors throughout the year. Spectator interest is also intense, with specific teams enjoying their diehard fans and supporters.

TUNTURTHIS

11 Tunturthis Menagerie Unique in all the lands of Ereth is the Tunturthis Menagerie, the only place where the animalian, fae, fauna and flora of Yarnia are collected together merely for the purpose of entertaining, amusing (and purportedly educating) the masses.

Exhibits at the menagerie include: o A vivarium with an extremely tightly contained swarm of Drygian Ants, an amusing enclosure of Frethter Frogs, two Dewyk Beetles (which may seem to be an empty enclosure occupied by two large red and white spotted mushrooms to the untrained eye), a Giant Shelled Tortuse and an Actaeon scorpion. o A cold house containing various mockenvironments occupied by native species including a small flock of penguin, a Giganteen bear, a group of various pinniped, A buncombe bull and the Niflhelm auroch (a species of fourheaded bovid). o A sub-tropical compound housing a variety of unhappy looking creatures from southern regions including a scrawny looking panther, a Sandlew tiger, a drove of Fawen Boar and a Grathek Sloth. o An aviary housing a giant crow, a family of scrawny looking vultures, a forlorn looking Uin and several species of parrot. o The crowning glory of the Menagerie the White Elephant enclosure wherein the zoo's own White Elephant Mamatra is kept. This is the largest exhibit and the largest enclosure, an impressive hub about which the rest of the Menagerie is arranged. Mamatra lives a life of relative luxury and has more keepers dedicated

to her care than all the animals in the rest of the zoo combined.

Owners of the Menagerie are often looking for mercenary hunters willing to source replacements for tired exhibits or entirely new creatures. The rarer the species, the more likely the zoo will be interested in purchasing the creature and the higher the price they will pay. Zookeepers are interested only in animalian breeds, not Fell, though they will also give consideration to Fae specimens provided they feel confident the incarceration of such specimens won't bring them under the scrutiny of local law-makers.

The Menagerie doesn't house or display snakes or spiders, both of which carry sacred association with the Motian faith and would likely offend the majority of norwyr visitors.

TUNTURTHIS

12 Mansion of Jugo Dracks One of the wealthiest families in Tunturthis after the Lairds of Dingerein, Jugo Dracks is the youngest patriarch of the Dracks estate and heir to a fortune amassed by Captain Stromburg Dracks of the Argos during his global voyage in the early years of the Age of Thaw.

The Dracks family inhabited the estate for many centuries until it passed to Jugo. Those who preceded him seemed content to live as aristocracy and embraced the doctrine of the Lairds, that the ruling classes should rule by example and not by authority. They were a well loved and well known family to all Tunturthians and thus the mansion has a special place in the hearts of the norwyr.

Jugo is said to be kindred in personality to his ancestor, Clave Dracks, son of Captain Strongburg, a man most historians believe murdered his own brother (Elsen) in order to inherit his father's fortune. Few speak of Clave, whose name is associated in Listholm with deception and greed, and the fact that Jugo resembles Clave both in characteristics and appearance is a great concern to many.

For his own part, Jugo seems to have isolated himself in true norwyr style from all outside criticism. He has moved out of Dracks Mansion and has purportedly used his vast fortune to excavate sub-levels beneath the estate's private harbour. Here he is rumoured to live out of sight and out of mind in a strange underworld whose eastern aspect is supposedly made entirely of thick glass giving a variety of views into the underwater world beneath the Sound of Mul. Other, more extravagant rumours, suggest this eastern aspect connects with underwater corridors and passageways which, in turn, connect to glass domes on the seabed. So unlikely would the building of such a structure be without knowledge of its construction being common

among the building community of Tunturthis that most norwyr have dismissed the rumours as nonsense. Nevertheless they persist and seem even to be supported by pearl divers who tell tales of bizarre undersea strutucres on the seabed outside Mawlak Cove.

The mansion, in the meantime, is kept as a museum, though whatever ancient exhibits reside within are retained for the eyes of the Dracks family only as the house is closed to the public eye.

TUNTURTHIS

13 Ismere Bay A beautiful white sand beach at the northern end of the Valis residential district. Here a variety of small seaside industries operate, including seaweed processing and the harvesting of cockles (which are then sold to the fishing fleets as bait).

Boats in Ismere are generally of the small currach variety made from the impervious upturned shells of giant turtles, the rocks hereabouts being too perilous for wooden craft. Boats rarely land on the beach due to the proximity of jutting rocks which can even poke a hole in shell-based craft, but there may be the occasional pleasure boart or canoe in evidence, hauled onto the sands where the owner may be painting or repairing his boat.

In the run up to the Wetland Gathering teams often use Ismere Bay to train and put their currach vessels through pre-game paces.

Crews use the perilous surrounding rocks as an ultimate test of their nerve and steering ability, thus grounded and sinking currach are a typical sight during the months of Rune and Zeuly.

TUNTURTHIS

14 Attercop Fields Once heavily forested and part of the Derwose Woods, the Attercop trees were felled to build most of the timber-frame buildings of Tunturthis and all of her wooden ships.

Folklore in the south tells of a troubled time when the Attercop woods were occupied by a breed of giant spider named The Gigafell, but natives of Listholm, not being prone to superstition, hold no weight in such stories.

The tale is, they claim, merely a distortion of the myths surrounding the north deity Drogen, a spider god whose enemy was the wicked Draedask. The parallels between the fables of Gigafell, Drogen and Draedask and that 0f Mot and Uselyorn are clear, leading the norwyr to conclude that Drogen is merely a profane convolution of Mot. Today Attercop is a curving swathe of lush grass, grazed by wandering herds of Listholm’s native white-hart and starfawn.

To the north stands the towering stone wall

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surrounding Tunturthis while at the southwestern end of the fields stands Castle Mort, a huge Wyr-made structure standing on the brink of the Ward Wall.

From any spot in Attercop the vast wastes of the Sanas Morcorm flatlands can be seen, stretching away to distant horizons. There on the skyline stand the peaks of Ascona and Mount Decoron, while closer in the arid land seems viciously scarred and ridged where the Khasma Ravine tumbles into the Brecan Brow. By comparison, the verdant pastures of Attercop seem born of another world.

TUNTURTHIS

15 the Bargen Eboria Farm of the Ivory, Bargen Eboria is a huge

park wherein owners of White Elephants keep and breed their animals.

History records that the elephants were once bred from wild stock in the lands of Listholm for their immense ivory tusks - the product of which can be seen in many of Listholm's more excessive architecture (the most famous being the Ivory Temple of Mot in Penhaligan's Meadow). Today the elephant is used as a means of transport or as a steed in the national sport of Elephant Polo.

As steeds, White Elephant are extraordinarly expensive to keep and maintain. See The Wyrd Pandemonium for more information.

LANDMARKS Balmyrasoth Balmyrasoth (To Watch for the Malevolent Enemy) is a grassy headland jutting out into the Sea of Weave on the northeastern most aspect of Listholm.

The region is easily defended, with perilous rocks and cliffs on two sides and the elevated Castle Dingerein which commands views across the sea and down into Sanas Morcorm.

Blædart Tower of the Bleeding Heart - Blædart (pron.

Blay-dar) is believed to be named after the name of the giant Fingal whose heart lies buried somewhere in the foundations of the tower. In fact Blædart means Bleak Point and is the name of the high ridge upon which the tower stands.

Some way down from the ridge-line a subterranean stream opens onto the cliff face, pouring copper coloured water down onto the steep lowlands bordering the river Nova.

According to folklore this is blood pouring ceaselessly from the heart of Fingal. In fact the

colour is a result of trace elements of iron leaching into the water as it passes through seams somewhere in the depths of Listholm's loam sub-strata.

Blædart serves as a watch post and early warning system for any invading forces marching on Listholm from the Khasma Ravine. A large brass gong accompanied by a warhammer may be struck in the event of a threat, the resulting toll alerting those in Castle Dingerein and Castle Mort of imminent invasion. Both the gong and arrow loops of Blædart are manned by the Scartan Guard, a particularly grim arm of the kengard soldiery who take their name from the mountain under which their order were established during the Age of Hammerfall.

Their distinctive pitch coloured uniforms and black helms furnished with raven feathers give them an air of menace and mystery and are a fitting livery for the company charged with the execution of Listholm's condemned.

From Blædart Listholmers derive the term blaggard, once used to describe the tower itself, then the Bleak Guards who accompanied those about to die to the tower.

Today the word refers to the condemned and to law breakers generally, though the structure on the mount is still known as The Black Tower.

Derwose Woods Derwose, meaning The Land Like a Womb Wherein the Almighty Trees Grow Together, here is a dense woodland and the hunting grounds of the Lairds of Dingerein. Paths called ‘rides’ run through the woods and are given appropriate names like ‘Hartschase’ or ‘Lairdroute’. They are stocked with boar, pheasant, hare, rabbit, fox and wild hart, though the hart are only seasonal within the month of Womonad and may only be hunted by members of the ruling clan due to their declining numbers.

The woods are also stocked with starfawn, but these are permanently protected and cannot be hunted, the penalty for poaching starfawn being death in every instance.

Poachers within the woods are rare, but do occur from time to time with ne'er-do-wells landing off the coast of Wermerack and out of sight of Tunturthis. White hart venison is a prized meat in many parts of the world, the rarity of the species increasing their value.

Dingerein, Castle Home to Laird Mul-Gerrenum Evergreen and his clan, descendants of the Mythyar bloodline and commanders of the secular kengard army. Since the age of Listnum Hammerclaw has a Laird (Lord of the Lair) or Lairdess (Lady of the Lair) been recognized as patriarch or matriarch of Listholm. Their position is officially separate

Blaedart and the Ward Wall, seen from the River Nova

from that of the church, but the Motian cult is so intrinsically intertwined with the culture of both Listholm and more specifically Tunturthis where the Evergreen's hold sway, this official situation is, in reality, barely applicable. The norwyr are a devout race and expect much the same from their ruling classes.

Dingerein (Home of the Loud Horn) is a palatial castle on the promontory of Balmyrasoth, the northern aspect facing a meadow, the southern standing upon the brink of Faellan Ridge and overlooking the southern vastness of Sanas Morcorm. Here stands a long battlement called The Archer’s Wall whereon up to three hundred archers may stand shoulder to shoulder, defending against any invasion coming through the Twain Gate and into Druncnen.

Dingerein was constructed as a watch tower during the Sanas Morcorm war and was originally designed to keep a close eye on war parties mustering at the Twain Gate. On those occasions when marching armies or lone enemies were sighted, the alert would be sounded using the Mul-horn, an immense wrought-iron horn brought into Listholm from Niflhelm and possibly even imported from Carnuntun with the exodus of the Age of Hammerfall. The horn is steam operated, various wheels turning to open valves, high pressure jets of steam flowing into the horn to give a long and deafening blast which can be heard as far away as the Arkhold in Niflhelm.

After the settling of the Sanas Morcorm conflict and the subsequent unification of the warring realms, Dingerein was enlarged and took on a new role as protector of the northern coast. The Mul-horn remains and its lament may be heard whenever an unidentified ship enters the aptly named Sound of Mul or an unknown landing party is sighted on the southern coast of Niflhelm.

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Beneath Dingerein is a dungeon, once used to house prisoners of war. Below the uppermost level, excavated by the Wyrmen lies a natural cave complex whose walls are buttressed by natural curving structures which give the uncanny impression of the interior of a giant rib-cage. These are the Caves of Fingal whose cavities stretch to untold fathoms and whose secrets have long remained hidden by darkness considered too deep and too perilous for even the adventurous Lairds to chase.

Druncnen Marsh The Drowned Marsh, Druncnen is a wide wetland region within the lowland basin bordering the River Nova and the sea. In spring and summer months the marsh consists of mud flats and dangerous quick sands. In the winter and monsoon months the marsh is little more than a lake of soft mud, tens of feet deep and extremely dangerous.

During summer, beginning some time in early Rune or Zeuly, the marsh is home to the Attercop Spider, a bright red and yellow amphibious arachnid with venomous pincers and razor sharp barbs capable of injecting a paralyzing toxin. The Attercop looks small and harmless but is a considerable hazard.

The Attercop vanishes during winter months, sinking into the depths of the quick sands to feed on carrion there while the upper layers of watery ooze become infested with a blind carnivorous eel called the Todsnap Snake (Snake With Snapping Teeth). Todsnap hibernate in the deep loam of the marsh which dries out and solidifies in summer. They revive and emerge as the mud turns to liquid with the coming of the pre-winter monsoons, skimming across the surface of the marsh and feeding on birds and other animals trapped in the bogs.

Larger prey, like horses, cattle, deer or even wyrmen, will attract swarms of Todsnap, the

combined frenzy of the swarm capable of stripping flesh to bone in mere minutes.

It is not uncommon, during the winter months, particularly toward the end of Motsober, for large quantities of skeletal myrman remains to emerge onto the slime of the river Nova's northeastern banks, remains dating from the Sanas Morcorm war when huge numbers of myrmen were sucked into the swamp as they marched through the Twain Gate. Arrowheads are also thrown up regularly at the southern edge of Druncnen and over the years vast quantities of them, like shaped shale, have massed to form a visible hump along the bank of the river. Arrow Duty is a common sight at the beginning of Motsober; chained prisoners from Castle Mort trailing in gangs to the edge of Druncnen where they are forced to search through the mire for complete arrows. Their salvage is then used to further enhance the stock kept in Dingerein. Deaths are common, with prisoners often stepping in the wrong spot and sinking to their doom. Such losses are deemed unavoidable and will be of little concern to the guardians of Mort.

On All Gloo's Eve the norwyr believe that the spectres of Druncnen's many victims rise as green mist from the muds of the marsh and float eerily down-river then out to sea. Seafarers confirm this tale and are often heard to speak of their personal encounters with the green wraiths of Listholm, retelling the same stories in darkened bars on cold winter nights when a captive audience is at hand and the drink is flowing. They tell of a low lying mist of luminous green, reaching from the mouth of the river Nova like the crooked fingers of some ghastly, unearthly spirit. Then they tell of fingers becoming tendrils whose ghoulish mass curls about the wreck of the Argos where it languishes on the rocks, and of the silhouettes of the dead visible in the depths of the mist as it spreads like oil across the sea.

Once the necessaries of security have been undertaken the kengard will then seek trade and provisions. There is little food to be had in Dunm端thyl beyond the regular supplies of sun-bream delivered by wagon from Tunturthis, nor do the soldiers enjoy much in the way of entertainment. Dunm端thyl is generally a bleak and forbidding place to exist, despite the sparkle of its fa巽ade, thus travelling Ballatron or theatrical companies will always find a warm welcome and offer of free food, drink and temporary lodging in return for their company.

Medrina are riddled with small fens and potholes capable of swallowing the unwary whole and in a matter of seconds.

The road that runs through Dunom leads to the southwestern gatehouse of Tunturthis and down over the foothills bordering Gadria. A small hump-backed bridge crosses the fast flowing Rinbracken river which gushes down from the heights of Mount Medrina and heads north to feed the bogs of Haldan.

Dunom Pass

Fealan, meaning The Fallen, is a mythic plateau overlooking the Druncnen Marsh and upon whose cliff top stands Castle Dingerein, home to the Lairds of Listholm.

Legend has it that here stood an earth spirit named Fingal, akin to Eret (spirit of the Deeping Earth) and Womad (spirit of life and vitality) but of lesser importance than both. He battled with Orcin (The One Horned), the wicked spirit servant of Draedask of mythology, long before

A vale between Mount Medrina and the southern knolls of the Haldan Hills.

Dunom (meaning Lightless Pass) provides a natural funnel through which large companies of men cannot march without narrowing their column and making of themselves a more easily repelled force.

The hills to the north are treacherous and the gradual slope to the south leading into the steep buttresses of

Faelan Ridge

Dunm端thyl Keep A castle keep on the southwestern corner of the Ward Wall ridge, constructed entirely from monzonite, a cream-coloured stone flecked with glittering shards of quartz. The outer walls of the castle still display scars and pockmarks from the Sanas Morcorm war, most notable of these being the long and jagged marks made by the Urwhorl, a Fell creature that dwells still in dungeons beneath the Tansys Desert.

The Hyns-Horn railway runs by the southernmost fastness of the castle where it is customary (indeed, expected) for trains to stop. Grim faced kengard will extract from any incoming trains all characters whom they deem to be questionable or unable to give good reason for their entry into Listholm.

Most will be turned out into the wastes of Sanas Morcorm. The occasional few may be identified as enemies of the kingdom and either imprisoned or taken to one of the inland fortifications for further interrogation.

Dingerein and the Wer Horn

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the spirits passed out of Ereth to dwell in the Web of Wyrd.

bonfires and as a form of explosive by the kengard military.

The feud between the pair is said to have lasted many hundreds of years, culminating in one final and cataclysmic battle on Balmyrasoth where Fingal landed a killing blow so strong that Orcin was hurled out into the Endeleas where he sank to the bottom of the waters never to be seen again. But this last heroic effort left Fingal mortally injured.

The Giant Shelled Tortuse - thought to be a distant relative of the Gigaerack - is an enormous but benign species of turtle that can be seen on the coast of Fyrstnum from spring to summer. During this period, these slow and amiable creatures come to the wetlands to breed, to lay their eggs then return to the waters and vanish. The eggs hatch toward the end of summer as the ground is starting to harden and the resulting turtle broods then swarm both into the sea and inland. At this time they become a common sight in the surrounding lands and even sometimes within Tunturthis where they are something of a local delicacy.

Like a mountain fallen from great height, Fingal lay down across the headland and there fell into slumber. His corpse petrified in the sun and his features were worn away by the endlessly falling rain. His sleeping body formed the plateau of Fealan Ridge and the gaps in his bones the endless natural tunnels and caverns that lie hidden beneath Castle Dingerein. On quiet nights he can be heard breathing and those who have walked in the Fingal caves report a sound and a trembling as of great bellows working in the earth. Others claim they can hear, even in Dingerein itself, the thrumming of a drum far beneath the floor, like the pounding of a gigantic heart.

Fyrstnum Fyrstnum (First Fen) consists of wetland meadows and fields bordering the coastline to the north. The area also harbours natural peat deposits which are used by the natives of Tunturthis as a type of fuel. During the spring months peat is harvested in slabs from Fyrstnum, leaving large rectangular ditches with squared off edges that may mystify visitors or those passing through on the train.

The peat is used primarily as a fuel for burners and agas within the houses of Tunturthis but is also used to fuel industrial

The shells of the adult Tortuse are also used

by Listian seafarers in the construction of small row boats often found on larger vessels and used as lifeboats or landing craft.

Gadria Gadria (the Gathering Place) is a wide grassy field before the walls and western gate house of Castle Mort. On its eastern side the Kengard military of the castle will often practice marching formations. The western side is a swampland and treacherous to the uninitiated.

Haldan Hills, the The Holding Hills, whose craggy knolls,

bracken covered slopes and ankle-breaking hollows seem to cup the western end of Tunturthis. The hills are a highland (and therefore a dry land) rising from the marshes of Gethrin, Gadria and Fyrstnum. On their summits grow spongy moss and green petal flowers, thistledown and thorny gorse while the dips and troughs between hills are

The Hyns-Horn steams through Fyrstnum, seen from the Haldan Hills

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invariably waterlogged and home to bogs, fens and quick sands.

A natural basalt path runs through the hills and this has been incorporated as a safe approach to Tunturthis. It meets with the northwestern gate house of the city and the raised roadway running through Dunom Pass respectively.

Karek Fort High on the edge of the Ward Wall, Karek (The Ever Watchful) keeps a cautious eye on the sprawling wastes of Sanas Morcorm.

Those stationed at the fort tend to suffer the effects of confinement as visitors and outside stimulation are rare. In times of peace the soldiers maintain a healthy mind by playing violent sport, exercising and making regular patrols of the surrounding lands, thus anyone entering Gethrin, Dunom or the lower slopes of Mount Medrina will likely encounter shabby looking kengard patrols from Karek wandering with no apparent purpose.

Most newly recruited kengard are sent immediately to Karek for a tour of duty. Here they may be puzzled and perhaps offended to find themselves working alongside exprisoners from Mort given the choice of remaining in their cell or moving to the outpost to serve a term in the Karekian Guard. How they cope with this discovery which has been deliberately engineered - will determine whether they have what it takes to be a member of the kengard or not.

All officers in the kengard (and most of the aristocracy and governing authorities of Tunturthis) know that where members of the lower military ranks desert they tend almost always to disappear from Karek, descending the face of the Ward Wall into Sanas Morcorm then travelling south in search of a new life.

Newly appointed soldiers at Karek will immediately be informed of the highly secret underground passage that leads to a small oak door set in the base of the Ward Wall cliffs, though they will be told nothing about its purpose, nor why they are being told of its existence. There is method in this and in the command structure’s policy to station all newly qualified soldiers at Karek. What newcomers are not told is that the oak door opens only one way. Access cannot be gained from the Sanas Morcorm side once the door is closed. On the outer surface of the door an ancient metal plaque reads:

All members of the Listian soldiery beyond this point are deemed guilty of the crime of desertion by order of the Lairds of Listholm. Penalty upon return is pain of death, to be executed at Blaedart Tower wherewith the guilty shall be bound by hand and by foot and from a high place shall they fall

unto the depths of the Khasma, their soul released to the greater realm of the Web of Wyrd, their treachery to be judged by the will of the Oak Lords. If by honour dost thou return then may the Oak Lords be forgiving. If by disgrace dost thou walk on, take with thee the treachery of thy soul and never return to the holy lands of the north."

Karek, therefore, is a point from which Tunturthis can leach unwanted and unproductive members of the population. The hard life and boredom endemic in the fort are considered a test of patriotism and of character. Those who stay the course will find themselves promoted, moved into more important duties in more agreeable parts of the Lairdom. Those who vanish into the southern wilderness are not pursued. Their loss is marked down as a form of population control and a problem thereafter belonging to the barbaric Wythian cultures of the south.

Medrina (Mount) Mount Medrina (Mountain of Rinan) is a snow capped mountain that dominates the southwestern corner of Listholm and whose summit stands at 12,300ft.

Upon the peak of Medrina stands an ancient temple dating from the Epic Age (almost certainly the Twelfth Epic of Elyeth) and is a site sacred to the people of Listholm.

The temple is hidden within the base of a statue depicting Aura Num in the throes of sorrow over the death of Vanyir. A natural spring wells at the top of this statue, the water bubbling from the eyes and trickling down the stone in two channels. These streams grow in size as they descend the mountain and eventually form the Rinbracken river where it cuts across the heart of Dunom Pass. An arch in the side of the statue leads to a steep stairwell which descends into chambers beneath the summit of the mountain.

In the heart of these chambers stands the Obelisk of Mot, a great slab of marble upon which a variety of sacred texts were scribed by the wyrmen of the Age of Hammerfall along with an account of the construction of the temple. On the opposite side of the obelisk can be found the Megdart of Mot, a powerful rune form which can be seen but cannot be recorded, memorized or otherwise removed from its sacred site.

The text is written in the hand of the wyrmen of old, and is here translated:

"Nine thousand years are passed and the ice thaws. Islands rise as humps of grey in a white world we have long known and longed to escape. Medrina was the first, the Obelisk of Mot emerging from the snows was as a blessing of hope. To the island did we strive, here to find poor Aura in her eternal despair and under the veil of her care, the Megdart of

Mot Elyeth. About the stone we made shelter and as night fell we felt fear upon us and Froth came among us. Bitter was she, Old Woman Winter, but we invoked the name of the saviour and Mot Elyeth came unto Ereth from the Web of Wyrd and beheld Froth. He said "here are the lineage sons and daughters of Nimrosel, whom you loved. They are returned now and the winter of their discontent is at an end."

The essence of relief was upon us. Mot blessed our party and bid us craft a shrine, that our people might know his mark and ever return. Old Woman Winter was banished and became once again fair Rinan, spirit of the Pouring Rain, and where she sank into the stone a wellspring came forth and Aura wept."

Motsmarch Cliffs Along the west coast of Listholm stands the Jurassic Motsmarch Cliffs. Erosion at the base of the cliffs has left them riddled with many caves both large and small. At high tide the surf booms and laps inside the caves, while at low tide shale beaches covered in strange fossils are revealed and the caves can be explored.

Many of the caves are no more than a few hundred feet deep, but some connect with subterranean tunnels which worm their way into unknown depths beneath the loam substrata of Listholm's western shore.

Nova, River The source of the Nova is in the south of Sanas Morcorm where run-off accumulates in streams pouring down from the heights of Mount Ascona and Decoron and from moisture seeping below the waterline into the depths of the Khasma Ravine. The river is too far below the southern escarpment of the Ward Wall to be of any use to the norwyr whose water sources come either from the deluged lands surrounding Tunturthis or the well spring of Germoe.

Twain Gate, the Even to eyes unfamiliar with the region it is clear that the Twain was once a single

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mountain which has, at some time in the primordial past, been riven into two separate peaks by some cataclysmic upheaval.

Whatever the cause, the result is a daunting sight when seen from the Sanas Morcorm approach. The violently broken peaks of the Twain rise majestic and ancient, each mountain leaning away from its partner, two peaks actually formed of many smaller crags when seen at close quarters. The mighty shoulders of the main body of the mountain pair fall steeply into the Khasma Ravine where the river Nova winds out of the deserts of the south and pours into the East Inland Sea. Twain is the gateway into eastern Listholm and of all the ways into the country it is the least guarded in terms of fortification, but the most watched in terms of aspect, lying as it does under the gaze of the Lairds in Balmyrasoth.

Anyone who passes through the gate will be seen by watchers in Dingerein and their progress, provided they are deemed to be no great immediate threat, will be observed. As soon as they enter the shadow of Faelan or are seen to survive the perils of Druncnen they will be met by a ready patrol of heavily armed and armoured kengard and taken away for questioning.

Cult: Wythia, Drogen and Elgan Culture: disparate barbarian cultures and minor industrial settlements. The morcelt to the north (highly savage wyrmen), the people of Zenor to the west (barbarian wyrmen) the Elgan cultists of Old Urd in the east (evil myrmen and monstrous) and the Wythian wyrmen who inhabit the mills, mines and quarries of the south.

Notable Landmarks: Monigarn and Tarantel, Old Urd, Drood-Cynncarn, Mount Ascona, the Tansys Desert, Fawen Forest, Trestun Mill, the Hyns Horn Railway, the Khasma Ravine.

Prevailing Climate: sub-tropical with rains in the north and east and dry desolation in central and western regions. In the south the climate becomes steadily more seasonal.

Government Type: barbarian/tyrannical, where there is any government.

Ruler: none.

Once a land harbouring two promising civilizations, Sanas Morcorm is now a place of ruin, ravaged by war and destructions wrought by an insidious evil whose time on Yarnia, it seems, is not yet over.

The civilizations that once were are no more, but evil prevails in the savage lands of the barbarian and in the eastern coastal city of Old Urd. Here the immortal Caynum Bitterblade has returned to sit upon the throne of the Arkhein. At his side and loyal to the dark agendas of the Cult of Flies are amassed an army of vicious allies hell-bent on one thing: destruction of the world of the wyrmen and the return of the banished elder gods from the Nether Dymension of Wyrd.

The morcelt of the north, in comparison to the fiends of Urd, are merely deranged and feral, wyrmen driven to madness by centuries of isolation, in-breeding and idolatry in the depths of Monigarn jungle.

Evil dwells also in the wastes of the Tansys Desert and the bleak crags of Brecon Brow in the form of the Mawdrok, victims of the Cüdha Death, a virus born from the accumulated detonations of Craven magick during the Sanas Morcorm war.

"Diseased Nature often breaks forth in strange eruptions."

Sanas Morcorm

The ravaged victims of this hideous disease are the predominant inhabitants of central Sanas Morcorm, their numbers matched only by the common Sandlew Tiger. This saber toothed bigcat, once the alpha predator of the Fawen Forest, has adapted to life in the wastes of postwar Tansys by hunting and feeding on the husk-like flesh of the living dead. Somehow the Sandlew is immune to the effects of the Cüdha virus, nevertheless a steady diet of its wasted victims seems to have had a profound effect on the creature's physiognomy. Once a proud and mighty animal the Sandlew are now haggard and haunting to behold, their spines prominent as a jutting bridge between the wrinkled flesh of

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their neck and the limp rope of their tail, their limbs skeletal and weak compared with the muscular legs and paws of their ancestors.

Their eyes also display something strange and unworldly, almost as if in the consumption of so much unhallowed meat their animalian souls have taken on the countenance of the dead themselves.

The Mawdrok and the Sandlew are perhaps the most poignant representatives of this once thriving, now barren and plague-ridden land.

Wyrman and animal both have been reduced by the aftermath of Elgan evil to states of savage and abominable subsistence. No longer proud, no longer vital but as dry, dead and wasted as the landscape they haunt.

the Cüdha Death The Cüdha, a magickal viral disease, is comported by animalian hosts who, in turn, carry ticks, mites and fleas whose bite spreads the disease. The virus can also be contracted from the saliva or blood of a wyrman victim, thus anyone bitten or exposed to a wyrman suffering from the disease is at considerable risk.

The virus is magickal in origin - created by detonations of Craven magick in huge quantities during the Sanas Morcorm war - and possesses certain qualities which are nothing like the characteristics of most natural viruses.

The virus cannot pass over or through any body of water without being nullified. This, presumably, is an after-effect of one or several of the conditional designs of the original combined spells from whose source the virus emerged. The prevalence of water-ways throughout Sanas Morcorm and particularly along its borders thus prevents an insidious spread of the disease into other parts of Ereth.

Almost all animalian, fae and Fell creatures (with the exception of all the wyrman races) are immune to the virus. The myrmen are the exception, but where they contract the illness they merely suffer a debilitating period of fever and catatonia before recovering.

In wyrman victims, symptoms present as flulike initially, with sores and lesions forming around the nostrils and mouth.

Within a few days the sufferer becomes jittery and paranoid, then aggressive and finally psychotic. The second stage of the illness flourishes in the second week and marks the degenerative phase. The victim’s heart stops, brain functions cease and bleeding occurs from all orifices until the body is utterly desiccated.

The eyes glaze over white and a form of rigor mortis sets in, resulting in a rigidity of joints and reduced rates of movement.

The soul has by now departed for the afterlife and the victim is effectively dead, yet somehow alive. The aggression and psychosis remain, almost as a remnant reflex that can no longer change with no mind to guide it, and the victim now seems to require sustenance in the form of meat, either animal or human.

The Tansys Desert is littered with victims of the C端dha Death, and, indeed, their numbers are now so great that they have become known colloquially as the Mawdrok (The Feral Eater Who Causes Great Pain) and generally across Ereth as the Scourge.

They stumble mindlessly across the barren wastes, bloodless and hideous, their moans audible from afar as they hunt ceaselessly for raw meat. Where they find food they fall upon it like things possessed. Where they stagger into rare regions of civilization they are slaughtered without mercy, for there is no cure for the C端dha - one bite is all it takes to spread the virus to a new victim and increase the Mawdrok population anew.

The Mawdrok are a favourite sport and food of the Sandlew Tiger who seem immune to the virus. Their deathly flesh seems no more or less appealing to the Sandlew than any other prey, but their shambling nature makes them a far easier target than many of the more natural and faster desert creatures.

Due to the nature of the sickness and the living-death of its latter stages, the Mawdrok, savaged and partially eaten by Sandlew, will survive despite their injuries and their efforts to crawl away from the scene of the feast often provides ample after-dinner entertainment for the big cats. It is not uncommon to encounter a Mawdrok torso or a disemboweled Mawdrok, the flesh eaten from its limbs and body, dragging itself along the ground with what remains of its arms.

Worse still are those sorry specimens found without limbs, or beyond the capacity to move, lying redundant yet somehow still alive while the shifting sands gradually bury them from sight.

The only cure for the C端dha is for the victim to cross or move through a significant body of water such as a river, lake or sea. Once cured, however, the wyrman victim will perish with the virus, ruled by the same magickal conditions that dictate the behaviour of the virus itself.

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Cornoval Once the land of the vanyirborn Cormysyeth Num and the devout Weavers of the Wythian cult, Cornoval (Source of the River Nova) fell into the hands of corrupt wyrman rulers after the slaying of Cormysyeth and swiftly came to ruin thereafter. The Jaguar Kenjarl, as they were known, were a tyrannical force of powerhungry politicians, opposed to the cultic rule of the Weavers and thirsty for renewed war

against the morcelt and the norwyr of Listholm.

Under the rule of the self-styled emperor Jarl Megalamon, the city fell to debauchery, savagery and ultimately to utter ruin.

Thus did the land of Cornoval fall, the Weavers who once ruled under their beloved Cormysyeth now living peaceful lives in the emerging counties of the Angle to the south.

Drood-Cynncarn's people perished and the aftermath of the Sanas Morcorm war turned all the land of that once proud nation into plague-ravaged barrens.

The ancient peoples of Drood-Cynncarn dwell still in Old Cornoval but they are no longer recognizable as people, nor even as wyrmen, for in the city's final years they fell victim to the C端dha Death. This hideous disease, spread either by the bite of rats or that of its victims, turns all who become infected into deathless, mindless monstrosities, decaying horrors whose souls are gone but whose minds and bodies still somehow live on. Many have wandered away from the city into the

abyss of the Tansys Desert and may be found there, barely recognizable anymore as men or women. Many lie entombed yet still alive beneath the shifting sands while others are reduced by the loss of limbs to dragging themselves across the wasted land.

DROODCYNNCARN City Where the Crossroad, King and Mountain Meet, Drood-Cynncarn was once the sprawling capital of Cornoval wherein lived the Imperial Jarls of old (Jarl meaning earl or eorl in the old tongue - Brave Man).

Today the city, like much of Cornoval, lies in desolation and ruin. The mud-baked houses with their distinctive multi-layered levels, tiny windows and strange, almost organic architecture stand empty and, in some places,

eroded to little more than humps of collapsed clay. The dominant Skyber towers, clay tubes girdled at intervals by jutting spars of timber and topped with intricate crenulations are deserted or collapsed. No longer do the Weavers stand on the summit of the towers performing their Daily Leverel - the dance and song of the runes honouring the memory of Womad - and no longer do the people of the city gather at the foot of the towers, erecting their busy markets and bartering dens in preparation for a day of trade and business; for the Weavers are long gone from Drood-Cynncarn and the bustle of the city's population is now a rumour carried on desolate winds.

Life has abandoned this place and slowly but surely the desert encroaches, wearing down that which the wyrmen once built, reclaiming the earth used to construct the streets and houses and clawing away the last glory of a once majestic creation. Black volcanic dust and sand covers everything like a funereal veil and fine miasmas of the same dust whip through the air or spin through the ruins as miniature tornados.

Despite its hollow and melancholy atmosphere, Drood remains beloved to the Weavers and they have remade the city their headquarters, returning here once every year to hold their annual meeting of the Tablemen of the Mountain. Some have even reinstated a handful of the more stable buildings, opening them as makeshift inns during the annual gathering of their order or using them as second homes during the meet.

The Mawdrok, undead victims of the C端dha virus and all that remains of the original population of the city are sometimes seen in the land between the north bank of the Langrid River and the south bank of the river Ob, trapped between the two waterways where they have stalked the dusty wastes, rocky plains and caves since the fall of the Cornovish empire. The city itself is protected from Mawdrok incursions from Tansys by the Ob, the Orinoco, the Langrid and the Gwyer, all of which run east to west across the continent and form an effective barrier against the C端dha virus.

DROOD-CYNNCARN

1 the Merkriadart Here stand the three Merkriadart, mighty pyramids 200ft tall that stand side by side in the Eroberune plain, a mythical location said to point the way to the most powerful rune of them all - the Heartstone of Ereth.

The Merkriadart are worn by eroding winds and sea-spray so that their corners are no longer defined, their chiseled edges no longer razor-sharp and the runes carved upon their sides - purportedly instructions for divining the way to the Eroberune - long worn away.

Drood-Cynncarn in the shadow of Mount Ascona

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DROOD-CYNNCARN

2 the Woodhenge Here stands the Woodhenge Hall whose sublevels house the great meeting room of the Tablemen of the Mountain. A great round table of oak stands atop a plinth formed from the tangled roots of a gigantic roble tree, benches made from the same roots surrounding the table like twisting tentacles provide a place for the many Weavers of the higher orders to be seated.

At the northern end of the table stands the Druwer's Chair, formed again from the same roots which here knot together to create the vast trunk of the tree. Upon this chair sits the Head Weaver as he presides over the gathering and the assembled Weavers about the table.

The trunk of the tree rises into the roof of the chamber and through the upper levels of the ziggurat, emerging from the apex of the building, boughs and branches splaying far above the rooftops of the crumbling city. There are no leaves upon the tree and nor have there been since Cormysyeth Num perished before the gates of Old Urd. The tree may be dead, but shows no signs of rot thus the Weavers hold out hope that one day buds will reappear and that the tree will blossom again when a worthy leader returns to the city.

The Ziggurat of Woodhenge itself stands in open grounds designed in the shape of an Ulefroth Owl. The Wythians believe the owl is symbolic of wisdom and in ancient architecture of the Cornovish period is a recurring theme.

DROOD-CYNNCARN

3 Colossus of Megalamon The largest statue crafted by the hands of the wyrmen stands here between two natural buttresses at the foot of Mount Ascona and high above the rest of the city.

From toe to head the statue stands 522ft and is formed from thirty six blocks of hand carved Gorzonite. In its right hand the statue grips the Prong Wand of the Sacred Antler and in its left a circular shield embossed with the Cornovish coat of arms (the two headed eagle, owl and pyramid).

The face of the statue has been eroded over time and is now all but gone, a blank and wind-worn oval where the stern features of the ancient dictator once stared out across the city. The lower part of the statue is also beginning to crumble, with jagged cracks in the legs and feet. Through these cracks can be seen a wooden timber scaffold, suggesting the statue may be hollow.

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DROOD-CYNNCARN

4 Temple of Bone At the foot of Mount Ascona a great scoop of stone has been gouged away by methods unknown, leaving an artificial plateau and a wide terrace surrounded by monumental balustrades and megalithic inward curving pillars whose design uncannily resembles a giant ribcage. The front aspect of a great temple has thereafter been carved from the rock face, the rictus features of a million skulls intricately chiseled into the rock to give the impression of a structure built entirely from bone.

Here was once an enormous bridge spanning the Langrid river and giving access from the northern wards of Drood-Cynncarn to the terrace and the temple. The Weavers destroyed the bridge upon discovering the site and the temple cannot now be reached without first crossing the river by boat or making the difficult lateral climb around the northwestern shoulder of Mount Ascona.

The temple entrance, an immense archway designed to resemble a gaping mouth furnished with fangs, leads into a cavernous space whose towering walls have been sculpted to display frozen images of lewd and lascivious abandon. Skeletal wyrmen and women are engaged on all sides in unspeakable debaucheries, their bodies entwined not only

with one another but with tentacle appendages, roots and barbed branches that seem to bear them aloft, force them together and tear them asunder in equal part. These appendages seem to sprout from creatures whose contours are merely hinted at but whose vastness suggests they dominate the background of each scene.

Small holes and hollows in the walls and ceiling connect with tubular ducts in the outer wall and through these howling winds from off the Tansys flats invade the temple, echoing off the walls and filling the place with a strange and eerie piping. An earthy smell is carried on these winds, thick with the odour of something fungal and rotten.

At the furthest end of the chamber, deep in shadow and mired in the dust and debris of many centuries, is a frightful statue of metal whose jarring visage looms out of the dark - a nightmare petrified in tarnished bronze and glowing here and there where daylight lances down through holes in the temple roof.

It stands almost one hundred feet tall, a lithe but crooked humanoid with a vaguely female, predatory form. The long arms, raised above, are skeletally thin and end in a pair of twofingered hands furnished with long, serrated talons. With these hands the statue seems to hold the ceiling of the temple aloft.

The neck - carrying a head that seems too large for the frame to support - is formed of snarled tentacles that rise up in cords from the collar and frame the skull on all sides. The face, shadowed within this mane of worm-like tentacles, is all mouth; a grin of jutting fangs akin to the jaw of some predatory but malformed dog whose flesh has been pared away to reveal raw sinew, bone and blackened gums. There are no eyes, ears or nostrils, only the horror of the mouth.

The huge plinth upon which this ghastly idol stands is formed of hundreds of wyrman skulls and embedded in the midst of the tableau is a large slab of stone into which has been carved the legend FALL AND BEHOLD THE NEMESIS OF ZEUSELRA DRINKER OF THE SUFFERING TEARS Various small archways in the gruesome walls lead to downward trailing corridors and cramped tunnels of simple block work. Door frames and archways are evident within these passageways but all have been bricked up and, eventually, all ways come to a dead end.

This is the Temple of Bone, discovered and named by the Weavers upon their return to Drood-Cynncarn in 189AD. Most of the ways into the deeper levels and chambers of the temple have been bricked up by the Weavers, their contents - whatsoever they may be permanently interred. The temple entrance was also once sealed but the stones and wooden timbers used for the task were broken open by unknown hands. The Weavers have long since chosen to abandon the site and fear to meddle with the temple or to uncover any evidence of its ghoulish purpose.

Marowtun - Town of the Dead

DROOD-CYNNCARN

5 the Great Palace The now largely ruined outer wall of the once mighty palace of the Jarl. Only four of the outermost original buildings still stand, the rest having long since crumbled away. The surviving structures, keeps within a retaining curtain wall now visible only as a raised foundation of Gorzonite embedded in the volcanic soil, define the huge square shape of the palace as it once was in days of old.

The Weavers have painted graffiti onto the old palace walls; symbols of owls, trees and the runic names for the Oak Lords all adorn the ancient brickwork. These go some way to dispelling the unsettling atmosphere that seems to hang over the ruin, yet still the palace remains a site most would choose to avoid and seems supernaturally imbued with a lingering sense of doom.

DROOD-CYNNCARN

6 Marowtun

The Tablemen refer to the city ward on the north bank of the Langrid as Marowtun (the Dead Town) and go there only at the utmost need. For here the Mawdrok, undead victims of the C端dha Death, dwell in numbers, lurking in the strange ruins of the ancient buildings and in the subterranean sewer networks which they infest like rats.

A visitor wandering across the Myrway Bridge into Marowtun will find themselves standing in a ghost town, mute as the graveyard and thick with a stench of decay. Here dust devils spin along wide cobbled lanes between structures whose grim aspect seem to have more in common with the crypt than the home. Tumbleweeds roll restlessly across the deserted streets and silence prevails.

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The houses are sparse enough in their arrangement directly beyond the bridge to afford the visitor a clear view into the gaping wastes of the Tansys Desert and an ochre horizon shaded by the merest suggestion of distant mountains, while to the east and west the denser aspects of Marowtun stand.

Here are the bleak structures of a once exclusive district, constructed in neat, but somehow unsettling geometric patterns, long avenues stretching away and seeming to merge with the heaped dunes at the edge of the desert; dark stone towers, round houses and monolithic statues dominating the wide pavements and oddly spaced alleyways.

Visitors who venture into Marowtun will inevitably disturb the many lurking undead who languish here. One by one they will begin to emerge from the lingering shadows, the intricate layout of the buildings and lanes providing uncountable places for them to lurk and watch unseen. They will come forth on hobbling limbs, feet dragging (if they have feet to drag), heads rolling on broken necks, jaws sawing wordlessly at the air; muttering, mumbling horrors drawn by the sound and scent of living meat.

Sometimes (though rarely) a fresh victim of the C端dha may be among the horde, in which case they will be in the early stages of the virus and more dangerous than the shambling multitude. Such creatures will suddenly appear, bursting from the shadows, the still vital muscles of their body bunched and ready to spring, their eyes blazing with a red fury.

When they attack they move at great speed, snarling and spitting froth as they come.

Sometimes packs of Sandlew tiger will come within sight of the town, but the tigers have learned to avoid Marowtun, one of the few places where the Mawdrok gain advantage in numbers and where the Sandlew would be unable to feed at their leisure on anything they bring down, the slow but deadly multitude closing in on them and cutting off their escape.

LANDMARKS Notable landmarks within the district of central Sanas Morcorm and the lands of Old Cornoval, excluding those landmarks within the recognized borders of Celtrein and Dunmonia.

Arvorest Road Arvorest is a road connecting Zenor with Drood-Cynncarn. The road once crossed a bridge over the estuary of the river Nova in the north but the estuary has since eroded inland and the bridge has sunk into mudflats there. The road now peters out where it descends into the mud and anyone attempting to cross at this point risks being sucked down into the mire.

The long stretch of road from the estuary of Nova to the Monbord Bridge over the Langrid is known by the people of Zenor as the Gravyan Road (the Engraved) for all along its length the cobbles of the road have been individually etched with warding runes. These are runes of Weaving, placed there at painstaking effort by the Tablemen of the Mountain as a failsafe to prevent any host (including dust storms) carrying any of the various diseases of Tansys (including the CĂźdha Death virus) across the road and into the city. The same runes can be found on the Monbord Bridge and the Myrway Bridge leading into the Marowtun district.

The CĂźdha cannot cross any body of water, thus it is kept at bay long before Arvorest by the rivers of Orinoco, Ob and Langrid.

Nevertheless, the Weavers prefer to ensure they are well provided against the failure of such conditions and that their headquarters remain safe from the horrors of The Scourge.

Ascona (Mount) A dormant volcano, Ascona (Of the Land and the Crown of the Kings) stands nearly 21,000ft above sea level, its jagged peak covered during winter in a cap of snow and ice.

Ascona’s last eruption occurred long ago, before the Winter of Discontent and probably at some time during the early Epic Age, though precisely when this was and whether the exact year was recorded is unknown. The result of this eruption was the formation of much of the landmass around the Isthmus of ground linking the Angle with Cornoval. The black sand beaches of the west coast and the black grains of earth typical of the region around Drood-Cynncarn are also a result of this prehistoric volcanic activity, as are many of the basaltic and obsidian formations in northern Sanas Morcorm.

Occasional quakes and the odd erupting

geyser occur in and around Ascona where the ground becomes thin above isolated pockets of trapped gas and heat, but no sign of the peak itself erupting have ever been observed.

Ascona is famed as the mountain beneath which the wyrlung claim to have evolved. The history books of Skytor insist that Mot Elyeth deposited the infirm, the elderly and a contingent of carers in caves beneath Ascona on his way to the site of the Arkhold. While the exodus of the vanyirborn took shelter in the northern mountains, the people of Ascona huddled in the warm burrows under the volcano and survived the fall of Merrlith.

The caves of Lynyeth, once occupied by this race of people, are now lost to memory and their exact location is unknown though many have tried to find them. The southern wyrmen, who often refute the claims of Skytor that Ascona birthed the race of the wyrlung, believe Lynyeth is but a legend and that no such place exists outside the 'fertile' imaginations of the Allumnics.

Brecon Brow The magick of the Weavers, the Motians and the Craven warlords of the three warring nations are responsible for the dramatic scenery in this part of the world. The land itself has been scooped away as if by the claws of some vast monstrosity, leaving the great cavity known as the Brecon gully, more commonly known as The Brecon Brow (Broken Ridge).

The sides of Brecon are unstable and anyone scrambling down to the base of the pit risks loosening the soil and shale, causing an avalanche likely to carry them down to and bury them at the bottom.

The crest of the Brow is also unstable, an overhanging bluff, unsupported from below and liable to drop out from under the feet of anyone standing too close to the edge.

Huge boulders and rocks litter the various ridges and these are easily shifted, many balanced on a tiny surface area, just waiting for some small disturbance to send them rolling and bounding down into the gully below.

Along the lowermost ledges and cliff faces toward the north, within the Ostia Hills, a variety of caves have been burrowed into the soft earth and stone and within these live a rare tribe of Kornkraw. Their haunting ground is not the hills themselves (they seem fearful of the Megdart rune of Ostia to be found there) but the wide flatlands at the bottom of the Brecon Brow. Here they have been established by the Elgan priests of Old Urd, to guard the lands west of that city and to defile any travelers who come this way.

Anyone walking the Weaving Road down from the Brow and into the Tansys Desert are almost certain to draw the attention of the Kornkraw, finding themselves watched then

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ambushed as they reach the base of the cliffs.

Falling or setting off avalanches anywhere on the Brow will also send tremors through the caverns and tunnels inhabited by the Fell, alerting them to the presence of potential prey.

Kornkraw are intelligent but physically slow and are likely to prefer to lay traps than make direct frontal assaults. (See the Wyrd Pandemonium for more information on the Kornkraw).

Ostia Hills Named after the Oak Lord of old, Ostia is a compact region of small hills and knolls upon which numerous barrow graves stand. These mounds of grassy earth are unmarked and could cover dead kings of the Epic Age as easily as dead warriors from the Age of Thaw.

An eerie silence and an uncanny stillness hangs over the area and anyone travelling here will experience an uncanny feeling of being watched.

Gloose, spirit of the deceased, is thought to haunt the Ostia, standing guardian over the barrows and punishing those who disturb the stones and soil covering the dead. A single towering megalith stands upon the highest hill, plainly carved into shape with a sharp tapering point. Upon this is the rune of Ostia Num, one of the mystical and ancient Megdart crafted by Mot Elyeth in the year 900 of the Twelfth Epic age of Elyeth. The rune can be seen and experienced, but it cannot be memorized, recorded or otherwise removed from its sacred place on the stone (see volume 1, System & Setting for information on the Megdart runes).

Cormis-Meurth A region of dusty wasteland between the two spurs of the Fawen Forest. Cormis-Meurth (West Cornovish March), is so named in celebration of the route home taken by the victorious Corn0vish army after the defeat of Caynum Bitterblade in 63AD.

Darras Castle See Karkadier Valley.

Denlath (Wadi) A wadi is a seasonal watercourse wherein water typically flows freely during the winter months but dries up during spring and summer. Denlath wadi is a serpentine creek bed with a depth of between six and forty feet at varying points along its length. Water runs down from the Brecon Brow and spillover from floods in the Swelgan Marsh then feed the river Nova as it flows northeast.

Denlath means murder in Cornovish, a name

the wadi has earned from the many lives of travelers it claims each year as the unwitting make their way along the wadi bed during the dry season only to be caught in floodwaters rushing down from the east. This commonly occurs at intervals during spring and summer when unseasonal rains fall heavily in the swamps of Dunmonia causing an overflow into Brecon and the Ostia Hills. During the dry seasons it takes surprisingly little rain to cause the Swelgan to rise up and flood the wadi. In the deepest parts of Denlath, with no lateral escape, the sudden onslaught of water invariably proves fatal, crushing and drowning everything in its path.

Denlath is a useful route across Tansys, despite the dangers, as it shelters any traveler from the dust storms and other perils of Tansys and provides cool shade from the remorseless desert sun. The bed of Denlath is only ever a few inches above the waterline also, making it a good source of liquid for parched travelers.

The wadis of Sanas Morcorm are used often, and particularly in the spring months between March and Zeuly, by mobs of Clacker. The approach of these chaotic creatures will likely be heard long before their arrival as a distant drumming, clattering and pattering sound, though the narrow walls and twisting course of the wadi may distort these sounds and give a false impression of their direction and distance.

See The Wyrd Pandemonium for more information on Clackers.

Drygia (The Drygian Barrens) Once part of Fawen Forest, the war reduced this region of Sanas Morcorm to a wasteland of desert and dust. Drygia encompasses most of the land north of the Wythiall River, from the edge of the Khasma Ravine to the tree line of Monigarn and is classified by most cartographers as a district of Tansys.

Here is a mixture of sand and soil with treacherous pools of quicksand where water has collected to form hidden mires. Sand storms in the dustier parts of Drygia are frequent, filling the air with acrid and foultasting sand particles that clog the lungs, blind the eyes and sting any exposed flesh until the skin is raw and bleeding.

The looser soil and sand is home to vast nests of Drygian ants whose attention any traveler crossing the area is guaranteed to attract.

Drygian nests appear as strange conical mounds on the otherwise featureless flats of the barrens. They can grow anything up to sixty feet in height, depending entirely on the size of the army living inside. The soil or sand used to form the nest is mingled with sticky web-like substance which, when it hardens in the heat of the sun, is as strong as metal (the morcelt fashion their swords and scimitars from a processed form of the material).

Karkadier Valley On the southernmost coast of Sanas Morcorm can be found the wyrman enclave of Karkadier Valley (see map overleaf), once a centre of industry serving Drood-Cynncarn and after that the city of Verdandi, Karkadier has since

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lost much of its trade and is now considered a shadow of its former self.

Though Karkadier lies within the recognized borders of Sanas Morcorm, it falls unofficially under the jurisdiction of the Angle. The current landlord of Castle Darras is the son of Lord Edgar Chersya of the west Anglian counties.

A TRESTUN Trestun (the Trusted Town) is a settlement of wooden buildings raised on high stilts and inhabited by friendly common wyrman, sowyrman and elken workers serving a large lumber yard and quarry (collectively known as the Trestun Mill).

The river Gwyer runs down through Trestun, powering the water wheel of a saw mill, also on stilts, that stands on the west bank. The river also provides the settlement with fresh water.

A crude tavern called the Scarmon's Ocky, constructed in an abandoned locomotive coach to the west of the mill, is where most of Trestun's few workers will be found after dusk, sipping home-brewed mead, singing songs and smoking pipes. If a visitor arrives during working hours the place will appear to be deserted, the workers emerging from woodland to the north as the sun begins to set.

Once a thriving community and industrial centre of Cornovish expansionism, Trestun now stands on the brink of collapse. Many of its buildings lie empty, the armies of Stone Masters and Lumbering Jacks who once occupied them long gone. A handful of Lumbering Jacks remain, Anglian entrepreneurs from Verdandi who live between the mill and the city port across the

bay. These wyrmen and women try to return home at least once a month to recuperate and spend their earnings. Here, their work is overseen and their profits heavily taxed by the effeminate Conteth Cherubyn of Castle Darras (B) - a square edged hilltop keep, parts of which can be seen peeking over the tops of the trees of Zork Wood.

The Lumbering Jacks of Trestun travel daily into the denser parts of the Fawen where they look to fell at least two trees a day which must then be dragged by horse back through the woods for milling by saw-squires. The Jacks usually favour the same central spot in the southern spur of Fawen where the wood is strong and they have a good awareness of their surroundings. Nevertheless, the journey to and from the felling site is perilous. Injuries and even fatalities are common as the Lumbering Jack crew cross paths with the natural denizens of the forest or fall foul of Fawen’s countless poisonous, stinging and toxic flora.

Trestun itself lives in constant fear of floods.

The falls dropping over the northern face of Gorstone Quarry are served in summer by a single river, but in winter by three. During the dry season there is always the potential for unseasonal rains in the north leading to storm surges of varying severity that cause the falls to swell and the river, where it crosses the Karkadier Valley, to burst its banks. Such floods come without warning and where the feed is a storm, with surprising violence.

Anyone caught on the banks of the river or

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crossing one of the Gwyer's bridges is likely to be swept into the sea unless they can climb the steps to one of Trestun’s stilted buildings or leap into one of the boats the workers leave lying around at strategic points.

The wyrmen and women of Trestun are also vigilant for symptoms of the Cüdha Death. As a precaution they never share eating utensils, pipes or cups or anything else that might touch the mouth. Where strangers enter Karkadier they may even be asked to stay away from Trestun until the current foreman can check them over for signs of the disease.

If quizzed about their work in the forest, the Lumbering Jacks of Trestun will be tight-lipped and may seem anxious to change the subject.

They prefer not to dwell too much on the perilous work they undertake, preferring instead to live for the evening when they can relax, hang up their boots and sip Myttynban Mead (Morning’s Bane, or as the local joke goes - ‘the enemy of early starts’) until sleep takes them. Talk of the dangers they may face with the coming of the morning will quickly dampen any mood the patrons of the Scarmon's Ocky have worked to create. They may speak only of something or someone they call 'The Collector' an enemy so bone-chilling none will describe him, other than to say all who work in the forest pray never to meet him - and of the Cüdha Death and their fear of contracting that dread disease which has already claimed so many of their friends and co-workers.

The Collector is a term that refers to the Yammer who live and lurk in the depths of Fawen. Those who work in the forest fear to turn and find one standing behind them more than they fear anything else.

veteran of many battles, Captain ‘Oxtail’ Wythran, an altogether military-minded individual and one credited with keeping the slovenly attitude of the Count from seeping into the lower ranks.

B

The Red-Coats and those who serve in a nonmilitary capacity at Darras are preoccupied with the Cüdha Death and anyone entering the castle will soon learn of its existence as they are tricked into a cell (disguised as a well decorated guest room) and promptly quarantined for a month, released only if the sickness fails to manifest during this time.

CASTLE DARRAS High on a firm bedrock of basalt, with views across the treetops of Zork Woods, the industrial settlement of Trestun, Hyns-Horn Bay and the lands beneath Ascona and Mount Decoron, Darras Castle (originally Darras-a-Rag meaning Front Door) is currently the property of the Chersyas of Dunkunom and Karkadier Valley is deemed to be a part of their domain.

The castle was originally constructed as an outpost of Verdandi's territory and was used to launch a concerted military campaign against bandits operating in Fawen. The protection of Gorstone Quarry, by this point the property of Kenwythi Gwelenbryal, was a secondary consideration. The main objectives included defeat of the bandits and defense of both the Hyns-Horn railway and Verdandi's shipping fleets in the Damnum. In this the castle was employed to great effect, but has since become redundant. With the fall of the Cornovish empire and the retreat of Fawen's tree line, the region hereabouts is now largely untroubled by enemy forces.

Conteth Cherubyn, lone landlord of Darras, is of the Chersya line of Anglian nobles and Castle Darras belongs to his father, Lord Edgar Chersya. The castle was purchased by that family at some point in the fifth long term, Aefter yn Dun. Trestun falls within Edgar's realm of command and profits from the mill and quarry are heavily taxed by him, though the actual collecting of taxes is performed by Cherubyn and are, these days, so few that they are rarely collected at all. The workaday activities and logistics of the mill interest Edgar very little and he is aware that the castle was sold to him on the cusp of the mill's collapse as a trade interest. He, nevertheless, keeps the castle inhabited and the quarry overseen for the sake of the Angle's security in the north.

Edgar Chersya dislikes Cherubyn, an indolent and spoiled hedonist, and has posted him to Darras where Edgar feels he is least likely to get in the way. For his own part Cherubyn suspects this, but doesn't care, happy to waste his time lounging in his bed-chamber, smoking cannabin and experimenting with hallucinogenic fungi from the Gulglaw Marsh.

The Grenadier foot soldiers stationed at Darras wear distinctive red apparel traditional to members of their company and are known locally as Red-Coats. They also dislike Cherubyn, not because he mistreats or abuses those who serve under him but because he shows so little interest in the role he has assumed - that of the head of the soldiery and Conteth of Karkadier. Instead command of the Red-Coats falls to a stalwart

C SIDINGS On sidings that run from the main Hyns-Horn railway track into a slope of loose shale and flint stand an old rusty locomotive engine and rolling stock, all overgrown with ivy and lichen.

The engine was built by a travelling Steamsmyth from Skytor and was once intended to serve the quarry and lumber yard, but business at the mill has been poor for many decades and the engine has fallen into disuse.

The Scarmon's Ocky, Trestun's communal tavern, can be found in one of the abandoned coaches on the siding, the interior refurbished with rickety tables and chairs and a crude wooden galley built at one end that serves as a bar. A still and barrels of homebrew Myttynban Mead stand on the roof of the coach which can be accessed by a ladder. The mill workers are accustomed to serving themselves and any rare visitor to the mill will usually be given a free seat and as many free drinks as they care to imbibe in return for news from the outside world.

D GORSTONE PIT A ridge of Gorzonite (a volcanic rock, rare and associated with the formation of diamonds) has been carved out of the ground here to form Gorstone Pit, also sometimes referred to as Gorstone Quarry, an industrial arm of Trestun Mill.

found as the strata of gorzonite gives way to striations of pumice and andosite.

E CASTLE EGLOS Eglos (meaning place of the wyrship - or, place where the wyr sail the Agg) is a derelict ruin south of the Gulglaw Marsh feared by workers at Trestun mill as a place of uncertain evil. Eglos is a cursed ruin, they say, and though some who venture there return with no remarkable tale to tell, others have vanished, never to return, their ultimate fate unknown.

The wooden parts of the castle have at some point been burned away, including floors, staircases, window casements and rafters. The interior of the castle is open to the elements, the floors over-run by high grass, weeds and thorn bushes, all signs of any previous occupation long since stripped and now only the stone carcass of the castle, blackened by smoke and charred in places, remaining.

The origins of Castle Eglos are unknown, but it seems likely the place was once part of the old Cornovish nation and was left to ruin when Cornoval fell - though this is mere speculation. Certainly there can be no doubt fire has destroyed much of the castle's former glory and the architecture is reminiscent of styles found in Drood-Cynncarn.

West of the ruin an overgrown path winds down to the sheltered cove of Gospond Bay and a small beach of golden sands. About the banks of the lagoon can be found bones and carrion which includes the ocassional wyrman skull.

F UNKNOWN RUINS On the summit of these craggy hills stands a ruined structure which seems likely to be the remains of some kind of ancient fortress. The workers at Trestun are unfamiliar with the history of the place, but fear to venture there and will warn anyone entertaining the idea to stay away if they value their life.

The discovery of large diamonds during routine excavations before the Sanas Morcorm war led to an extensive dig during which vast quantities of Gorzonite were unearthed and subsequently stored. After the fall of Cornoval and the rise of the Anglian nation, most of this stone was exported across the Hyns-Horn Bay and into the site of Verdandi where the distinctive white stone was used in most of the city port's architecture. The diamonds excavated prior to the Anglian period formed the bulk of the Cornovish treasury and may be the reason that nation grew so swiftly toward imperialism.

The ruins are home to a Gorthfyl Anaconda and an army of Frethter Frogs. Both are likely to be no real threat to any casual visitor, though the Anaconda may give them a fright as it slithers across their path. Anyone exploring the ruin will eventually stumble onto a swampy area where the foundations have flooded and here they will encounter the Frethter. As soon as one is spied, others will start to appear, emerging from the water, leaping out from the shadows and clambering from cracks in the walls.

Excavation at Gorstone has slowed considerably in recent decades. The last diamond was unearthed from the quarry centuries ago and no more are expected to be

GULGLAW AND FAWEN Here is the western tree line of the ancient Fawen Forest and to the south, the marsh of Gulglaw.

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G

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Before the Sanas Morcorm war the Fawen (Forest of Beech Trees), covered almost ninety percent of the land-mass of Cornoval and much of Dunmonia, merging with the mangrove jungles far to the north now known more commonly as Monigarn and Wyrgrove.

Today the sub-tropics of Fawen are decimated and the tree line retreats yearly from the ever infringing wastes of the Tansys Desert. But the after-effects of the war account only for a certain chunk of deforestation, the rest has been carved away by the various growing civilizations of Annarr and southern Morturth.

The trees continue to be felled by Lumbering Jacks from Trestun but export rates have fallen as the trees thin and the price of beech-wood rises. The largest consumers of the timber are Dunkunom in the Angle, a city whose growing ceramics industry requires a steady supply of wood burning fuel, and also Carnuntun whose mines require constant shoring and whose forges are fired by wood and charcoal.

The interior of Fawen is sub-tropical, overbearingly warm and humid in summer and damp, rainy and muddy in winter. Mists are an almost ever-present feature, rolling between the tree trunks like a living thing and lending the forest a romantic, almost mythic ambience.

Within the trees live a cornucopia of mammalian, bird, insect and reptile life forms alongside a hugely diverse range of flora.

Notable species include the giant Gorthfyl Anaconda, rarely seen but widely feared as one of the most dangerous snakes in Ereth; the Grathek sloth or common sloth, beds (groups) of which fill the lower branches of Fawen’s trees; the Fawn-hog, a brutish species of wild boar and a regularly served meat at Anglian inns, and the abundant Crýnad, a form of cicada that infest the trees and undergrowth and fill the forest with an incessant chirruping din from dusk till dawn.

The more bizarre of the natural life forms in Fawen include the Dewyk Beetle - a giant and surprisingly vicious carnivorous ladybird that disguises itself as a bright red and white toadstool in order to lure the interest of potential prey - the benign Frethter Frog (Eloquent Frog) of the Gulglaw region, whose ability to mimic wyrman expressions belies its basic amphibious nature; the two headed eagle, Bridzantine, once a prominent feature of the Cornovish flag; and packs of two headed intelligent wolves called Orthror, larger, uglier and more ferocious than normal species of wolf, sometimes capable of speech and devious thought.

Fawen has also become the haunt of various Fell breeds slipping into the south from Old Urd. Most sinister of these is the Yammer, a black-fleshed, gangling creature, humanoid but devoid of spirit and known to those who travel the Fawen regularly as The Collector. The creature’s sole fascination in life seems to be the collecting of objects that catch its eye and if such objects belong either to

another creature or, worse, are a part of that creature the Yammer simply takes what it wants, even if this requires that he kill the owner.

Yammer nests have been found as far afield as the Ostia Hills where they occupy caves filled with their collected treasures. It is unlikely there are many more than one or two Yammers abroad in Fawen as they are aggressively territorial and intolerant of their own kind.

Gulglaw, meaning Rain Wet Marsh is a region of wetland that stretches from the northernmost promontory of Tewas Cove where the marsh is actually a swamp enclosed within the southernmost trees of Fawen, down to the ruins of Eglos where trees give way to shrubs, bushes and watery reed beds.

Though the marsh is a quagmire underfoot there are no bogs or sinkholes and in the summer season the ground is merely muddy and uneven rather than dangerous. In winter the ground hardens and becomes far easier to traverse.

The marsh is home to a wide array of bird life, different species of frog, toad, water-voles and marsh-rats. Brightly coloured dragon-flies, called Niji, are a common sight, flitting and skimming above the waters and feeding on the endless clouds of midge-fly (nad) that fill the air.

H THE SERE STONE A monolithic heap of stones stands precariously upon a high plateau visible from the valley floor and overlooking Trestun.

Workers of Trestun Mill refer to the heap as The Sere Stone which, according to local folklore, was hurled by daemons in the Plane of Sere at sacred entities in the Plane of Fawynwend but was snagged by the Entopic Plane along the way and fell into Karkadier Valley (Karkadier literally meaning The

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Fighting Rock). If the stones are touched they rock menacingly from side to side, the overall tower wobbling and leaning dangerously. But no matter how hard the stones are pushed, pulled or struck the structure never collapses.

The menhir is one of the legendary Megdart of Yarnia and anyone scaling the crumbling cliffs to reach the plateau will find they are gazing upon the sacred Megdart rune of Febb Elyeth, one of the Oak Lords of the original Council of Twelve. The rune can be seen marked in the central stone of the pile, but cannot be understood, traced or recalled at any later time, its form being fey beyond comprehension and beyond the mind of any wyrman to memorize or copy.

Khasma Ravine A deep gorge, carved out over the aeons by the long sweeping waterway of the river Nova and deepened during the nine thousand Winter of Discontent by vast glaciers. Khasma stretches from the town of Zenor to the Twain Gate of Listholm and the river outlet. The gorge divides Morturth with a diagonal slash, carving the continent into two distinct regions of north and south, defining the lands of the norwyr and the lands of the southern wyrmen with an unmistakable border.

Only two bridges span the Khasma, the suspension bridge of Rinandroor and the smaller Tremiran leading to Zenor. In Celtrein there is no easy way across the ravine whose northern bank is more vast even than its southern, rising as it does into the soaring crags of Listholm’s Ward Wall.

Stenlorn A plateau of volcanic basalt jutting out toward the isthmus connecting Cornoval and Sanas Morcorm to the southern lands of the Angle.

The cliffs of Stenlorn stand around 300ft high and afford spectacular views across the Wõdoak Woods and the Anglian landscape beyond.

Atop the cliff stands Spyrnen Spire (Rose Spire), a citadel of white Gorzonite stone that once served as a watchtower for the authorities of Drood-Cynncarn. Here agents of Jarl Megalamon were able to gaze across the canopy of Wõdoak and deep into Anglian territory, allowing them to keep an eye on the emerging civilizations there.

The tower is now derelict and unstable in its foundations and though the lower and sublevels may be inhabited from time to time by wild animals or wandering fae, the timbers of the upper floors are too rotten to support any weight.

The tower is built as a single spire, rising some 80ft to a tapered point where it then spreads into a small spray of iron curlicues designed to resemble the branches of a tree.

These are now shot through with rust and serve as a roosting spot for the noisy ravens and crows who seem to favour the area.

The entire structure sags somewhat to the east, the upper third of the tower leaning dangerously in the same direction. Arrow loops on the southern and northern side and at height would afford simultaneous views of Sanas Morcorm and the Angle were the structure stable enough to harbour observers on these levels. Up there, jutting from one of the highest windows, is an old wide angle looking glass of great size. From the ground the looking glass may resemble nothing more interesting than a part of the crown of curlicues but up close is revealed in all its glory; a huge telescopic cylinder of bronze etched with the strange language and eldritch imagery of the late Cornovish period. The lenses are still intact, but by now so covered in grime and algae the only thing visible will be a grey smudge, while the turning mechanism is fused with rust and age.

Far beneath Spyrnen, set into the lower aspects of the same cliff-face, is Stenlorn Mine, an abandoned excavation whose horizontal adit stretches nearly half a kilometre under the basalt of Weaver's Heath and Mount Ascona before angling down into wide open stopes of uncommon size.

Various metals and mineral deposits were delved here in the mine’s heyday, including manganese, lead, iron, obsidian, silver and gold. The mine was abandoned after the fall of Drood-Cynncarn and has remained derelict ever since.

Inside, the vertical excavations, which drop kilometres down into the bones of the earth, the seam-ways are gouged out in steps with encircling passageways and tunnels connecting each level. Outside the mine entrance stands the large wooden pithead, now in a state of disrepair. Running out of the adit and between the struts of the pithead lie cart-tracks, still furnished with the original metal ore-carts. These are rusted and pitted beyond repair so that the cart wheels seem almost fossilized and are fused both to the axles and to the track.

A siding runs alongside the Zork Wood tree line and here stand a row of rolling stock once used to export metal goods to the various centres of civilization beyond or within Sanas Morcorm. Like everything else here they have long been abandoned.

Efforts were made (within living memory) by the sowyr of Carnuntun to re-open the mine and restore trade with Trestun. Indeed the conscientious workers of Trestun Mill (see Karkadier Valley) were the ones to bring the mine's existence to the attention of the southern Anglians. However, those miners who first embarked into Stenlorn, experienced and highly proficient as they were, vanished without trace and subsequently much superstition and fear now surrounds the mine.

Karbrin Pass A narrow pass on the western shoulder of Stenlorn 100ft or so above the sea. The rough track leading through Karbrin enters WĂľdoak wood, joining up with a path coming down from the Spyrnen Spire (see Stenlorn).

Lawesmoor Lagoon The Cornovish called the tides of the sea 'the lan wes mor' (the turning tide against the land), thus this enormous lagoon to the west of Listholm and the northern lands of Sanas Morcorm is called Lawesmoor, the Tidal.

Lawesmoor is an artificial atoll, created by the magick of the vanyirborn Cormysyeth Num in order to provide her people with a source of fresh water and sun-food during their migration out of the Arkhold.

The lagoon harbours long reefs of coral and a rich ecosystem of aquatic and semi-aquatic life.

Brightly coloured fish and translucent giant shrimp, immense star fish, luminous crabs, lobsters, coasting sharks and endless swarms of jellyfish fill the waters, visible beneath the crystal clear surface even in the deepest parts of the lagoon. The water itself is brakkish but the people of Cormysyeth's time were able somehow to filter the salt and consume the resulting mineral-rich fresh water.

Along the landward edge of the lagoon the sloping approach to the water is the habitat of enormous anemones of all shapes and colours, growing in abundance like rubbery bushes beneath the tide line. These organisms are highly poisonous and if touched will react by splaying their myriad tentacles wide, stinging anything within range with potent toxins.

The norwyr of Listholm consider the lagoon to be sacred, the domain of Rinan, spirit of Flowing Rain, in her most sublime incarnation. To kill any creature living in or around the lagoon is considered an act of blasphemy, punishable in some cases (and depending on the severity of the transgression) by death. Thus Lawesmoor is not considered a resource to the noblemen of the north and those men who might benefit most from fishing its waters (the men of DunmĂźthyl Keep, for example) are forbidden even from approaching its shore.

Menethret (Mount) Mountain of the Deeping Earth, also sometimes called the Northern Mesa due to its perfectly flattened top. Menethret stands to the southwest of the Ward Wall cliffs of Listholm where the land slopes gradually down to meet the coast.

Between Menethret and Menydhra lies the narrow Pass of Frona (the Restrainer) through which runs the Hyns-Horn railway from and to Listholm. Many an attack on the

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frontiers of Listholm have ended in this pass, enemy forces met by narrow columns of kengard, Thane and Missionary fighters emerging from the head of the pass like a spearhead and pushing the foe back into the Khasma Ravine.

Menydhra (Mount) Mountain of the High King, Menydhra stands

halfway up the mighty Ward Wall steeps bordering the south of Listholm, a great horse-shoe shaped peak of Basalt believed to have been heaped against the highlands of Listholm by enormous volcanic activity sometime during the early Epic Age. The southeastern side of the mountain has such a shallow gradient that it almost forms a plateau, and it was on this that the exodus from Carnuntun and Yseldyr camped and took shelter on their way to the eventual site of the Arkhold in the year 5344BC. At the centre of the plateau is a jutting crag with a flattened top whereon, it is said, Mot stood and declared the Matriarchal trinity of Cormysyeth, Wegwyr and Mythyar Num to be a new authority over the wyrmen. Thereafter he gave to the wyrmen the guidance of the one hundred righteous tenets that they should live good lives thereafter and for all time.

The historic moment is captured in a carved frieze on one huge curving wall of the Arkhold itself. This famous bass relief shows a great encampment upon the plateau, smokes rising into the sky from a thousand camp fires, a giant man with three horns extending high from his head stands upon the central rock, hands on hips, gazing out across the escarpment. Beneath him three females, themselves also giants, but lesser than the great god who presides over them, stand with crowns above their heads while the multitude bow down before them.

The first of the ten tenets of Mot are carved into the stone of the crag itself, written in the ancient language of the Oak Lords whose nearest relative is the near-extinct dialect of the Cornovish (AA Speak/Read/Write Language dice check): o Idolatry is the path to corruption. The o o o o o o

Righteous embrace the guided path while the wicked succumb to fear.

To make shallow that which has substance is to desecrate harmony.

Mark all that is good with ritual, for forgotten memories of glad blessing is a doom unto men.

Be honourable and perish to lend righteous aid if the cost must be death.

Do not take a life if a life can be spared. If a life must be taken let it be at uncountable cost.

Marriage is sacred whether officiated or expressed where love is the core.

Do not take, but barter. The thief shall suffer unknowable torment.

o Do not speak ill of those undeserving or

spread upon the fabric of life the veil of an untrue weave. o Wish not for the blessings of others but recognize instead those blessings received as glad tidings.

On its southern side Menydhra merges with the northern cliffs of the Khasma Ravine and seems to stand on the brink of that enormous gorge. In the southern corner where the mountain meets both the cliffs and the narrow pass where the Hyns-Horn passes through, is a great cave like a gaping wound in the rock. Here is the entrance to the Labyrinth of Ur, a vast underground dungeon formed of boreholes and burrows tunneled by the Fell monstrosity Urwhorl.

This beast was brought to bear against the Listian armies during the Sanas Morcorm war but defeated and banished into the ground beneath Tansys. Here it dwells still, unable to break the magickal bonds holding it in its lair, but simultaneously almost impossible to kill.

Travelers claim, from time to time, to have seen the mighty Urwhorl bursting from one side of the Khasma Ravine, spanning the gorge like some ungodly tentacle, then thrusting itself into the cliffs on the other side.

Great holes in the sides of the ravine here seem to attest to these claims, but thus far there exists no other evidence that the Urwhorl continues to haunt this part of the world. Most who boast an understanding of such things say the holes are likely just outlets for subterranean rivers and believe the monster lives now in the east in tunnels beneath Old Urd.

Minak Cliffs A high ridge with a wide ledge forming a halfway point along the immense Ward Wall cliffs of Listholm.

The Minak Cliffs are named after the local Minarak which roosts in the cliffs (from mina arak, meaning Mimicking Crow). The Minarak are steeped in legend and mythology and, indeed, tales of Minarak serving as familiars to the Oak Lords of old - flying with spoken messages from one side of the Wythyreach to the other - can be found in the myths of Ereth as it was before the Winter of Discontent.

Whatever its abilities were in the ancient past, the modern Minarak can only mimic that which it hears, but as an ancient species whose vocabulary has been passed from generation to generation over a span of many centuries, this now amounts to a considerable, if disjointed vocabulary. Much of what the modern generation of birds know they learned from ancestors who lived during the terrible Sanas Morcorm wars, and much of what they relay from their eyries in the cliff are sounds and words taken from this period.

Thus travelers walking near the base of Minak or climbing the Jurassic walls will hear the echoing voices of warriors in battle, crying

out, shouting orders and rallying one another to victory. The puzzled traveler may even hear the clash of swords, the screams of the dying and the roar of unseen weapons firing in the distance.

Many have fled the Minak Cliffs, spreading tales of Cornovish ghosts fighting still in the desolation of the north. But the sounds they hear are merely the Minarak exchanging conversation in the only way they know how.

Monzosun Hills A range of low lying knife-sharp hills of jagged stone formed by chiseled and splintered ridges of silver obsidian and slate.

Anyone attempting to climb into the hills is highly likely to slip on the glassy surface of the rock and suffer cuts, gashes or even death as they tumble into the murderous crags. Paths and stairs have been carved into the hills, creating a safe route through to the eastern bank of the Lawesmoor Lagoon, but even these are treach-erously slippery underfoot and surrounded on all sides by dagger shards and broken teeth of stone.

Moon & Tewas Cove The white sandy beaches of Tewas and Moon Cove are littered with the ribcages of almost thirty ships, all originating from a period between 172AD and 182AD (the so-called Age of Bandits).

During the declining years of the Cornovish nation bandits (presumed to be desperate exiles from the dying city of Drood-Cynncarn) lived in the shadow of Ascona and the depths of Fawen Forest. These lawless men and women were known to light lamps on the rocks along the coast of Damnum to lure in ships for wrecking. The scuppered ships would typically be stripped of materials for salvage then burned, the crews either released or murdered depending on the attacking crew. As time went on the dominant crews overwhelmed or assimilated the less aggressive and the slaying of those captured became more commonplace.

After losing several key vessels from his own fleet, Kenwythi Gwelenbryal declared a war upon the bandits and commissioned the building of Darras Castle. He stationed there several platoons of Grenadier Guard (whose crimson uniform - a result of readily available and cheap red dye - inspired the name of the Red-Coat regiment) and funded the construction of a military fleet in Damnum in the hope of catching the culprits red-handed.

Over the course of just one year most of the bandits of Fawen were killed and some, including the legendary Captain Longslit, were brought to justice, their heads severed in public executions then displayed upon pikestaffs for all to see.

The Red-Coats remain at Castle Darras and the

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company has a long standing history dealing with piracy, smugglers and bandits on the Damnum coast. The regiment was reduced in size when Darras was purchased by the Chersya nobles of western Angle, but remains operational (see also Karkadier Valley).

Pelkarek Citadel Tower Upon the Distant Rocks, Pelkarek,

once a northern outpost for the Cornovish empire, stood long in ruin after the Sanas Morcorm war but rumour has it the place is being used again, though the force that inhabits it has thus far claimed allegiance to no particular nation and no particular nation has claimed ownership in turn.

The rock upon which Pelkarek stands juts out of a surrounding sand bank which itself forms the retaining wall of the Lawesmoor Lagoon. The sandbank is almost entirely quicksand and impassable to anyone on foot. However, to the south of Pelkarek runs a narrow stone causeway just visible beneath the surface of the sand and this is open at the lowest tide for just half an hour, once at dawn and once at dusk.

The causeway is nearly one and a half kilometres long, which means the average paced walker can trek from the shoreline to the castle before the tide flows over the path (it is possible at times of high ebb to wade through the water, but at low ebb the currents may be strong enough to pull the traveler's legs from under him - sharks and other aquatic predators will also be a problem).

The Lairds of Listholm have long worried about Pelkarek, a stronghold within sight of one of their own mighty castles and under a kilometre from their own border. It is not known who dwells there, or why, and this gives cause for concern.

Diplomatic envoys sent to greet the inhabitants have vanished and the small kengard forces sent to recover the diplomats have also failed to return.

The nature of the causeway makes a full scale assault by a marching army implausible, while a landing by sea has also been ruled out. With no jetty or harbour any approaching boats would surely be dashed to pieces on the rocks and even in a calm sea, with the perilous beach of quicksand open at the foot of the rock, they would have a great disadvantage; any enemy firmly established on the high ground and behind impregnable walls.

So far no sight of those lurking in Pelkarek has been made beyond telltale plumes of smoke rising from the citadel’s chimneys and lights within its windows in the deep of night. Certainly there have been no sightings of parties raiding the lagoon for food or resources, which is only marginally reassuring to the Listians.

Powsow Foundry

Powsow Foundry Powsow - the Cornovish word for the Angle, meaning Round About the Edge - was renamed by the Anglians in honour of the location but also to lay claim to this part of the southern coast of Sanas Morcorm.

Powsow was once part of Stenlorn mine, a smelting factory primarily responsible for the making of weapons and armour for the soldiers of the Cornovish armies. The building no longer serves this purpose but is instead a way station for the Hyns-Horn railway which runs close by before passing into the Angle or approaching Karkadier Valley respectively.

The station is unmanned and trains usually only stop here to replenish water by way of a silo at the back of the building.

Rinandroor Bridge Rinandroor has stood in this place for far longer than the Hyns-Horn railway that passes along its expansive shoulders and has seen the marching feet of many historic people, from the exodus of wyrmen out of Yseldyr in the time of the Oak Lords to the armies of the immortal Mythyar Num during the war of Sanas Morcorm.

When the myrmen of Old Urd assailed the forces of Listholm in the Frona Pass their marching feet befouled the Rinandroor Bridge, crossing in great and unholy columns from east to west, and those who cross the bridge on foot may see still evil graffiti daubed by the myrmen in the blood of their enemies on certain parts of the bridge. And when the legendary Urwhorl joined this attack it purportedly clambered upon the great stone supports of the bridge before springing onto the north bank of Khasma to attack the Listian forces assembled there.

The bridge is formed from a mixture of wood and metal, an ingenious suspension design

using high tensile steel cables giving the structure both strength and durability, their outermost ends connecting with either wall of the ravine, some 200 metres below and, at quarter way points along the bridge with the equidistant tops of two enormous steel pillars.

Huge bolts secure the cable collars to the ravine walls while massive tension windlass connect the opposite ends.

The Khasma Ravine is a breath-taking canyon, the bottom lying almost two miles beneath the bridge and the far side half a mile distant. Rinandroor spans the entirety of this gap with apparent ease, a glittering white sliver shining under the midday sun.

A pass between the mountains carries the curve of the Hyns-Horn up into the northern highlands and over the crest of the Ward Wall into Listholm.

Spunbone Mesa A lonely hill of granite shaped like an enormous wedge, its northeastern face a sheer curving wall of rock, its southwestern face a long ramp rising gradually from the dusty wastes of Tansys.

At the summit of the hill, precarious in its proximity to the edge of the northeastern cliff, stands the Hortens Tower, an old crumbling watchtower from some long forgotten time, probably dating back to one of the early Epic Ages. The tower's architecture is alien to that of Listholm or any of the nations of Morturth.

Its interior, a cylindrical structure housing various stone floors now disconnected where stairways or ladders have long since collapsed or rotted away, is walled in thousands of tiny mosaic tiles of different colour. Its lowermost floor has collapsed to reveal a deep pit and sub-floors below ground level. Open archways visible in the cylindrical walls at varying heights lead to unknown depths, holes where timber purlins once criss-crossed the tower are the only evidence of floors that must once

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have been. The collapsed floor original to the base of the tower and, presumably, much of the old timber of the floors beneath, fills the lower part of the pit.

The floors of higher levels are mostly formed of stone supported by immense wooden beams, but these show signs of termites and rot, thus anyone venturing into the heights of the tower risks these floors collapsing under their feet.

The tower has never been used in living memory and mention of its purpose in the records and histories of Listholm seem ambiguous, mentioning the tower as 'the crumbling spire' or 'the tower of fossils'. It may once have served as some kind of reststop in the Wythyreach forest and may even have been built by the Oak Lords themselves.

The longevity of the tower, its uncertain history and unknown origins seem to support this theory, along with the construction methods used in its design, all of which seem somehow beyond the skills of modern wyrman stone-masters.

Tansys Desert A long valley of low sand dunes and dusty volcanic soil where nothing grows and little rain falls. Tansys formed in the aftermath of the Sanas Morcorm war and is a result of erosion caused by the death of Fawen Forest's mighty and far reaching trees. With no roots to hold the soil together, the ground has turned to dust and all that remains now is a lifeless and barren desert.

A yellow haze rises from the desert and on some days the horizon will be lost, banks of airborne dust and sand blending the ground with the sky. On a clearer day the high ridgeline of Brecon Brow looms like the walls of a crater and beyond this dark plumes of smoke rising from Old Urd scar the sky. Ever in the distant east do the twin fangs of the Hammer Dwale rise into the sky, jutting fingers of crooked stone wherein the dark god Mardock dwells.

To the west, beyond the yawning gulf of the Khasma Ravine stand the twin mountains of Menethret and Menydhra, known affectionately to the norwyr as the Gateway Into Listholm and beyond these the rising bank of the Ward Wall, a tremendous cliff face upon whose plateau stands the realm of Listholm. In the lower southern aspect of Menydhra is the gaping cavern of Ur, the arch of its uppermost point as high as many a mountain elsewhere in the world is tall. From here, legend tells, the Urwhorl of Old Urd burst forth from the earth and attacked the Listian soldiers (see also Menydhra).

Magickal fall-out from the time of the war still manifests as a waste-product in the dead lands of Tansys, and viral spore known collectively as the Eraer (the Soiled Air), become airborne during the desert's frequent sand storms, infecting anyone unfortunate

enough to breathe them in.

Dust devils are a common sight, whipping across the desert floor, leaving strange trails in the sand that may puzzle those yet to see them being formed. When the dust devils suddenly vanish, local guides will be quick to warn, that is the time to get to shelter, for a sand storm is coming.

Sand storms form with alarming speed in Tansys, rising from the fringes or the depths of the Khasma Ravine as howling banshee winds, billowing banks of dense dust and sand rolling swiftly with the direction of the wind, rising hundreds of metres into the air.

Such maelstrom may only last a few minutes as they pass overhead, but the miasmas commonly linger for hours afterward, obscuring vision and reducing visibility to a few metres. It is during this aftermath that most travelers fall foul of the perils of the storm, become lost and disorientated and breathe in dangerous amounts of bitter dust.

Victims may suffer dryness of the eyes, leading to painful conjunctivitis and maybe even blindness. Exposed skin may suffer burns similar to that caused by a fierce sun, caused not by the flaying effect of the blasting sand but from acidic rhyolite particles in the sand grains themselves. If inhaled, these elements may even cause internal burns and bleeding of the lungs.

Diseases and viruses likely to be contracted from the storm miasmas include the following: ULYANS ROT A disease causing hyper sensitivity to sunlight (photosensitivity), paling and scaling of the skin, yellowing of the eyes, hair loss, a vile stench emitting from the pores and outbreaks of explosive pustules and blisters all over the face, arms and chest. In the early stages, which

may last anything between one and two weeks, the victim will appear to be rotting away, the pustules popping, scabbing over then dropping away, leaving gaping pockmarks and holes which may become infected and diseased themselves. A month or so after this initial stage the rotting ceases but the virus causes the host to become iron deficient resulting in cravings for bloody meat, or simply blood alone.

Typically the illness lasts between four and five months, after which most immune systems will overwhelm the virus and destroy it from within. Where the immune system is weak (where the host has a CC Stamina value of 4 or less) the virus may reach the rare final stage wherein the blood literally boils within the veins of the victim and a painful and spectacular death ensues. Ulyans means Howling, and the disease is often referred to as the Howling Rot as its sufferers in the feral stage become primal and wolf-like.

HAG-POX (UGLY POX) A magically mutated version of smallpox, this virus causes nightmares, paranoia, flu-like symptoms, brain swelling, enlarging of the face, head and hands and huge hump-shaped growths on the back. The swelling of the face may become so bad that it causes blindness (the swollen flesh closing over the eyes, rather than the eyes themselves being directly affected) while growths on the back may become too weighty for the victim to move without help. Hallucinations and other psychological symptoms will disappear after a day or two, but the swellings and growths will linger, taking anything up to a month to disappear completely.

TANSYS MALAISE Causes debilitating weakness and nausea which will reduce the victim’s normal ability and performance by approximately half. The illness is not fatal and can last anything up to two weeks, depending on the amount of rest taken during the illness.

PYRE DISEASE The victim may be unaware of this permanent affliction incubating within their system until something triggers a reaction, however long that may take.

Pyre, referring to the bonfire upon which a corpse is traditionally cremated, causes spontaneous combustion of the body tissues

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whenever the victim is exposed to extreme temperatures, either hot or cold. The combustion is not swift but gradual and usually starts at the bodily extremes; the fingers and toes, then the hands and feet, followed by the limbs.

Where the victim remains clothed, the heat will inevitably spread to his clothing and fire will consume him entirely. If the victim sheds his clothes and other equipment then keeps the burning parts of himself away from his body it is possible that he may survive, provided his temperature can be conversely raised or lowered (as appropriate). However, the nature of suddenly erupting into flame and the agony accompanying the phenomenon makes rational thought or acts of calm deliberation highly unlikely. Most who survive the initial onset of the activated disease are saved by quickthinking companions who wrestle them to the ground and stop them from spreading the fire in their panic.

THE MONYNSER VIRUS A disease which incubates for a period of a day before emerging. The first symptoms are a stiffening of the digits and limbs followed by increased difficulty in moving, weariness followed by exhaustion and eventually complete catatonia. The disease ends with the calcification of the body, effectively turning the victim into a statue formed of dry, crumbling stone.

Monynser attacks the sufferer via the liver and kidneys and can be countered if these organs are saturated with liquids, literally washing the virus out of the system. Some hardening of the skin may still occur, but this will only be temporary.

Victims who succumb to the full effects of Monynser do not generally remain as stone for long but crumble away within a few days, the dust of their calcified corpse becoming just another part of the desert sand.

Along with the diseases described above, Tansys is where most of the living dead victims of the CĂźdha Death virus will be encountered. Here they wander in large numbers, attracted by the scent of living flesh, loud noises or fire. Most of the victims will be in the latter-most stages of the disease, slowwitted and shambling, yet when they mass in great numbers they may present a considerable danger. Those victims in the early onset of the disease are far more dangerous, able to sprint at great speed without tiring and liable to frenzy where they spy a living victim.

Tenros Tenros (The Given Legacy) is a deep cove on the northern coast of Sanas Morcorm. A spur of the Weaving Road leads down into the cove, passing through a narrow gorge before turning left and ascending the western wall of the cove in the form of a precarious stairway.

Tenros stands perilously close to Monigarn Jungle and the lands of the to the east and the northern Tansys Desert to the south. Drygia, the Beard Marsh and the Ostia Hills are all also within range of Tenros while Old Urd stands just five miles to the southeast, making this a particularly dangerous part of the world.

On the headland overlooking the cove stands the ruins of Falcer Point, a shambolic brick structure which, from certain angles, resembles the profile of a giant head (see Celtrein).

The Weaving Road Once named the Road of Peace, this long stretch of cobbled highway was constructed as part of the Sanas Morcorm peace treaty. It runs from the Twain Gate down to DroodCynncarn in the south of Sanas Morcorm, passing close to Celtrein along the way.

The Weaving Road was intended to be an important trade route along which the wagons and merchant caravans of Cornoval would bring their goods through the then sprawling forest of Fawen, trading routinely with the morcelt and the people of Listholm.

The onset of the Cüdha Death virus brought an end to the road's frequent use and as the Jarls of Cornoval rose to power and the morcelt fell to jungle idolatry all thoughts of civilized trade was forgotten.

Today the road is little more than a pronounced hump running through the grey dust of Tansys, its ancient cobbles and mile stones pointing the way to Listholm exposed here and there as a reminder of days long gone from this part of the world.

Few sane individuals would opt to wander along the road in modern times, such a foolhardy enterprise liable to result in the drawing of mass crowds of Mawdrok, Drygian ant swarms or worse. Most travelers prefer instead to travel by Hyns-Horn, crossing the desert within the metal skin of the fast moving locomotive where the Mawdrok and other horrors of the dead lands cannot reach them.

Whythra Wadi Here is a strange land of brown grass and dusty earth, the air warm and thick with a strange combination of scents, including something akin to over-ripe apricots and, occasionally mixed with this, the foul stench of something rotten and decaying.

To the south the southern bulk of Fawen Forest blots out the horizon, the snow-capped peak of Mount Ascona looming vast above the forest canopy to the southwest. In that direction birds will be seen flocking in the air above the trees and mountain, but over the plains of Cormis-Meurth there will be little to no signs of any wildlife.

To the west lies rugged country beginning with the rutted cliffs and plateaus of the Brecon Brow which graduate into the southern spur of the Tansys Desert. An ochre haze blots the horizon from view, the yellow sand-dunes of the desert seeming to merge with an equally yellow sky.

To the east is the ever dominant twin-peak of the Hammer Dwale, great teeth of rock rising into encircling clouds far above.

Northwards lies the tussocky reed beds, oversized mushrooms and hillocks of Swelgan Marsh. Here Blastotundra mushrooms grow in clusters, tall thin stems six times as high as a wyrman ending in bulbous caps which waver in the breeze. Here also may be found Cantrell fungi, the source of the apricot smell, and Chitinspore, a highly pungent and flammable mold that may be mistaken for rotting bark or dead leaves from a distance.

The wadis that carve a channel through the dusty plain known as Cormis-Meurth, are narrow enough to jump across but deeper than four wyrmen standing one upon the others shoulder. They feed the river into Karkadier Valley but during dry seasons are likely to have little more than a muddy trickle at their base. In rainy seasons a fast flowing river will fill the bottom quarter of the wadi, with the occasional flash flood or storm surge raising the level to the top. The higher the water level goes, the faster and more perilous the watercourse, with a large amount of water funneling through an extremely narrow channel at great speed. Such surges will eventually erupt into Karkadier, flooding the valley floor and the mill at Trestun.

At certain times the wadi will be dry but a freak storm or coastal surge to the north may then cause a flash flood which comes powering through the wadi from north to south like an unstoppable freight train.

Anyone caught standing in the way will be swept off their feet and rolled along the bottom of the wadi until the waters empty into the falls over Gorstone Quarry. Escape and survival will be extremely unlikely for anyone but the very strongest of swimmers.

Zenor One of the few truly populated places in Old Cornoval, although the inhabitants who dwell here are not an indigenous Cornovish people and are comprised almost entirely of exiles from other lands.

Zenor, once named Drúth, was one of the first towns settled by the vanyirborn Cormysyeth Num and her followers after their migration out of the Arkhold in 12AD. The town was the principle Wythian cult centre until 22AD when Cormysyeth took her followers to Mount Ascona and founded there the mighty city of Drood-Cynncarn.

In 63AD the forces of Old Urd attacked Cornoval (as it was then known), focusing their initial onslaught on the town of Drúth.

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Many of Drúth's people were slain and its buildings reduced to rubble. Those who survived were taken prisoner and returned to Old Urd where they were tortured, dissected and changed by hideous Craven magicks.

Many of the modern Creants, Haruspex, Warlocks and Dunwytch of Ereth originate from this period and from the town of Drúth, wyrmen and women twisted in the dark dungeons of Urd, subjected to unknowable agonies and exposed to abysmal evils so profound that their minds and bodies were permanently sprained.

During the reign of the Jaguar Jarls of DroodCynncarn the ruins of Drúth were re-occupied by exiles fleeing the death and destruction of imperial rule in the south and the austere tenets, difficult military lifestyles and restricting religious views of Listholm. The descendants of these exiles now compose the vast majority of people in Drúth, or as it has come to be known, Zenor, a derivative of Zen yn Tun Nor (The Northern Town of Renegades).

The people of Zenor, ruddy in complexion and of darker gia and smaller frame than the typical norwyr or common wyrman stature, are a rough breed but retain a certain reluctant nobility despite the hardship of their life here on the cusp of the Tansys Desert.

They are a seafaring folk, though the boats they use (called Wythyganow) are rudimentary at best and they possess nothing capable of carrying them further than the fishing grounds a few kilometres into the Inland Sea. A guard post of sorts stands on the northwestern bank of the Khasma Ravine by the Tremiran bridge and here a disheveled but surprisingly vigilant band of guards keep watch. Zenor is generally indifferent to visitors, neither xenophobic nor welcoming.

Any casual traveler crossing the Tremiran or Rinandroor will either be swamped by Zenor's overly enthusiastic children begging for gifts or will be met by merchants selling a variety of wares dragged on large wooden pallets called Scoppa. Any initial interest in the newcomers will swiftly be lost if they show no disposition toward giving gifts or making a purchase.

The guard at Tremiran serve only to keep a vigil against the threats of Tansys, in particular the wandering packs of Sandlew Tiger and the myrmen of Urd. Victims of the Cüdha Death, along with the virus itself, are unable to survive the transition across the river Nova and thus the guards will only be on alert for this particular threat if the river dries out or somebody on the eastern side of the bridge comes under attack.

Zenor itself consists of a complex, multilayered huddle of makeshift shanty-homes propped and supported against the sunbaked clay walls of the original town. Where the ruins themselves have been utilized as part of a home or otherwise the builder has usually just covered the open roof with a few timbers or leathers to keep out the worst of the heat and then built upward. The ambient

feeling in town is one of making-do and, despite the long age of the town and its place in the history of Sanas Morcorm, it has changed very little in two thousand years.

Most of the inhabitants of the town are addicted to Nova-Cane, a sugar-like substance found in the hollow canes of Opid Fungi which itself grows only in the Wadimaw Wood on the bank of the river Nova.

Nova-Cane is a soporific, typically processed into a sweet tasting jam which is then spread on a fried toast called Lamor Bread. The effects act both as a sedative and a hallucinogen, the consumer drifting into a catatonic trance and an out-of-body experience wherein they can travel the dymensions of the Cosmic Cavern in ethereal form.

Nova-Cane is exceptionally addictive and its

harvest from Wadimaw is strictly regulated by the two town masters and their cohorts (see below). The price of Nova Cane has been steadily increasing in recent years and the people of the town are increasingly required to go to ever greater lengths or perform ever more demanding services to the town masters in order to afford the drug.

ZENOR

1

THE NORTHERN SHANTY OF TRELAW A tumbledown conglomeration of a thousand different makeshift homes built on top of the old clay structures of the original town. There are no streets, just endless fabricated plateaus, heaped rooftops, temporary walls and

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corrugated metal terraces massed together to create something within which the people of the town subsist.

This chaotic pile of different materials rises to an apex whereon the 'house' of the town master stands - a structure little more stable than those underneath but somehow more imposing, more grandiose and more permanent than any other pile of debris. The current town master and matriarch of the southern shanty is Mistress Trelaw, a ferocious duchess who rules the clans of northern Zenor with an iron fist.

Trelaw is responsible for the guard at Tremiran Bridge and where visitors enter the land around Zenor merchants who set off to trade goods with the newcomers go only after receiving Trelaw's blessing.

ZENOR

2 THE SOUTHERN SHANTY OF LONGROCK The shanty of the south resembles in almost every respect the shanty of the north except that here, where the slew of ramshackle buildings are piled to their highest point, the dominant structure is home to the town master Gulval Longrock, Kingpin of the Sea Ward (as he is known), and his harem of wyr-women.

Gulval and Trelawn bear no animosity to one another and the people who live in either ward consider themselves Zenites before they would consider themselves citizens of either north or south. Thus harmony of a sort exists, with only the occasional outbreak of healthy feudality. The town masters control all farming of Nova-Cane crops in Wadimaw Wood and thus earn great respect from the general citizenry whose dependence on the drug is complete. Trelaw herself is a user and therefore as dependent on the farmers and master of Longrock as any other citizen.

ZENOR

3

LAMORNA PALACE Once the palatial residence of Cormysyeth Num herself, Lamorna is today a crumbling ruin, sinking slowly into the dusty volcanic sands, the bulk of the building unstable, unsafe and uninhabitable.

The site is used by the current inhabitants of Zenor as a part of the Nova-Cane industry.

Here the crops of cane are stored then processed into powder form. This is then distributed to the masses of the north and southern wards in return for services rendered, gifts received and loyalty proven.

Zork Wood A temperate wood in the south of Cornoval, Zork (whose name is meaningless in all the languages of Ereth and may be a convolution of some previously forgotten name) covers a relatively small area of around five hundred acres and is composed of a mixture of trees from common oak, to willow, beech and pine.

Fauna within Zork is less exotic or perilous than that of Fawen Forest, with foxes, boar, deers, rabbits, mice, rats, voles, squirrels and badgers being the most commonly encountered, though all are extremely shy and expert at hiding from the eyes of noisy travelers.

Zork’s bird life is also abundant, with several species of buzzard living side by side in the treetops alongside magpies, starlings, blackbirds, ravens and crows. On the ground quails, pheasants and partridges may be spotted, though, again, they are used to being the prey of hunters and tend to

remain hidden.

Where the woods envelop the rock upon which Castle Darras stands families of peacock dwell. Their cries are audible for miles around and can be disconcerting to the uninitiated traveler who may mistake the sound for the screams of some wild or Fell beast lurking in the trees. The peacock feather is part of the Darras emblem and now features on the Chersya coat of arms.

Dunmonia Land of the Dunmon (the Dark Men), Dunmonia is the site of Old Urd and therein the Arkhein palace where the immortal Caynum Bitterblade sits upon a throne of green marble. Urd is the city of the myrmen, and of Fell creatures whose path out of the Gungin Gap has brought them here to one of Ereth's most abysmal locations.

Unlike Old Cornoval, whose name has fallen into disuse and is more commonly known merely as an ancient aspect of modern Sanas Morcorm, Dunmonia remains as an established, albeit diminutive and execrable, land. The borders of the country are still defined by the old peace accord of Listian convolution and, officially, Dunmonia is still a no-man's land where neither the norwyr, the Cornovish nor their descendants in the Angle nor the of monigarn may claim territorial rights. More accurately, none would wish to, for Dunmonia is once again a place possessed by nameless horrors.

It was perhaps hoped, at the time of the treaty's creation, that abandoning Dunmonia to the elements and enforcing a strict neutral territory would prevent a re-habitation and see the archaic evils of the place swallowed by encroaching nature. In fact, with no wyrmen watching over the city or maintaining its high walls against the return of evil, even nature could not defeat chaos.

Knowledge of Dunmonia's current state within the lands of the wyrmen is lamentably inadequate and many, particularly those wyrmen of the Angle and Mortun Pandi, believe rumours of Caynum's return are largely exaggerated. However, Caynum, once driven from his city and into the continent of Annarr, has come back to reclaim his throne and repopulate his cult centre. The Cult of

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Flies flourishes once again in the bleak setting of Old Urd and the land hereabouts withers under the black smoke and acid mists of industry, while the air echoes to the screams of the tortured, the insane and the cursed.

It is perhaps because they fail to realize (or more likely refuse to acknowledge) the extent of Urd's fall to abysmal powers that wyrmen still approach the city from time to time. They do so at great risk, for the place is home to more tremendous and terrifying enemies than the myrman loyalists of Caynum. The open plains and marshes are a peril in themselves, but so clearly visible from the western walls of Urd that anyone crossing them will inevitably be spied in their approach. Most who wander into Dunmonia will be dragged into the city, to be used and abused and, ultimately, recruited into the Elgan cult. Craven magicks will be used to transform their physical form and ceaseless torments will be used to break their minds. They will vanish into the dungeons of the city, only to emerge when they have finally embraced the abysmal and abandoned all hope of salvation.

THE CITY OF OLD URD Once an arm of the tremendous city of Uselrein whose wards covered almost all the northern lands of Annarr during the Epic Age, Old Urd is the spur wherein Uselyorn established his throne room and his palace the Arkhein. This majestic residence is believed to be the scene of Uselyorn Elgan's final confrontation with his brother Mot Elyeth and here historians claim Mot threw down his brother's rule and smote the Engel armies before leading the enslaved wyrman nation to freedom.

Today the city stands alone upon the bank of the Damnum Channel, a watercourse formed when the Hammer of Merrlith detonated and the land was cracked open like a shell. Thus separated from the ruination of the rest of Uselrein, Urd was spared and lay long beneath the snows and glacial ice of the Winter of Discontent. When Caynum Bitterblade emerged from the Cavernlands beneath Morturth he came, as if by fate, into the streets of Urd and there established himself and his loyalist myrmen.

In 63AD Caynum launched a full scale assault against the emerging nations of the wyrmen in Morturth and, though the resulting war ravaged the land and took many lives, the fallen vanyirborn was ultimately defeated. He and a handful of his loyalists were driven from Urd and into the land of Iyfel where they took shelter in the dungeons of Mardock. The bridge across the Damnum was thrown down by the Weavers of Cornoval and Dunmonia was left to ruin.

But now Caynum has re-established himself on his old throne. With him come the original loyalists of his former rule and other followers whose loyalty and trust Caynum gained during his time in Ramat.

Like his sister, Mythyar Num of the north, Caynum's mind is weary of the world and life has become an endless torment, never ending and ever the ordeal. But where Mythyar languishes without purpose or motive in the undercrofts of the Arkhold, Caynum has dedicated himself to a mission that spans the length and breadth of his existence and this alone keeps the thin thread between sanity and reality tenuously intact.

Compared with the mighty lord of ancient times, Caynum is now a loathsome figure, scarred by wounds inflicted during the trials of his life (and in the latter days of his life, by his own hand) and transformed by the bitterness that dwells like the snarl of some hateful beast deep in the seat of his soul.

One hand is a withered thing, blackened and useless - burned to the bone when he attempted to grasp the emerald skull of Amon Elyeth (or so the Oaken Myths proclaim). He keeps it bound in leathers where it hangs limp and useless at his side, never to heal. His face is a smooth and featureless mask describing

the contours of his skull, the flesh withered by fire and stitched together where the magicks of Cormysyeth smote the bone asunder. His eyes are blackened pits, pools of Dunlight and portals into the absence between the strands of Wyrd. Since his return to the city of Old Urd he is known to wear a crown of nails whose Rusty points are driven through the dome of his skull and bedded deep within his brain. The crown - a gift from the Elgan god Mardock - denotes Caynum not only as a dedicated Creant, but as the rightful king of the Arkhein, master of the Cult of Flies and lord of the Dunmerr of Morturth.

Those who stand before Caynum face an adversary of almost incomparable power.

Like the other living vanyirborn he has dwelled in the Entopic Plane for far too long and seen far too much of existence to suffer the trivialities that consume most mortal minds.

Only the mightiest adversary will draw Caynum's attention and only the most profound motive will inspire him. He is taller even than Mythyar, despite the crooked arch of his spine, and he remains strongest of all the immortals, the colossal bulk of his ancient body wrapped in a bloodred cape whose very fabric is made of the weave of raw fear.

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OLD URD

1 The Urgat Gate Western gatehouse of Old Urd, the Urgat was the scene of Cormysyeth Num's brutal slaying at the hands of her brother, Caynum Bitterblade. For this reason alone is the gatehouse viewed with a certain reverence by those who dwell in the city and with an almost racially inherited horror by the wyrmen of the south.

The gatehouse is a towering structure with a trapezoid shape and a looming arched gate furnished with a hefty iron portcullis on the inside and double doors made from sharpened stakes on the outside. The doors are reinforced with bands of iron and driven through with enormous carriage bolts. A complex locking mechanism on the inside, also made of iron, can be activated by a single lever, throwing twelve barrel locks across the centre of the doors and the hinged side making the overall structure virtually indestructible.

Buildings to north and south of the gatehouse on the inner barbican courtyard provide housing for myrman guards tasked with defending the gate.

OLD URD

2 Guttersnipe Slum Befouled and thick with the stench of rot and decay, the narrow labyrinthine streets and alleyways of the Guttersnipe Slum seem to exist in perpetual twilight, the upper storeys of surrounding structures leaning outward, enclosing the open spaces in persistent shadow. Sewage and rivers of muck run through the rutted cobbles while fearsome odours leach from open doorways, windows and yawning holes where walls have been smashed or burned.

The lower denizens of Old Urd typically make their home in Guttersnipe, driven there by myrman guards or by the presence of kindred creatures.

Sawbone dwell here in great numbers, languishing in the gutters and pawing their way sightlessly along the darkened avenues.

The Fell Carker are also a common sight. Ugly, child-like and permanently covered in mud and sewage, they scamper through the filth, dressed in rags, their eyes glittering with malevolence. To the uninitiated the Carker may seem like particularly unruly urchins, driven feral by their abominable surroundings and forced to subsist in deplorable states of poverty.

In fact this is the Carker's natural state of existence and how he or she prefers to live - a chaotic life of lawless gang brutality, vicious criminal mischief and destitution. Carker are born of the Gungin Gap, have no parents and will remain as unruly children for so long as they continue to exist. Their minds are more advanced than their immature appearance may suggest and they possess a shrewd cunning and propensity for violence that may catch the unwary off guard.

Lumbering Mawsquirm (and their accompanying foul smell) are also common, captured by myrman hunting patrols in Iyfel and loosed into the streets of Guttersnipe and other low wards in order to keep the streets clear of festering rubbish.

Any stranger blundering through the Guttersnipes will have little effect on the Mawsquirm who are virtually impossible to frighten or intimidate. The approach of such strangers will, however, send Carker scattering from the mire of the streets and alleyways into various small cracks, crevices and doorways where they will hide and watch.

Visitors in the slum are typically native to Urd and therefore to be avoided at all costs. Few of the city's denizens would give much more thought to the arbitrary crushing of a Carker than they would that of a troublesome mite and, indeed, certain quarters of society deliberately attend the slums in order to capture Carker which can then be used for nefarious amusements; tortured or experimented upon before the damage is so severe they finally perish.

Where the visitor is deemed to be nonthreatening or an easy target the Carker will allow them to wander deep into the slum before emerging from their hiding places to surround the victim. Thereafter the fate of the unlucky visitor can only be guessed at but is likely, given the childish imagination of the tormentors combined with their disregard for life and limb, to be the stuff of nightmares.

As the sun sets and dusk falls the Carker will vanish from sight, disappearing into easily defended hideouts on the upper floor, attics and rooftops of buildings where they will likely remain until sunrise. Taking the place of the Carker during these nocturnal hours will be swarms of Shitfink, rising from the sewers where they hide during the day to forage in the rubble strewn channels above ground during the night.

Shitfink are a Fell breed and have no need for sustenance, but they have an insatiable desire for havoc which they achieve by locating the entrances to Carker hideouts and attacking the Carker within. Pitch battles are commonplace, but the Carker are difficult to find. As a people they have grown accustomed to finding the best places to hide and defend themselves with often ingenious methods.

The Shitfink avoid the Mawsquirm who remain in full sight during both the day and night. Not only do the Mawsquirm present a more daunting target, the foul stench they produce is unbearable even to the nostrils of the sewer-dwelling Shitfink. Moreover, the Mawsquirm are a blunt creature, dull of mind and unable to comprehend the terror of the hunt. The Shitfink much prefer the Carker, whose scrabbling attempts to run or hide and obvious horror when cornered feeds their driving and insatiable sadistic streak.

OLD URD

3 Greenbottle Ward Denizens of the Greenbottle Ward tend to be of a tougher and more socially organized variant than the chaotic inhabitants of Guttersnipe.

Gorbelly are common here and have turned the southern gatehouse leading to Sidantun Woods into a brewery and multi-level tavern called the Green Bottle (from which the ward gains its name) where they drink and engage in debaucheries beyond imagining.

Favoured drinking sports usually involve gambling or depravity in the form of the torture and murder of something innocent or, at the very least, vulnerable. In most cases the Gorbelly will favour a variation involving both. The torment of a captured Carker is a popular game, dice rolls or coin flips used to decide which limb will be pulled off or which method will be used to kill the hapless creature, participants usually wagering on the grizzly outcome.

Where a wild animal can be captured in

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Sidantun all the better, since the Carker invariably gain as much masochistic enjoyment from their own murder as the Gorbelly themselves, detracting somewhat from the fun.

Where wyrmen are captured and brought to Old Urd they may be incarcerated and given or sold to the Gorbelly of Greenbottle to be used on special festival occasions as objects of torture. In these instances the Gorbelly will bring out their rustiest and most vicious gaming instruments - the Knife-Spinner; the Limb Mincer, the Rib-Splitter and the Skull Pulper all very popular during such events.

Wyrman captives will be held in dungeons under the tavern where they will be kept alive only for the purpose of providing entertainment when the time comes.

All this takes place in a ramshackle wooden structure built in recent times within a hole in the wall of Urd's southern defenses. A stairwell from the uppermost mezzanine of the tavern leads down and out into Sidantun Wood and via this route the Gorbelly routinely leave Urd to wander in the trees and set their hideous traps.

Other residents of Greenbottle may include Dunwytch, Warlocks, Creants and Haruspex.

Other Fell breeds likely to be encountered here include the Irgin Crone, the Pyknic, the ubiquitous Mawsquirm and Shabble crime lords, the latter arriving amidst much pomp and splendour, their bodyguards and servants in attendance.

There is, of course, no law in Old Urd beyond that of survival of the slyest and subjugation of the weak or vulnerable by the strong and powerful. The Shabble who dwell here are crime lords only in the loosest sense. Shabble invariably take commanding roles or, where they can, the role of kingpin in ruthless Fell or myrman gangs and their base of operations will typically be here in the Greenbottle Ward.

Occasional wars between gangs are common, as are purges of those Shabbles in the upper hierarchies of established gangs; assassinations and feuds based on vendettas often perpetuated indefinitely.

The Shabble crime lords have no allegiance to the Cult of Flies, nor to any authority within Old Urd beyond themselves. In this sense they are a mercenary element and might be useless to the throne were it not for their influence over the lower denominations of Urdian society. they are infinitely corruptible, making them ideally useful for the domination of social elements usually beyond the control of the cult.

OLD URD

4 Septic Ward Raised above the Greenbottle Ward and inaccessible from below without first entering one of the dark and forbidding structures whose towering bulk form a kind of artificial

escarpment supporting the higher levels, the Septic Ward is feared even by the unholy denizens of the rest of the city.

Here streets built on the rooftops of a layer of structures permanently buried and hidden from daylight, are deserted and a strange ambient chill seems to hang in the air. Foul green ooze pools in the gutters and the open doorways and windows of buildings seem preternaturally dark, as though the space within is shrouded in much more than mere shadow.

Here may be encountered the foulest creatures of Old Urd, their homes the sub-levels out of sight and out of mind beneath this uppermost level and the subterranean sewers whose tunnels and passageways stretch into all wards of the city.

Dwellers encountered here or in the dungeons below may include the Thrawn, otherworldly and alien in both its behaviour and appearance; the Guggler, drifting silent and malevolent through the empty streets; the gruesome Womancer or Haridan Crone as she is sometimes known; the Yammer or the Ympynyon (known in Urd as the Myrberyd) or even the loathsome Plague Golem, though this latter is likely to be used by some Craven rune-caster of the city to guard a lair.

Kornkraw are also known to infest the monolithic structures of the Septic Ward, appearing in both larval and embedded form, nesting in the darkest recesses where their stench overpowers even the ambient odours of the city.

At the heart of the underdark beneath the Septic Ward dwells the Naderfell Barvek Babirusa, a vile slug-like monstrosity and Higher Fell so enormously obese that he can no longer move and dwells permanently in a cess pit of revolting slime.

The sewers of Urd converge on this pit, with every morsel evacuated from the various organisms inhabiting the city and every item of debris washed into the sewers eventually flowing and surging around Barvek's colossal bulk.

Barvek is a foulsome beast, utterly wicked and corrupt in his faecal ooze. He delights in the torment and torture of those who stray into his clutches and his chamber, and neighbouring chambers house a wide variety of torture implements which his acolytes will employ on any captives. Torture is typically recorded onto a cathartic orb by a Catharxis in Barvek's sole employ for the creature to enjoy at his leisure and repeatedly for so long as he desires. Many such orbs are stored in annexed vaults, along with a small amount of wealth and goods which will be awaiting

transit to the Arkhein's treasure troves.

In a hidden compartment in the wall of his pool, Barvek stores a fully loaded myrdyrgun which he will reach for if he feels particularly threatened or wishes to take an unsuspecting foe by surprise. Usually Barvek will utilize his long, stretching neck to bite his victim, but where he faces numerous foes the myrdyrgun is likely to be favoured (see The Wyrd Pandemonium, for more details).

OLD URD

5 Ghetto of the Dunmen This is where the majority myrmen choose to live within Old Urd, massing their slums and their clay houses around the northern walls of the palace of the Arkhein where they can be closest to their master - Caynum Bitterblade.

Caynum treats his regiments of myrmen no better than does Mardock treat the Mummers of Iyfel, but Caynum has the additional strength of the formidable Naderfell, Dydrüeth and Dargonoth to keep order within the ranks.

The Grognadians, as they are known, or Grogs (so named after the foul alcoholic beverage they drink in enormous quantities), are a largely diminished military force. Once vast and powerful before the days of the Sanas Morcorm war, they are today a shadow of their former glory, grog-swilling and bitter, but no less ambitious in their desires to deliver harm and war to the hated wyrman civilizations. Of all the myrmen they are the most fanatically religious devotees of the Cult of Flies and the most likely to march to war under the banner of the Bitterblade.

The ghetto is also home to the industrial and factory centres of Urd wherein are forged armour, weapons and other military necessities by Fell Ferror. Black smokes pour ceaselessly from the ward's soaring chimney stacks and everything here is draped in a layer of fine soot while the air is thick with smog and smelting fumes. The Ferror are kept by myrman Fell-masters and are also used to guard the walls and gates of the city.

Scarfer are also common in the ghettos of the Dunmen and are a traditional method for bringing wyrmen and Fell breeds into the city.

They typically move and live in clans, riding Fell steeds or clinging to the leash of a Wapperjaw pet. They tend to be greater in number than the myrmen, but less visible, dwelling as they do in the sub-levels of the city and the underdark from where they access the numerous labyrinth caves beneath Sanas Morcorm.

OLD URD

6 Temple of Dargonoth Once a shrine, this ancient temple whose foundations stand upon a high promontory overlooking the rest of the city, is now largely ruined and has been turned into a nest by the Naderfell Dargonoth.

When he is in Urd, Dargonoth perches on the shattered walls of the temple, staring out across the city, his malefic attention felt as a cankerous evil and a sinister sense of potential destruction by all who dwell under his gaze.

Dargonoth suffers no creature's approach other than the myrmen whom he considers a form of necessary military force. Indeed, Dargonoth is considered by most to be the captain of the forces of Urd and where he is seen elsewhere in the world he invariably flies above a marching regiment of myrmen.

OLD URD

7 Palace of Dydrűeth First of the Naderfell to emerge from Gungin, the arrival of Dydrüeth Greyfold is written into the history of Gungingeth as a day never to be forgotten.

Much of the city fell to ruin and many of the Fell forms slaughtered that day have never been seen again upon the face of Ereth. Thus the Day of Dydrüeth is remembered as The Great Purgation of Chaos in the annals of Santun Morvagh whose terrified people beheld the destruction from behind the bulk of the Grail Mountains.

Dydrüeth never came to Mortun Pandi, turning

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north instead into the land of Iyfel and setting course for the ruins of Old Urd. Here she now dwells, a hideous sentinel perched atop the western battlements of the Arkhein, surveying the reinstatement of evil within the city of craven masters. All who live and move about the wards to west, north and south of the Arkhein come under the glacial gaze of the mighty Naderfell, her constant presence a reminder to all that the city belongs not only to Caynum Bitterblade and his Elgan cultists but to Gungin Chaos.

Dydrüeth is widely considered the queen of the Naderfell. Within her breast is supposedly embedded the Dread Soul Stone named the Summoner Stone, Heart of Dydrüeth. When this priceless black orb pulses with the essence of Dydrüeth’s power, all Naderfell feel drawn and must attend its location whether they wish to or not. Whomsoever wields the stone, it is said, commands the Naderfell.

Wyrmen greatly fear such stories, as the Naderfell amassed as a singular force could lay utter ruin to all civilization. None can tell for sure if the tales are true, or mere fabrication embellished by the retelling and reforming of ancient stories by superstitious folk, for even the most devoted wyrman warrior would not willingly set foot in the city of Old Urd and so rare are the sightings of Dydrüeth herself that most cultures have long decided that the Queen of Urd must either be dead or returned to the Abysmal Dunlight of Gungin’s depths.

But prevail she does, and this section of the great Arkhein is largely abandoned, given over to Dydrüeth's rule and her apocalyptic presence. Its western gatehouse is barred by a great portcullis and within the barbican beyond dwell great numbers of Spleen whom Dydrüeth uses to guard her regal wealth.

The inner courtyard of the palatial buildings have been befouled by Dydrüeth and filled with her vast treasure hoard in equal measure. This immense pile of artefacts, precious metals and weapons, all covered by and mingled with the slime and effluence of the Naderfell, are considered the covenant of Urd and a shared wealth between Dydrüeth and the Cult of Flies. Dydrüeth has sworn allegiance to Caynum Bitterblade and all wealth she amasses here she collects for the benefit of the forces of chaos and Elgan gods alike. The treasure is considered funds for some future war against the wyrmen, though what and when this might be remains unknown to most city dwellers.

Occasionally some insanity grips an inhabitant of Urd, or one of the various criminal gangs operating under Shabble masters, and attempts are made to steal into the palace and burglarize Dydrüeth's vast hoard. Such efforts end without exception with the death of the burglar and the rest of the city suffering the queen's wrath. Most have now come to learn that the palace is a forbidden site and the treasure a prize beyond any but the most powerful (or insane) thief.

OLD URD

8 Arkhein Here the undying Caynum Bitterblade sits upon a throne of green marble and rules over the city of Old Urd. Caynum is a Creant and takes great delight in all sadistic and masochistic acts, the more degenerate the act the better. The palace is less a place of regal authority and more a vast mansion of horror. Here Creant servants and other nefarious beings haunt the dark stone lanes and chambers, competing in the pains they inflict upon themselves and others for the amusement of their immortal master.

Here also are countless wyrman prisoners (usually captured by wandering Scarfer clans and sold to Urd at considerable price) incarcerated in lightless cells filled with the remains of previous victims.

The curdling wail of the tortured and the gleeful shrieks of the Creants echo from the narrow windows and high towers of the palace, drifting across the ghettos of the myrmen to the north and the Septic Ward to the south, or across the Damnum Channel to the east where sea-farers risking the waterway may pause to listen and shiver with fright.

Caynum's laughter sometimes joins the hideous cacophony as he observes some new convolution of pain and misery exacted upon the body and mind of a wyrman prisoner. For here is the pinnacle of Old Urd's evil and the focus of the abysmal hatred harboured by the Cult of Flies for all civilized life in Ereth. Here every imaginable and many unimaginable desecrations are inflicted upon the wyrman in revenge for Mot Elyeth's defeat of Uselyorn at the end of the Epic Age. The more wretched the blasphemy, the greater the delight taken

by Caynum and his cohorts.

The palace itself is a dark stone edifice of grim architecture, spartan arrow loops affording only a little light to infiltrate the shadowy interior.

Wyrman heads rammed onto spikes adorn the walls and battlements of the palace, flocks of raven and crow feasting on the flesh which varies in states of decay from polished skulls to fresh and maggot-infested. At the break of dawn on every last day of the week Caynum emerges from a wide balcony in the northwestern corner of the palace's outermost wall to an eager reception of massed myrmen and Scarfers gathered in a large courtyard below.

A wyrman prisoner is brought to the balcony and forced to kneel. His or her head is then lopped off by Caynum using the legendary Bitterblade. The head joins the ranks already displayed on the palace walls while the body is thrown from the balcony to fall amidst the mustering cultists below. The headless corpse is traditionally torn limb from limb and fed to Wapperjaw or eaten by the myrmen themselves. The event marks the start of a

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twenty four hour celebration in which myrmen and Scarfer alike will drink, fight and rampage through their own part of the city. This riotous celebration sometimes spills into the Guttersnipe Wards where the revelers may fall upon the Shitfink or the Carker who dwell there.

OLD URD

9 Arrgat Citadel A heavily fortified and guarded citadel to whose uppermost floor the Draedan Bridge connects. Myrman and Ferror guards who keep the citadel and guard the bridge typically give free access to any Fell or myrman crossing the Damnum, myrmandrivers then herding the newcomer to the appropriate section of the city.

A drawbridge can be closed where the Draedan is used by an invading or threatening force, preventing their access to the shore of the Damnum or the city. A wide parapet above the bridge can then be used to fire arrows, crossbow bolts and even firearms down upon the attacking force.

A second gatehouse - the Gongat - identical in many respects to Arrgat, stands on the shore of Efodruin at the far end of the bridge. This is manned only by a small contingent of myrman ostiary guards whose task it is to warn the main citadel of any force approaching along the Draedan.

LANDMARKS Those notable landmarks found within the borders of Dunmonia.

Anglestan River A dry river bed at most times of the year, the source of the Anglestan is the Damnum Channel where it flows into Old Urd. Factories and mills tap the water and a dam has been constructed in the ghetto of the Dunmen in order to divert the flow into Urd's sewers and underground reservoirs.

In the month of Motsober the marshlands of Unerin and Swelgan are fed by rains and the banks along the rivers Anglestan and Wythiall become muddy. Water seeps into the river beds and both rivers then feed Whythra Wadi which will swell with flood surges.

In Nirvemba colder weather leads to a reduction of rain and hardening of the banks of the river beds and the marshlands retain their water levels. The river beds and wadis will likely remain relatively dry thereafter until the following spring, Whythra hosting the occasional storm surge where heavy rains and storms erupt around Old Urd.

Damnum Channel Much of the Damnum is a calm body of water, but where the channel funnels between Old Urd and the peninsula of Efodruin, strong currents drag the waters out toward the north Inland Sea to create a murderously fast flowing bottleneck. Any boat coming from the south will be sucked like a cork from a bottle into this funnel and dashed to pieces on razor sharp rocks. Meanwhile, approach from the north and into the channel is equally perilous, for here waves crash and boom continuously against the legs of the Draeden Bridge and the rocky spit of headland jutting from Ni単el.

Powerful rip tides too strong even to sail against with a five mast galleon ripple away from the mouth of the channel and the battered shore. Submerged rocks protrude into the breakwater like jagged knives and whirlpools, filling the air with their howl, suck the waters, and anything sailing upon them,

down and into hollows beneath the tide line.

All this combines to make this section of the Damnum a virtually impossible body of water to negotiate by boat.

Despite the perils, the Damnum is still sailed up to the dangerous reefs of Efodruin and sometimes even beyond. The clipper Dunbreccan of Santun Morvagh makes regular trips to Verdandi via the Damnum, the main vessel berthing in the south Skyssan harbour of Port Sanca, a longboat launch then crossing the northern part of the Damnum after night-fall in order to evade prying eyes from Old Urd. The longboat enters Flaybren Creek and passes through this narrow curving river in the shadow of the Skabryos Hills. It emerges back into the Damnum a mile or so from Urd then passes Dair Rock into the south.

Dunbreccan is the only trade ship that risks this path and the only merchant vessel that carries goods into and out of Verdandi.

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On the 5th, 15th and 25th day of every month, and at some time in the dead of night, the Gigaerack passes through the southern Damnum waters, passes the twin spires of the Hammer Dwale and clambers ashore at the mouth of the river Flay. From there it lumbers northeast toward Skytor.

Draedan Bridge Draeden, the Bridge of Dread, is a vast stone bridge, 100 metres wide and one mile long, spanning the tumultuous waters of the Damnum Channel, the only wyr-made connection point between the continent of Morturth and that of Annarr.

The bridge stands ninety feet above vast stone footings embedded in the waters of the channel and its length is furnished with curved defensive parapets from which the Urdians can defend their city against attack.

At the end of the Sanas Morcorm war, the Draeden Bridge was destroyed along with much of the original city of Old Urd, but since then the Cult of Flies has invested a great deal of effort rebuilding the bridge and reconnecting Old Urd with mainland Annarr, the structure a vital and symbolic umbilical between the craven forces of Caynum Bitterblade in Urd and Mardock Elgan in Ramat.

At the bridge's easternmost end stands the Gongat and at its western end the Arrgat Citadels, both house monstrous gates through which only wandering Fell or forces coming into and out of Urd will be allowed free access.

A great brass gong stands on the roof of the aptly named Gongat and this is manned at all times by a guard tasked with watching both the eastern wastes of Niñel and the Damnum.

The sound of the gong can be heard as far away as the Urgat Gatehouse in the far western wall of Old Urd and will give forces in Urd a chance to prepare the eastern gate in the event of invasion.

Concerted attacks led against Urd by the wyrmen of Skytor have all failed as a result of this early warning system and the ambush system employed at the Keep of Hagria (see below).

quicksand and will swiftly suck down anyone or anything unfortunate enough to walk into them. However, provided the victim doesn’t drown immediately and is able to hold their breath there’s every possibility they’ll be deposited into one of the bore-holes and fired out to sea where, if they remain fortunate, they’ll be able to kick to the surface. Survival rate depends both on the source of the ditch being an open bore-hole, as opposed to just rising seepage, and the temperament of the sea. Powerful rip tides stream away from Efodruin, taking the waters out into the north Inland Sea, and anyone caught in these (likely if they emerge from a bore-hole, the source of most of the underwater currents) will be carried far beyond the coastline.

Efodruin

Keep of Hagria

The waters of the Damnum Channel rage around this bleak peninsula of broken granite dappled with patches of lifeless, boggy soil.

Natural bore holes, aeons in the making, lie hidden beneath the ground and through these the channel waters roar, cutting through the loose earth between pillars of granite and lessening some of the eroding impact on the headland itself.

At high tide small ditches of slick grey mud appear, looking at a glance very much like the surrounding stone. These have the quality of

A small fortified keep built with a grotesque architecture, the Keep of Hagria ( The Ugly Place) may appear, from the outside looking in, to be a derelict castle, its single portcullis entrance firmly closed and locked. From pikestaffs embedded in the battlements flutter flags displaying the Dunmonian sigil alongside poles upon which have been jammed the severed and crow-pecked heads of Urdian enemies (some merely skulls, others patchy with flesh and clumps of gia).

Hagria stands empty most of the time. It can

Jarlstone Cliffs Jarlstone, meaning Emperor of Stones and relating to the ‘Corner Stone’ of Old Urd. This is a great obsidian block used as the first cornerstone foundation for the reconstruction of Old Urd. The Jarlstone Cliffs are a high ridge separating the lower ground of Dunmonia from the border of Celtrein. The tree line of Wyrgrove Woods grows atop the cliffs.

The boreholes beneath Efodruin

be accessed by Urdian forces via a secret hidden passage that runs through the middle of the Draeden Bridge, hidden beneath the cobbled floor of the bridge proper, then under Efodruin via nearly a mile of excavated tunnels. The Urdians can use Hagria as a rear-guard position, falling in force on enemies massing on the bridge, even if Hagria has been overrun and found to be empty. The castle’s position combined with the narrow isthmus connecting the west of Efodruin with Draeden means the enemy will be landlocked, unable to flee unless they jump into the murderous swells of the Damnum.

At the westernmost end of the long tunnels and secret bridge passage connecting Hagria with Old Urd dwells the Naderfell known as Barvek Babirusa. He and his solemn acolytes will act as a contingent against any enemy force who discovers the hidden passageways beneath Hagria and the Draedan Bridge.

Sidantun A diseased woodland of tall Konos Pine interspersed with beech and common oak on the north bank of the River Wythiall.

Sidantun (Belonging to the City) is a patch of forest belonging to the Dunmonian province but actually part of the original Fawen Forest.

The wood is fast turning into a swamp on this side of the Wythiall, though the water-logged soil comes not from the river but from sewage and other waste run-off seeping out of the city of Old Urd. The trees here are weak and many are dead, their gnarled and rotten branches tangling into huge masses of bracken and gorse, impassable without cutting a path using an axe or blade.

Within Sidantun are various ruins belonging to the original city of Urd, now collapsed and overrun with ivy and creepers. A clearing on the northern side of the wood opens to reveal the curtain wall of Urd and the towering tavern of The Green Bottle whose shabby structure fills a gap in the wall. This Gorbelly watering hole is a vile cesspit of violence, debauchery and peril frequented by some of the darkest and most hideous denizens of Urd's lower wards.

Unerin Marsh Unerin (The Over-shadowed) lies at the foot of the Jarlstone Cliffs on the northern side of Old Urd. In most respects Unerin is merely an extension of Swelgan.

Wyrgrove Wood Where Wyrmen Grow, so named after the

years of conflict fought within this forest during the cataclysmic Sanas Morcorm war. It is said that so much wyrman and morcelt blood was spilled in the tree line of Wyrgrove during the war that it seeped into the soil and

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was absorbed by the roots of the trees.

Though the Kindred Oak is evident in the west and south of the woods, the mangrove is the dominant species of tree in the east and north, a tropical red-bark tree of great height whose tangled roots also form a chaos of thickets at ground level and whose name translates literally as Men That Grow.

Visitors to these woods risk running foul of scouts and patrols watching for intruders from the Drygian Barrens and the city of Old Urd. The morcelt are masters of stealth within the woods and are highly unlikely to be seen or sensed before they choose to make their presence known.

Anyone captured by patrols will either be killed outright or tied up and dragged unceremoniously to Tarantel for ritual sacrifice (or worse).

Wyrgrove is home to a variety of dangerous animals, including wild bears, snakes, panthers, spiders, wild boar and wolves. This latter are most common, hunting by night and in great numbers, by day they sleep in caves and tunnels beneath the woods, accessible via small apertures in the banks of the Gwaedleg Swamp.

Celtrein Long before the end of the Winter of Discontent, the immortal Wegwyr Num was wed to the mortal priest Morcelt and bore him a son, Nar Pan (the God-like Man). About Wegwyr at this time was growing a cult of strange beliefs whose bizarre interpretations of history greatly disturbed the other vanyirborn, though, by the last commands of Mot, they could not halt the cult's emergence.

Nevertheless, before Nar Pan was even grown to his teenage years Wegwyr was summoned before Mythyar and Cormysyeth and bade abandon her heretic cultism or face the consequences. But Wegwyr refused and was thus banished from the Arkhold - given instruction to travel to the high plateau of Losia where the snow lands of the nine thousand year winter could not reach.

Thus was Wegwyr exiled and went with great reluctance, her husband and her son by her side along with a throng of loyal wyrman cultists whose devotion to Wegwyr was unwavering.

In Losia Morcelt perished of old age, but Nar Pan grew and age seemed to leave him untouched, while all about him the wyrmen of generations older even than his own grew, withered and died in his presence.

Nar Pan was immortal, inheriting that quality of the first vanyirborn which was entirely of the Oak Lords and which rendered them immune to the onset of age.

But immortality is a long weight to bear and in her own undying years Wegwyr became strange and remote from reality. Nar Pan retired her as head of the cult and took the title as his own. He was renamed Narpanum Orbweaver by his followers and under his guidance the cult of Drogen flourished.

When the Winter of Discontent drew to a close and the glaciers of the south began to retreat, revealing in their wake the southern continent of Morturth, Narpanum led his people from Losia, abandoning there his mother to her fate with a mere handful of loyal aides.

Narpanum denounced the name of his mother and the essence of the vanyirborn and instead encouraged reverence in his father -.

And so his loyal cultists took for themselves the name of the people of Morcelt and in jungles south of Listholm they settled a new nation.

Celtrein was established in the ruins of an old ziggurat believed to be a remnant structure from the Epic Age and a thing built by gods.

It was called Tarantel (from tari an yt el Made by the Elevated) and became the city in which the cult of Drogen would prevail.

In the first seventy years of Tarantel's history the morcelt were a settled people, barbarian in many ways but civilized in many others and commanded with presence of mind by the immortal Narpanum. In the jungles of Monigarn the Drogen cultists learned survival skills and formed a natural kinship with the land and its animalian life that might have continued toward near-shamanistic ends had it not been for the Sanas Morcorm war.

First the forces of Old Urd and then the warlords of Cornoval invaded the tree line of Wyrgrove Woods and Monigarn, seeking the utter destruction of the morcelt people. The wars were long and took many lives, testing the resolve of Narpanum and the sanity of his isolated folk.

A treaty for peace was offered by the norwyr and to Meresken Mansion Narpanum ventured, there to meet with the Jarl of DroodCynncarn and the Lairds of Listholm. An end to war was agreed upon and the land newly named Sanas Morcorm divided between the wyrmen of Morturth.

But thereafter something dark entered the soul of Narpanum and upon returning to Celtrein an abysmal dirge seemed to infect the people of Tarantel. Ever barbarian in their ways, they now became savage and feral as the luckless myrman, embracing brutality and abandoning sense in favour of chaos and evil.

Gudcrop the Vile, animalian avatar of spiders was given substance and spiritual sustenance by the sprained cultic worship of the morcelt fetish and became manifest, emerging from the Endeleas to make a permanent nest in

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Narynbereth Hill. The Drogen cultists fell to their knees before him and even Narpanum, an intellect born of Vanyir's own divinity, renounced reason and prostrated himself before the malformed spider.

The year was 78AD and almost two thousand years have passed. Narpanum rules still in the land of the morcelt but he languishes now in the same sprained state of mind as endured by his mother before her exile from the Arkhold.

He is quite mad and utterly bereft of all sense, drunk with power and lost to the sprained idolatry of Drogen. He sits, sullen and sloth upon his throne, attended by devotees who populate and perpetuate the strange world in which Narpanum languishes, idolizing him and fuelling his madness.

Gudcrop's presence has, in turn, drawn a wide variety of arachnids to the Celtrein region, each species gravitating toward the great spider god as other animalian species gravitate toward their own spiritual avatar. In Gudcrop's case the lure is all the more powerful as the avatar is imbued with a manifest substance.

THE CITY OF TARANTEL City of the idolater and centre of the wicked Drogen cult, Tarantel is a sprawling settlement spaced out over an area of six square miles, its various structures hidden high within the entangled branches of the Monigarn mangrove that form this dense part of the jungle.

The morcelt are a savage and uniquely demented race of wyrmen, devoid of compassion, sense and reason. Anyone blundering into their midst can expect to be attacked and, if captured, sacrificed to their spider god Gudcrop or reserved for even worse fates.

The morcelt never venture out from Tarantel except into the bordering swathes of Monigarn. They greatly fear the powers of Old Urd and are equally wary of the nations of Skytor and Listholm. They remain within the city where they guard against incursion and invasion but make no moves toward conquest against their neighbours.

In recent centuries both the Listians and the wyrmen of Skyssa have given serious consideration to a concerted assault on Celtrein, but such schemes have never left the planning stage. The Sanas Morcorm treaty remains an issue for the honour-bound norwyr whose feelings on the manner in which the treaty was secured are already laden with guilt. The Skyssans are (perhaps overly) confident that a military campaign would be swift and decisive, resulting in the eradication of the savage tribes, but the gains

remain questionable. Celtrein stands too close to the Elgan cult centre of Old Urd to be valuable as anything other than a military garrison for Skytor. The morcelt themselves perform this service already, keeping the Urdian forces away from the Druncdrood Coast and the northern shorelines next to Listholm, effective as any Skyssan army more so in many ways given their experience and ability in the jungle environment.

Moreover, the environmental damage wrought in Monigarn by the presence of the morcelt and their spiders would likely require a greater effort to rectify than the military conquest of Tarantel. Before the resources of the jungle could be harvested and put to use, the spiders, and particularly Gudcrop, would need to be dealt with.

The cultists of Motia and Allum continue to call for a crusade against the barbaric practices, murders and evils perpetrated in

the morcelt lair, but their calls are deemed to be impractical by military strategists. Thus the land of Celtrein remains untroubled by outside forces. This military stalemate seems likely to remain in place unless the power structure of Skytor and/or Listholm swings more toward religious belief than the calculated strategic thinking of governed states. Or unless the morcelt cross over unspoken lines and invade the civilized nations of their neighbours.

TARANTEL

1 The Signal Gate A huge wrought iron gate formed by thin bars designed in a chaos of crossing lines stands in the middle of the road. In the centre of the gate is a disc containing the icon of Drogen,

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an eight pointed asterisk, connected at top and bottom to the main body of the gate.

From either side of the gate a fence of horizontal and diagonal bars stretches away into the trees. The horizontal bars seem, in most cases, to pass through the upright trunks of the mangrove trees as though the trees had grown up and around the bars. In fact, this is precisely what has happened - the fence having stood in this position for many hundreds of years while trees that stood as mere saplings at the time have since grown to engulf the bars.

The gate hangs at a slight angle on broken hinges. It is always closed, but never locked and can be opened quite simply with no considerable effort.

As the gate is moved it causes vibration in the bars running through the trees which then cause further vibrations in higher branches. Small bells in these branches ring as a result, the ringing sound scaring nesting birds into the air. This combination of signals will alert the morcelt occupying the four tree houses in this area that somebody or something has opened the gate.

The iron bars are collectively called the Spinneret Fence and the tree houses, the Signal Eres. At least twenty morcelt will be on guard duty in these houses at any one time, the structures themselves well hidden in the canopy of the jungle and virtually invisible from the road and the gate. Those closest to the gate will spy on the road and if a significant threat is detected runners from the outlying houses will be sent to raise the alarm in the city. Where necessary the remaining guards will attack any enemy on the road using blowpipes and slingshots.

The Spinneret Fence stretches from the gate and the main road to the two southern edges of the city. The fence is easily traversed but doing so will inevitably set off the alarm system. Anyone attempting to tack sideways along the line of the fence will soon trigger one of many hidden tripwires attached to the lower bars of the fence. These 'signal wires' will set up the same vibrations and the same signals as result from the opening of the gate.

The location of the ringing bells will show the guards the precise location along the length of

the fence where the tripwire was triggered, however, the guards will show less interest in tripwire signals than those associated with the gate as the wires are often fired several times a day by wandering animals skirting close to the fence.

TARANTEL

2 Maggot Ward In the fetid waters of the circular lake at the centre of this ward, farmers nurture vast crops of carrion fly maggots and mosquito larvae which hatch on a continual basis, the air hereabouts filled with an endless mass of buzzing insects.

The vast majority will migrate outward into the jungle where they feed the arachnid ecosystem. Those netted by farmers will be used to encourage specific spider growth in designated parts of the jungle. These strategic points are usually chosen in order to foster the growth of nonpoisonous, or at least sub lethal colonies in order to prevent the inward spread of Monigarn's more deadly forms of spider.

Wherever a visitor looks in this section of Tarantel the air will be swarming with flying insects and the local flora will be swarming with things that feed upon such insects, including numerous exotic species of tropical bird, spiders of all shapes and sizes (all of a nontoxic and non-exotic kind) and even various small reptiles. Lizards and snakes are common, living both in and out of the rancid waters of the central lake.

Around the edges of the lake the farmers drag the carcasses of animals slaughtered or found dead in the jungle, these corpses left to rot as incubators for maggots and feed for the lizards and other carnivorous creatures, the whole working as a miniature ecosystem with one end result in mind - the feeding of the spiders.

The farmers themselves dwell in shabby timber tree-houses surrounding the central lake. Other low status may also be found living in ground level clay hovels, including elderly favoured in their community and thereby spared the usual fate as a sacrificial meal for Gudcrop.

Life in the Maggot Ward is a dismal affair for any resident, the tree houses and hovels alike filled with the creeping and crawling product of the maggot farms and the ever present stench of rot and decay from carrion littering the edge of the lake. But even this foul place is a preferable site compared with the melting pot of the Cob.

TARANTEL

3 The Cob A fearsome region of Tarantel where green mists drift wraith-like between giant red mangrove trunks and the screams, sobs and guttural cries of those who dwell here fill the air.

The people of the Cob make up the majority of Tarantel's citizens, a savage and barbarous warrior race, inbred, often mutant and generally of exceptionally low intelligence. The stronger and more vicious among them live in the great tree house and canopy structures built by their ancestors in better but long forgotten times. Everybody else dwells in rickety makeshift hovels

the ground-dwellers will retreat below, stabbing upward with spears or firing missiles from between the mangrove roots while the high-dwellers fire down with missiles, poison darts and rocks.

This area of the city is the most primitive. The tree house dwellers (so-called high dwellers) rule like lords over those forced to scratch a life on the jungle floor below. The hurling of spears or rocks upon the unsuspecting heads of those the high dwellers have come to call the spume has become a popular if savage sport and where orders come from the Priests of the Woven Orb to present victims for Gudcrop, the high dwellers will always select their sacrifice from among the spume and never from among their own peers.

Among the high-dwellers life is no less brutal, a hierarchy based on strength and aggression separating alpha males and females from those who can expect to spend their lives in servitude. Occasional wars break out where youths who show promise as alphas are targeted by established gangs. There are no traditions or ceremonies used to determine the outcome of such conflicts, which can become exceptionally vicious, but where ongoing pitch-battles threaten to cause an unacceptable depletion of the population or the wars threaten to spill into neighbouring wards, the Arinae will be sent in to crack skulls (see locations 4 and 7).

TARANTEL

4 Priests of the Woven Orb of branch and leaf on the jungle floor, their original treetop homes having long since collapsed from centuries of disrepair. Lacking the skills and knowledge required to fix these broken structures the weak, sick and unfortunate merely make do with whatever they find lying around while the stronger and more aggressive assert themselves as proprietors of the high houses.

The Cob Ward covers the southernmost pair of web-shaped city wards closest to the sea.

Here the red mangrove grows a leafy roof over the jungle, creating a labyrinth of gnarled roots through which, over interceding centuries, the morcelt have bored out a tunnel system. Only they know the ways into and out of these tunnels (most of which will be found inside tree hollows or under camouflaged trap doors) and in the event their city is invaded

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In the heart of this webshaped ward lies a circular field within which the icon of Drogen (the eight pointed asterisk) has been excavated to a depth of one foot and covers an area of one thousand square metres, the resulting trench filled with chalk so that it stands out stark and white against the murky greens and browns of the jungle floor.

In the middle of the star, resting upon a great rune-etched plinth of black marble, stands the Woven Orb of the Weird Web, a spherical grey rock said to date from the Age of the Loom.

Narpanum Orbweaver, high priest of the Drogen cult, insists the sphere is a sacred 'Heir of the Loom' given to his mother Wegwyr by the Oak Lords of Yseldyr. It is, he claims, a device through which he is able to communicate with the gods of old. Many of the commands he receives from the orb, Narpanum then directs to his priests,

claiming these orders come direct from divinity. While greater minds would likely refute such claims, the priests are in thrall to the immortal Narpanum and many even believe they have heard the voices themselves.

In the tree house structures surrounding this central icon live the lower, mid-level and high priests of the Drogen cult. These typically possess a greater intellect than their Cob-ward cousins and are usually hand picked at a young age from the savage tribes as soon as they start to show promise.

It is traditional to sacrifice the parents of these chosen acolytes to Gudcrop as a sign of both the youth's adherence to the cult and as a show of thanks to Drogen for providing priestly stock.

This ward is also home to the Arinae, an elite warrior class and the prominent guardian force in Tarantel. The Arinae are championed by the rest of the morcelt (despite the open contempt they hold for anyone outside their own order) and are awarded greater status even than many of the high-level priests of the Woven Orb. At ceremonies and ritual slaughters the Arinae will stand in prominent positions, bullying the lower citizenry and ever vigilant for signs of young, aggressive and wily individuals from the lower wards who might serve well as soldiers.

Unlike the mindless guards on the southern fence, the Arinae are a ruthless and highly brutal breed of thug, independent in their protection of Tarantel, but ultimately loyal to Narpanum Orbweaver. Their decisions are superseded only by his orders.

The Arinae have no allegiance to the Priests of the Woven Orb and consider the people of the Cob and the Maggot wards to be lesser creatures, worthy only of derision. The Arinae care primarily for the safety of Narpanum, to whose mother - the Wegwyr Num - their company swore an oath of undying allegiance long before they followed Narpanum himself out of Losia and into Morturth.

In the event Tarantel comes under attack the Arinae will battle any invaders using a system of pre-established strategies, all of which concentrate on protecting the Anfwyn Citadel and their immortal ruler.

The tree houses and their interconnecting walkways, ramps and stairways in this ward are in a much better state of repair than in the Cob, this region's more intelligent and measured inhabitants causing less damage to their homes than the feral denizens of the Cob. The way of life here is also more civilized and less brutal than in the Cob, though the various upper tiers of the priesthood rely almost entirely upon subjugation and bullying of the lower tiers with low and low/mid-level priests acting as little more than servile slaves to those of the higher echelon. All live in fear of the dread Arinae fighters who go where they please and do as they wish within the restricting laws of Narpanum.

TARANTEL

5 The Venom Pit The multi-level walkways and structures surrounding this part of the city all serve as observation platforms from which the Drogen priests can watch the torture of victims thrown into the central pit - the so-called Venom Pit. Fifty feet deep and three hundred feet wide, with inner retaining walls of stone block covered in ceramic algae-covered tiles, the floor of the pit may appear, to the casual eye, as a somewhat uneven grey disc of soil or sand. In fact the lowermost foot or so of the pit is veiled in a fine mesh of cobweb, the ground beneath inhabited by a vast colony of Pitgrab spider (see the Wyrd Pandemonium).

Anyone thrown into this pit will drop through the web and land amidst the spiders who will immediately swarm over them. Escape is all but impossible, the walls too polished and slimy even for the spiders to scale and the uppermost lip of the pit far beyond reach of all but the largest character.

The Venom Pit is used primarily as a form of punishment for run-aways or traitors to the cult. Treachery comes in many forms, but those who choose to abandon the city, or those who seek to bring harm to the priesthood or to the accepted order of things (this latter often applicable to the sly plotting of priests) are invariably those most likely to be hurled into the pit. The ultimate fate of those who face this form of execution is so repugnant, even to the limited mind of a morcelt, that the pit is considered a far greater deterrent even than sacrifice to Gudcrop.

TARANTEL

6 The Tabular Field Here the morcelt gather to worship Drogen and prostrate themselves before the icons of their cult.

At various points in the large circular field at the heart of this location are numerous grotesque statues, some of spiders, others of horrific caricatures from Drogen myth.

Everywhere here the ground is pitted with curious holes which, to the untrained eye, may suggest the presence of some kind of animal warren. In fact the holes are the footprints of Gudcrop and mark where that monstrous spider has recently planted his eight colossal limbs. Dung from the spider may also be noticed here, particularly along the route Gudcrop takes from Narynbereth when he descends to feast on a sacrifice.

At the northeastern side of the field stands a great stone megalith (the Tabular) with a

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flattened top upon which a needle shaped spar of rock juts skyward. The whole assembly is covered in a viscous green ooze and the stone is pitted as though huge fangs had nibbled at the surface (which indeed they have).

During sacrificial ceremonies victims to be offered to Gudcrop will be manacled to this stone and the great drums of summoning will sound. The watching crowds will start to chant, steadily entering a state of hysteria as their god shows himself.

Gudcrop will emerge from his lair in the summit of Narynbereth and come scuttling down the hillside, tramping through the northeastern woodland and up to the Tabular stone to feast upon the offering.

During this gruesome process the baying of the mob will reach fever-pitch. Spontaneous and uncontrollable outbreaks of violence during this time are common, with morcelt turning on morcelt in a wild and savage frenzy of bloodlust. For this reason the priests of the cult will conduct the latter part of the ritual from treetop structures far out of reach of the common cultist and of Gudcrop himself. Where things get out of hand the Arinae will wade in.

For his own part Gudcrop takes only that which is offered to him on the Tabular stone before returning to his lair. Many centuries have taught the ancient avatar to feed only on those offerings given freely by the morcelt.

Doing so perpetuates both his exalted status as a god in their eyes and their delirious worship of his existence.

TARANTEL

7 Beach Defenses Two monolithic bunkers stand upon a thick foundation of stone, their narrow windows gazing out upon the green waters of Whytney Bight and any enemy ships that might attempt to land from that direction.

Occasionally a craft will venture toward the Monigarn coast, either by accident or with deliberate malice, intending to raid Tarantel and invariably under-estimating morcelt capabilities in the process.

The first such craft will know of the nature of the shoreline they approach will be the sound of great timbers creaking, then a staccato succession of reports as mighty catapult hidden inside the open-topped bunkers hurl deadly missiles into the air.

The catapult are manned by Arinae ballistas able to load, fire and even repair the enormous weapons under their charge and to fight, where necessary, with extraordinary aplomb. They will only head south if there is a clear and considerable threat to the defense of the city in that direction. Otherwise they are sworn to protect the beach and will remain at their posts.

TARANTEL

8 Marina A sizeable harbour but one rarely used by the modern morcelt. In better days the people of Tarantel would venture out into the North Inland Sea and there are even records of trade landings in Listholm. Since the morcelt fell to savagery, however, the marina has fallen out of use. The ever increasing laver growth here has also reduced visibility considerably, creating a green pall that shrouds the entire area. The laver grows in brittle mounds near the surface of the water, the mounds submerged at high tide and perilous to small boats and swimmers.

Only a handful of boats remain in service, most of which are salvage stolen from foreign craft scuppered off the north coast. The boats are used by the morcelt for harvesting the sun-laver. The same seaweed also grows on the Druncdrood Coast and the beaches near the mouth of the Bwydcors, but the morcelt rarely take boats into that part of the Damnum for fear of the currents and the threat posed by inhabitants of nearby Skyssa.

TARANTEL

9 Narynbereth The flat topped hill of Narynbereth (Hole In The Soil of the Conical Hill) dominates this northeastern promontory of Celtrein. A great pit gapes open upon the summit of the hill and deep within the belly of a cave below lives Gudcrop, an ancient and gigantic monstrosity of Ereth called to this corner of the world by the increasing potency of the fanatical cult of Drogen.

Gudcrop (The God That Crawls) was once the animalian avatar of spiders and a spiritual aspect of the Elvian pantheon closely related to King Flay, avatar of scorpions and the Vile Borcop, avatar of ticks and mites. The worship of arachnids gave power and form to Gudcrop who was thereafter tempted to emerge from the fae dymension and become manifest in the Entopic plane.

Gudcrop is now entirely corrupted by his abandoning of spirit. All connections with the arachnid sub-pantheon has been lost and he is now more an embodiment of Gungin chaos and Elgan evil than of anything elemental.

His transition from avatar to manifest servant of dark and chaotic powers has, in turn, corrupted the spider race itself and where spiders are encountered they generally invoke a feeling of repugnance and revulsion, indicative of a godless creature abandoned by its fostering soul.

Gudcrop has come to represent the physical manifestation of Drogen to the morcelt, but Drogen himself remains an independent patron spirit and a part of the Elvian

pantheon. When an Empath invokes Drogen she invokes the original god of worship and not Gudcrop who is now a permanent and immortal fixture within the Entopic Plane (see volume 1, System & Setting, for more information on the entity of Drogen).

Gudcrop resembles an immense semi-aquatic spider who, at his fullest height, looms even above the tallest buildings of Tarantel. Muddy green in colour, with legs of various lengths, his crab-like carapace covered in limpets and thousands of lesser spiders clinging to him like children to a parent, Gudcrop lurks beneath the surface of the huge subterranean lake that fills Narynbereth. Here he languishes like a tumour embedded in the earth, awaiting the sound of summoning.

Drums, pounded by the priests of the Woven Orb, mark the beginning of the ritual to which Gudcrop is routinely summoned. He clambers into the mouth of his pit and emerges, monstrous legs unfolding from the dark and stretching out across the summit of the hill. As the drums and chanting increase in fervour, Gudcrop clambers down the side of the hill and into the city, there to feast upon those unfortunate enough to serve as the ritual sacrifice for this particular ceremony.

The morcelt consider Gudcrop (erroneously) to be the manifestation of Drogen within the Entopic plane and where once the focus of the cult was some abstract interpretation of the Mot/Uselyorn mythology, their worship is now directed solely at Gudcrop. For his own part, he honours his role. For though his mighty limbs may crush the odd individual as they scramble through the streets n a bid to get out of his way, he never feasts upon the people unless they are offered up to him, knowing better than to bite the hand that feeds.

TARANTEL

10 Anfwyn Citadel A huge and ancient ziggurat of white stone, crumbling and covered by jungle creepers, lichen and other invasive flora, the structure is evidently the oldest building in Tarantel and, indeed, was built long before the morcelt even existed as a race. It's outer walls are covered in the runes of naming, though most are so worn with age they are unrecognizable. If the runes serve some magickal purpose the morcelt have no knowledge or understanding of its nature.

Deep within Anfwyn dwells the immortal son of the vanyirborn Wegwyr Num - Narpanum Orbweaver, self styled high priest of the Drogen cult, chieftain of the tribes of Celtrein and self-appointed king of Tarantel.

Two thousand years of isolation in Monigarn surrounded by the in-bred product of an already twisted and misguided cult, has left Narpanum a shadow of his former self. He believes his own idolatry and is now utterly insane, driven by an insatiable bloodlust to explore ever deeper states of depravity in the

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shadowy chambers and halls of Anfwyn.

Upon the tiered levels of the ziggurat stand Arinae commandos, those members of an already elite company deemed to be the fiercest, most ruthless and most loyal of their peers. The commandos represent not only the last impassable barrier before Narpanum but also the subjugation and control Narpanum has over the rest of the city. For there are many among the morcelt who would dearly love to storm the ziggurat, drag the son of Wegwyr from his throne room and spill his blood on the jungle floor. Only the Arinae's fanatic devotion and single-minded dedication prevent such fantasies from becoming reality.

Narpanum has chosen a solitary existence and is today rarely seen outside the Citadel, perhaps fearing what might happen if an assassin's dart should slip past the Arinae.

Those priests who dwell within the ziggurat are hand picked at a young age by the existing acolytes of Narpanum, elder priests who themselves were chosen at a young age by the elders of a previous generation.

Narpanum no longer selects his acolytes personally and the process by which elders make their selection is unknown.

Outside the citadel the order of the Woven Orb ensure the ceremonies, rituals and rites of the cult are observed and only occasionally will a member of Narpanum's own order emerge to watch proceedings, though when they do they will be seen to watch carefully, apparently noting the proficiency by which the priests fulfill their appointed tasks.

Once in a while the mighty doors into the uppermost tier of the ziggurat - a structure at the top of a long steep stairway that spans the height of the building - will open and a procession of acolytes young and old will emerge, walking silently and slowly down the stairway and onto the jungle floor where they will proceed to the Tabular Field.

Such events are a cause for terror among the morcelt. The people of the Cob, of the ward of the priests of the Woven Orb and of the maggot farms will scatter to hide and prostrate themselves in prayer. Only the Arinae will remain unaffected, though they will file quietly and hastily from their posts, heading toward the ziggurat.

Gudcrop will be summoned by the acolytes to the Tabular Field, but finding no sacrifice will then be directed into the city to feed upon any it can find (or those it can tease out of hiding with its clumsy limbs). Only the acolytes, the Arinae and the ziggurat premises are safe from Gudcrop during these events and the spider god seems to know this. However, only the acolytes seem confident enough in this unspoken law to stand their ground as the giant spider stalks the city. The Arinae typically brook caution by taking up new guard positions on Anfwyn's outer walls alongside the commandos permanently based there.

Processions are assumed by the people of

Tarantel to be a punishment for some kind of mass transgression perpetrated by members of the priesthood of the Woven Orb and the priests themselves will usually attempt to rectify this by offering a high ranking member of their order for sacrifice to Gudcrop in the usual way.

The processions are mercifully rare, but where they occur they usually result in a tremendous purge of life in the city, Gudcrop taking full advantage of his impunity from the usual cultic restrictions to gorge himself at will.

The only other time Tarantel experiences interaction with a member of Narpanum's inner circle is when the Speaker of the Oracle emerges to address the city. This character is typically an elder acolyte Beast Master, dressed in red flowing robes and accompanied by arachnid familiars. He will stand upon the uppermost stair of the ziggurat and summon the priests of the Woven Orb using a horn whose distinctive tones can be heard across all Monigarn. When the priests arrive, the Speaker will give them Narpanum's latest command, as dictated to him by the divine voice of the Woven Orb. Such commands may be the assertion of a new law, changes to the city structure and social hierarchy or, as is most typically the case, a demand for sacrificial offering to the ziggurat itself.

Offerings will first be taken from any prisoner stock the Arinae and the people have available. Thereafter victims are routinely,

selected randomly from the lower wards and dragged by Arinae guards onto the highest steps of the ziggurat's expansive stairway.

Here the victim (more commonly victims) will be slaughtered by the Speaker and bled out onto the stone of the building, their blood mingling with the ancient stains of countless previous offerings. The body will then be taken into the citadel to whatever unknown fate the remainder of the ritual demands.

Such orgies of blood can last for hours and typically draw ghoulish crowds of Cob ward citizens and Woven priests.

At other times the Beast Master will demand the sacrifice of (usually more than one) female morcelt. These are not routinely slaughtered but instead will be taken down into the depths of the Citadel for the pleasure of Narpanum and his closest acolytes.

LANDMARKS The notable landmarks found within the borders of the land of Celtrein.

Beard Marsh The Beard Marsh (from 'by Urd', Beside the City of Urd) is a boggy region on the fringe of the Wyrgrove Woods dominated by rushes

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and low lying herbaceous plants.

The Beard is abundant with animal life, birds, waterfowl, aquatic mammals, invertebrates and insects. The marsh is brackish, thus the water is not suitable to drink.

The Naderfell Fyslak frequents the Beard and may be encountered here, though he spends most of his time lurking in the shadowy bogs of Gwaedleg.

The Bwydcors River Meaning simply, Feed Into the Swamp, Bwydcors separates the city of Tarantel and its crazed inhabitants from the southern land of Dunmonia. The river is wide, no bridge spans it and its banks are unstable, the land hereabouts marshy and treacherous to walk on. Tarantel lies just beyond the northern edge of Gwaedleg through which the Bwydcors runs, but is likely to be hidden from the eyes of anyone walking in Gwaedleg by the high tree line of Monigarn jungle.

There were once three bridges over the river, but all are gone and only the abutment stones of one remain. These slabs stand redundantly on the shore, daubed with the occult insignia of Drogen as a warning to anyone approaching Tarantel.

The Druncdrood Coast The Drowned Crossroad Coast is a long stretch of coastline bordering the Damnum Channel on the opposite side to the Vulgar Coast (see Iyfel). The beach bordering the jungle of Monigarn may appear benign, maybe even idyllic to anyone taking a boat into the northern mouth of the Damnum, but the tree line is likely infested with morcelt warriors and anyone putting ashore risks attack and capture.

The morcelt will ambush ships and boats passing too close to shore, emerging from the trees to fire volleys of poisoned darts and arrows. These may be accompanied by flaming arrows or even venomous snakes thrown by the strongest of the warriors; anything that persuades the crew of the target boat to leap overboard. The morcelt have self preservation enough to avoid antagonizing large ships with sizeable crews or boats that fly the flags of powerful nations. Small boats manned by a handful of sailors or merchant vessels affiliated with no specific navy are likely to come under fire.

Falcer Point Falcer, once a fortress outpost on the northernmost headland of Celtrein, is now little more than a ruin of strange grey stone monoliths and bleak walls arrayed with statues of spiders. Tarantel once reached to the eastern cliffs of Tenros, but that section of the city was destroyed during the Sanas Morcorm war and reclaimed by the jungle.

The main structure of Falcer is a shambolic stone mass whose brick architecture is

designed in such a way as to take on the aspect of a face in profile. The face is furnished with a nose and is reminiscent more of wyrlung or Homid features than those of the common wyrman.

The interior of this main building is a series of deep chambers and sublevels, all of which remain largely unexplored and probably infested by the numerous spider breeds who dwell in this part of the world.

The region itself is dominated by the Spindlecopp, a giant and ungainly breed of albino tarantula with enormous mandibles and mismatched legs. The spider is both nocturnal and subterranean, favouring the flooded cellars and dusty crypts beneath the Falcer ruins as much as the ruins themselves and the land hereabouts.

Spindlecopp are intelligent and possess their own language which consists of a dark, slurring speech. They also possess a stilted understanding of common wyrman and will break into this if they wish to convey some specific communication outside their own species (in most cases insults or threats). Their tongue is heavily accented, nasal and sibilant, the words they use ugly and their general communications largely base, uncultured and thuggish. When talking with each other they pepper their speech with clicks, snaps and coughing sounds which seem to convey additional meaning.

The Spindlecopp feed almost exclusively on mud-hoppers and seaweed which they forage from the rock pools and shallow waters of Falcer Point at low tide. Travelers in the area who clamber over the coastal rocks or search the rock pools will inevitably cross paths with a Spindlecopp, the spider dragging its unwieldy body across the seaweed slimed stones, wheezing as it comes.

Gwaedleg Swamp A large region of swampland in the east of Wyrgrove Woods.

The Gwaedleg (Swamp of the Blood Legs) is a tropical fresh water lagoon fed by the river Bwydcors and surrounded by a swamp thriving with aquatic and insect life and infamous as the permanent home of the Naderfell Fyslak. This hideous serpent-like monstrosity dwells in the boggy marshes in

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the shadows at the heart of the swamp and may be encountered wallowing in the muddy waters, giggling and muttering to himself.

But Gwaedleg is more than just home to the ragged Naderfell and is an environment of interest beyond the monstrous. Dragonfly (Naderma) skim the tips of the rushes, cicadas fill the air with an incessant buzz, alligators drift lazily upon the surface of the water and birds of all shapes and sizes perch in the looming dark of the treetops, accompanying the cicadas with a riotous chatter of their own.

In the trees overhanging the lagoon live a species of spider known locally as Myndmaw meaning Brain Eater, a particularly nasty species of arachnid from whom the swamp also derives its name. Other species of spider are also likely to be found, including the common tarantula and many smaller breeds whose cobwebs will bar the natural paths and lanes between trees.

Monigarn Jungle The trees here are gnarled and ancient, the undergrowth dense, making movement slow and difficult. The ground is also uneven with twisted roots and many treacherous ditches, dells and sudden drops concealed until the last moment by the chaos of foliage.

Tall Kindred Oak forms the majority of the flora in Monigarn, a thick trunked tree with large branches filled with acorns. Where the uppermost canopy of the trees mingle together their thickness of leaf and branch create an almost solid roof blanketing the jungle in a darkness as grey as twilight and stiflingly warm.

Though the odd scout may be encountered lurking in Monigarn, the people of Tarantel tend not to dwell here and will run, if sighted, back toward the city, diving in and out of the roots and trunks of the trees with almost supernatural agility.

The morcelt understand only too well how dangerous Monigarn can be and spend as little time there as possible, only scouts and warriors charged with Tarantel's protection likely ever to be encountered here. The most deadly of Monigarn's perils comes in the form of the native spider, known locally as the Trongwend (Pyramid Weaver), a species of tarantula approximately the size of a splayed hand with long straight legs and a small body resembling an acorn. The Trongwend's favoured food is the flesh of the Oninger, a common but extremely shy species of deer so rarely sighted by outsiders that most wyrmen consider the creature to be mythological. The Oninger are known elsewhere in Ereth as the onincorn or unique horn, named after its single jutting horn.

Macabre evidence of the Trongwend will be encountered frequently and all over the jungle in the form of previous victims; deer, rabbits, stoats, badgers, foxes and squirrels whose throats have been slashed, the eyes, cheek

flesh and tongues eaten away. Unless the Trongwend has already been encountered these discoveries will seem mystifying (see also the Wyrd Pandemonium).

Whytney Bight The sea and air around Whytney Bight (Bay of the White Knees) seems to glow with a ghoulish green phosphorescence, a result of luminous seaweed called sun-laver found growing in abundance on the sea-bed and the rocks about this bay. As the laver rots it releases a foul smelling green mist that hangs above the surface of the sea and drifts inland, weaving between the trees and buildings of Tarantel like the probing fingers of some ghastly spirit. In winter and during periods where sunlight is sparse the morcelt feed on the vile tasting sun-laver, its phosphorous characteristics lending their skin an eerie green radiance.

Whytney is home to the White Knee Spider

Crab and within the sands of the beach the White Knee lurks. White Knees are a large species of crab with a leg span of around six feet. They burrow into the soft sand beyond the tide-line and await passing prey. Much like the trap-door spider found in parts of the Drygian Barrens, the White Knee erupts from its hiding place when it senses the footfall of its prey on the surface of the sand then clutches at its victim like a giant hand, attempting to envelop the victim with all eight limbs and bring it down with the sheer weight of its own body and legs.

The White Knee - so called because of its distinctive pearlescent leg joints which the morcelt prize as a form of crude currency similar to precious stone - is non toxic and non poisonous but strong and armed with a fearsome pair of pincers capable of slicing through flesh and bone. Moreover, the crab’s carapace is hard as granite and impervious to all but the most crushing blow. The main shell is used by the morcelt as base material for shields and armour while the pincers are

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sometimes hefted as a weapon in battle.

The morcelt venture onto the sands of Whytney only to battle the crabs and harvest their useful physical parts. Such battles are invariably bloody and gruesome, resulting in the loss of many morcelt for every victory won.

Where buildings have been erected on the shore and in the sands of Whytney they have been constructed on firm foundations of stone imported from the jungle and bedded to great depth in order to keep those travelling to and from the structures safe from attack. Only in the loose sand drifts of the beach and usually only close to the shoreline are the White Knee encountered.

Cult: Wythia, Erth, Elvia Culture: civilized, formed of cities, towns, villages and counties unified for the sake of mutual defense.

Notable Landmarks: Verdandi, W천doak, Ylyntor, the Sailing Hills, the Albion Wall, the Cattamite Falls, Chippingstone Mine, Tariyorn Forge.

Prevailing Climate: seasonal, with rains, cold, frost and sometimes snow during winter and warm or hot climates during spring and summer.

Government Type: Stewardship and unified counties. Conteths control estates within ducal manors known as counties. A Grand Duke commands the unified counties but is deemed to be temporary until the arrival of a spiritually anointed king.

Ruler: The Grand Duke Triton Gwelenbryal and his consort, the Duchess Coriola Eaglewood of Skyssa.

harbour no racial resentments one toward the other, though resentments based on the histories of ruling noble families and territory certainly do prevail.

In general Anglians are friendly, open and welcoming. In rural settings access to education is limited and there may be a noticeable decline in intelligence and an increase in superstition. In cities people are more educated, but also more guarded and wary of the usual tricks and traps associated with any busy social hub.

Fell breeds and other monstrous enemies are extremely rare in the Angle, unlikely to be encountered in the wilderness and almost unheard of in cities and towns. Myrmen sometimes emerge from the natural labyrinth of caves riddling the earth beneath the Sailing Hills (the so-called Cavernlands) but these are typically few and far between, swiftly dealt with by the Angle's extensive military and more likely to present a subject for rumour and gossip than an actual threat to the status quo.

A land of migrants from the now collapsed Cornovish empire, the Angle means literally, The Land in the Corner, the word corner itself derived from Cor meaning source and more specifically Cornoval, the source of the Anglian people.

Here is a land that forms the main home of the wyrman in southern Ereth, encompassing the common wyrman, the ethen, the elken and the sowyr races. Less refined or technologically advanced than Skytor but more civilized and fairly governed than Mortun Pandi and far more stable and safe than Sanas Morcorm, the Angle is a medieval conglomeration of formerly feudal counties now unified and controlled by nobility.

The diversity of cultures in the Angle are a testament to the varied history of the different counties and the often profound origins of some of the region's ancient landmarks. For here is the original land of Mot Elyeth, of the Oak Lords and of the wyrmen of the Epic Age. Where the Listians consider themselves landlords of the newly established domain of Ereth, the Anglians consider themselves inheritors of the old realm, honouring the memory of the ancient gods by conserving and venerating artefacts, cities and landmarks from the times of myth.

Military

People "As a moat defensive to a house, against the envy of less happier lands, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm."

The Angle

North, east and west of the Sailing Hills the predominant Anglian race is that of the common wyrman and, in most respects, the Angle is a common wyrman enclave with the ethnic cultures of the south considered almost as a separate nation. Certainly where the sowyr or elkenwyr mingle with societies in other parts of the country they will be in the minority, though they are generally treated with respect and inclusivity. The Anglians

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The Anglian military is a conglomeration of forces operating under the flag of the Grand Duke of Verdandi, over-arching ruler of the land, but also under the standard of the noble house to which they belong and the Conteth in whose county they are garrisoned.

The overall force of foot-soldiers are titled Grenadiers (Guardian and Fighter) while cavalry and mounted knights are known either as Lenadier (Elevated Fighter) or Eladier, depending on rank and status.

Companies of Grenadier and Lenadier are commanded by an Amonight, known in nonmilitary circles as a Viscount; a landlord in charge of an estate within the county jurisdiction of a ruling Conteth (count). The Amonight is answerable to the Conteth in whose land he lives and serves the Conteth before he serves the Grand Duke. The Amonight and the men under his command will only ride to action under the Grand Duke's orders if the noble Conteth approves it.

The majority of the Angle's borders are either secure or impassable and there is little in the way of military campaigning abroad. The average Grenadier or Lenadier will therefore spend his tour of duty patrolling their county or providing emergency services and guard duties to the workaday citizen. The majority of the Amonight's work will entail the collecting of taxes from his local estate and the policing of laws within his own jurisdiction.

Travelers on the Angle's roads can expect to meet frequent Grenadier foot patrols or riding Lenadiers checking the highways for ne'er-dowells. Unless openly unusual in some way the traveler is unlikely to draw much military interest and most patrols will prefer to keep things simple by ignoring the traffic they

encounter. Only where the traveler is clearly up to no good, is wanted for something or is unusual enough in appearance to be mistaken for a Fell breed will they find themselves stopped and either questioned or arrested.

Wildlife Most of the wildlife in this region of the world is seasonal and either rural or urban. Foxes, badgers, stoats, rats, mice, moles, voles, rabbit and hare are all extremely common, as are stray dogs and cats. Wolves can be found in the wilds of the southern Sailing Hills and the Ulyan region, and in the patches of wilderness between cities and towns snakes and large spiders may also be encountered.

Wild horses no longer exist in the Angle, but the country harbours various tame breeds used either as mounts or as workhorses for pulling carts, wagons and farm machinery.

Common livestock, likely to be found grazing in fields, particularly in the north and east, include sun-cattle and pigs (both raised as a source of sun-food during winter months when the sun is more likely to be hidden by cloud), sheep and goats (used for their fleeces, their grazing services and their milk in winter months). In the region of Elowen livestock becomes more exotic and here the traveler will observe water buffalo toiling under the yoke in waterlogged paddy fields and llama raised as steeds and pack-carriers.

There is also a strong tradition of bee-keeping in the northwest, the honey product used for brewing mead, the Angle's staple beverage.

Chickens, cats and dogs are the three most common animals kept as pets and familiars.

The egg produce of chickens is used as thickening or flavouring ingredients in sunfood recipes but the eggs have no sun-food properties themselves and offer little to no nutritional value to the wyrman. They are, however, a tasty foodstuff and useful enough in small quantities. Most owners of chickens will have between two and six which they will keep in a stationary coop, but travelers are sometimes seen with chicken companions clucking amiably along at their side or kept in mobile coops mounted on wagons.

Culture The greater part of culture in the Angle is Wythian, with all date-keeping based on the Cormys Calendar and most of the major festivals, ceremonies and celebrations coming from Wythian tradition.

The northern part of the country in the regions of Bargenham, Granger, Breetun and Jesterton, are farming districts comprised of neatly arranged fields, lanes, drainage ditches and roads all accounted for by various owners from the common farmer to the estate-ruling Viscount and his county ruling Conteth (in the case of the north, the Grand Duke himself).

The land is hilly with various sudden promontories jutting skyward from plains of lush grass grazed by wandering cattle or fields of sun-wheat growing in orderly rows.

The city of Verdandi stands on a hill bordering the Damnum Channel with the northern aspect of its layout constructed in a succession of graduated tiers descending toward the shore and its southern wall standing high upon the ridgeline of the hill.

In the flatlands between this and the undulating landscape of the Sailing Hills stands the lonely Ylyntor Hill, a conical and not entirely natural structure beneath which is hidden the ziggurat of Yseldyr - original mansion home to Mot Elyeth.

Ylyntor is a sacred location and beloved both by the Weavers and the Wythians for all its ancient connotations and associations. The ziggurat under the hill features as a prominent landmark in the Oaken Myths and here, it is said, many of the Oak Lords of old lived their immortal lives and even met their deaths. Here too were the vanyirborn spawned, crafted by the alchemy of the goddess Merriday Elyeth and seeded in the womb of Mot's own consort Vanyir.

In the south can be found the land of Gondaras, another location held dear by the Wythians, for here upon the shoreline of Naderos Heath Mot Elyeth purportedly first came ashore and beheld the Wythyreach forest, the walking spirit of Womad and the great continents of Ereth which would become his permanent home.

Under the Sailing Hills, accessible through a natural cave around which a fortress has been built and which is now guarded night and day by the Grenadier, lies the sepulture of Vanyir Num. Here the petrified likeness of Vanyir lies upon an enormous sarcophagi, her original form turned to stone by the process of death. Upon the side of the great stone slab are marked the runes of sorrow, etched by the falling tears of Aura Num. And beneath this is the Megdart of Aura, placed there hence by Mot Elyeth in honour of the role Aura played in the story of that mythical time.

Thus, the Angle is a place of history and the hub of almost all that the Wythians hold dear.

Here the Oak Lords once dwelled. Here the first wyrmen to walk upon the face of Yarnia were born and here most of their progeny who lived before the Age of Hammerfall lived in freedom. Here the hooves of Mot's horse Nader Roselvia thundered across the soil and here the fair Vanyir, mother goddess of the wyrman race, and Merriday, alchemist sister of Mot, lived the final chapter of their long and cosmic lives.

But Wythian propriety of the artefacts of lore remains incomplete and both the Weavers of north and south and the governing authorities in charge of the various counties feel a prevailing sense of unease. For some of the most important artefacts remain out of reach and seem likely ever to be beyond all hope of reclamation.

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Yrmynsyl, the world tree as it is known, rises like a dividing finger into the eastern sky, ever a reminder that it stands tantalizingly within proximity of the Anglian border but far enough beyond that it cannot be claimed.

And above Yrmynsyl, that holiest of all relics, Karrekith, a mountain in the sky whose uppermost region is hidden from the eyes of the wyrmen and whose underside connects (seemingly balances) with the tapering apex of Yrmynsyl herself.

Both are forever unattainable to the wyrmen of the west, for Yrmynsyl grows now from the gaping abyss of the Gungin Gap, a wound in the flesh of Yarnia from which crawl forth the denizens of abysmal dunlight known as The Fell. These servants of chaos and evil surround the great world tree and prevent all free access merely by their vast and sprawling presence.

Defeat of the Fell and the retaking of Yrmynsyl is implausible, for the Fell are, in their own way, immortal. They can be slaughtered like any living thing, but immediately they die they resurrect anew - or are at least replaced - from the Gungin Gap, respawning eternally unless somehow bound and prevented from return by way of powerful magick.

The Wythians of the Angle are therefore bereft, for though they hold to their bosom with pride locations like Ylyntor, Vanyir's crypt, the land of Gondaras and the city of Carnuntun (original seat of the wyrman race), they lack the final piece of their heritage. This manifests in the personality of most Wythians as an underlying melancholy; a pathos born of longing and ambition not for money, power or gratification but for the spiritual completion of renewal, that which the Tablemen of the Mountain call Ultimate Salvation - salvage of all the artefacts of old and the closure thereafter of the Age of Thaw.

Common Laws The carrying and use of firearms in the Angle has been outlawed and anyone found to be carrying such a weapon faces arrest, the confiscation of the item and a court appearance in Verdandi. Most cases will result in permanent confiscation and a large fine, but where the fine cannot be paid, or the firearm was discharged within the borders of the Anglian counties, there may be a custodial sentence.

Cities, towns and even villages are run by a mixture of military guardianship, taxbased local laws and guilds. Undoubtedly the guilds have the greatest clout when it comes to influencing society, though most are legitimate and run according to careful moderation by the Conteths and the Grand Duke.

The Assassin's Guild and Thief's Guild both operate in the Angle, albeit as clandestine organizations with no public face. In theory,

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both guilds are strictly legal and representative of recognized sub-cultures and professions (the definition of a legal working guild), but in practice the guilds are so influential that they are legislated using the imposition of stealth regulations, taxation and a retaining wall of unbreakable bonds enforced by military might where necessary.

In the rural setting, outside the major towns and cities, laws are more relaxed, though they will still be enforced to a city level by the acting grenadier. Local law enforcement falls either to agents of the Viscount in whose estate the local population dwell, or to the population themselves in the form of provincial militia.

Where mob justice prevails, the Viscount will usually determine on a case by case basis whether intervention is necessary. Militias serve as makeshift soldiers and their very presence is usually enough to ensure peace and an adherence to the law. However, militias are sometimes ad hoc, open to corruption and the vigilante movement that begins with honourable intentions can sometimes turn into a power grab. Most Viscounts and the Conteths they answer to are for this reason cautious of the liberties they give their militias.

Certain cultural and environmental laws are strictly upheld in the Angle, or by the Anglians covering regions beyond their own borders. The felling of trees or harvesting of lumber within W천doak or Dwarro is a crime punishable by up to five years imprisonment at Tornyth if the perpetrator is tried in the north of the country. A much harsher sentence can be expected if the trial takes place in the south (Carnuntun and Pelgallo specifically).

Untaxed gambling is strictly outlawed in all cities of the Angle and gambling generally is frowned upon. During seasonal festivals and celebrations these laws are relaxed and wagers may be made in small sums on the outcome of cockerell fights or games of dice.

At all other times gambling is reserved only to licensed premises in Arvortun and Dunkunom and to book-keeping premises in Dunkunom whose main stock-in-trade is the local sport of folk-ball (see Dunkunom).

Building and land development regulations exist within all the counties except Elowen (where the presence of marshland unsuitable for building prevents expansion), brought into effect by the various signed treaties co-authored by noble families. These agreements are intended to prevent any one county extending urban development up to the borders of its county, simultaneously restricting power expansion and ensuring conservation of the Angle's green belts. The Anglians have solved the problem of over-population this causes by building up, constructing new city wards on top of old wards, reinforcing the foundations as they go by also excavating cellars and vaults to deeper levels. This practice is especially visible in densely populated cities like Verdandi, Dunkunom and Arvortun.

Cults The Angle is the cult centre of the Wythian religion and is home to the Weavers, otherwise known as the Tablemen of the Mountain.

The Wythian church has a great deal of influence in the Anglian counties and power enough to command the loyalty and respect of the people. The order of the Tableman is almost as ancient as the Angle itself and is, itself, a relatively new formation within the much older order of the Wythian Weaver.

The Weavers were founded by Wythydruth Pennmorch, husband of the immortal Cormysyeth Num, during the Age of Hammerfall. Within the Arkhold's sacred chambers Wythydruth studied the patterns of the Web of Wyrd and divined therein a form of runic magick related simultaneously to Mot Elyeth and to Womad, the spirit of life and vitality. The runes of Weaving were written and thereafter taught by Wythydruth to Cormysyeth's children whom he named Mystic Weavers of Yarnic Robes.

So impressive were the magicks of rune weaving that a great following amassed and many requested the knowledge of the runes.

But Wythydruth, a purist and traditionalist from whom most of the rites and ceremonies of Wythia originate, maintained that only the progeny of Cormysyeth and her heirs could become Weavers, for only in the veneration of purity could corruption be kept from the runic form.

After Wythydruth's passing, Cormysyeth became patron of the cult and imbued the Weavers with lessons born of divine wisdom.

Her teachings formed the core of the Wythian ideology which prevails even today, though peripheral philosophies have been changed over the many centuries, some for good and some for ill. One fundamental law prevails; that any wyrman may become a Wythian, but only those who can prove they are pureblood brethren of Cormysyeth Num may become Weavers.

The Southern Wythians The southern version of the Wythian cult, which in many respects has grown apart from the Weavers to become an entirely separate entity, is practiced almost exclusively by the elkenwyr and sowyr races. Common wyrmen also embrace the southern ideologies, but generally such individuals are born and raised in the south, away from the dominion of the Weavers. This branch of Wythia is sometimes referred to as the Cult of Oak, but the cultists themselves dislike this term and consider themselves to be grass root Wythians, distinguished from their northern counterparts by the simple fact that they are neither Weavers nor Tablemen of the Mountain.

Even the rune system used by devotees of the southern cult (the Runes of Oak) are different

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from those of northern Angle, but are, in fact, more akin to the original scribings of Wythydruth than the more refined - and in some cases entirely new - runes of the Weavers. Those who scribe the Runes of Oak or follow the tenets of the southern Wythian faith venerate the natural world, the sanctity of life and the importance of liberty, free will and natural harmony both in society and in nature, where the Weavers concern themselves more with hierarchy, ambition, collectivism and perpetuation of power. The southern Wythians are absorbed more in the structures of natural ecosystems, the philosophy of life and the wyrman's place within the cosmos - all aspects of magick which Wythydruth encouraged his acolytes to recognize and embrace.

The Vanyirites The Vanyirites are seen as a sect of Wythia, but in fact they are an official and female-only branch of the Weaver faith. Indeed, few aspects of the Wythian cult show more starkly the differences between Weaver and southern wyr approaches than the Vanyirite order.

The Vanyirites are proven blood descendants of Cormysyeth Num whose children with Wythydruth (founder of Wythia) and other mortals were numerous. The family tree of the Vanyirite can be traced back, through the confirmed names of relatives, to Cormysyeth's time either as queen of Cornoval or before within the chambers of the Arkhold.

Those Vanyirites whose bloodline is traced to Wythydruth and Cormysyeth together are considered to be demi-goddesses by the Weavers and are named Votaries. Those whose blood can be connected only to Cormysyeth are called Maened (High Maiden) and serve a lesser, though no less important, capacity within the sect. An over-arching high priestess named The Votess is chosen from among the Votaries using a democratic system in which only the Votaries themselves may participate. Thus the Votaries are literally those priestesses able to vote and the chosen one from among their flock is she who is voted into leadership.

The Vanyirites dwell exclusively upon the hill of Hirtor, a sacred Wythian location in the heart of W천doak whereon stands the Agas Eglos, a natural cone of rock around which a wyr-made structure has been built, turning it into a tower. The apex of the cone is a volcanic vent from which a ceaseless grey smoke rises.

Within the enveloping tower the air is perpetually warm and thus the place has earned the name Church of the Warming Oven - a title with more than one meaning.

Upon the face of the natural cone at a midway point (floor eight of the surrounding structure, known as the chambers of progenesis) is carved the Megdart of Vanyir Num, a sacred rune that cannot be copied or memorized and which possesses profound qualities. A shrine has been established

around the rune which is watched over by the Maened. Men are only allowed onto the eighth floor if they have been deemed by the priestesses of the lower levels to be suitably compatible with Vanyirite ideals. The applicant must show good social standing and must be of common wyrman stock (minimum Cult Allegiance (Wythia) of 10) and must be of a non-Weaver Creed or profession.

The applicant must also be the male half of a male/female Wythian marriage and the female must already be identified as unable to have children. To outside eyes this system of selection seems cruel, but to both the partnered Wythians the fact they are unable to procreate naturally is deemed to be a blessing from Womad and they will take great pride in the notion that they, of all Wythians, have been selected by fate to raise a Weaver.

For this is the purpose of the Aga Eglos and its purebred Vanyirites. Those male applicants who meet all required conditions must be prepared to engage in orgiastic sex with a selection of Maened and Votaries, the process observed by the Votess who will simultaneously perform the rite of consecrated conception. The purpose of the orgy is not hedonistic (though the process is intended to be enjoyable for all concerned) but reproductive.

Those Vanyirites who participate will thereafter enter a state of 'immaculate purdah' where they live only with one another on an isolated floor from the rest of the order along with the male Wythian. They will remain in this state until one of their number (or more than one) fall pregnant. As soon as this occurs, the male is ejected from the Aga Eglos and returns home to wait. The Vanyirite surrogates will thereafter be nursed through full term by the rest of the order. Once born, the child will be given to the Wythian couple to raise as a Weaver.

Where the child does not grow to become a Weaver (through their own choice rather than as a result of natural inabilities) he or she is automatically deemed to be a scandalous aberration and the assumption will be that the Vanyirite surrogate has a faulty bloodline.

The subsequent exile of the failed priestess is seen by the southern cultists (and also most non-Wythian cults) as a cruel and unnecessary humiliation. The fallen Maened will traditionally leave the Angle and head out into the world in search of another life. Fallen Votaries will, in most instances, take their own life - a practice officially condemned both by the church and the governing authorities in the Angle, but one that is almost certainly fostered by the Vanyirites themselves.

Thus are all Weavers brought into the world, for none who are not immaculately produced through the ceremony of consecrated conception cannot claim to be members of the original Cormysyeth line and cannot, therefore, be considered legitimate heirs of the vanyirborn.

The Erthers Found predominantly in the south, Erthers are the modern incarnation of an ancient cult.

The original Erthers believed that only Womad and the wyrman mind, as a part of Womad, are capable of creating reality upon the loom of the Entopic plane and that reality, as a potential drawn either from the Plane of Sere or the Plane of Fawynwend, is loomed upon the Spindle of Fire.

Existence, the Erther claims, is as a story wherein the wyrmen are players and the gods are spectators. Thus, the wyrman mind decides what should be done with the secretions of the two diametric planes of good and evil and what mind decides determines how the roots and branches of Yggdruskyl, the cosmic tree, grow, how dream (thought) becomes reality. This tale was supposedly told to Mot during his exile in the dungeons beneath the Sailing Hills by Eret, spirit of the deeping earth, and so the cult takes its name from that Elvian spirit. However, the initial cult was not a veneration of Eret himself and, indeed, seems to recognize no importance in any element other than the spirit of Womad.

There are still many adherents to this initial set of ideas, particularly among the elkenwyr who are traditionalists at heart. The sowyr, however, have taken the framework of the original philosophy and altered it to suit their modern way of life.

The so-called Nü-Erther still believe that the wyrman creates reality - in essence, he writes his own destiny - but they are more specific in how this is achieved. Perhaps drawing from the idea of a reality sourced either from the diametric planes of Sere or Fawynwend, the Nü-Erther believes he must craft his reality either from positives or negatives. In order to acquire success he must focus only on positivity, and in the vast majority of cases this is translated as a method for divining precious materials from underground seams.

Is the gold seam beneath the left hill or the right hill? The answer is that the gold seam is beneath both hills and it is up to the NüErther to decide which it is to be. Whichever he chooses, will automatically become the correct hill.

Unfortunately the sowyrmen have developed a natural pessimism and grumpiness that makes positive divining of precious metals a hit and miss affair. Their negativity invariably leads them to choose the hill beneath which the gold seam does not lie rather than that which it does.

Indeed, in most cases the desired mineral seam turns out to lie beneath neither hill.

Nevertheless, sowyrmen have a handle on their problem and though the ongoing effort to remain positive and ‘establish’ the seam rather than the barren stone is a vast effort for them, they are extremely adept when it comes to unearthing precious metals using more prosaic means, smelting them down and exporting them across Ereth.

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Most Nü-Erthers spend at least some part of their day worshipping at an Erthen shrine and honouring the name of Eret in the hope that he will help them overcome their inherent negativity. This practice originates from the ritual meditation (yarning) of old Erther cultists who would spend several hours a day in deep trances, attempting to divine the substance of the yarn in order to catch sudden surges of dark potential from the Plane of Sere. It was their hope that a connection with and understanding of the yarn’s directions as it poured into reality from Sere and Fawynwend would allow them to make predictions about the future and take on the status of Prophet or doomsayer. Thus is the modern sowyrman diviner known as the Yarnsayer (he who dreams the story in sleep and tells all that he has seen).

Shrines are usually made of stone and adorned with clay symbols, pots, urns, precious metals and gold. Each sowyrman family possess a large ornamented stone handed down from father to son and this will usually take pride of place in the shrine. Such a stone, called an Oracle, will originate from an old-Erther ancestor whose devotion to the original version of the cult has trickled down through the family generations.

Ecclesiasts of the original Erther cult are usually elkenwyr or sowyrmen who are somehow isolated from the cultural norms of their own people. Old Erthers (simply called Erthers) follow the scripture of the Book of Erth, a huge (and increasingly rare) tome which describes the unique lore of Eret and whose original copy was supposedly carved by Eret himself upon a series of stone tablets.

Though these tablets are thought to have originally been scribed by Mot in the Sailing Hills, they were taken north in the exodus of the wyrmen and then uncovered in the mountains of Niflhelm long after the founding of Listholm.

Tributaries of the Cosmic Tree, the Book of Erth explains that the bones of the world are rigid as stone, but the stories that unfold thereon are as a thread ready to be woven into pattern. All who walk upon the sacred soil of Yarnia walk upon the tapestry of creation, for the wyrman is unique in his intelligent ability to see and to change the cosmic tale, a gift inherited from that part of him which is Womadic in origin. The wyrman, the book explains, is the conduit through which potential flows and through which the story unfolds. Without Womadic thought or ‘consciousness’ the universe is merely a dream and becomes irrelevant, even unto itself.

The immortal lords of the stars, the houses of power, the Oak Lords of Mot and the Engel of Uselyorn, the Book of Erth declares, are the warp of the fabric, the stitch and the weave.

They are aspects of the tapestry that cannot be changed, for they are the fabric upon which the design is laid and the thread with which it is patterned. Only the design can be altered, and only by the weaver - the wyrman.

It is this ability to write reality and determine the pattern of the weave, that Uselyorn and the rest of the Elgan host so greatly covet, the book explains. Now that they have passed from the warp and hang above the tapestry where they can see all that there is to see, they know that this desire can never be fulfilled and thus they wish only to destroy the tapestry and bring the weaver to ruin.

The final section of the book, a revelatory chapter concerning the future as divined by the Doomsayers of Erth, states that only the Elvian have seen the tapestry in its final form, and only they can see all ends, for they dwell on the strands of the Web of Wyrd which is the final chapter in the epic yarn. That the tapestry will be finished is guaranteed, they claim, but how it will appear and the aesthete of its final design, whether beautiful to behold or ugly as the visions of daemonic forces would desire, depends entirely upon the story the wyrmen choose to collectively tell.

Elvians In the wetland province of northwest Anglian soil can be found Elowen, the birthplace of the Elvian cult, though it is now merely another ally to the Grand Duke and has been somewhat assimilated into Wythian jurisdiction.

The original settlers of this land, the family of Loretongue and Orare Elowen, crossed from Drood-Cynncarn - fleeing Jarl Megalamon's ruthless rule - through Wõdoak and into the northern Angle in the year 157AD. Their daughter, Morvagh, and her brother Loren, both impressionable youths, were greatly affected by their strange journey through Wõdoak and thereafter became fascinated by the mysteries of dymensional space.

In a succession of dreams, Morvagh deciphered the mystical forms of elemental runes - that which she called the Runes of the Elvian - and in waking reality was able to scribe those forms into strings which subsequently caused magickal effects.

At the same time, Loren Elowen experienced a succession of epiphanies and visions - some during sleep but most while awake - revealing to him a system of magick based on talismanic lore, the magick of spiritual patronage invoked through the use of multidymensional artefacts.

Morvagh became known to her friends and family as The Wytch - at that time a colloquial term of endearment meaning simply She Who Casts Runes. Loren, meanwhile, grew to become the patriarch of the order of Loremasters, talismanic magick-users whose society would spend much of its time questing to recover the many lost talismans of Yarnian myth.

During the Anglian civil war (see Chronology) the Elowens were ousted from their homeland and forced to flee east. In exile Morvagh would found the beginnings of the now

mighty city of Santun Morvagh, while her brother would settle the land of Lorel and establish there the Loremaster creed.

The memory of the Elowens is almost entirely lost from the Anglian region that still carries the old family name. A great deal of the original Elvian culture, inspired and encouraged by Morvagh and Loren has either been entirely lost or diluted by the steady introduction of Wythian tradition or migrants from Sanas Morcorm.

The people of Elowen still consider themselves members of the Elvian cult, but to the Elvians of Mortun Pandi - principal adherents within the modern cult centre - their version of the cult would be considered a sect of Wythia and entirely unrelated to Elvia.

Elvian rune casters in Elowen are extremely rare, and where they make their presence known are encouraged to either abandon their creed or their home. Exiles are common and the current ruling Conteths of Elowen, the Theons, are known to receive funding from Verdandi for the resettlement of Elvian rune-casters found in their midst. These funds amount to a small purse which is divided (usually unfairly) between the Theons and the family of the rune-caster. Some of the funds are expected to be given to the runecaster herself as capital for a one-way journey out of the Angle. If the Elvian refuses to leave the purse will likely be taken back with a variety of crippling retraction charges incurred by the family (and when these cannot be paid, a likely prison term). This method is considered - principally by the ducal governing authorities of Verdandi - to be a more gentle alternative to the outlawing of Elvia and the forcible removal of young rune casters from Elowen. But the concept of the resettlement purse sits badly with the Weavers and has been systematically denounced by the southern Wythian and Erther cults.

Most exiled Elvians will naturally gravitate toward Santun Morvagh where they will be welcomed like returning heroes.

Wodoak Wõdoak is the weird forested isthmus connecting north and south Morturth; the new lands of the Angle to the old wastes of Sanas Morcorm and simultaneously separating the vital nations of civilization from the living death of the barrens. It was never officially deemed to be a part of the original counties of the Angle, but nor does it fall within the agreed borders drawn up in the

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Sanas Morcorm treaty, thus Wõdoak has been annexed by modern Anglians as a northern borderland.

The Roble trees of Wõdoak Wood are a lesser breed compared with the towering colossus of the Wythywyr, indigenous to the region but new since the thawing of the world. Their trunk is thinner than that of the Wythywyr or the red mangrove of Monigarn, though still of wider girth than most trees, and still with impressive height, growing to average heights of 180ft at maturity.

The trunk of the Roble has a rugged, gnarled bark and can sprout thick lateral branches from as low as fifteen feet, making for a dense and leafy canopy that can be anything up to 165ft deep from lowest branch to highest. The low and midway boughs are thick and sprout great bushy thickets of leaf, thus the floor of the forest is invariably shrouded in neardarkness and dense with the kind of cloying atmosphere usually found in the northerly jungles of Morturth.

The Weavers of Wythia believe the pinch of land upon which Wõdoak stands funnels enormous orphic energy into the soil here and subsequently the trees, compressing wave after wave of orphism flowing from both poles and converging in dymensional straits at this meeting point. Indeed, Wõdoak is a mystical place, somehow much more vast on the inside than on the outside and filled with strange angular phenomenon capable of carrying a traveler out of the Entopic Plane altogether.

In strange parts of Wõdoak, off the known and travelled paths and in the airless grottos of the deep shrouded trees, the Roble might grow upon vast plateaus overlooking valleys, mountains and plains unknown to the cartography of Yarnia or known to latter or formative centuries; the skies when glimpsed through the canopy of the woods might take on fabulous shades of pink or green and by night the stars may become strange, if there are stars at all.

Those who have travelled off the rides and aisles of Wõdoak speak of eldritch things in the trees, of outlandish creatures uncharted in the bestiaries of known lands seen moving, vast and amorphous, through distant valleys and canyons. They tell of monolithic architecture glimpsed on far horizons, slablike megaliths and tremendous spires of black stone or obelisks so immense their uppermost aspects vanish into the clouds. They speak of an orb of orange fire as vast as the sky rising in place of Yarnia's yellow sun, or six moons where normally should be only one. Such travelers invariably speak of frustrating attempts to explore further these alien landscapes and to reach the edge of Wõdoak within those other realms, to see what lies beyond. But always they are foiled by the eerie angles, coming at length back into the world they know and always to the fringe of Wõdoak upon one side or the other of that realm which the Anglians call the Marchlands.

Temporal twists and turns also seem to be a

repeated experience for travelers brave (or foolhardy) enough to venture off the known roads. Time and chronology takes on a strange subjectivity which may seem like the passing of seconds to the traveler but which pass as years to those outside the woods. Or time may pause entirely, with decades spent lost among the seemingly endless trees passing as the merest blink of an eye to those beyond Wõdoak's fringe.

Upon established roads, paths and rides, which are numerous, the woodland takes on a far brighter and natural state, sunlight filtering down through the gaps in the arched roof of branches above and the air flowing more freely and with an altogether more healthy essence. Provided a traveler keeps to these wyr-made paths he should be safe from the inter dymensional strangeness associated with travel through Wõdoak in the raw. At least, this is the watch-word of those who dwell within or on the edge of Wõdoak.

Nevertheless, and despite this widely accepted and trusted belief, strange disappearances are common and most folk would only venture into the weird wood at the utmost need.

LANDMARKS Notable landmarks found within the region of Wõdoak. These landmarks are those which seem to be motionless and always found in the same general location of the woods, though the areas in between are likely to be subject to the capricious strangeness of the area's multi-dymensional angles and finding specific locations deliberately may prove difficult if not impossible.

As a general rule, the paths and rides of Wõdoak never seem to deviate from the known cartography of the region. Travelers who stay to the paths will thus ensure they know roughly where they are in comparison to established maps.

WÕDOAK

1 The Spire in the Woods An ancient and crumbling tower just visible from outside the forest. Square in shape with four small turrets angling upward from each corner of the roof and a central tapering spire, now missing most of its original tiles, the origins and purpose of the tower are unknown. Just beneath the parapet is an aperture that surrounds the tower, the roof above supported by four thick columns, one in each corner.

The door into the tower has been bricked up and a variety of Elvian runes tattooed onto the surface, along with a warning that the spire is

unstable and liable to collapse if its interior is disturbed.

Anyone walking around to the rear of the tower will discover the rear wall is somehow wider than the front wall, even though the structure of the building is perfectly square.

Here is another archway, wider than the first but also bricked up and marked with a sign that warns "DO NOT ENTER".

If the arch is smashed through the trespasser will find themselves looking into an impossible room. Directly ahead is an empty square space, and beyond that a rectangular aperture on the opposite side (and indeed, the other three sides hidden unless the observer steps inside). The aperture looks out over the treetops of Wõdoak, despite the arch being on the ground level.

The observer will quickly deduce that they are looking through the windows directly beneath the tower's parapet, despite this being some 90ft above their head.

If the observer enters the room they will find themselves surrounded on all sides bar the side with the arch, by the same view across Wõdoak's leafy canopy.

The floor of the room is formed of ancient and rotten timbers, liable to give way under any considerable weight (any character with a Size Bonus of 6 or more or any character exceeding their Burden Value). Beneath is a 90ft plunge into rubble, the remains of the rest of the tower's levels now collapsed into its foundation.

The queer dymensional aspects of the tower are a result of the location whereon the tower was built. If the tower is destroyed, or parts of its structure removed in an attempt to decipher the source of the trick the twisted space will expand to occupy a greater area and those caught within the enveloping expansion will find themselves lost in the depths of the forest, inexplicably miles from the forest's edge.

WÕDOAK

2 Dagga Indica's Cannabin Farm A large clearing in the northern part of the woods housing a ramshackle wooden building from the roof of which a variety of chimneys and flues project and a wide field planted with leafy crops.

Wõdoak Cannabin is a mainstay tobacco product smoked across all of Ereth but typically favoured by Shamancers and those who enjoy altered states of consciousness.

Dagga, a mortally obese common wyrman believed to be an exiled former Kengard from Listholm, once faced numerous competitors but is now the only Wõdoak Cannabin producer and, therefore, the principle supplier of the leaf to merchants, provision

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Using Wõdoak This area of Ereth can be used by the GM to bring player characters from other campaigns into the world of Yarnia, or as a way to exit the current campaign and enter another, either in an entirely different realm of the GM's choosing or in another chronological age of the current campaign.

The woods can serve as a means to introduce the player group to the concept of dymensions beyond that of the Entopic Plane, or as an instantaneous gateway from Ereth into more exotic, distant and unexplored lands far beyond Ereth but still within the conceptual framework of the world of Yarnia.

There exists, for example, a region on the opposite face of the planet named in the journals of the exploratory ship Argos as Urtol. Here is a land similar in size and shape to Ereth but devoid of life - or at least believed to be devoid of life. Such a location may provide an alternative and uber-wild setting for adventures the GM feels cannot comfortably take place in the realm of Ereth as presented in this volume.

stores and trade caravans across the realm.

Dagga attributes his own success to his shrewd business acumen and pricing strategies, but there are those who accredit his monopoly of Cannabin production (particularly those Dagga has already run out of business) to the heavily armed and armoured mercenaries he hires to guard his fields, his factory and even Dagga himself whenever he is abroad from Wõdoak on business or pleasure. There are even those who insinuate some kind of underworld connection and shady dealings with Shabble crime lords in Gungingeth. These claims may be unfounded as they come typically from Dagga's business enemies, but there is certainly a ruthless side to Dagga and he is known to have close contacts who trade his wares in Gungingeth. The rumours cause particular consternation to righteous smokers of Dagga's product who fear the origins of their favoured leaf may be mired in evil.

Visitors to the Cannabin Farm are not welcome and will be met by Dagga's mercenary guards before they can get anywhere near the operating plant. Dagga is known to have influential contacts in a variety of guilds and friends in high places, particularly in the city of Verdandi.

Attacks against him, therefore, will risk the wrath of governing authorities in the Angle and may even trigger the dispatching of a grenadier unit.

All traffic into and out of the Cannabin enclave comes or goes via the north road.

Wagons carrying Dagga's merchandise will

emerge from Wõdoak here, drive west along the tree line and then enter the wood again via the road that passes beneath the Wõdoak Saddle (5). Using this safe route the merchandise will then pass through Elowen and from there has access to the rest of the Angle and its various transportation systems.

Dagga fears to use either the east or the south road out of his fields and both have been blocked up with piles of debris and clutter, more as a reminder to his men not to venture that way than as a means to prevent passage.

It is still possible to skirt through the trees along the edge of the paths and enter the enclave that way, but few ever do. Nobody except Dagga's business accomplices ever attend the farm.

The roads have been blocked because Dagga knows of the Pevence Tree and its occupants and of the Wytheries that dwell in the deeper woods to the east. Both inhabitants of Wõdoak despise Dagga and he is afraid of their mystical nature. He also fears the strange dymensional aspects of the woods and if he is ever asked, when in a congenial mood, he will recount the tail of how he came to find the Cannabin leaf during many years lost in a distant realm within the depths of Wõdoak.

WÕDOAK

3 Wythery Glade & Ivy Gate A wide area of open grassland surrounded on all sides by rising banks at the top of which the towering Roble trees stand shoulder to shoulder, looming in dark ranks. Through the

centre of this open grove passes the HynsHorn railway, the track crossing the glade on a north/south tangent.

Other than the avenues where the railway enters and leaves the glade there are two other pathways. One, to the west, is a natural gap and foot-worn path of compacted earth, an opening where the huge Roble stand apart, their lower branches forming a natural arch.

To the east the path is clearly marked by a large archway whose ancient stone, marked with Elvian runes, is green with lichen and throttled by ivy. Here also is a double wrought iron gate and in the ornate fretwork can be discerned the words:

IVY GATE HARBOUR Etched into the keystone of the arch above the gate is the following verse:

Fast he steals though he wears no wings, and a stanch old heart has he; How closely he twines, how closely he clings, to his friend the Roble tree; And slyly he trails along the ground, as his leaves will gently wave; As he joyously hugs and crawleth around, the moldering wyrman's grave.

The history behind the gate is unknown, though the people of Elowen maintain that the gate simply appeared one day, as ancient and worn then as it still is today.

Beyond the gate a wide path of sand and gravel leads to Ivy Gate Harbour, an old wooden jetty projecting from the sloping gradient of the beach. Between the beach and the gate is a small graveyard surrounded by a

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hedge of hawthorn. A rusty iron gate leads into this enclosure where various gravestones mark the resting place of individuals whose names are carved in a language unknown to Ereth. Once again the only historical insight comes from Elowen where the Elvians mention the graveyard in some of their older texts. It is apparently a place of holy significance to the Elvian but is not of the world of Yarnia and probably appeared as a result of strange currents in dymensional and orphic motion within the woods. The location is listed as a sacred site, not to be tampered with and never to be used as a cemetary for wyrmen. Why this should be is unknown, but the Elowen's have ever acknowledged the rule and do not bury their dead here.

WÕDOAK

4 Aga Eglos Here stands Hirtor Hill and upon the summit, the Aga Eglos, Church of the Warming Oven, home to the Vanyirite priestesses of the Wythian cult. See Overview - the Vanyirites for more information.

WÕDOAK

5 Wõdoak Saddle A high ridge overlooking the sea. Trees grow on the slope which is steep and treacherous but served by a zig-zagging path called The Porch of Wõdoak. This is cut into the hillside and connects the road below - the Turnway with the woodland above. The tree line ends at

Pevence People as they are

The Pevence Tree

a low cliff overlooking the waters of the west Inland Sea but the trees here are smaller and less densely packed than the Roble of the main wood. In many places the trees are even interspersed with other species of flora including beech, pine and cedar.

This coastline marks part of the Marchland known by the Anglians to be far enough outside the body of Wõdoak to be free of the bizarre dymensional effects that plague the rest of the wood. Most of the traffic that passes through Wõdoak comes by the Turnway. The road was carved out of the trees by the Weavers in the year 257AD after their order and the Wythian faith were welcomed back into the Angle.

WÕDOAK

6 the Pevence Tree At this junction where three paths meet stands the Pevence Tree, an enormous two thousand year old Roble believed by many to be the oldest and therefore the first tree of Wõdoak.

At the base of the trunk of the tree, nestling between the roots, is an arched door inscribed with strange marks. Above the door is a small circular window furnished with vertical iron bars and through this one of the inhabitants of the Pevence will invariably be keeping watch, for the bottom quarter of the tree is hollow and in tunnels, chambers and unknowable burrows below its roots an entire race of people have made their home.

Behind the great door dwell the Faunan, or

sometimes called in the lands of the wyrmen; or varmints as they are referred to by those who consider them to be an inferior race. The Faunan are a fae breed closely related to the Berbrock of Dwarro and possessing of a culture just as isolated, though not nearly so brutal, as that of the Great Set. The elkenwyr believe the Faunan and Berbrock are a race older even than the mythologies of Yarnia and that before Mot Elyeth ever set foot upon the soil of Ereth the Faunans and the Berbrock were already abroad within the Wythyreach.

Whether or not this is true remains a mystery as, like the Berbrock, the Faunan have no great desire to share the company of the wyrmen, nor to become embroiled in their political affairs. It is likely their only experience of wyrmen is with the brutal inhabitants of Cornoval in its declining years and the nearby Cannabin farmer Dagga Indica, believed to be the character responsible for the very coining of the term 'varmint'. Contact between wyrmen and Faunan is therefore limited, if not nonexistent, with the great barrier of Wõdoak's dymensional queerness keeping the ever expanding territories of the wyrmen from the doorstep of the Pevence People (See the Wyrd Pandemonium for more information on the different species of Faunan and the Berbrock).

WÕDOAK

7 the Elemendria In this clearing stand three mighty obelisks made from different metals, each at three points of a square which is itself defined by boulders. At the fourth point of the square a deep hollow in the ground may be discovered by anyone who takes the time to look, evidence that a fourth obelisk once stood here but is now vanished.

In the middle of the square is a stone altar of extremely crude design (little more than a flat boulder resting atop two smaller rocks). The centre of the altar is hollowed out like a basin and within this there is always a shallow pool of pure water. Regardless of how much water is removed the pool will always contain a constant amount.

The obelisks are silver, bronze and iron respectively and are known by the people of Elowen as the Elemendria (Mountain Shards That Speak the Prophecy of the People). They are a sacred artefact, though their precise purpose and origin is unknown.

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A golden obelisk once stood in the now empty corner of the square but this was stolen long ago by bandits from Fawen and, presumably, melted down for its precious metal value. The rest of the obelisks were thereafter protected by the grenadier companies of Castle Darras and are now watched over and regularly attended by the Elvian people of Elowen.

Several attempts have been made by Fell raiders to steal the other obelisks, but these attempts are now rare. The site is closely watched and cared for regularly by Elvian volunteers who, if encountered, will be conspicuously armed.

Upon the obelisk marked as silver is etched the following passage, written in common wyrman tongue:

"In the second, when winter's shroud veiled the sun and the wyrman starved, silver was the age" Upon the obelisk marked as bronze:

"In the third, when knives were drawn and bitter words carved the melting world, bronze was the age."

Upon the obelisk marked as iron:

"In the last, when all is demarcated and the righteous are gone, then iron is the age and the ending of the world is nigh."

The stones were discovered by the Elowen family themselves when they fled DroodCynncarn during the rule of Jarl Megalamon to settle anew in the north of the Angle and are considered an important part of Elvian heritage.

In Elowen (and also in Santun Morvagh) the prophecy in full is recorded as above but with the addition of the original golden stone (whose location is now unknown) whose inscription once read:

"In the first, before the great ship sailed and the eyes of men were eager, golden was the age."

Anglia Covering the region from the lower edge of Wõdoak (the Marchland) and the province of Elowen to the Fynereth Canal and the eastern borders of the Sailing Hills, Iyfeliom Pass and the Albion Wall. The unified counties of the Angle are known collectively as Anglia, though this name is used almost exclusively in an official context only and where the land is referred to in a non-official manner the title The Angle will be used in almost every instance.

VERDANDI Verdandi is the capital city of the Angle. By no means the largest city in the southern lands it is, however, one of the wealthiest, much of its economy dependent on its enviable role as the over-arching authority in the midst of numerous unified counties.

Verdandi has a busy harbour and local fishing fleet but little to zero in the way of shipping coming from other locations. The Hyns-Horn Bay lies at the southwestern tail of the Damnum Channel and while there was once a great deal of traffic into and out of this bay, the return of evil in the city of Old Urd and the increasingly black atmosphere permeating the channel where it passes the Hammer Dwale have effectively severed Verdandi from the world's sea-faring merchants.

Instead, Verdandi's point of trade comes in the form of import/export made using either the Hyns-Horn railway or the Gigaerack of Skytor. The majority of the city economy is dependent on income in the form of tax, duty and fealty payments from the unified noble houses and the various rural counties.

VERDANDI

1 Southern Gate The main entrance into and out of Verdandi from the common lands of the Angle. The gatehouse, a crescent shaped barbican of white Gorzonite, granite and halite, stands at the top of a gradual climb out of the Granger Fields. A drawbridge spans a deep ditch which stands between the uppermost bank of the incline and the gate itself. The road to the gatehouse will usually be busy with traffic in the form of wagons, carts, horses and mules bringing visitors, merchants and other traders into the city, with queues common during the early morning.

The gatehouse, barred by a beautiful portcullis of white steel, is guarded by the elite White Thorn guards found only in the capital, a stern and unforgiving force garrisoned permanently in Verdandi where they are charged with the protection of her walls and her aristocracy.

Visitors must suffer the scrutiny of the White Thorn ostiary before they can enter Verdandi and may be refused entry if they carry no form of identification, are strangers to the guard's eyes or seem to be behaving strangely or in a threatening manner.

The guard are particularly cautious of newcomers and itinerant travelers who may be required to turn out the contents of any baggage they carry before gaining admittance.

In the event of trouble, access doors set into the thick stone walls of the porch before the

portcullis will open and guards will spill out to meet the threat. These doors also provide access to dungeon cells directly beneath the barbican (from which there is no access into or out of the city).

In the event of serious threat, the gatekeepers will retreat through the doors while guards stationed in the upper floors and battlements of the barbican rain down arrows, bolts and oil bombs on the enemy.

Beyond the barbican the visitor will find himself in a magnificent semi-circular courtyard, a wide central road dividing segmented areas of open parkland to north and south. A tremendous fountain stands centrally, the water flowing from the middle of a sublimely sculpted tableau showing Mot Elyeth humiliating Uselyorn Elgan at Ramat. Uselyorn flinches as Mot lands a mighty blow with his fist, while with the other hand he grasps the Sceptre of Asnir. Merriday stands at Mot's side, holding aloft the Crown of the Cynn, and at Mot's feet Caynum Bitterblade grovels, a pitiful, hunch-backed creature cowering beneath a tattered cloak. Wrapped around an immense central pillar, staring down upon proceedings with hateful sneers and gargoyle-features are a host of Engel daemons, each depicted with either the head of an eagle or that of a cat, though the depictions are caricatured and ugly.

The Engel form a towering pile, the detail of their form and faces becoming less defined and more crudely chiseled the higher the statues rise, with the uppermost barely more than blocks of roughly hewn stone. From this tapering apex a great geyser of water jets into the air, raining down upon the carvings and the pool in which the entire edifice stands.

At most times of the day the parkland inside the southern gate will be occupied by visitors or citizens enjoying the tranquil atmosphere.

During spring and summer soil beds around the edge of each section of grass will be planted with a dazzling array of flowers, filling the park with colour. Citizens and tourists alike will likely be found basking in the sunshine, street performers and peddlers working the crowds.

Here stands the Hamlet of Cats and to the northeast of the settlement can be found the Gigaerack Field wherein the Gigaerack of Skytor makes regular stopovers, picking up and depositing passengers (see also Cormislew in the Landmarks key).

Verdandi's famous Gigaerack way-station, originally (and still officially) called the Gigarein, earns the unofficial title of The Mousehole (pron. Mowzal) from those passengers and pilots who make regular visits to Verdandi. For as the Gigaerack clambers out of the Misty River and crosses Cormislew's small harbour passengers are treated to the sight of the village's many cats lined up in ranks at the edge of the field as if to form a welcoming committee. Thus the vast and ponderous Gigaerack is deemed to be the mouse, sprinting for shelter in its hole as the eyes of a hundred hungry cats watch its progress.

Locals will be happy to inform any visitor to the village that the cats are in fact dumbfounded by the great lumbering turtle which resembles prey in so many ways but which remains far beyond their capabilities to chase (or at least to chase and catch). Hours before the Gigaerack is due to arrive the cats congregate soundlessly on the edge of the runway as though some silent feline signal had been given.

A permanent fair is set up in the eastern corner of the field, though the stalls and attractions are opened only on those days when the Gigaerack is in attendance (see also location 17. For more information on the Gigaerack and its likely times of arrival and departure in Cormislew, see The Overmaster's Companion).

VERDANDI

VERDANDI

VERDANDI

4 Cormislew & the Mousehole

2 Nordroor Bridge

5 the West Gate

The Hyns-Horn crosses the Misty River via this wide bridge. There is also a foot-path and wagon road next to the track (see also the Landmarks key).

A secondary entrance into Verdandi via the road out of Cormislew. Most trade traffic will choose this gate over the more long-winded route to the Southern Gate.

VERDANDI

3 Hornblower Station The southernmost terminal of the Hyns-Horn railway.

See The Overmaster's Companion for details of Hyns-Horn railways timetables, trains and other specifications.

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The same White Thorn guard will be encountered on this gate as will be met on the Southern Gate, however here there is no drawbridge and traffic entering the city tends to move more quickly.

The area beyond the gate is far less grandiose than the courtyards and parkland of the Southern Gate. The buildings here are mostly residential villas of a stately, but ancient and somber architecture. Houses are crushed together in terraced lines and stand five, six

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and even seven stories high. Front doors are great arched affairs at the top of huge stone stairways ending in columned porches and porticos.

Residents here by the city gate tend to be wealthy but earthy and are probably those rare industrial moguls and families whose wealth is earned rather than inherited.

Proximity to the gate, the docks alongside the Misty River and ready access to Hornblower Station and the Gigaerack harbour make this an attractive location for citizens who travel extensively or have need to leave and return to the city frequently.

VERDANDI

6 Amdarn An immense headland and promontory harbouring Verdandi's eastern fringe. Upon Amdarn can be found a variety of fortifications and keeps, not least of all Levena Castle - home to the ruling Gwelenbryal family and the Grand Duke himself.

To the east lies the land of Mortun Pandi and the valley of Menhirnar, a bleak and perilous place whose dangers are blocked from Verdandi by Amdarn's imposing shoulder and the heavy military presence upon her summit.

Built into the western slope of Amdarn are many large mansions and stilted houses belonging to the fabulously wealthy citizens of Verdandi. These buildings, unique in their design and grandiose without exception, stand in leafy glades or within their own walled grounds, boasting unmatched views across the rooftops and towers of the city and the lands beyond the curtain wall.

VERDANDI

7 Elek A small stone fort constructed on the southern tip of Amdarn Hill. The fort is manned by a contingent of Kindren Polearms and Entleven Archers who keep a constant watch on this, the only road into and out of the north Angle from Mortun Pandi.

VERDANDI

8 Levena Castle On its high promontory, surrounded by the barren downs at the top of Amdarn Hill, Levena Castle commands not only an unmatched view over the northlands of the Angle and the city of Verdandi but also over the territories of Mortun Pandi and the valley of Menhirnar in the east.

The Grand Duke of Verdandi, Triton Gwelenbryal and his wife, the Duchess Coriola, inhabit the castle which is a typically

Levena Castle (northeast corner)

grandiose affair with roots firmly bedded in the medieval. Once purely defensive it has more recently been refurbished and redesigned so that many of its functional features are now buried under decorative ornamentation. Original battlements are now covered by tiled rooftops while arrow loops have been widened and fitted with glass to flood the palatial interior with light. Inside, previously practical stone walls have been plastered or are covered by ornate tapestries, while the open archways which once allowed soldiers to move swiftly between rooms are now fitted with oak panel doors. The floors are carpeted instead of covered by rushes and furniture is increasingly of a highly ornate design, replacing the sturdy oak tables, chairs and dressers of former generations.

Only the east facing rooms remain truly functional, and here the White Thorn service working cannon and battlement catapults which can be brought to bear on any Fell enemy who dares to approach across the valley of Menhirnar.

VERDANDI

9 Lake Nimue Beneath Lake Nimue lie caves connected to the underdark beneath the Sailing Hills. Here explorers working for the old Anglian lord Kenwythi Gwelenbryal discovered, among other artefacts of equal age but lesser worth, the now famous Rill Blade originally belonging to Amon Elyeth, son of the Zeuselra and the goddess Merriday, and the Tome of Kings, a sacred book penned by the hand of Mot and possessed by the evil spirit of the FroncĂşdha Barrowomb.

The caves have long been sealed to prevent the inquisitive or the malevolent gaining entry and only the heads of the Gwelenbryal family in Levena possess the means to open the seals.

All but the Rill Blade that was found beneath

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the lake in the time of Kenwythi remains there still, entombed and safe from harm. The Rill Blade can be found elsewhere (see Ylyntor).

The lake lies some ninety feet below the ridge whereon stands Husight Fort. It lies on two levels in similarly shallow basins gouged out of Amdarn's granite headland. The uppermost basin spills into the bed of the lowermost and overflow from this lower bed then drains through a grill into the caves under the hill. The water eventually meets a confluence of underground streams that, in turn, become the source of the River Serkis.

The upper lake is fed by a subterranean stream that exits from a cave beneath Husight and which itself is fed by water seeping down through potholes in the higher regions of Amdarn. Occasionally the water level settles and the lake remains inert. After particularly heavy rainfall the lower lake sometimes bursts its northern bank, creating a second and more spectacular waterfall which cascades down into the sea.

The retaining walls of the two lake beds have been identified as artificial, suggesting Nimue was purposely created at some point in the distant past, though whether the basins were scooped out to hold water as they now do, or for some other reason remains unknown.

VERDANDI

10 Gwelenbryal Harbour The main harbour and port of Verdandi, Gwelenbryal houses one of the largest fishing industries in Ereth, the city enjoying exclusive access to the Damnum and the dense shoals of sun-bream, hake, sharks, and shrimp that live there.

At certain times of the week the Gigaerack from Skytor will be seen languishing in the waters of Hyns-Horn Bay, a great humpbacked island moving lazily across the waters, a cloud of gulls following in its wake to

scavenge the various crustaceans that grow in abundance upon its shell.

The Damnum was once a thoroughfare for merchant vessels coming out of Skytor and Listholm, but in recent decades the currents around Old Urd have become tempestuous and the dark, brooding atmosphere of the Hammer Dwale now grows so menacing that few boats would dare to stray under the shadow of that mighty mountain or risk the waters of Urd. As a result, the harbour is no longer as busy or as well used as once it was and while the fishing fleets of Verdandi have grown from strength to strength, the merchant fleets have dwindled and visitors from other lands arriving by ship are now almost unheard of.

The harbour contains a variety of marinas and bays with an enclosed beach at the northern end of the artificial bay and a tidal inlet at the southern end. A succession of cleverly positioned breakwaters and walls calm the water in tempestuous weather and during particularly violent storm surges great timber beams can be lowered across the main inlet to shelter the harbour.

VERDANDI

11 Warehouse District A series of dock-side warehouses stand on the edge of the Misty River where it widens into Hyns-Horn Bay. Boats capable of passing through the low arches of the Nordroor Bridge are berthed here and typically belong to owners or employees of the warehouses.

Most of the businesses who operate in and out of the Warehouse District trade routinely with both Drawn in Elowen and Arvortun, both of which can be easily accessed from the Misty River. The district attracts a salty-type who can frequently be found supping cheap mead and moonshine in a dingy bar called the Black Squid, a small public house crushed between the looming walls of two warehouses and sporting its own serviceable jetty.

VERDANDI

VERDANDI

12 Gamen Fields

13 The Blade & Lion

A series of greenswards on the coastal road, the Gamen Fields are open to the public and serve as a venue for many festivals and fairs throughout the year.

Some kind of market will usually be evident and at the end of each month the Gwelenbryals traditionally play host to a series of sporting events held over a three day period which include jousting, cockerellfighting and historical re-enactments, plus displays from most of the major guilds.

The Grand Duke, Triton Gwelenbryal, and his wife Coriola will preside over proceedings at the fair and at the end of the three days will give awards to winning competitors.

The seaward edges of each field and the northern side of the coast road are lined with cannon and trebuchet, along with pill boxes from which archers by the dozen can fire onto vessels coming along the Damnum. These defenses were used during Jarl Megalamon's reign over the Cornovish nation, but with the passing of that ancient tyrant and the fall of Cornoval there has been little need for any coastal defenses. As a result many of the cannon are broken or rusted beyond repair and serve only as ornaments, while those still able to fire are deemed to be an ample contingent in case of attacks from Old Urd.

A huge, beautiful and expensive inn house within the old structure of a fortress which once served as part of the Damnum coastal defenses. The inn has many (164) guest chambers ranging from cheap and cheerful (25 Wealth per night) standard (100 Wealth per night) to luxury (1000 Wealth per night). Cheap and cheerful rooms are small, with no window and rushes on the floor. A straw mattress, foot locker, wash basin and access to a communal water closet serving tens of rooms are all included. Standard rooms have two beds, a wash basin, a table, a water closet and various rudimentary furnishings. Luxury lodgings range in scope but will typically have a four poster bed, a fireplace and a valet dedicated to waiting on that specific room. Food can be ordered day and night from the valet who will also attend to any other need required by the guest. Some luxury rooms also have balconies, though these are highly sought after and will need to be reserved, weeks in advance during festivals.

The name of the inn is derived from the white lion familiar of Brighd, patron spirit of the hearth, and the famous Rill Blade, a sword embedded in the tombstone of the ancient lord Kenwythi Gwelenbryal. The inn sign depicts the famous lion of Anglia grasping the sword in its paws, a crown hovering above its mighty head.

The Blade and Lion is known to be a favoured watering hole of the 'Bard of Avalon', Hamnet Chamberlain, whose

The Blade & Lion

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plays have become famous throughout Ereth. He can often be found drinking and holding forth with other members of Verdandi's arts community, its aristocracy and its military elite.

The banquet hall and drinking room is where most patrons will gravitate. Here ale can be purchased by the gallon and every evening without fail a fresh spit roast boar is barbecued in the massive fireplace, doused in wine and served at 3 Wealth per plate. Entertainment is also frequently provided in the form of minstrels, jesters, harlequins and tumblers. Certain acts are a permanent fixture, including the beautiful Ethenan siren-songstress Xanadu Nucissus and Trevana the One-Armed Tamer, a Beast Master who specializes in training and showing his three Sandlew Tigers.

VERDANDI

14 Summersdue Taphouse Named after the Wythian festival of Summersdue, or Merrydew as it is more commonly known, which begins in the first month of spring (Apryl).

This tavern is a favourite watering hole for Verdandi's political elite and aristocracy and is well placed for such a clientele, standing, as it does, beneath the stilted hillside mansions of Amdarn.

VERDANDI

15 The Reaper's Penny Located on the coast road, this inn is named after the Reaper's Festival which falls on the last day of Motsober, the inn is the traditional hub of that celebration and the spot from which participants will set off, dragging their scythes along the cobbled streets and calling 'penny for the reaper' into the gloom of the winter night.

Most evenings of the week the bar is patronized by fishermen and those who work in the northern districts of the city.

VERDANDI

16 Woodhenge Walk A popular tavern in Cormislew (see location 4 and also Cormislew in the Landmarks key).

The pub is a traditional haunt of the Tablemen of the Mountain as they pass through on their way to the annual meet at Drood-Cynncarn.

The rest of the year the tavern serves the locals of Cormislew and travelers of the Gigaerack.

Table 1 ~ Typical Tavern Menu

Food/Drink

Likely Price/w

Units of Alcohol

Results, if any

Sun Bream Stew

6w

0

+1 Life-Force in any one 24 hour period

Starfawn Venison

12w

0

+1 Life-Force in any one 24 hour period

Moloch Meat in Gravey Pastry

4w

0

+1 Life-Force in any one 24 hour period

Elowen Snail & Eggs

5w

0

-

Spiced Scorpion on a Stick

3w

0

-

Chicken and Taters in gravey

4w

0

-

Ox Tail and Cod Liver with Veg

1w

0

-

Eggs & Mash

1w

0

-

Furred Seal Hotpot

5w

0

-

Dogfish Shark on Rye

8w

0

-

Whole Sun Hog Dripping in caramel and Honey Mead

28w

1

+1 Life-Force in any one 24 hour period

Roasted Elowen Frog

6w

0

-

Llama Steak

14w

0

-

Tater Chips 'n Cheese

1w

0

-

Stewed Coney

3w

0

-

Fox Tongue Soup

1w

0

-

Lornant Soup

18w

0

Passive AA Endurance dice check to consume. Vomit and -1 Spirit if fail. +2 LifeForce if successful. No more than one gain in any 24 hour period

Badger 'n Ale Pie

3w

1

-

Sun-Cider

3w per flagon

3

+1 Life-Force in any one 24 hour period.

Honey-Mead

1w per flagon

2

Risk of innebriation*

Barley Beer

2w per flagon

2

Risk of innebriation*

Frothy Bitter

1w per flagon

1

Low risk of innebriation*

Moonshine

1w per glass

4

High risk of innebriation*

Blackberry Wine

12w per glass

3

Risk of innebriation*

Pumpkin Wine

2w per glass

4

High risk of innebriation*

Apple & Damsen Wine

3w per glass

4

High risk of innebriation*

Juniper Gin

4w per glass

6

High risk of innebriation*

Goat's Milk

1w per glass

0

-

* For spot rules on consumption of alcohol and the benefits/risks of getting drunk, see the Overmaster's Companion, the GM guide accompanying the core rulebooks.

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VERDANDI

17 the Mousehole Fair A permanent fair and market which stands in the corner of the field where the Gigaerack lands and disgorges/picks up its passengers.

The fair only opens on those days when the Gigaerack is in town and offers a variety of stalls and attractions including merchant tents, game tables, food and beverage stalls and souvenirs whose themes include the Gigaerack and the cats of Cormislew.

VERDANDI

18 Mop-Fayre Taphouse A recurring pub or inn found in various cities in the Angle. See also Festivals & Celebrations.

The term taphouse originates from a time when the local community would source all their fresh water from a central well-tap, or faucet, serving their area. Today Verdandians can tap into piped water wells via pumps which are typically situated in communal gardens and sometimes even - in wealthier estates - within individual buildings.

Originally open to the air, the water taps of old were eventually surrounded by pumphouses commonly refered to as a tap house.

As these locations became natural gathering and meeting places so the modern concept of the tavern emerged (tavern, meaning shed made of boards). The word pub is merely a shortening or convolution of public pump and the tradition of serving refreshment merely an extension of the original purpose of the taphouse.

VERDANDI

19 The Ducal Rose A quiet but welcoming inn crushed between other buildings and the interior of Verdandi's towering curtain wall. The Ducal Rose is the closest inn to the city's southern gatehouse and the most likely spot to which newcomers overwhelmed by the size and grandeur of the city will gravitate.

VERDANDI

20 Geotaneum of Gor Otherwise known as The Quarry Master’s Society, The Geotaneum is a form of guild unique to Verdandi, having no chapterhouses elsewhere in Ereth and no options for the public to join as low ranking members. The society was formed originally in the town of Trestun as an out of hours club for masons, miners, gem-

The Technographer's Guildhouse

smiths and tradesmen involved directly with the Gor Quarry (from where all the Gorzonite used in the construction of Verdandi originated).

Most of these trades became redundant when the quarry lost the vast majority of its market nearly 1200 years ago, but the society remained strong and has since evolved to become something strangely removed from its original purpose.

The Geotaneum now serves as a general club for the wealthy and the politically ambitious and is effectively little more than a private meeting place for certain sectors of Verdandi's rich and powerful.

The Grand Duke is not a member and is known to dislike the Geotaneum intensely, but the guild has become too insidious within the general culture of the Angle for him to simply declare the society outlawed.

Many of the Duke's closest courtiers and advisors are members and many of the nobles belonging to other houses are known to be active within the society.

Outlawing or attempting to disband the Geotaneum would make criminals of these individuals and the institutions and families they represent. And yet the society has repeatedly been found to be loitering at the heart of numerous scandals and underhand plots to remove the Gwelenbryal family from Verdandi.

To combat this, the Duke has cleverly infiltrated the Geotaneum with his own loyalists and makes no effort to conceal the fact (though the identity of his agents are unknown).

The presence of spies and agents set seeds of doubt in the minds of the society's legitimate members who are now less eager to engage in subterfuge as perhaps they once were.

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VERDANDI

21 Technographer's Guildhouse The Statehouse for the Artisan's Guild. A grand architectural edifice of white stone upon whose roof top stands a huge statue of the Elvian spirit Forge, a muscular wyrman hammering away at his anvil.

Premises include the underground library of Daytaria, a heavily guarded vault protected by a system of labyrinth corridors furnished with traps and deadly but ingenious mechanisms designed to scupper thieves.

Daytaria contains secret blue-prints for Geomantic, Premantic, Steam and Soul Smythery designs which can be unlocked only when a guild member achieves the rank of Acolyte and is given a chain of keys for disabling the traps of the labyrinth.

The Acolyte will be taken only once on safe paths through the maze to the library door and then immediately returned along the same safe path to the building above ground.

The Acolyte must thereafter commit these paths to memory or never again safely visit the library. Marking down or writing the route is strictly forbidden and the Acolyte will be closely watched for signs of cheating.

To commit the route to memory requires a successful AA Learn dice check with Dd1 incurred. The failed check indicates the character fails to remember the route and may never again visit the library (or may attempt to do so but risks almost certain death). A successful check indicates the

character learns the route successfully and may thereafter enter the library at will and acquire the secret blueprints.

Blueprints can be found in the reference section of The Overmaster's Companion.

VERDANDI

22 Mansion of the Guildsmen The Mansion of the Guildsmen is the statehouse of the Chieftain's Lodge, a lordly building whose main entrance is overshadowed by a great columned porch furnished with statues of Voltamerr, Yneur, Mot, Merriday and the high kings of Erethian history.

Within the main hall of the building the busts and statues of the guild’s most prestigious past members can be seen along with immense portraits of founding members, and lords of the Angle.

Access beyond the main hall into the galleries of the rich and powerful is impossible without membership. The guild offers nothing to the public and keeps whatever activities take place beyond its public face well hidden from the general populace.

The Mansion of the Guildsmen is known to harbour a huge library whose volumes, scrolls and parchments give sublime detail of the wars of the wyrmen, of the methods used to win campaigns against enemies and of those constructions, siege engines and other devices of war that can be employed to defeat foreign armies. The library is also rumoured to have a hidden vault, accessible only to Eldermen.

This purportedly houses artefact spoils from centuries of war and secrets pre-dating the Winter of Discontent.

Notable members of this guild include the Grand Duke Triton himself (a Rank 6 Elderman).

VERDANDI

VERDANDI

23 House of Kenwythi

24 Amonir Salver's Sanitarium

Statehouse of the City & Merchant's Guild, The House of Kenwythi is a high tower ornamented with ivory corbels, moldings and pillars and in whose floors the rich and powerful of Verdandi discuss politics and business.

The tower is a political hub and many of the policies implemented by the Grand Duke or the other noble houses will originate as discussions within its walls.

The building offers all the same services and membership benefits as chapterhouses in other cities, but members who attend the ivory tower regularly will enjoy a far greater influence over matters of state.

The Grand Duke and his wife are not members but have been made honourary governor and governess and have the same privileges within the guild as Eldermen.

First established in the city of DroodCynncarn by the Medicine-Woman Amonir Salver, a saintly character whom the vanyirborn Cormysyeth once described as an incarnation of Merriday Elyeth. The first chapter and now the main statehouse was constructed in Verdandi where it stands still, operating today in much the same way as it did in Amonir's own time.

The building is effectively a hospital with several floors and wings dedicated to housing and treating the sick, the infirm, the cursed and the insane. Treatment is free to any who need it, paid for by guild members and subsidized by state aid, charitable donations and the free service of Medicine Man Creeds.

VERDANDI

25 Tower of Orcrill Statehouse for the S0ciety of the Literatii, Orcrill is effectively a university with a strong bias toward Motian cultism and antiAllumnic leanings. The guild is open to members of any cult (excluding Allum) but at higher rank Motian devotion is required.

Orcrill was once a Wythian temple but was donated by the then Grand Duke Kenwythi Gwelenbryal to the

Amonir Salver's Sanitarium (Verdandi Hospital)

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society's chapter in Verdandi as a sign of goodwill between the Angle and Listholm.

Historians believe the acquisition of Orcrill and the accommodating of Motian cultism in what was an extremely devout Wythian hub was likely a contractual term proposed

by Listholm as part of the Hyns-Horn railway agreement.

Today the society runs as a low-key affair and though the Motian word is preached at higher ranks, entry-level ranks will experience only mild Motian lore mixed with inclusivity of other faiths (with the exception of Allum).

VERDANDI

26 Bretonwood House (RIvage & Shore) The central department of Rivage & Shore whose magickal deposit chambers can store a virtually unlimited amount of items, artefacts and wealth. Bretonwood House is identical in most ways to all other branches of R&S, the only difference being in the sheer size, pomp and ceremony of the Verdandi site. Clerks are at their most fusty and pedantic, dressed in austere black robes, heads covered by white wigs and the lower half of their faces hidden behind black veils.

The halls of the bank and the doors outside are guarded by White Thorn sentries and security is rigorous.

VERDANDI

27 The Mistonian Named after the Misty River, Mistonia is the official university of Verdandi and is one of the most well funded seats of learning and, in turn, one of the most expensive to attend. The university features a public school which stands in the shadow of the main campus and which offers free attendance to all Verdandian children and paid attendance for children from outside the city.

Courses within the university itself are open only to characters who already possess at least +2 Skill Dice in the relevant Active Ability and only to characters with a minimum CC Mind value of 9. See System & Setting for course details, lengths, gains and costs.

VERDANDI

28 Husight Fort House of the Warrior, this immense fortification of white stone and wooden palisade stands at the northern end of Amdarn. Access to Levena Castle from the city can only be achieved by passing through the two gatehouses of The Husight or by approaching through Elek.

White Thorn guard in ceremonial livery

Within Husight are stationed the various armed forces serving Verdandi and the wider region encompassing the county of Gwelenbryal (from the Tanowder Vale to the Albion Wall and the northern slopes of the Sailing Hills, though where necessary soldiers will patrol further afield).

The most exalted of all the warriors stationed in The Husight are the elite White Thorn paladins, stern warriors of the Wythian faith, clad in heavy white satin steel armour overlaid with black tabbards featuring the Gwelenbryal crest on the front and the Anglian insignia on the back. On their heads they wear white satin steel helms, which completely hide their faces from view. In summer this uniform is stifling, but considered a test of endurance by those within. Any man who achieves membership of the White Thorn should either think nothing of such discomforts or should find an alternative company to join.

To join the White Thorn is considered the pinnacle of any soldier’s career. Only the best physical specimens are even considered for application and the applicant's previous history as a Wythian and an Anglian must be impeccable. In order to qualify for training the applicant must endure a trial lasting six months designed to hammer him into shape.

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This rigorous test of nerve and strength results in a 90% drop out rate, with an average of at least 5% of the remaining men losing their lives in the final gauntlet. Thus graduates of the trial are perceived with an understandable sense of awe by the people of the Angle, civilian and military alike. Their skills in combat are surpassed only by their ability to endure the physical tests of their station, their utter devotion to duke and country marked by their very survival of the trial.

Despite the company's extraordinarily high level of skill, endurance and potential aggression, its patrol duties within Verdandi are largely ceremonial. The armour worn during patrols is impractical and constrictive, designed to look astonishingly beautiful but otherwise useless in battle. When engaging in official or non-patrol duties the guard will wear a ceremonial livery consisting of a grand coat of dark blue, a sash of blue and white undershirt, a peackock feathered hat worn upon the head. In a combat arena the White Thorn will don a far more business-like greysteel plate covered in rune reliefs and a chainmail under-dress, a visored helm and long black cloak.

On foot patrol the White Thorn walk with chins held high, the spear of office gripped

firmly in their right hand, the shield of status in their left. In combat they ride muscular chargers clad in the livery of Levena, their helms crested with streaming plumes of peacock feather.

Other units stationed at The Husight are more likely to be seen patrolling the areas outside Verdandi, including Elek, Bargenham, Jesterton, Breetun, the Tanowder Vale, the Granger Fields and the northern Sailing Hills.

These units include the historic Kindren Polearms and Entleven Archers, both of whom were brought into the Angle from the rebellion companies of Drood-Cynncarn to defend the new nation of the Angle from Jarl Megalamon's insane forces. The Polearms are mentioned in history books and depicted in numerous grand paintings to be found hanging on the walls of both Husight and Levena Castle, battling the evil forces of Urd by the side of Cormysyeth Num. Indeed, if not for the Polearms, the Sanas Morcorm war could not have been won and wyrmen would not now prevail in the south of Morturth.

musicians and entertainers are likely to be employed, but only for very short periods. Pay can be anything between 400 and 500 Wealth for one night. (Players wishing to find such work should be of the Ballatron Creed and should make a successful Spirit dice check to procure an audition and then both a successful AA Entertain and a successful AA Play Organistrum dice check in order to get themselves hired. They will then be obligated to play for 1d8 nights (player rolls) for which they will receive 100 x 1d4 Wealth per night (one roll determines the same pay level for all nights). Characters may try to gain work as often as they can, but the GM should restrict them to one attempt every in-game month this matching the availability of casual work.

The Entleven Archers are sharp-eyed ballistics experts and may be seen patrolling the Albion Wall, the battlements of Levena and the curtain wall of Verdandi itself.

Any character joining the Grenadiers or Lenadiers of Verdandi/Bargenham will be stationed in the Husight in barracks far removed from the elite forces detailed above.

VERDANDI

29 the Anglian Theatre A palatial building in central Verdandi which hosts various popular plays and works by writers and theatrical companies from all over Ereth.

Most nights of the week the theatre shows a style of play known as 'Buffoonery' wherein jesters and tumblers enact scenes from history in a comedic fashion to the uproarious delight of the (usually inebriated) audience.

On the last day of the week the theatre traditionally shows something more highbrow. In recent years Phryday performances have tended to be almost exclusively either symphonies or plays by local playwright Hamnet Chamberlain (the Bard of Avalon) whose internationally famous works include Cormysyeth and Wythydruth, The Dunlorn and His Magickal Ring, Coriolanus (an ode to the Grand Duke's beautiful wife Coriola), Zeuly and Augurs, The Trials of King Hammerclaw, Triton Andronica (an ode to the Grand Duke), All Ends Are In The Well (a comedy) and The Merry Weaver's Vanyirite (a tragedy in three parts).

Ballatron Creed characters may be able to find one or two night's work by checking the box office which often posts notices for musician spots. In large performances requiring a great deal of music extra

VERDANDI

30 Central Library An imposing halo-shaped building whose portico entrance is furnished with two enormous statues, one depicting Mot Elyeth, the other his sister Merriday. Between them they hold a stone banner in the middle of which is cradled the cherubin Fyrst Num, the first of the wyrmen born of Vanyir's womb and created by the two Oak Lords in the time of myth.

Within the reception hall of the library is an equally huge statue of Nabunum, Spirit of Words and Runes, his great wings spread so wide their tips touch the walls of the chamber.

The library contains a vast array of books, scrolls and stone etchings on virtually every known subject, from history to biography, art to anthropology. The library has become a favourite haunt for the Grand Duke who spends so much time here that a Ducal reading chamber has been constructed in his honour and for the sake of his privacy.

Player characters may undertake study

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sabbaticals at the library by making one AA Learn dice check for every six month period of study. They gain +1 Skill Dice in AA General Knowledge, AA Orphic Knowledge and/or (where more than one instance of (1) is rolled) AA Read/Write/Speak Language for every successful instance of (1) rolled. During the study period covered by a roll the character may undertake no other form of activity.

Ebberman Creed characters gain the same Skill Dice bonus but may make one dice check for every 1 month period of study.

VERDANDI

31 Museum of Antiquity & National Treasures The museum houses many items, including several Cathartic Orbs which can be rented for several minutes at a time and which will plunge the user into some of the most spectacular scenes in history. Most notable among these is The Fall of Cormysyeth (in which Cormysyeth Num and Caynum Bitterblade battle one another before the gates of Old Urd, the event recorded by a Catharxis on horseback just a few metres away from the battle - Caynum is grievously wounded by Cormysyeth's magick but wields the infamous Bitter Blade which he uses to slay his sister see Beyond the Thaw for a detailed description of the event). The orbs also include scenes from the Arkhold during the time of the Winter of Discontent and scenes from old Cornoval during the reign of Jarl Megalamon, showing the city of DroodCynncarn in all its former glory.

Elsewhere in the museum visitors will find pottery, paintings and items likely to be of interest only to the Ebberman along with more fascinating exhibits, such as a display of magickal rings found in the belly of Ascona; the Emerald Green Skull of Amon Elyeth (a glassy green translucent skull of pure emerald engraved with intricate runic forms - anyone of wicked ethos who touches the skull suffers one Severe Wound as though 4 or 5 was rolled on the Severe Wounds table); an early copy of the Book of Erth which describes the creation of the universe in an ancient dialect; and a huge chamber containing life-size marble statues including one terrifying tableau depicting Kenwythi Gwelenbryal locked in mortal combat with the Fronc端dha daemon Barrowomb.

Player characters may undertake study sabbaticals at the museum by making one AA Learn dice check for every six month period of study. They gain +1 Skill Dice in AA General Knowledge, AA Orphic Knowledge and/or (where more than one instance of (1) is rolled) AA Read/Write/Speak Language for every successful instance of (1) rolled. During the study period covered by a roll the character may undertake no other form of activity.

Ebberman Creed characters gain the same Skill Dice bonus but may make one dice check for every 1 month period of study.

The Ward of Orders

VERDANDI

32 House of Lead-letter Once a small printing press used for the production of bill posters announcing festivals and the like, the House of Lead-Letter has grown over the past hundred years to become a journalistic empire in the heart of civilization.

Papers operating out of the Press include The City Crier, a weekly Verdandi newsletter known for its investigative journalism and dedication to the truth; The Courant, a daily digest featuring local rumours and advertisements; and the Anglian Hawk, a self-important monthly publication which covers the whole of the Angle and which is delivered to and sold in all the major cities and towns of the land.

The Courant is considered non-partisan, but the Crier and Anglian Hawk are known to have political leanings. The Crier is traditionalist/ royalist and supports the idea that a king will come to the Angle when the time is right and draw the Rill Blade from the tombstone, unifying the land and the noble houses under a firm constitution. The paper lauds the concept of a commonwealth, with peace enforced by a military controlled by a monarchy and intermediary elects controlled by representatives of the common man (a house of commons).

The Hawk, by contrast, is anti-royalist and supports decentralized rule, calling often for the abolishment of faith in the Rill-Blade (a standpoint the Crier insists is treasonous).

The Hawk advocates the permanent formation of a democratically elected government, with the heads of the noble houses representing their states in a 'house of lords' but otherwise given free reign to rule

their own lands as they see fit.

The two newspapers operate out of two separate buildings on either side of the central press. Clashes between writers, editors and supporters of both papers are common, particularly at time of printing when arguments break out over use of the press.

The Courant operates out of a small office above the press and tends to keep out of any political disparity.

The Grand Duke is known to support a free press and gives both papers freedom to exclamate their opinions equally without imposing regulation or restriction on the words they print (the very term 'ex-press' derived from this philosophy). However, a one press policy is enforced in the Angle, the existing mechanical pressworks deemed to be a monocentric, rentable service and one allowed to operate only under the name of the Anglian steward and under the regulation of the unified Anglian counties. In other words, the House of LeadLetter is entirely funded by the over-arching ducal government, while the office space and use of the press are rented out by the newspaper companies. In theory anyone can use the press, provided they have the wealth to pay for its service, thus freedom of the press comes with certain qualifiers which some consider unfair. Detractors of this monocentric concept claim the Grand Duke can restrict access to the printed word at any time simply by shutting down the press. Thus far, however, there are no precedents and those papers who make use of the press regularly obstruct attempts to expand existing press legislation by bringing them to the attention of their readers.

Without a free press, they argue, the governing bodies of the Angle (whatever their form) are free to act unobserved by the common wyrman, a situation in which potential despots and tyrants can quietly come to power.

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VERDANDI

33 Ward of Orders This district is the Ward of Orders wherein Verdandi's various low-level guilds - better known as 'societies' - operate within a single, walled community. Only the established, powerful guilds operate independently in their own part of the city; while low-level groups wishing to present themselves as reputable in the hope of one day achieving guild-status will only be taken seriously if they first acquire premises within the Ward of Orders.

Each society is considered a form of minor guild, with members paying no more than 10 Wealth per year to join (no Guild Allegiance value is necessary). In return, interested parties receive a free Certificate of Tax Exemption and a list of useful contacts within the city. These contacts are also members of the same order and usually the same professionals who manage the order and its member subscriptions.

Orders are a form of back-scratching enterprise where societies and members look out for one another and do one another favours where they are introduced. Where a sale or service is bought by one member from another the price will usually be lower than normal. In return the seller might buy something or request a service from the buyer.

Alliances between different societies are common, with like-for-like favours often occurring between members of different societies. This frequently leads to unlikely partnerships and even more unlikely combinations of service.

Orders are self-regulating and where

members (or societies as a whole) take unfair advantage of the system they will be expelled and their premises given to the next applicant in line. The ward is regulated by an elected team of governors (one delegate from each society) who meet at the end of every month to discuss problems and resolve issues. During such meetings any unpalatable behaviour by certain societies, or members of certain societies, can be raised. The governors can vote to eject a society from the ward if the majority agree the society is at fault.

Individual members ejected from their society will find the Exemption Certificate they hold has been revoked (though they won't be informed of this and will likely learn of it first when members of the Thief's Guild start paying an interest in their purse and baggage).

The Ward of Orders is a good place to find experts in any given field in the same way that a market is a logical place to find goods generally and individual stalls are a sensible way to locate goods of a specific kind. Even if a visitor to the ward has no intention of joining an order they will find themselves pointed in the right direction if they enter a relevant building and ask for help. o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

THE ORDERS Abbraxists (diamond and precious stone sellers).

Abigails (maids and servants).

Acutiators (repairers of weapons).

Aedilists (those in charge of arranging markets and fairs).

Agriculturalists (farmers).

Architects (designers of buildings).

Armourers (makers of armour).

Athletes & Sportsmen.

Baedekers (guides).

Blackmasters (undertakers).

Boggartists (gargoyle carvers).

Brewers (innkeepers and mead makers).

Cabaliners (sellers of steeds and mounts).

Calipacists (Gigaerack shell and gondolier cleaners and outfitters).

Cartographers (map makers).

Cataphractors (makers of shields and helms).

Catchpoles (those who maintain and guard the dungeons and cells of Verdandi).

Chandlers (candle makers).

Chefs (preparers of food).

Clogticians (Maintainers of Verdandi's sewers and septic tanks).

Coachmen (Hyns-Horn and taxi drivers).

Cobble Folk (Prostitutes).

Cobblers (shoemakers).

o Cordagers (those who outfit ships with equipment and crew). o Cozen Pitchmen (advertisers and artists who specialize in advertisement and sales). o Debellists (military strategists and officers). o Deemsters (judges, councilors and magistrates). o Dentists (fixers of teeth). o Despumators (Antique and artefact cleaners, restorers and valuers). o Effodists (those who excavate cellars, dungeons and mines). o Eidolist (experts in ghosts and hauntings). o Excubists (guards and hired bodyguards). o Fowlers (cock-fight trainers and breeders). o Fuerists (lawyers, barristers and those who know the law). o Fustigators (repairers and makers of bludgeoning weapons). o Guides (city and wilderness guides) o Hauliers (transporters and couriers) o Interpreters. o Karrackists (makers of boats and ships). o Limbiers (makers and sellers of false limbs). o Meerologists (experts on the sea). o Miners. o Minstrels & Bards (musicians, singers and writers of music). o Myrmasters (experts on monsters, Fell breeds and daemons). o Opticists (makers of spectacles and optical devices). o Potters (makers of pottery) o Pressographers (journalists and news printers). o Provisioners (store owners). o Scholars (learned individuals). o Squires (servants and aides to professional soldiers) o Tobacconists (sellers/dealers in tobacco) o Tomeolists (book sellers and acquirers of rare books). o Traders and Peddlers (general merchants) o Valets (bulters and personal servants) o Vesters (makers of garments). o Veterinists (Medicine Men specializing in the treatment of familiars, steeds and animalian creatures). o Writers (playwrights and authors of poetry and books).

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Each society will offer its members different fringe benefits, these usually tailored to suit the purpose and ethos of the society.

For example, the Order of Abbraxists may offer a valuing service; the Order of Abigails may provide a union service to its members in order to combat unfair dismissal or bullying behaviour by employers; the Order of Tobacconists may offer samples for the delectation of potential buyers; the Order of Pressographers may offer a list of reliable sources, and so on.

Most societies representing some form of profession will offer job-finding services and their premises will typically be used to advertise available work of the appropriate type (or at least of a related kind). All societies benefit from free legal representation for their members as a result of pooled resources and funds amassed into a contingency fund by delegated governors. 10% Of every member subscription will be invested into this fund to be used for the benefit of all societies and all members within the ward community.

VERDANDI

34 The Aneth Valt The Adventurer's Club, as it is known, is sited in the Aneth Valt, an archaic V-shaped structure with a central tower whose uppermost level is furnished with a great clock, above which hangs an enormous brass bell.

Within this old building members of the club (whose annual fees are exorbitant) recline upon velvet covered seats in darkened parlours and smoke pipes filled with hallucinogenic fungi harvested from the fields of Elowen.

Many of the members are rich Weavers or Shamancers who come to dispose of their wealth, free their minds and drift untethered in alternative dymensions while their bodies relax in safety and comfort. Others are merely ordinary but wealthy citizens of Verdandi or visiting gentry from other parts of the Angle looking for some entertainment and relaxation.

There have always been rumours surrounding the Aneth Valt. The most prevailing and oftrepeated suggest that unseen chambers behind and beneath the visible rooms of hedonistic pleasure are used by the club's members for nefarious purposes. These, roomsit is said, are places where ritualistic sacrifices are made to Elgan gods, where certain creeds release pent up stresses by performing questionable acts on willing or unwilling victims and forbidden spirits are invoked and summoned. One such rumour endures above all others, claiming that the club is the source of Necrostats - Cathartic orbs featuring murder, torture and mutilation and that victims are regularly and ritually murdered in the cellars of the Aneth Valt by evil Catharxis working for super-rich

and sadistic clients. Such conspiracy theories are prone to mutation and sometimes include the Central Library and other surrounding buildings in their scope.

The Grand Duke and the Wythian Weavers have both investigated the Aneth Valt at length, concerned by the premise that there is rarely smoke without fire. Using undercover and visible agents their investigations have thus far been fruitless. Despite scouring the building from floor to ceiling, no hidden rooms have been found and no illegal activity uncovered. The patrons have also proven themselves to be beyond suspicion, showing no sinister allusions even when investigated in secret, though many of them belong to powerful sectors of society and have numerous enemies in the labyrinth culture of Verdandi politics. It has been generally assumed that the rumours originate with these enemies and with enemies of the club in general (expulsions and refused membership requests are apparently common).

ARVORTUN The Chersyan family fled the city of DroodCynncarn in 158AD and settled first a castle upon the summit of Garwan - which was then an island in the midst of the melting glaciers of southern Morturth - and later the city port of Arvortun.

Arvortun (Harbour Town) is a city port straddling the mouth of the River Serth and serving fish and fish by-products not just to the platters of Anglian diners but as far afield as Mortun Pandi and Skytor.

Arvortun also has an important military role as the country’s main naval base. Here presides Lord High Admiral of the Fleet, Willem Leyborn, the fleet itself consisting of two three-mast frigates (The Arkrill and the Flying Drake) and one deep sea ironclad frigate called the Meeright.

Many of the fleet’s sailors live within either Arvortun or Dunkunom when not at sea, while officers and captains of the fleet reside typically within Verdandi, travelling to and from the port as necessity dictates. The Meeright is a very large ship, usually reserved for those times when Anglia needs to flex its muscles and show a strong presence. The Arkrill and Flying Drake, by comparison, tend to be at sea on a rotating basis protecting the Angle’s fishing fleets and maintaining its territory on the western side of the Fynereth Canal.

Battle between ships is unheard of in current peaceful climes, though the navy is often called upon to dissuade Santun Morvagh’s fishing vessels from entering the West Inland Sea. The combat capabilities of the fleet are more often brought to bear in modern days against those rare Fell breeds that slip quietly from the seaward corner of

Gungin and into the Southren Sea and then into the Fynereth. Such events are not common and most threats are easily dealt with once they emerge into open waters.

The greater menace comes from the seemingly infinite waste of the Endeleas which has also been known to disgorge diabolical enemies, these far greater in size and strength than the rare aquatic Fell.

The port is a busy trade centre and becoming one of the most popular destinations and fastest growing cities in all the Angle, overpopulation and migration into the city from outside even the borders of the Angle forcing city planners, restricted by agreements enforcing the conservation of green belts within the Chersya county, to construct new buildings on the rooftops of existing structures. Arvortians make regular journeys by ship into the Fyneyreth Canal and on into the East Inland Sea where they export and import goods to and from the cities of Santun Morvagh, Stratum and Skyssa.

The population of Arvortun has changed in recent centuries with the increase in emigration from Elowen, Mortun Pandi, Skytor and even Listholm. Elkenwyr and sowyr migrants are more common than wyrlung or norwyr, though common wyrmen are the established ethnicity.

Today Arvortun is a Wythian cult centre, home to Arvor Cathedral and the Weavers known as the Dial Keepers of the West.

Historically, the city is best known as the seat of the Mariner's Shrine, an Elvian sect. This sub-cult, whose origins lie probably in a mixture of naval superstition and Elowen influence, worshipped Rinan and Seren and is a sect that still flourishes in the city of Santun Morvagh on the far side of Ereth. As the Angle became a predominantly Wythian cult centre the sect was forced to take on the status of a unified guild by ducal decree, and was thereafter absorbed into the institutional corridors of the Guild of Crewmen.

Devotees of the sect were appalled, viewing the changes as the ducal take over of a formerly free faith. The enforcing of the decree led to an extensive period of unrest between the Chersyan and Gwelenbryal families that lasted almost one thousand years. In 1503 strange storms battered the west coast and the giant squid Mikelbreg fell upon Arvortun, destroying much of the city and killing a great many of its people.

Heresay was blamed and apportioned to the guild and the Grand Duke. A minor war threatened between Wythian and former acolytes of the sects, but so many members of the former churches of Rinan and Seren had been slain by Mikelbreg that dissent was easily suppressed and Wythian laws were re-established by Weavers entering the city. Arvor Cathedral was built and became the main hub of religious worship in the city, while the old temple of Rinan and Seren became the statehouse of the Guild of Crewmen.

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Today, superstitions born in the roots of those original sects and now transferred to the modern Crewman's Guild remain as a prevailing force in Arvortun, shaping the city and influencing its people. None now live who can remember Mikelbreg's attack, but the city itself seems to possess an undying memory of the event. Arvortians still fear the sea and the symbol of the squid is now an embedded icon in many facets of city life as well as the subconscious of its people, appearing on inn signs, local art, sculptures and even in spoken colloquialisms (the local currency is the squid, one squid equal to 1 Wealth point).

Belief in the Crewman's Guild has evolved to almost cultic-levels. Members fear the wrath of Rinan and Seren, whom they believe were jilted by the dissolution of the original sects and whose revenge, they believe, took shape in the fury and violence of Mikelbreg. Thus do the Arvortians now consider the guild to be a form of talisman; a legal way to praise the spirits without encroaching on Wythian faith and a way to show piety and respect for the elementals without undermining the Weavers.

All visitors to the city are required to pay a ‘due’ to the guild even if they are not members. This 10 Wealth donation - which is compulsory and strictly enforced by Arvortun’s militia - must be placed in a Dish of Jorum, huge marble bowls found throughout the city into whose depths money can be easily tossed but out of whose deep basins would-be-thieves cannot easily escape. The largest and most ornate of the Jorum is found in the statehouse of the Crewman's Guild. The vaulted ceiling above the bowl is inlaid with an intricate mosaic depicting Mikelbreg’s attack on Arvortun and the penitence of the people of the city port as they beg the spirit of Rinan for forgiveness. Members of the Crewman's Guild will typically pay their 'due' to this Jorum rather than those deemed to be there for the use of visitors.

All members of the Crewman’s Guild are awarded the Seal of Rinan and Seren, a sturdy wooden shield which is invariably placed somewhere onboard ship to show the spirits of the sea that the sailor respects and reveres them. The seals also mark the ship, its captain and its crew, as protected by the guild and disposed to certain privileges and rights over those craft without a seal.

ARVORTUN

1 Garwan Hills Erupting suddenly from the flatlands of western Angle, the Garwan are a range of hills standing belligerently between the city of Dunkunom and the fishing port of Arvortun. The hills nestle like broken teeth about the foot of Garwan Tor, a great grass-covered mound whose shoulder hides

the city of Arvortun from the sight of anyone travelling down from the north.

Three roads carve into Garwan, one linking Elowen with Arvortun via a bridge across the Misty River, one crossing the jagged teeth of the lower Garwan into eastern Arvortun, and the other winding a steady route to Fortress Tornyth, a military base and prison brooding on the summit of the Tor. Anyone entering the hills will notice an ever-present, festering smell that seems to come and go depending on the direction of the wind. The smell will grow stronger the closer the traveler comes to the river Serth and will eventually be identifiable as coming from the sewage heap known locally as Folder's Bank (see location 31).

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2 Garwan Tor & Tornyth Fortress The southern part of Tornyth was once the stately castle home of the Chersya family but relations between the Chersyas and the people of Arvortun collapsed when the Elvian sect of the Mariner's Shrine was forced to become a guild. However, Arvortians view the current Chersyans with a certain respect, Lord Edgar Chersya, the current ruling patriarch of the family, having invested a great deal of his personal fortune into civic projects within the city. Nevertheless, Arvortian memories are

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long and many still hold a grudge. Thus the Chersyas now reside in Dunkunom, within Portstone Castle, and are rarely seen in Arvortun itself.

The north and oldest annex of Tornyth has been converted into a prison and is used by all the counties of the Angle for the incarceration of criminal elements. Since this conversion Tornyth has become a going concern for the Chersyas who now run the prison as a working business, charging fees to those counties who make use of its service on a per prisoner basis.

Among those sequestered here are various members of the Togaedere organization whose terrorist tactics, intended to force authorities to release the Gigaerack back into the wild, have earned them criminal status. Others imprisoned here include common criminals

(burglars who overstep their guild restrictions, or prostitutes and beggars for example) along with perpetrators of more exotic crimes. These may include Cathartics accused of selling Necrostat Cathartic Orbs; Nefaromancers accused of spreading anti-Wythian, historically-revisionist or pro-atheistic philosophies within the borders of the Angle; debtors who have borrowed wealth but failed to honour agreed repayment terms; casters of the Anarchaic runes; illegals working within a guild-controlled region without the necessary guild license; illegitimate Soul Reapers; spies and agents of subterfuge (political or military); electrasmyths who have attempted to ply their nefarious electroplasmic wares or buyers and users of such wares; and travelers found carrying concealed firearms (or using them).

A high security wing of the prison, furnished with powerful Runes of Weaving and overseen by both standard prison guards and Weavers on the Chersyan payroll, house a more vicious and dangerous breed of malefactor. Here are Haruspex, Dunwytch, Warlocks and Creants; the despicable servants of the Cult of Flies and their brutish servants. This wing also contains myrmen captured but spared a death sentence - a rare event but not unheard of where the myrman in question turns traitor against his own kind.

The prison does not house Fell breeds and where a Fell is sentenced for the perpetration of crime within the Angle they are routinely executed, the task performed within the jurisdiction of the county wherein they are sentenced, the resulting Soul Stone awarded to the ruling noble family.

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3 Menurth Bridge A bridge over a deep gully in the high hillsides flanking the northern shore of the river Serth.

Travelers crossing the bridge into the west will notice a pungent stench rising from this direction. The smell will grow steadily worse until the road passes the source - a place known locally as Folder's Bank; a great stinking heap of raw sewage deposited by the river into a natural crook in the landscape.

The sewage flows down into the west from Dunkunom where it is dumped into the river and includes both the effluence of that city's main sewers and large quantities of industrial waste from its factories. See also location 31.

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4 Serenporth Citadel Standing vast and indomitable at the western end of the road out of the Garwan Hills, Serenporth is, initially, a gatehouse. Those who pass through the gate will find themselves in a quadrangle facing the main

keep of the citadel, a looming but beautiful structure dominated by a domed roof of glass.

The citadel is divided into two parts, the easternmost serving as a military fortification housing the grenadier of Arvortun. A wide archway and vaulted passageway pass through the heart of the citadel and into the city, an oak drawbridge spanning a sheer gorge that stands centrally between the citadel's two halves. On the far side of the gorge stands the western portion of the building. This palatial complex, known today as Mariner's House, was once the main temple of the Mariner's Shrine sect and now serves as statehouse for the Crewman's Guild.

Serenporth is the main access point for any vehicle entering Arvortun by land and is likely to be busy as a result. The road and the gateway are wide enough to harbour trade wagons and caravans where the other routes into the city prove either too steep or too narrow for vehicles. At least two guards will be on duty at the gatehouse, but Arvortun welcomes most visitors and only those travelers who behave oddly, are known criminals or suspected of being either craven or Fell will be stopped.

The eastern quadrangle of Serenporth has become a popular socializing point for merchants and other transient traders, such as hauliers or couriers, who frequent the city but have no desire to enter the port itself. A bustling market of stalls, food-wagons, entertainment tents and other enterprising businesses nestle in the cloisters around the edge of the courtyard to serve the needs of these transitory visitors.

Slurry Yard for sorting. Most of the sewage forms the basis of the Folderol Agricultural Slurry and Manure business, mounds of flyinfested muck shoveled onto barges then delivered to farmlands as far afield as Skytor.

Other waste is recycled and sold to local paper mills who turn the sludge into cheap parchment or to the industries of Dunkunom who make use of the vast quantities of grease and fat. Metals and other items of worth are amassed over time then recycled to forges and other industries. What remains is then pumped through treatment plants and released into the river to flow out to sea.

Folderol is part funded by the Arvortian government who have long since recognized the link between raw sewage and disease.

Since Folderol began treating this end of the river Serth, the main port has been cleaner and the sea has been far more abundant with fish. (See also Arvortun, location 31).

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6 Penger's Keep At the western end of the Serpons Road, this gatehouse guards the route into Arvortun from the Garwan Hills and serves as a bulwark at the northern end of the Murian Wall.

The Serpons Road is too narrow and too steep for vehicles and only travelers on foot will be able to enter or leave the city via Penger's Keep.

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5 Folderol's Slurry Yard The Slurry Yard belongs to Lester Folderol, a local businessman who specializes in converting rubbish, debris and sewage into saleable goods.

The waters of the river Serth between Dunkunom and the Treatment Sluice near Serenporth Citadel are foul, waste from Dunkunom's flushed sewage systems heaping in great stinking drifts within the natural elbow of the river. The ever enterprising Folderol employs an army of workers to sift through this mountain of cess, filtering what they find into different vats which are then either passed through the treatment sluice or loaded onto barges and returned to the Serenporth Citadel (southeastern gate house)

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7 Serpons Road

9 Gwidhak Port

The Snaking Road. This foot-path takes a

A small but busy dockyard serving Arvortun Mine, Tornyth Prison and a variety of manufacturing plants whose premises are located on the dockside. The warehouses and watersheds here are constructed in such close proximity that they crowd in around the port with barely a gap between them.

steep approach into Arvortun, crawling between the terraces and hills of Garwan before descending at a dizzying gradient into the city.

The path is narrow in places and steep, making it unsuitable for vehicles. Only travelers on foot or riding steeds capable of traversing uneven and steep terrain (passive AA Climb dice check, using the steed's Active Ability) may enter or leave Arvortun by this route.

The last stretch of the road before it arrives at the gatehouse of Penger's Keep passes between a high ridge on the right and a deep gorge on its left. The Murian Wall stands on the far side of the gorge, presenting an impassable bulwark against anyone seeking to enter the city without using either the Keep or Serenporth Citadel.

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8 Arvortun Clay Mine A small clay mine and quarry, the lateral shafts of which delve into the depths of Garwan Tor whose northern slopes graduate into the marine basin of Tanowder Vale. Here water has seeped for so long through the upper layers of silicate bearing stone that huge sedentary seams of clay have formed in the depths of the hillside. The clay forms the basis for the 'cob' (clay and mud mixed with horse-hair or hay) used to construct the majority of Arvortun's buildings.

A rail-track carries carts laden with raw material down to Gwidhak Port where the goods are loaded onto barges and delivered to their destination via the Misty River.

Much of the clay is merely taken across the dock to the brick-making factory on the far side.

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10 Arvortun Port The main dockland serving Arvortun. The vast majority of the city port's waterside businesses, warehouses and boat yards are located here.

The odours of the sea and of the fishing industry fill the air here along with flocks of gull and cormorant whom visitors will encounter strutting on the dockside and swooping low over anyone brave enough to eat in the open.

Trawlers, tugs, barges and small pleasure craft are berthed in the marina while larger ships dock against the immense breakwater wall.

The port is an industrious place, bustling with people and busy with those who ply their trade here. Crowds will be made up of a mixture of different races, the masses overseen by patrolling watchmen and grenadier. At night the port is filled with the heady odours of barbecued fish, ale, pipe smoke and the sounds of merriment and drunken laughter, all coming from dockside pubs.

Like most ports of its kind, Arvortun can be perilous to the unwary. Pickpockets and thieves operate in the crowds, slipping into the city and leaving before even the Thief's Guild can become aware of their presence. Various dark alleyways and avenues between the crowded buildings may be occupied by the homeless or the itinerant and may be dangerous to lone visitors who wander too freely and without due care.

Some of the businesses operating out of the harbour are also less than wholesome and casual visitors or tourists would do well to avoid their premises and the earthy, grim-faced wyrmen who work there.

Podrak Lodge

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11 Podrak Lodge Chapterhouse of the elkenwyr guild known as The Craft. Podrak Lodge is a multi-story thatched building of pitch-painted timbers and white clay. As a house used predominantly by the elkenwyr race, doorways are accordingly high and rooms within are spacious.

Podrak is an ancient site and one of the earliest town-houses built in Arvortun, its architecture of the Cornovish style. Its structure is easily distinguished from the otherwise white stone and clay tile roofs of more modern Arvortun. Above the unusually tall front door is the symbol of the guild (usually woven from wicker, but in this case created with thick bamboo poles).

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12 Merry Mikelbreg The Merry, as it is more commonly known, is a large inn situated in Arvortun Harbour. The inn-sign shows the great squid Mikelbreg assaulting the city from the waters, seven of its eight tentacles crushing ships, smashing buildings and slaying various unfortunate citizens while one limb holds aloft a frothing tankard of stout (itself the size of the average building).

A sign over the front door of the inn reads:

NABUREIN YD RINAN I SEREN IC EVA RA TRUBUT which anyone capable of translating can interpret to mean Sacred Place of Rinan

and Seren, We Who Drink Raise Our Cups To Them.

The inn offers cheap lodging in rudimentary rooms whose small algae-covered windows and gull infested dormers and gables look out over the harbour.

The bar is gloomy but large, its floor covered with sawdust and sand, the wooden structure of the bar nicked and marked by the edges of weapons and the wainscoting walls battered and stained by long abuse. The Merry Mikelbreg is the frequent haunt of local fishermen, dock-workers and the kind of rough-hewn individual found working in the grubby boat yards and warehouse districts nearby. Fights are frequent and usually result from one or another pugilist indulging in too much alcohol.

The Merry has a games room in which a variety of traditional local games can be played. Billiards, Darts, Pin-Bowling and Dice are just some of the games the visitor might join, however there is a strict etiquette in how games are approached and how they are played and locals well versed in house rules

will quickly lose their temper if an outsider disregards these rules.

The local speciality within the Merry is Inksquit, a thick dry stout brewed from roasted barley, though if visitors ever ask locals will always be quick to assure them that the stuff comes ‘d’rectly from Mikelbreg’s arse’ or alternatively is 'a by-product of local clay mining'. This brew is not especially potent but is a thick and pungent beverage, rich to the stomachs of those unused to drinking it in regular quantities.

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13 Rivage & Shore Arvortun's branch of the magickal deposit bank (see System & Setting for more information on Rivage & Shore).

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14 Merchant District A huge central parkland area is the centrepiece of the Merchant District. Most of the buildings surrounding the park are home to various types of merchant or trader and the park itself often plays host to more itinerant forms of seller, from casual peddlers to wagon-stalls selling everything from fabrics to antiques and bric-a-brac.

At the heart of the parkland, at the hub where eight paths converge, stands a tremendous circular hedge within which, accessible by gateways in the hedge, is a great pit some fifty metres wide known as Rorf's Cupboard. Here is a fissure in the earth where soft soil between the strong bedrock upon which the rest of Arvortun is built has been eroded and collapsed inward to reveal a natural atrium.

The sea foams and booms in the depths of the pit where it rushes in through underground culverts. At high tide the waters will be visible and spray will burst upward from the shadowy depths but at low tide there may only be the faintest gurgle of water from somewhere below.

A stone stairway cut out of the sheer walls of the pit coils downward into the gloom and will take the visitor to a large gateway and portcullis situated halfway between the floor of the pit and the top. Through this portcullis is the Chamber of Tunlith wherein stands the great Heartstone of Arvortun. The portcullis is usually guarded by local grenadier who will bar entry to anyone who does not carry an official invitation to view the stone from a high ranking member (Rank 6 Elderman minimum) of the Crewman's Guild.

The heartstone itself stands within a great vaulted cave and is an immense menhir marked with the rune of Arvortun. It glows steadily and seems to pulse in time to the sound of the surf rushing and booming in the

deep of Rorf's Cupboard.

Stores and shops can be found about the edge of the central parkland, crushed between numerous chandlers and provision stockists serving the docklands. These include: AGRIPPA PARACELSUS' ALCHEMICALS AND HERBS A pensary selling potions and medicines along with the ubiquitous bags of ingredients commonly used in potions or medicines.

BEARCLOR'S ARMAMENTS Weapons of all shapes and sizes and catering to all needs. Bearclor does not stock firearms but knows individuals who can acquire such weapons for a hefty price. Such things are illegal in Arvortun so Bearclor will only provide this service to those he knows he can trust, or those recommended to him by someone he knows he can trust.

DERBY AND GROANE MILLINERS Hats, armoured helms and other headgear.

ERRANT PROVISIONS & PROPS A venturer's selling most items the average traveler, adventurer and quester will need to survive in the wilderness beyond civilized lands.

JASPER PRITE'S LITHERY Selling precious metals, crystals, geomantic stones and gemstones.

LORICA HAMATA & CO. TEMPERED CASINGS AND SUITS An armoursmyth selling all manner of locally crafted armour, the majority of which is made in the neighbouring forge.

OLORIN & FLAMBARD'S RUNE SHED A mansic store stocking a mainstay of provisions for the rune-caster including runetools, talismans, artefacts (rare and unusual, though the GM should be wary of including items unlikely to be found in the public domain), enchanted anima, magickal rings, orphic sinks and oberorbs and magickal potions.

SNORI STURLUSSON'S ANVILRY & YNGLINGA'S GROGSHOP Selling alcoholic beverages, usually by the bottle or barrel, and also the ingredients used in brewing.

VERSARCH INAMRA'S HOUSE OF GARB A haberdashery selling garments and stylish leather armours) ARVORTUN

15 Halter Geld, Stallmaster A large premises owned by Halter Geld, stallmaster - one who buys, sells and stables steeds of all shapes and variety. The stables also house a working farrier, an expert in hoof-care who will also heal most horse-

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related ailments, though his knowledge of non-equestrian steeds is likely to be limited.

Not only can steeds of various types (horses and llama mainly, but Halter is always willing to source unusual steeds for a price) be purchased here, but riders who need lodging for their own mounts can stable them here and can expect the highest standard of care for their money.

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16 Statue of Nimrosbane This tremendous bronze statue was erected in 1500AD by devotees to the Mariner's Shrine (an Elvian sect revering the spirits of Rinan and Seren) as a symbol of their rebellion against the then Grand Duke of Verdandi, Gorm Gwelenbryal. Nimrosbane, the spirit of rebellion, is depicted as a muscular norwyr with a great bushy beard of pine fir. At his side stands a ferocious carving of his wolf familiar, Fendweller. Nimrosbane leans on a hefty warhammer which itself rests atop the shield of the Gwelenbryal family. In his other hand he holds aloft a great ship. At the time of the statue's creation the war hammer's position represented the strength of the Mariner's Shrine to refuse ducal decrees and the ship represented Seren and Rinan, invoking both the sea and those who sail upon its waters.

After the assault by Mikelbreg those responsible for the statue were almost entirely wiped out. The Chersyan family were quick to suppress all seeds of further rebellion against the Grand Duke and a plaque in the base of the statue now reads:

Nimrosbane, spirit of righteous reform This statue was erected in 1500ad to honour reformation of the Mariner's Shrine of Arvortun and the founding of the Crewman's Guild of Arvortun.

That we may remember with respect all brave souls lost to the mercy of the sea.

Few inhabitants of Arvortun in the modern era know the true story behind the statue, though anyone belonging to the Crewman's Guild can access the information freely by reading through the many historical ledgers kept by the guild. In logs penned by the original priests of the shrine the crafting and purpose of the statue is clearly written.

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17 Mansion of the Red Shield A local business magnate, Amshell Redshield, dwells here in a large mansion in the northwestern corner of Arvortun with his expansive family. The grounds of the estate are patrolled by private bodyguards and the family possess not only their own harbour but their own two mast clipper and

a variety of smaller boats.

Amshell himself is an elderly but powerful figure in charge of a sizable mafia operation whose business is intertwined with various legitimate corporations and with the Assassin and Thief's guilds. Amshell is ruthless and shrewd, dedicated to his family and to his business empire. He owns outright the clay mine and warehouse interests of Gwidhak Port which he runs as an apparently legal front for his various underworld operations.

In appearance Amshell is startling. His entire lower jaw is missing, lost in a violent confrontation with a rival gang during his youth. In its place is a leather chin strapped to his head and connected at either side of his jaw by a strange mechanical steam-gizmo.

This moves the leather jaw and allows Amshell to speak and eat in the normal way. At the ripe age of 95, Amshell can no longer walk and spends his life in a contraption much like an over-sized wheelchair, pushed around by a variety of goons and family members. The boiler powering his steam-jaw resides in the body of the chair somewhere behind the seat.

The Redshields are known to have numerous financial ties with the city of Stratum in Skytor and have imported many wyrlung Steam-Smyths and other engineering experts from that city to work on projects within Arvortun. The nature of these projects are unknown.

The Redshield family have one delegate within the Houses of Parlance who represents their interests within the city politic.

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18 the Arvortian Houses of Parlance The current seat of Arvortun's local government. Here various elected city delegates (or as they are known, Administrators) from city guilds, wards, institutions and corporate structures, along with the local Conteth (himself loyal first and foremost to the needs of the Chersyan family and called the Lord Administrator) meet and discuss the way the city is run. A head of house, known as the Prime Administrator of the Common Wyrman, is elected from among the delegates as lead speaker and while he possesses no real powers to make policy will preside over meetings and acts as the final word in disputes. The current Prime Administrator is Trebor Walpole, an officious but wily politician who currently presides in his sixth year at the head of government.

The Houses of Parlance are open to members of the public who may attend the regular meetings of government, observing affairs as they unfold in the 'Speaking Chamber' from a public gallery or mezzanine surrounding the room. Questions, complaints and issues can be raised by the public, but must be

addressed to the Prime Administrator who will then put the matter before the assembled delegates. The resulting talks are generally heated and often end with no resolution.

Typically matters are put to a vote and the majority ruling is then applied as a solution or an answer.

This system of authority has proven to be a highly effective way of getting things done, but the constitution of the system is forever under threat by partisan factions. Inevitably major issues arise and delegates group themselves together, either to pursue some common agenda or to support working partners. Such splits have, in the past, given rise to party systems, but these are usually so fractious and fraught with corruption that they dissolve before they can gain momentum.

The presence of bully tactics is also common, with less experienced delegates coming under heavy-handed pressure by seasoned veterans of the House to vote one way or another. In these respects the Houses of Parlance are flawed, but they are now an embedded part of Arvortian life and their triumphs seem to outweigh their imperfections, thus far at least.

Occasionally a meeting will be attended either by an envoy of the Grand Duke or by the Grand Duke himself and issues pertaining to Arvortun's place within the greater realm of the Angle can then be discussed. Public attendance at such meetings tends to rise sharply and access to the public galleries may prove harder than usual.

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19 Casino The garishly converted structure now houses the Arvortun Casino. Herein are a variety of typical casino games where patrons can gamble their wealth under

licensed and lawful conditions.

Wealth is converted at the front desk of the casino in return for chips (1 Wealth per 1 chip) and these must be used as a wagering token.

If the player retains or increases his chips during the course of his visit he then cashes them in before he leaves, paying a cashier's charge of 1 Wealth per 10 chips cashed when he does so.

Entry into the casino is free but security is heavy handed and anyone causing trouble, suspected of cheating or clearing up at any one game will find themselves ejected onto the street.

See The Overmaster's Companion for a list of typical casino games and suggested rules for gambling.

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20 Chapel Tor The strange and eerie island whose shallow slopes rise from the waters of the River Serth.

In the middle of the low hill known as Chapel Tor stands an ancient ruin (marked on maps and known to locals simply as The Chapel).

Within the ruin stands a great circular slab of granite whose surface is so flat and which is so obviously out of place in the loam and marshland terrain typical of the rest of the island that it is widely believed to be some kind of table or foundation stone. Its name is Garrack Zan which translates in old Cornovish as The Table.

Nobody lives on Chapel Tor or visits often as access from Arvortun is both difficult and, once the island is reached, perilous. The body of the island is surrounded by a deep fringe of jagged slate whose sharp and shattered prominences stab through the lapping waters of the river like grey fangs. Anyone wishing to get to the island proper must moor a boat shy of the rocks and then clamber over the murderous crags, taking great care not to slip and impale themselves.

The Arvortian Houses of Parlance (south wing)

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View from Chapel Tor, looking north to Arvortun across the River Serth

Locals claim that lights are sometimes seen on Chapel Tor, dipping and bobbing between the high walls surrounding the Garrack Zan. The superstitious believe the island is haunted, while others suggest the table stands over caves leading to myrman enclaves.

Anyone who manages to cross the slate border and investigate the Garrack Zan will find that the table is marked with strange symbols unlike any known runes and that the centre of the slab is blackened as though by fire.

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21 the Smokey Porthole A strange inn constructed in part from the foundations of a restored building and in part from the salvaged prow of a large ship which has been embedded into the clay brickwork of the overall structure. The front door of the inn stands beneath the figurehead of the ship, a buxom wyr-woman who likely depicts the spirit of Rinan. Inside the building the bar is built on several levels, with the forecastle of the original ship somehow incorporated as an upper mezzanine and stairways almost certainly salvaged from the same vessel connecting the various floors.

A wide bar serves the inn at the rear of the ground floor while great oak tables and smaller wooden booths provide plenty of places for patrons to seat themselves and share a drink. The walls and plank-covered floors of the bar are ornamented with endless maritime and naval decorations, from fishing

nets to cannon, cleats and rigging to mummified lobsters and sextants, while the arched ceiling of the building (which overarches all the various mezzanine and balcony levels) is painted a deep shade of blue and spattered with an accurate star-map of Yarnia's night sky.

The Smoky Porthole is an inn of higher standing than the Merry Mikelbreg and attracts a more sophisticated class of drinker, though it also entertains its fair share of itinerant and transient characters whose behaviour is, at best, unpredictable. Overall, visitors to the inn will enjoy a safe, clean and atmospheric experience which may even include, on certain nights of the week, entertainment in the form of theatre groups, musical bands and jesters.

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22 City of the Dead A vast Wythian cemetery housing the dead and buried of Arvortun and of many other provinces as well. The site is officially known as Clay Hill Necropolis, but this name is rarely used in favour of the more common and doom-laden title, City of the Dead.

A Wythian temple stands at the northwestern end of the graveyard and beyond this a gothic lych-gate leading to a small harbour on the river Serth. The graveyard itself houses many crypts and tombs and is a place widely feared by the people of Arvortun as a domain belonging to and haunted by the dead.

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A road leads out of the necropolis and into the northern wastes of Coalpit Heath but this road eventually narrows to little more than a trail and vanishes long before it meets the north/south road connecting Tanowder with the Heath. Nevertheless, the cemetery is easily found by crossing Droordyr Bridge and following the river Serth into the west.

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23 Stourbrick Tower A mighty watch-tower upon the battlements of which can be found a tremendous sundial forged from iron. It is said the dial is an artefact made by Mot Elyeth himself and given to the wyrmen before even the Age of Hammerfall.

The tower is a sacred site maintained and cared for by the Weavers of Arvor Cathedral and the priests who dwell therein. For this reason are the Weavers of Arvortun widely known as the Dial-Keepers of the West.

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24 Arvor Cathedral One of the largest and most spectacular of the Wythian temples within the Angle. Arvor Cathedral is built upon the foundation stones of a former structure which was revealed to the Chersya family when the ice about the base of Garwan Tor thawed and Arvortun was

thereafter founded.

The nature of the original structure is unknown, but ancient scriptures and paintings may be found elsewhere in the world that suggest some form of ziggurat or pyramid, built by the Oak Lords, if not by Mot Elyeth himself.

The foundation stone is still visible about the footings of the new cathedral whose cob and clay brick construction is fairly dwarfed by the great granite monolith at its base. Rumours abound that the stone covers access into sublevels beneath the cathedral. Such ancient chambers and tunnels may reveal the kinds of secrets and priceless artefacts as were once uncovered beneath Ylyntor Hill. But the great slab cannot be breached and is protected by numerous lawful covenants preventing excavation or damage to the stone, covenants designed to both conserve the sanctity of the place and to dissuade treasure hunters.

All Weavers and Wythians are welcome within the walls of the cathedral, but only the Dial-Keepers of the West, whose dedication to the heritage of the site grants them special privelege, may claim to operate within the cathedral on an official capacity. Only the Head Weaver is considered to hold higher status than those who work therein.

Most ducal weddings, weddings between nobility, state funerals and other profound ceremonial events within the Angle will take place at Arvor Cathedral, though the DialKeepers are always keen to accept donations from well-wishers and the site has been known, in the past, to give special dispensation to wealthy donors when it comes to weddings and funeral rites.

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25 City Gild House Chapterhouse of the Thief's Guild, the City Gild House is marked only by what will appear to the untrained eye to be an inn-sign hanging above a large metal studded door.

The sign bears no name but shows the symbol of the Thief's Gild (a blindfolded four-armed wyrman seated on a horned throne, three of his hands clutching a beggar's bowl, a fiery sword and a coin pouch respectively, while the fourth displays the horned symbol of the Oak Lords).

to be noticed by anyone that isn't actively searching for it.

The Gild (as the Thief's Guild is commonly known) operates in Arvortun with greater liberty than in any other Anglian city and its members have grown quite ingenious in the methods they employ to relieve those who fail to acquire an exemption certificate from their wealth and their goods (see System & Setting or the Overmaster's Companion for more details on exemption certificates).

Methods utilized almost always involve gangs of thieves rather than individuals operating alone, spoils shared out equally between members of the gang. The methods are well known to local authorities and will be immediately recognizable if the mark makes an official complaint. The first question watchmen or grenadiers will ask is 'have you purchased an exemption certificate?' They will then be obliged to make motions toward investigating the 'crime' but in fact will drop the matter as soon as the victim walks away. Common traps may include any of the following: THE SUICIDE The 'mark' is identified by thieves working together. One or more thieves will stand gazing up at something high above the road, pointing and talking to one another as though mystified. When the 'mark' also looks up to see what all the commotion is about he will see a third individual (also a thief) standing on a window ledge, threatening to jump. Typically this kind of trap will draw the interest of other citizens and visitors to the city who will either take a genuine interest in the welfare of the 'jumper' or know the trick and have stopped to watch for their own amusement. Other citizens, aware of the trick but uninterested, may seem strangely indifferent as they file past the crowd, apparently ignoring the suicidal man and his threat to jump.

While the mark is distracted another thief will ease into position behind him and pick his pockets/bags. Player characters targeted in this way will require an opposed AA Place in the Cosmos (to detect the taking of items) dice check vs the thief's AA Sneak Active Ability, the roll made in secret by the GM. Thieves chosen for the role of pickpocket are generally talented in their field. The GM should roll a random ability value using d8+12.

Anyone wishing to gain ingress to the Gild will need to knock on the door which is, in fact, an immovable barrier that cannot be opened. A square peephole will open in the 'door' and the visitor will be required to identify themselves. All chapterhouses keep routinely updated member lists and, provided the visitor has left at least a month between joining and visiting a Gild House to which he has never been before his name will be known.

If the mark is attempting to intervene in the suicide attempt by talking down the jumper or offering some other kind of requiring a dice check the GM should impose one Difficulty Dice on the AA Place in the Cosmos dice check. Players should be allowed to go through the motions of making any dice check aimed at helping the jumper even though the result of such checks will make no difference to the outcome.

Once identified, members enter the premises by a small reinforced door at the rear of the building, hidden in an alleyway and unlikely

The pickpocket will take items from hip satchels, baldrics, shoulder bags and belts first. He may also lift items from backpack

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straps but only if these items are lighter than 10k. In addition the mark will lose 5d20 carried Wealth (if the roll value exceeds his carried Wealth he loses all Wealth).

Once the pickpocket has performed his task he will give the other thieves a surreptitious signal and the pantomime will wind down.

The suicidal jumper will appear to have second thoughts and the crowd will gradually disperse. The mark should be allowed one AA Spot Secrets dice check at this point, noticing a few knowing looks and grins from people in the crowd as they leave the scene if he succeeds the check. The thieves themselves will make themselves scarce very quickly, aware that time is of the essence in any exit plan, the time when the mark is most likely to realize he has been targeted.

THE RING SLIP This trap will only be employed if the mark is known to be wearing rings worth the thief's time and effort.

A man appears to be performing the timehonoured three half-walnuts and a pea trick to a gathering crowd in a busy street, offering a Wealth reward to anyone able to find the pea. Most people who agree to try will appear to fail but one or two (also thieves and in on the trap) will succeed and walk away with a small prize.

The mark will be picked out as he approaches (indeed, the whole set up was hastily erected as soon as the mark was seen heading for this location). If he refuses to take the bait the thieves will simply try a different tactic. If he agrees to try (no doubt aware of the trickery involved and insistent on some kind of proof that the pea is not being moved or taken away) he will be surprised to find that every time he plays, he seems to win. The prize each time is 1 Wealth.

After the mark has won five times in a row the thief will appear perplexed and will seem to examine the walnut shells as though something has gone terribly wrong. He will explain that he must leave as he has an important prior appointment and will shake the hand of the mark, offering his congratulations on having been beaten by someone who 'clearly knows a thing or two about magick'. He will thereafter fold up his stall and vanish into some nearby alleyway.

Only later will the mark realize that all his rings were stolen when the thief shook his hand. The lenient GM may allow the thief to take only one or a few rings and careful note should be taken of the hand the thief shakes.

Typically most thieves will go for the right hand as this will feel natural to the majority of marks while left handed individuals will be used to the jarring sensation of somebody shaking them by the wrong hand.

The GM should not offer the player an opportunity to decide whether he shakes the thief's hand or not. Such actions are compulsive when the attention is drawn elsewhere and only if the player has vocalized

goods and wealth taken using the mine salting trap. They will often use one of various Thief's Guild offices set up for this kind of nefarious purpose where they will request an advance fee for their services and will also offer to sell an exemption certificate to protect the mark from further robberies. The certificate will prove to be a fake and, once paid, the 'solicitors' will disappear.

The selling of fake exemption certificates is outlawed by the in-house rules of the Thief's Guild and members who include this aspect in their sting will likely be penalized. This may be the only come-back the targeted mark has once he realizes he has been robbed.

his intention not to be touched in any way by the thief should the GM allow an opposed AA Read Person dice check vs the thief's AA Opacity (a random Active Ability value should be rolled for this purpose using d8+12).

SALTING Often performed by lone thieves and referred to as 'salting the mine'. The thief approaches the mark and claims to be looking for willing shareholders in the founding of a mine. The thief will happily give the mark a map leading to a cave somewhere either in the Garwan Hills or Coalpit Heath. In the cave the mark will discover an exposed rock face glittering with gold ore. The thief will claim he needs 400 Wealth to establish the mine properly from which the investor will receive a return of 1,600 Wealth and probably more if further seams can be uncovered. Crucially the thief will admit that he wishes to set up the mine without revealing his intentions to local authorities in the Houses of Parlance. He intends to reap tax-free rewards and wishes to give his investors the highest possible return for their part.

Once the thief is paid he will vanish. The gold ore is fool's gold - nuggets of naturally occurring iron pyrite. The cave is used regularly and well known to all members of the Thief's Guild. Marks who subsequently take their complaint to the local authorities will be asked why they were willing to engage in fraudulent tax-evasion and may even find themselves reported to the Thief's Guild for trying to establish a tax-evasion scheme outside of guild constraints.

Where thieves operate as a gang in executing this trick, one or more will watch the mark after he has been scammed and will then wait for him to emerge from whatever local authority he approaches with his complaint.

They will introduce themselves as a local solicitor who specialize in retrieving stolen

THE FIDDLE GAME A shabbily dressed stranger (the first thief in the trick) approaches the mark and points to a fairly innocuous and probably cheap item about their person. The stranger claims the item is an object of great worth and cannot believe the mark is walking around with it in plain view. The stranger offers to buy the item but doesn't have his purse with him. As a local man he will happily go to his house and retrieve his purse in order to pay. The price offered should be 1000 Wealth and will typically be offered for something the mark suspects is worth a lot less than this. The lack of obvious down-side for the mark may, however, tempt him to go along with the sting.

The stranger will make the mark promise he won't sell to anyone else and as a deposit and proof that he intends to return he will leave the mark his fiddle - a splendid looking musical instrument and his only apparent possession. The mark must agree to remain somewhere until the stranger can return.

The second thief then approaches the mark at a later point and passes a compliment about the fiddle. He will claim the fiddle is extremely rare and will offer 2000 Wealth for it. Like the first thief, he will claim he has left his own purse behind and will happily retrieve it if the mark will stay where he is and wait for his return.

When the first thief returns he will claim, alas, that he does not have the money after all as the secret stash he thought he had put away somewhere was discovered by his wife and is gone. All he now has is the fiddle, which he will now offer in return for the object.

The mark will either return the fiddle and decline, his honesty his reward in this instance, or he will accept, believing he can make a sizable profit once the second thief returns to buy the fiddle.

The fiddle, of course, is worthless and even as a musical instrument is worse than useless. The Thief's Guild produces the fiddles in bulk for a handful of coins and sells them to its members ten at a time. The second thief will never return to buy the fiddle and both will get away with the item handed over by the mark.

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ARVORTUN

26 City Courthouse Where those accused of committing crimes will be tried and condemned (or exonerated).

Crime in Arvortun usually falls under the jurisdiction of either the Thief's Guild or the Assassin's Guild, both institutional systems regulating the behaviour of their members and keeping the level of crime within Arvortun under control.

From time to time, however, perpetrators of crime falling outside authority covered by the two guilds will require trial. In addition, the courthouse serves as the central magistrate for most of the Angle, with law-breakers from all over the unified counties tried and condemned to nearby Tornyth Prison.

ARVORTUN

27 Watch House Headquarters of the City Watch which began life as a night-watch and town crier service but which has grown to become a police force of considerable strength and influence.

The watch were once closer to the heart of the city but a steep rise in undesirables based in the nearby town of Drawn on the far shore of the Misty River has necessitated a greater police presence in the north of Arvortun. This new headquarters allows the watch to operate across the city while maintaining a guard on the southern side of the bridge.

ARVORTUN

28 Ragworm Docks Out of this dirty dockland area whose harbour is permanently grounded by a rising hump of mud-flats, operates Scarabaeus Goods in Value, an ambiguous business owned by the Redshield family and a likely front for numerous rackets and criminal interests.

Black barges chunter around the docklands, their motors driven by steam-powered boilers, ragged chimney stacks churning out great clouds of black smoke and soot. The barges are moored at the end of hefty stone causeways linking the crumbled stone of the dock proper with the edge of the sea. The mudflats themselves are treacherous as quicksand and exist both at low and high tide (though they grow and shrink accordingly).

Anyone stepping off (or deliberately pushed/thrown off) the causeways and into the mud will find themselves sinking rapidly.

Casual visitors are not welcome at Ragworm and anyone hanging around the district for too long will draw the attention of lurking goons whose job it is to ensure the 'local

businesses can work at optimum efficiency'.

The watch and local militia are likely paid off by the Redshield family and the local Conteth will be given plenty of perks to keep him and the Chersya nobility on side.

ARVORTUN

29 Militia Headquarters The local militia are a long standing tradition within Arvortun and were formed and bolstered during a variety of city-wide catastrophes, beginning with the attack by Mikelbreg the squid in 1503AD and including several fires, threats of civil unrest and impositions enforced by administrators in the Houses of Parlance.

strangers alike. Ale flows like water and at closing time the cobbled street outside will likely be the scene of at least one fight.

Prostitutes are common on Gravy Boat Street, along with peddlers and hawkers selling cheap tobacco, hallucinogenic mushrooms and meats of dubious origin. When the watch or grenadier make their regular patrols these characters will seem to melt away, reappearing only when the coast is clear.

Pubs on Gravy Boat include The Tender Helm, The Wherry Trow, The Duke and Dray, The Cockleshell Pit and the Mop Fair Taphouse.

ARVORTUN

31 Sewage Treatment Dam

In essence, the militia is deemed to be an army of the people, assembled by the people and charged with protection of the general population from external and domestic threats. The militia is not beholden to the Chersya family in the same way as the grenadiers and owe no allegiance to the local Conteth nor to the political powers of Arvortun. Their wages come from a unique value added tax imposed on trade between vendors within the city and administrated by the City & Merchants Guild (one of several guilds who fund the militia).

The dam is owned by the Arvortian government who lease its use to the Folderol Agricultural Slurry and Manure business (see location 5).

In times of civil unrest the militia and not the watch, nor the grenadiers, are deemed to take control of the streets. Curfews are imposed by them and any required duties they perform are done at the behest of the people and not the powers that be. To prevent corruption and partisan bias, the militia are unrepresented in the Houses of Parlance, a stipulation of the funding guilds.

At all times of the day and night workers from the Slurry Yard further west along the river pick their way over the grim heap, sifting and shoveling through the muck in search of recyclables. What they find is loaded into vats on dedicated barges then sailed downriver to Folderol's Slurry Yard. Here it is turned into saleable products including manure, grease, lamp fuel, paper pulp and even scrap metal.

In theory the militia have power enough to remove the administrators of the Houses of Parlance and demand a complete overhaul of government. In practice, however, they would need to consider those allies of the politicians they would seek to depose and the strength of the ruling Chersya family, represented by the local Conteth and his grenadiers along with power mongers like the Redshield family.

Regardless of such considerations, the balance of power seems to work and the presence of the militia within Arvortun is considered a vital part of city machinery.

Where the elbow of the Serth turns south the banks of the river are spanned by a water treatment plant and dam. Whatever sewage doesn't naturally deposit itself on Folder's Bank is sluiced out of the water here and captured by hydraulic sumps into underground septic tanks which gradually release the resulting ooze through subterranean soak-aways. The semi-purified water of the river is then released to flow west into the sea.

Raw sewage dumped into the river Serth from Dunkunom flows downstream and collects naturally in the crook of the river where it bends sharply to the south. Here a great heap of grease, slurry and foul-smelling, flyinfested ooze collects and solidifies gradually, forming what locals have come to call 'Folder's Bank' - both a sewage heap and a source of endless wealth for Lester Folderol.

ARVORTUN

30 Gravy Boat Street A terrace of narrow pubs, inns, fish-mongers and pie shops crushed together and serving the many sailors, tradesmen and dockyard workers of Arvortun's main port.

Pubs here tend to be of a similar ilk, dark and cramped places where smoke-filled rooms are filled with the raucous laughter, singing and the drunken merriment of locals and

CARNUNTUN The most ancient city in Ereth, Carnuntun (Town Beneath the Mountain) was constructed in the Epic Age by the original race of wyrmen under the instruction of the Oak Lord Mot Elyeth.

During the Age of Hammer Fall the city was abandoned, the exodus of wyrmen fleeing into the north and the fortress known as the Arkhold. Carnuntun fell beneath the great

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glaciers and ice of the Winter of Discontent and was, for nine thousand years, buried from the sight and minds of its architects.

Not until the year 160 in the Age of Thaw did wyrmen return to the southern coast of the land now known as the Angle, there to rediscover the coastal valley of Gondaras and the ruins of the ancient city. The noble Olgalloseks, fleeing tyranny from the Jarldoms of Old Cornoval, gazed in awe upon the looming cliffs of the Immortal Wall and the ziggurat terraces, the first eyes to behold Carnuntun since the falling of the world.

The immense foundation stones and structure of Carnuntun remained much as ever it had been in days of old, but the smothering ice had ground away all detail and those buildings crowning the city were eroded into ruin. The Olgalloseks worked the stone and toiled to return Carnuntun to its former glory.

And there they made their permanent home.

Today Carnuntun is a southern cult centre for the Erther cult and a druidic version of the Wythian cult whose adherents are the Loric Mages, the Wyrthies, Shamancers, Wood Sylf, ethenan, elkenwyr and sowyrmen of the region.

The original people of Carnuntun revered the world they inhabited above all other things, glorifying the wonders of Yarnian flora, fauna, geology and nature above even the names of the Oak Lords or the Elvian pantheon. To the Ancient Carnun the leaf and tree held greater sanctity than those spiritual patrons who represented leaf or tree; while the conservation of animal life was of far greater importance than any supplication to ethereal avatars in whose image the animal was personified. Wyrmen, the Carnuns believed, were caretakers within the world, charged by those who made them - the arcane Oak Lords - with the task of preserving the fragile beauty of Yarnia and protecting its unique essence from harm. Personal ambition, desires for power, control over fellow wyrmen, industrial growth at the cost of ecological purity, individual gratification and greed were believed to be anathema to the mission they claimed to be their own. Any evil whose own mission was to destroy, sully and use the world to their own ends was an enemy of the people and an enemy of Yarnia.

Today these beliefs are diluted by the insidious encroachment of modern ideologies.

The general populace have, in some ways, lost their way, for though they are closer to the original doctrines of Wythydruth founder of the Wythian cult - than the northern Weavers and the Tablemen of the Mountain, they depart ever further from the original philosophies of their ancestors. Only certain creeds (the Loric Mage, Wood Sylf, Wyrthy and Shamancer, for example) remain true to and strive to uphold the original ethos of the Carnuns.

Carnuntun is today a prosperous city of miners and metal-workers. Tariyorn Forge in the northwest corner of the city is the largest

foundry and smelting plant in the world, its output exported to all parts of Ereth. Similarly, Chippingstone Mine - whose entrance adit is visible as a great vertical gash in the face of the Ulyan Hills from all parts of the city - is the largest mining venture in existence. Here, deep delving stopes and shafts bored to unimaginable depths must be measured in terms of miles rather than feet, while the cobweb of lateral tunnels and aisles are burrowed so far that they connect, in places, with natural caves beneath the Sailing Hills.

The city appears today much as it did nine thousand years ago, a mighty ziggurat whose walls and spires stand upon the tremendous plateau of the Immortal Wall. Some believe the plateau (named Mullock Tor in history books and ancient maps) is the waste soil from Chippingstone Mine, the sheer scope of the cliffs indicating the unguessable quantities of earth excavated in the mine's original creation.

CARNUNTUN

1 Carnvale Citadel Access to the Westrein bridge is blocked by the mighty portcullis of Carnvale Citadel, a closed gate that bars access onto the Westrein Bridge crossing Carnun Canyon.

Beyond the citadel the Cattamite falls thunder into the depths of the canyon, a fine white spray rising as banks of water vapour across the immense gap, obscuring the far side of the bridge, rendering the walls of the mighty city as a ghostly silhouette.

Sowyr or elken sentries will meet anyone approaching the citadel and, in times of peace, the custom is to greet any visitor with friendly tones and request some information about their name, business and intentions, all

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of which is logged in a ledger kept under lock and key within the citadel chambers. In previous eras, during times of unrest and mistrust between the Anglian counties, visitors approaching Carnvale would also find their cult or guild affiliations coming under scrutiny. Strangers entering via Carnvale are also routinely searched, the contents of packs and other baggage checked for firearms, objects of a suspiciously Craven or Anarchaic nature and weapons generally. Certain items may be confiscated for retrieval when the individual leaves the city, while those of an obviously illegal nature will be seized and retained. Anyone found to be attempting to enter Carnuntun with firearms or particularly heavy and vicious weaponry will likely be arrested and incarcerated temporarily in the citadel until such time as an officer of higher rank can interview them on their intentions.

Anyone crossing the Westrein bridge out of

Carnuntun will draw no attention from guards, the portcullis rising to grant them free passage into the lands beyond.

Any character with the Do You Know Who I Am? or Name Drop Active Abilities may attempt to use these to gain access without being searched or giving personal information, incurring no Difficulty Dice if they come originally from the Angle, Dd1 if they hail from Mortun Pandi and Dd2 if they hail from any other land.

Any character of wicked ethos incurs Dd4 when attempting to use either Active Ability irrespective of their place of origin.

CARNUNTUN

2 North Gatehouse & Wall The northern wall is a monolithic structure blocking the main pass into the plateau upon which Carnuntun stands. The wall looms fifty feet high and is furnished with a block work parapet plus nine granite towers positioned to overlook the road running from Coalpit into Ulyan. Arrow loops in the towers gaze out upon the road and afford soldiers stationed within a clear line of sight against any enemy approaching from the east or west.

Sentries at the two gatehouses at either end of the wall are less diligent than those at Carnvale Citadel and any traveler approaching along the north road is far more likely to be allowed entry without much fuss.

Only in times of emergency (when enemies are known to be abroad in the area) will the door be closed and guards less willing to let just anyone through. At night the gates are closed to keep out wolves, packs of which are known to be highly active in the Ulyan region.

CARNUNTUN

3 Rinacorona This, the eastern district of Carnuntun, is a considerable and almost entirely residential circular ward protected by its own curtain wall. Rinacorona stands on a much higher plateau than the western part of the city and can be accessed via two gates set in the north wall. One leads to the

easternmost of the towers guarding the northern wall and the other connects with the entrance of Chippingstone Mine.

A wide marble stairway leads down from the western end of Rinacorona's central east/west thoroughfare, connecting this ward with the lower aspect of the city.

The houses of this district are constructed in blocks crammed closely together and arranged in narrow geometric patterns.

Windows are small and unglazed, covered by reed or wooden shutters, while rooftops are uniformly flat, their surface graduated and rounded at the edges to encourage water runoff in specific directions. Various channels and gutters carved into the stonework of upper storeys redirect rain water into communal cisterns where the collected water is then carried via narrow aqueducts into the western part of the city.

Rinacorona (Crown of Rain) acts as both a city ward and an ingenious water collection system for the western half of the city, the aqueducts connecting with steep downpipes from the higher ward into the lower, the resulting gravitational force then provides high water pressure.

The water needs of Rinacorona itself are served by a natural spring (Rinan's Froth) that bubbles up through a well in the hub of the ward.

CARNUNTUN

4 Chippingstone Mine A huge natural cave mouth opens into the belly of the Ulyan Hills and here in the aperture of the caves is the Chippingstone Mine Adit Chamber - or as it is more commonly and most famously known, The Ydrum Geyhydd Underet (Chamber of Secrets Underground... the word secrets in this instance, geyhydd, can also be interpreted as 'that which is happily concealed' and so another translation of the name used is The Chamber Guarded by Burial Underground.

This latter version is most often utilized in Anglian seats of learning where scholars believe the term is a more accurate definition.

North Gatehouse & Wall (exterior)

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It is believed that the secrets of the chamber were deliberately buried to keep them safe, then unearthed when the Olgalloseks discovered Carnuntun).

The roof of the cavern, which arches some four hundred feet overhead, is supported by statuesque pillars of natural stalactite and stalagmite formations, each pillar has been carved to resemble one of the twelve Oak Lords of the original Council of Twelve, each statue holding aloft their own portion of the ceiling.

Twelve archways lead into twelve different mines on either side of the cavern, each mine worked by miners from both Carnuntun and Pelgallo and disgorging a wide range of minerals, mundane or precious metals, and gemstone.

Out of the mouths of these twelve archways come rail tracks which merge in the middle of the cave floor like strands of tangled twine, winding one about the other through a series of points so that all twelve tracks eventually join one main thoroughfare into and out of the cavern entrance. This in turn leads to the ore-chambers of Carnuntun and the mighty Tariyorn Forge.

Tiny runic script covers the cave walls and roof, chipped into the stone with painstaking accuracy so that the eye may struggle at first to interpret what it sees. The story of the Oaken Myths, of the histories of the wyrmen and of the chronicles of the nine thousand years and all that has since come to pass in the land of Ereth, are here etched in intricate detail upon every available surface.

To read the story entire, the visitor must climb the spiraling steps of the Apotheostair where a series of gantries, precarious hanging platforms and bridges will take the visitor to the Majusculae, or starting point. From here he must clamber along wyr-made scaffold, stairways and tunnels, squirreling in and out of walls, up and down ladders of stone and across gaping drops to the floor below using balance and skill to keep from falling.

To read all that is written requires many years of dedicated work, during which most readers will experience some kind of tumble, with a certain percentage perishing as a result of their injuries. To read the entire yarn is therefore deemed to be a courageous undertaking of dedicated holy work and will earn those who make the attempt great respect from members of the Erther cult.

Those who have read the yarn may thereafter opt to undertake an examination in the city of Carnuntun. The exam tests their knowledge of the story and asks intricate questions only those knowledgeable in the details of the yarn could possibly attempt to answer. Anyone who subsequently passes this exam gains the official title of Dayman (wise man) of Carnuntun and thereafter may enter the city freely by any gate. Daymen are exalted citizens and pay no taxes or city duty to the authorities of the Olgallosek or Gostyth

CARNUNTUN

Reading the Yarn Players who wish to attempt to read the yarn in the Chamber of Secrets Underground must first find lodgings in nearby Carnuntun or Pelgallo and will need to fund their attempt to the tune of at least 2000 Wealth per year. This will cover the bare minimum food requirements, will pay for cheap board and lodging and any of life's necessities which the player character may need.

The player must set aside a number of years (12 months per year) equal to 25 minus his AA Swift value.

The makes one passive AA Climb and one passive AA Acrobatics dice check. If the combined instances of (1) are equal to or more than the length of time in years the character takes to read the yarn he achieves the attempt without suffering a fall. If the combined instances of (1) give a value less than the time in years the character suffers a fall in the year equal to that combined value. For example, if the reading takes 6 years and the player rolls 4 instances of (1) the character suffers a fall in the fourth year.

Life-Force damage is equal to 3d20 but the player may opt to make a Spirit roll before he rolls damage dice and if the Spirit roll succeeds he incurs only 1d20 Life-Force damage. Each instance of zero rolled on damage dice equates to a Severe Wound.

At the end of the attempt, if the character survives he gains a number of floating Skill Dice equal to his CC Mind value which he may then distribute between AA Learn, AA Orphic Knowledge, AA General Knowledge and AA Read/Write/Speak Language as required.

If the player also wishes to achieve the title of Day-Man of Carnuntun he will need to sit the exam, requiring a passive AA Learn dice check with Dd2 incurred.

Any character who successfully completes the reading of the yarn and becomes a Dayman and who is also a member of the Erther Cult immediately increases their maximum allowable Cult Allegiance by 1d4 points and then raises their Cult Allegiance to this value. Characters belonging to The Craft are promoted by one Rank. counties. Moreover the Dayman will drink, eat and lodge for free in any of the city's taverns and inns at any time, this privilege extending for the rest of his life.

CARNUNTUN

5 Low Hame So named because it stands on a lower plateau to the higher ward of Rinacorona, some scholars believe Low Hame is an addition to the original Carnuntun as it was in the time of Mot Elyeth and that Rinacorona is the true and original Carnuntun.

Much evidence exists to refute this belief, such as the familiar ziggurat construction of the lower city with its rising levels and labyrinth interior based around geometric designs. The same architecture can be seen in the original mansion of Mot - the ziggurat of Yseldyr, and in other ancient structures such as the zigurrat of Tarantel and the city of Aluvia, both constructed in the time of the gods.

a close atmosphere in which anyone out of the ordinary will be of immediate interest.

The short sowyrmen and southern women favour the interior of the city where they live in huge numbers, unseen but happy in their element and close to the spirit of Eret whom they venerate. The women are handsome and welcoming while the men are less forthcoming but happy to share a smoke or a mug of steaming coffee, even with strangers, quietly measuring the cut of any guest to whom they offer hospitality without any obvious outward signs of judgment. Those who measure up will find the sowyr make for excellent friends, loyal to the bone but with a tendency to see the world beyond their own subterranean lair through cynical eyes.

By contrast, the tall and statuesque elkenwyr prefer the outside regions of the city, dwelling in the visible structures and mansions whose bulk form a kind of stone shell over the surface of the hidden metropolis beneath.

Much of Carnuntun exists within the terraced plateaus of the visible outer city whose monolithic buildings and towers act as portals into the different and various vaults below.

Both elken and sowyr cultures are matriarchal in nature, with the female being dominant in any partnership and usually the provider of food and shelter. The male, by contrast, will invariably work in one of the many nearby mines, or in one of the supporting forges and smelting works.

A stranger to the city will quickly become confused and lost in the endless hallways, corridors and spiraling passages known as the Deeping Lanes, whose intersecting lengths bustle with activity and the voices of the merry folk who live there.

The smells and sights of a thriving culture fill

Males rarely leave the city, while females may be conspicuous by their absence and are far more likely to be encountered in surrounding wilderness or Dwarro Woods far to the east, hunting food and sourcing the herbs, plants and fungi used by Carnuntun's many Shamancers and Medicine Men.

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6 Ramp into Low Hame Visitors entering through the northern gatehouse will enter the lower city via a stone ramp which, as it descends gradually into the city, overlooks on its eastern side the great Tariyorn Forge and on its western the awesome spectacle of Cattamite Falls.

Few can pass such a place without pausing to lean on the parapet in order to gaze for a time at the incredible scene below. For here, on the one hand, is the largest waterfall in the known world - a cataract so vast even the mightiest wyrman will hesitate and consider their own fragility in its presence - and on the other the largest smelting forge and orebinding foundry known to the wyrmen.

Tariyorn, perhaps, upstages even the natural wonder of the falls. For here are marvels made by the hands either of ancient wyrmen newly born to the world or Mot Elyeth himself (and most wyrmen can only believe the latter when they lay eyes upon the forge). Immense mechanical bellows rise and fall with a sound akin to a Naderfell breathing in the deeps of its lair, the mechanism powered by the rotation of the Chiming Wheel - a gigantic paddle-wheel to bemuse even the most seasoned wyrlung. The wheel is turned by the thunderous power of the Cattamites and tolls repeatedly and without end as the vast iron buckets attached to each paddle drop their thousand gallon loads into the furnace temperature of the works below.

With each exhalation the bellows fuel the belly of the forge and the molten core glows like the heart of the sun, a fabulous heat rising in waves to roast the air about the ramp, tempered by cooling plumes of cold mist rising from the falls. Immense crucibles turn on a conveyor whose iron chain links are each the size of a boulder and whose rattle echoes in the deep like the clamour of a thousand hammers on a thousand anvils. And around the smelting pits the sowyrmen, busy in their element, scurry to and fro, surrounded on all sides by rivers of molten fire and the soot of industry.

CARNUNTUN

7 Woods of Arnelvia Woods nestled about the curving curtain wall of the lower city, the trees of Arnelvia grow to the very brink of the Immortal Wall where the ground falls away into the valley of Gondaras.

The woods are tame, the proximity of the city and the bustle of its population driving away all but the least timid animals who might dwell there. Foxes, badgers and rats are common, but otherwise the woods are more akin to a great city park than a wilderness region.

CARNUNTUN

8 Stella Rotunda A wide, high tower of glistening white believed to be made of Gorzonite, a type of stone seen elsewhere only in the architecture of Verdandi on the far side of the Sailing Hills.

The tower is a perfect cylinder and stands eighty feet tall, with entry gained via twelve high archways arranged about its base.

Within the tower the visitor may glance upward to see that the roof is open to the sky but criss-crossed by a complex grid of thin rafters which, at a glance, may look like some kind of enormous cobweb. At different times of the year certain stars in the night sky will be seen to travel along the line of one of the rafters so perfectly and without deviation that scholars have concluded the tower must have been constructed in order to mark the passage of these stars.

The precise reason why this might be remains elusive, though Stellamancers believe the tower charts the passage of key vessels upon the Oily Sea; that where these vessels meet at intersecting points in the grid some significant event will unfold upon Yarnia.

Reverse charting has shown that when the Hammer of Merrlith fell the stars were present at every junction in the grid, an event which stellamancers have determined will not recur for another 9000 years.

The prophecy of the Stella Rotunda is a piece of folklore most visitors to Carnuntun will encounter if they engage locals in conversation. The prophecy varies but runs along a similar theme; that in 9000 years time (the countdown starting from the end of the Age of Hammer Fall and, therefore, year zero of the Age of Thaw) some terrible cataclysm will visit itself upon the world. Variations on this theme may claim Seth Elgan will return to Yarnia upon the significant date, or that the Oak Lords will emerge from the Web of Wyrd and manifest once again within the entopic plane. In short, the nature of the prophecy is mutable, while the timeline remains fixed.

In the middle of the floor of the tower is a smaller structure which serves as a gatehouse into levels below where the governing matriarchs of Carnuntun meet and determine city policy.

into Gondaras Valley. At certain points the track becomes so steep it turns into a stairway, stones carved from the face of the cliff hacked out to serve as steps. Female elken favour this road as an access route to Gondaras, relishing the challenge and the danger it presents.

CARNUNTUN

10 South Gate A circular barbican with two portcullis, one at opposite sides of the circular walls. Wide battlements overlook the interior road allowing archers to arrange themselves en-masse and fire down on any invader trapped below.

The strategic design of the gate reflects the perilous nature of the land to the south of Carnuntun where the ground drops steeply into Gondaras. Here wolves and bears are common, wandering in from Dwarro and settling in the lush greenery and deep undergrowth of the valley. Such threats are considered minor when compared with the dangers of Fell monstrosities which occasionally filter through from Mortun Pandi. Most common of these is the Aumon, a solitary but hate-filled creature known, from time to time, to assault the walls of Carnuntun. Thankfully the Aumon cannot tolerate any company, even that of their own breed, and therefore rarely attack in numbers.

Most approaching threats will be lured in through the main gate and trapped within

the barbican, there to be dealt with by archers.

CARNUNTUN

11 the Elken Lodge The Craft was originally an exclusively elkenwyr organization dedicated to furthering the skills and doctrines of the grass-roots Erther cult. In 1499 the Craft was forced by The Guild Decree of the unified counties to abandon its previous status as a sect of the Erther cult and became a guild instead. The Elken Lodge was the Craft's first base within Ereth and is now the guild statehouse.

Today The Craft has expanded into Wythian culture and chapterhouses can be found in Arvortun and Verdandi along with small training lodges in most of the southern Anglian rural regions.

The Craft now allows membership to any race, provided the applicant belongs to either Erther or the Wythian cults (minimum Cult Allegiance of 5) and casts the Runes of Oak. Despite this widening of the guild’s demographic, The Craft remains a largely elkenwyr guild and some of the older training courses are still only available to elkenwyr members at a higher level.

The Elken Lodge serves as both a guild house and a temple wherein worshippers of the Erther cult can gather and pay reverence in shrines carved from stones deemed to be sacrosanct by cult leaders.

CARNUNTUN

9 Road to Gondaras This cobbled road exits the lower city of Carnuntun and picks a route down through the Immortal Wall and into Gondaras.

The cobbles end a few hundred yards from the city border, the rest of the road to the coast becoming little more than a track which becomes treacherous as it descends steeply The Idol of Womad (the Terrace of Mened-Mallion)

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CARNUNTUN

CARNUNTUN

12 Terrace of Mened-Mallion

14 Temple of Mot

A huge crescent shaped terrace midway between the lower and upper tiers of Low Hame. Here stands the colossus of Womad and upon the ground the Stellaepheme, a vast and intricate geometric pattern consisting of circles and intersecting lines whose centrepiece is a sun-dial at Womad's feet.

An immense stairway climbs from the terrace up to the Temple of Mot, while sweeping roads of sublimely polished stone connect to the lower levels of Low Hame and the southern gate respectively. Aqueducts deliver water from Rinacorona to east and western points of the terrace. Here the liquid cascades into two curving channels that follow the outermost contour of Mened-Mallion. These converge and turn south, passing between the feet of the Idol then extending out as a high and gradually sloping aqueduct over the lower ward of Low Hame. At its southernmost extremity the aqueduct connects with shallow canals at the edge of the city.

CARNUNTUN

13 Idol of Womad A colossus depicting the ancient Elvian spirit Womad. The hulking body is humanoid, with the bare torso of a massively muscular wyrman grasping a shield (the shield of reflected glory, Hellion, from whose parabolic surface all vitality is said to shine as the rays of the sun). The head is that of an enormous and majestic stag, great velvet covered antlers soaring outwards and upwards from either side, their span almost as wide as the statue is tall.

The entire statue, over three hundred feet in height, stands upon the Terrace of Mened Mallion before the great stairway leading to the Temple of Mot. Here it gazes skyward, arms outstretched, antlers levelled toward the points on the horizon where the sun rises and sets respectively. The vast bulk of the statue, soaring above the lower levels of the city, forms the centre point of a tremendous sundial, the face of which is marked upon the ground, the statue positioned at dead centre.

The statue's feet are planted either side of a stone chute through which water flows from higher parts of the city before pouring south along a high aqueduct to canals in the lowermost portion of Low Hame.

Upon the side of the channel where it stands directly beneath Womad's looming bulk a plaque informs the observer:

So sayeth Womad to Mot as both gazed upon their sacred reflections within the pool; "steady is the reflection, though that which reflects doth ebb and flow to unknown fate."

A spectacular palace of white stone, crystal and black marble believed by historians to have originally served as a home to Mot Elyeth and his wife Vanyir Num whenever the two Oak Lords visited the city. The temple, now a Wythian centre of worship and a place of pilgrimage for the Wythians of the Angle and the norwyr of Listholm, stands at the top of a terrific stairway whose steps number exactly 1728. At the top of the stairway, surrounded by pillars and sheltered beneath an arching roof stands a limestone statue showing Mot Elyeth seated upon the back of the mighty god of horses, Nader Roselvia.

Beyond this front porch is a building divided into three floors connected by grand sweeping stairways. The highest of these floors is a cupola of glittering crystal beneath whose semi-transparent roof a miniature town of structures has grown in a linear fashion. These buildings, arrayed about the edges of a huge mezzanine, are home to the Olgallosek Council of Twelve, a matriarchal government charged with the welfare of the city. The original Olgallosek clan have died out, but the family name prevails in title, the current duchess of Carnuntun being the elkenwyr Ophelia Odinim Olgallosek whose great grandmother Orsina Odinim was gifted dominion of the region of Gondaras by the last of the Olgallosek line in return for a lifetime of unfailing service.

The council live communally and convene each day, along with their immediate clans of official ministers, in a specially designated courtyard called the Park of Caucus. Here, matters of state and politics are discussed and the needs of the city and its people considered.

There are no males within the council, though low-level administrators and dogsbodies are sometimes male and may, from time to time, be seen among the officials of each council member's clan.

Politics in Carnuntun tend to be straightforward, earthy and pragmatic at the uppermost level where the matriarchs meet and dictate policy. Debates are typically decided by majority vote or by violence, the matriarchs engaging in unarmed combat and physical acts of dominance where vocal arguments fail to persuade. Combat is nonlethal and invariably takes the form of wrestling, the subdued combatant deemed automatically to concede to the winner's posit.

At lower tiers of power a certain Machiavellian thinking enters the system, sometimes leading to a dilution or misinterpretation of the council's diktats. The council have long established that the more males involved in these lesser tiers of power the greater the degree of cunning, power play and posturing and the more likely their policies will be subverted to serve some underling's personal agenda, thus the matriarchs discourage

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employment of males within government for all but the most menial of tasks.

The central chambers of the building house both Erther and Wythian shrines, though the Wythian shrines are of a lesser number and tend to be relegated to the more unimpressive recesses of the temple. Erther shrines are numerous, situated in the prominent alcoves where the most ancient oracle stones of the city's longest standing families will be publicly displayed.

In the lowermost storey, accessible by a long spiral staircase coiling down into depths beneath all other levels of the city, stands the Heartstone of Carnuntun - the Tabernoracle one of the most arcane of the city soul-stones, being more eldritch in years and more recondite in its profundity than any the Heartstone of any other Erethian municipality.

CARNUNTUN

15 Banquet Halls of Dunbragh A place once used, perhaps, as some grand hall for regal and divine ceremonial events, the stone edifice of the Banquet Hall is now a communal public centre serving a variety of purposes. Dunbragh means, Black Brach, a type of enormous hound associated with the Oak Lords of myth and an age long passed.

It is therefore possible that these halls were used to kennel the dogs of Oak Lord masters in times long passed, though there is no definitive proof beyond extrapolation that this should be the case. Local folklore suggests the modern descendant of the Black Brach is the Ulyan Wolf, a type of black wolf indigenous to the Ulyan hills, images of which can be found in a frieze covering the walls of the main plaza.

Whatever its original purpose, Dunbragh now serves only the people who dwell within the modern incarnation of the city. Under its roof can be found sprawling indoor markets, shrines, bazaars, games pits, banquet centres, eateries and watering holes (the Carnuntun equivalent of the tavern). Visitors can find lodging of all styles, generous bed chambers with balconies furnished with heavy balustrades gazing out over the spectacle of the Cattamite Falls. Local foods, drinks and other delectations can all be sampled here, the endless and mouthwatering odours of a thousand dishes teasing the nostrils and tempting the appetite.

All festivals and ceremonial events take place in the main central plaza, a vast rectangular courtyard under an arcing roof whose entire western wall is an open portico overlooking the Carnun Canyon. Here stand statues of the Materchief Lychorida Olgallosek, founder of the new city as it came to be in the Age of Thaw, and Zeuselra Num, immortal, husband to Merriday, father of Amon Elyeth and one time king of the city of Carnuntun.

DUNKUNOM City Beneath the Dark Cloud, Dunkunom stands beneath a permanent pall of grey pollution whose source is the many candlethin chimney stacks rising from a thousand towering houses crushed together in long terraced rows and the great factory smokestacks whose looming bulk dominate the skyline of the city.

The streets are wide, but dark and possessing of an industrial geometry with each district locked carefully around its neighbour.

Washing lines span the heights and upon these perch the black raven so common to the city that they now feature on the Chersyan coat of arms. Houses are small and crushed together in long terraces. Roads are well paved and clean of sewage (Dunkunom possesses a working sewer), well lit during the night by rows of gas-fuelled street lamps. The children found tumbling and scrapping on these streets are grubby and the people earthy in their speech and their ways, yet they possess a certain dignity which is difficult to define but impossible to ignore.

Architecture favours a mixture of brick and pig-iron. Interiors are designed to maximize

space and exteriors are formed of simple red brickwork and iron struts, with claustraphobic alleys snaking between the endless rows of houses and factories.

Dunkunom has grown tremendously over the past one hundred years, but is restricted by expansion treaties with neighbouring counties from ballooning into Tanowder, Garwan, Ulyan and Coalpit Heath. Few new roads are created to accommodate the growth and instead the burgeoning population is simply crushed into the existing infrastructure. The result is an overcrowded and highly polluted city in the deep throes of an industrial revolution.

Dunkunians (as they are known) are an ashen fleshed but proud people who rely more on food and water than any other regional population in the Angle, their sunlight restricted year round by the constant presence of factory smog. They are self-assured, fond of tending to their own small corner of the city and fastidiously neat.

Dunkunom is most famous for its hydraulic power systems and here it bears a striking resemblance to other progressive cities like Stratum or Santun Morvagh. Most of the city systems originate at the Rinansarm Dam where water is funneled into ever decreasing culverts and iron pipes to produce a pressurized flow which is then delivered into the city via main pipes. These mains provide water on tap for every residence in the city,

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operates the cistern based wash-house mechanisms used routinely in every home, while also flushing the subterranean sewer out into the River Serth (see also Arvortun, location 31).

The main export of the city is metal goods (armour, helms, shields, weapons etc) shipped out to merchants not only in the Angle but Santun Morvagh, Skyssa and even Listholm in the far north via local haulage companies and then through the docks of Arvortun.

Garments, furniture, ceramics and textiles are a secondary export, followed by mundane items which are mass produced and shipped out all over Ereth.

Recently a resurgence in ceramics has brought fresh wealth into the city with the discovery of flint-based pottery. Several flint mills have been erected on the edge of the river Serth as a result. The flint is mined in the south of the county and then crushed by the mills to create a fine white powder used to achieve a cheap porcelain. Thus have white porcelain plates, jugs, urns and decorative ornaments been replacing the older and more earthy brown and grey clay objects of previous production lines. This introduction of white pottery has also attracted artistic talent to the city, the modern line of Dunkunian Porcelain, finely painted and glazed, is fast becoming some of the most collectable ornaments in Ereth.

Folkball Unique to Dunkunom (but gaining popularity elsewhere), folkball is a sport played by local citizens of different districts and on a Saturday (the only day the factories close their gates and workers are allowed a day of rest) most Dunkunians will file to one of the city's three stadiums to watch their home team play against a different district.

Folkball is played on a triangular pitch between three teams, each team defending a 'gaol' in one of the three corners of the triangle. Here a ball covered in bright feathers sporting the colours of an opposing team is held or 'imprisoned'. A gaol-keeper for each side is tasked with keeping the opposing teams' balls imprisoned, while the rest of the team must either help the gaol-keeper defend his gaol, liberate their team's ball from an opposing team's gaol (then place it in a designated box in their team corner) or attempt to prevent a captured ball from being delivered to its team corner, where it is thereafter deemed to be safe.

Balls can be propelled with feet, hands, head or a stick called a scrimmage which all team members possess. This stick (traditionally made of thin bamboo) can also be used in a variety of ways against opposing team members, though aggression is restricted by a series of strict rules and where these are broken the referee may apply penalties or give advantages to the aggrieved victim.

Folkball originated as a form of sport in the days when Dunkunom's sole output came in the form of chickens and the products of chickens - namely chicken manure which would be traded with the farms of Bargenham and Elowen.

Balls have replaced chickens, the original criminals contained in each team's nets, and the winning team no longer walk away with the birds they have managed to capture but the accolade of victory and a series of trophy points. The scrimmage staff, once used to herd chickens into their coops at the end of the day, are still used and when rules of the game are broken the perpetrator is still deemed to have committed a fowl.

The city imports a great deal of fuel and in this sense can be considered the powerhouse of Morturth. Vast quantities of coal, metal ore and flint are imported from Carnuntun and Tremenva, while grease, fish-oil and other lubricants are brought in from Arvortun.

From Stenbal the city demands a continual output of precious metals and from the north and west it consumes a large proportion of the fish harvests of the Arvortun and Verdandi fisheries respectively, along with many aquatic by-products including seaweed and chemicals.

From the far north Dunkunom buys up huge quantities of stone, sun-meat and vegetables and from Verdandi it gains subsidies in return for discounts on labour

and military products.

Most of the citizens of Dunkunom are employed in factories or work as wagon hauliers, carrying goods out of the city and into ports like Arvortun or Verdandi. A certain proportion work in the service industry and some will commute into Verdandi where prices are much higher and the standard of living costs a great deal more on a day to day basis.

Factory owners and administrators tend to comprise the upper echelons of society with the aristocracy of the region (Lord Edgar Chersya and his consort the sowyr Contess Raymia Gostyth) dwelling in the impressively grandiose Portstone Castle.

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Visitors who attend the city on a Saturday will witness crowds pouring toward one of the city's three stadiums and will then hear the riotous sounds of the game underway as the crowds chant in support of their local team and jeer at the opposition.

Fights are common in the period after each match and Saturday nights in the city are typically rowdy, the taverns and inns full to bursting point with inebriated fans. Where one fan refuses to fight another it has become customary for the instigator to make chicken sounds and flap their elbows to indicate their target's cowardice and goad him into a response but also to indicate that the fight is required as a matter of honour and is strictly related to folkball.

DUNKUNOM

1 North Ward (Norsia) The vast majority of residential wards are located in this half of the city on the northern side of the river Serth in the district of Norsia (Place of the Northern Populace).

Norsia has its own district council and even its own mayor and is considered to be a separate entity from the southern wards despite being part of the same city. Here the wealthy elite of Dunkunom live; the factory owners, aristocracy, moguls and those who commute north into Verdandi.

DUNKUNOM

2 Norsia Folkball Club Norsia folkball stadium is home to the Norsian Folkball Club (or The Gaffers as they are better known in local vernacular) whose team feathers are white and silver and whose symbol is a white chicken resting atop a silver ammonite while holding (rather grandly) the Rill Blade of Amon in its talons.

Team members and fans come from society's upper echelons and are known for their violent malevolence and tendency to throw their weight around. Many come from outside the city, commuting into and living predominantly in Verdandi and returning to Dunkunom for certain periods in order to take advantage of the cheaper cost of living.

Folkball is, however, a game of three parts and each part knows to keep the game strictly within the boundaries of Saturday entertainment.

DUNKUNOM

3 South Ward (Sergon) Sergon (from Serth Argon, Source of the river Serth) is comprised of a compact district housing the workforce of the city and a manufacturing district where most of the industry of Dunkunom is situated.

As the sun rises each day a grey river of grimfaced wyrmen and women stream out of their houses and down Gammerwash Street toward the factories where the majority populace of Dunkunom ekes out its existence and earns its living. At the end of the working day (7pm on the mark) a wailing horn is blown and the factory floors disgorge their workers to tramp back home. It has become customary (though few know when or how the custom began) for drummers (called tin-panners) to beat a steady tattoo accompanying the workers as they trudge home, the solemn beat thundering from the corner of every street where a tin-panner from the local factory performs the task. Some believe the rythm of

the drum not only keeps the workers marching at a steady pace (preventing the loafing and loitering of after-work trouble makers), but that the background noise distracts them from all thoughts of rebellion and disatisfaction in that crucial period of reflection between work and home.

DUNKUNOM

4 Dunkunom City Folkball Club Stadium home of the Dunkunom City Folkball Club, whose feathers are black and green. Dunkunom City are currently at the top of the folkball league. Fans of DCFC come almost entirely from the common workforce of the city. The symbol of Dunkunom City FC is a black rooster with a green wattle and crest.

DUNKUNOM

5 Manufacturing Ward (Ditaria) Where most of the factories, plants and processing warehouses of Dunkunom are housed. Some factories can be found elsewhere in Dunkunom but most are clustered here in the encircling arms of the Sergon district.

Acidic ash deposits and smog descend from banks of black smoke belched forth from Ditaria's smoke stacks, great billowing clouds that darken the sky and taint every surface with a thin sheen of greaseand soot.

DUNKUNOM

6 The Roving District (Underlith) This district of Dunkunom is considered a town in and of itself. Here the population consists mostly of sowyrmen serving the mines of Tremenva, Stenbal and Coalpit Heath to the west and south. Presently Underlith's driving industry is flint which it provides in bulk to the flint mills and ceramics factories of Ditaria.

DUNKUNOM

7 The Rovers Folkball Club The Underlith Rovers Folkball Club team feathers are yellow and blue and their symbol is a handsome rooster seated atop a compass whose arrow points south. They are currently bottom of the Dunkunian league.

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DUNKUNOM

8 Portstone Currently home to the Viceroy of Dunkunom, Lord Edgar Chersya and Duchess Raymia Gostyth (sister to Shay Lee Gostyth of Pelgallo), Portstone is a sacred fortress standing on the banks of Naderma Lake. The noble family live in the southeastern wing while the western wings are the barracks of Dunkunom's resident grenadier units. The Viceroy is most commonly seen within the city on a Saturday, seated in a private box in the stadium venue of the week supporting his team (Norsia FC).

The keep of Portstone (Vanyarn Keep) located on the circular hill in the east of the castle estate serves as a gateway into the hallowed underdark beneath the Sailing Hills and, eventually, the shrine of Vanyir.

Vanyarn is heavily guarded by a garrison of grenadier permanently stationed here.

Access into the underdark and the shrine is not restricted, however, and pilgrims are welcome at all times. The caves are known to connect with much deeper holes wherein the hated myrmen live in vast numbers, thus so great a force is mustered where the nest's main exit would be.

Myrmen do spill into the Sailing Hills from time to time, but none are foolish enough to come along the main halls into Portstone where they would be slain without mercy by the protectors of the city. Instead, most myrmen who do filter out of the underdark will emerge from small potholes and dens burrowed by animals in the hills.

Because of this the soldiers at Portstone spend much of their time idle and have subsequently become preoccupied with local folkball rivalries. Most of the soldiers barracked at the castle are from elsewhere in the Angle, and yet they have grown to love one or another of the city teams and follow their progress with avid interest. By this unlikely route is interest in folkball being exported to the rest of the country.

DUNKUNOM

9 Burial Grounds of the Wyrsys Here in the north of the city, enclosed within tremendous grey walls of carved stone stands the Wythian burial grounds of the Wyrsys.

Overlooking the vast and bleak field of grey headstones is an enormous statue of Gloose, spirit of the dead, the stone from which he is sculpted seeming also to support the upper floors and balconies of the immense Crypt of Scion where the Angle's Grand Dukes and Duchesses are buried. The features of Gloose (if indeed any have been carved) are hidden

intermittently serve to flush through the city sewer.

The hydro-power of the dam is also tapped by numerous factories and mills, tremendous waterwheels turned at high speed by pressurized jets, powering the bellows in metal forges and grind-stones in flint mills.

The industries of Coalpit Heath and Ulyan also utilize the power of the dam, with pipes and pumps carrying the pressurized flow into the south and the west where the water is used in the mining process. Funds acquired from such industries help to maintain the dam without the necessary imposition of hefty water-rates on Dunkunom's citizens.

The dam causes untold environmental damage within the Sailing Hills. Its presence has been blamed, specifically by the Wyrthies, Shamancers and elken of the south, for the extinction of several natural species of animal life along with the demise of many native flora once found growing on the banks of the river Kun. DUNKUNOM

12 Black Street Coal Furnace Rinansarm Dam

within the deep cowl of his hood and his body is skeletal. Thin tentacles instead of fingers stretch down from the bones of his hands and coil upon the floor about the folds of his robes.

These tentacles are wrapped about to form the walls of a small private garden wherein the tombs of noble families are traditionally housed.

Space within the Wyrsys is limited and the many thousands of graves here tend to mark the resting place of famous or important individuals from history. Here are the tombs of Head Weavers, of officers in the Angle's military, of noted politicians, artists, writers and scholars and of those figures whose influence upon the land has been so positive and profound that their names will ever linger in the memory of the wyrmen.

Only the Grand Duke Kenwythi Gwelenbryal is notable by his absence, for his body lies interred upon the summit of Ylyntor Hill, resting forever in state beneath the shadow of the Rill Blade.

and 13th, and 22nd and 23rd of every month.

Few inhabitants of Dunkunom ever see the Gigaerack as it arrives late in the evening when most workers have quit the manufacturing district for home and leaves after midnight when the exhausted populace are asleep. Only the night-owls of Dunkunom; the stockmen who install and remove payloads onto and out of the Gigaerack, or the drinkers and revelers, crooks and thieves - for whom the night is a lure rather than a chance to rest - are accustomed to seeing the colossal bulk of the creature as it trudges into and out of Cromened.

Everyone else merely feels the rumour of its arrival and departure as the report of every footfall causes the ground to tremble and windows to rattle in their frames.

DUNKUNOM

A dam spans a widening of the river Kun, the strong current of the watercourse as it flows down out of the Sailing Hills funneled into a system of ever-narrowing underground culverts and pipes called Kunat. The resulting hydraulic power provides Dunkunom with pressurized water on-tap for use in sinks, baths, showers and toilets and will

10 Cromened The Gigaerack port of Cromened stands in a large field and here the land-roving Gigaerack arrives and departs on the 2nd and 3rd, 12th

DUNKUNOM

11 Rinansarm Dam

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In this enormous coal furnace coal imported from mines in Coalpit and Ulyan is turned into gas then purified and stored in pressurized storage tanks. The resulting product is then piped to various industrial centres and Dunkunom's many street lamps, providing an alternative to standard fuel lamps or candles.

The use of gas as an alternative to tallow and the more expensive oil allows Dunkunom's factories and streets to thrive after dark where the majority of cities in Ereth are forced to wind down with the setting of the sun. This may be one of the most potent driving forces behind the city's expansive and progressive industrial revolution.

DUNKUNOM

13 the Lundite Lodge Home to the Lundian Society (whose members are commonly referred to as Lundites), a semi-legal guild founded by Daw Lund, a local folk-hero who propounded a return to more traditional methods of goods production, the decommissioning and destruction of the Rinansarm Dam and expulsion from Dunkunom of many of the city's upper class citizens (in whose industrial visions Daw believed Dunkunom was fast becoming a slave state).

A local artisan and Shamancer, Lund was opposed to the expansion of industry and mass-production and saw the replacing of skilled craftsmen by factory labour and

machines as an evil phenomenon. His movement triggered civil unrest and in the riots of 1875 citizens rallied to action by Lund almost razed the entire city to the ground.

Lund was assassinated in 1878 but his followers prevailed and, despite attempts to disband the Lundites, support and further rioting lead the then Grand Duke Pentecost Gwelenbryal III to legalize the society.

Agreements and legal treatise signed by the Lundites in return for legitimate status prevented further insurrection, but the society became embedded and remains a significant influence on the Dunkunian population.

The Lundite Lodge never achieved guild status and cannot fund its activities through membership subscription. It prevails purely on the strength of donations made by its supporters, many of which are high ranking members of Dunkunom's powerful unions.

Where old fashioned values and modern progressivism clash the Lundian Society operates, drawing on the needs of both the industrialist magnates and their union enemies to push forward its own agenda. Few Lundites still believe the industrial revolution can be overturned or dragged back into a previous age, but the society still believes it can be instrumental in slowing the apparently inevitable current of progress. Today it fights for the rights of the average worker and calls for a restitution of forgotten values.

DUNKUNOM

14 Carfax Market Carfax, meaning Place Where the Many Merchants Meet, is a shares market and a fairly new development within the city of Dunkunom. The market was originally a

scrap metal yard and trading point between factory magnates and providers of raw material. It has since evolved to become a place where local (or non-local) businesses can sell shares to members of the public in return for a stake in their business.

In simple terms, investors trade certificates that indicate partial ownership in businesses for a set price. Through these transactions, companies can raise the initial capital necessary for various aspects of operation, and those who buy the certificates become entitled to a portion of the business' assets and earnings if they then choose to sell the certificates on - the hope being that investment will lead to growth and growth will, in turn, lead to profit for the company and its shareholders. The value of the certificates is not static and depends to a large extent on public perception, though ultimately the way the business uses the wealth raised from share sales will determine whether share prices rise or fall (companies who subsequently do well will be more attractive to buyers of shares and their shares will therefore increase in value, while companies who waste the raised capital and betray the trust of their shareholders will see their shares decrease in value).

Most trade takes place in the central courtyard where holders of existing certificates buy and sell from other holders, or from businesses opening themselves to investment.

In recent years an army of administrators known as 'tickermen' have set up shop within the market to sell their expertise in the value of shares to investors and these now easily outnumber members of the public who come to Carfax to trade.

Typically an unproven business can open on the market at 1 Wealth per share, but such

Trading in Shares Any member of the public may trade in shares, thus players may, if they wish, dabble in Carfax Market and attempt to make a profit by investing wisely.

For details on how to purchase and sell shares (an activity players may only engage in within Carfax Market itself) and how to float a business enterprise on the stock market see The Overmaster's Companion. ventures are a high risk and most seasoned share holders will choose instead to invest in proven firms and industries known to be thriving in the economic soup of the city. This inevitably leads to larger businesses making repeated gains in their field while new starts struggle to raise the capital they need to expand.

As a relatively new (and easily exploited) market, Carfax has thus far operated under the radar of local authorities. The Chersyan nobles see nothing of worth in a trading post whose very product is trade itself and many of Dunkunom's older business tycoons see the market as a new-fangled operation, dreamed up by enterprising but ultimately doomed new-starts and entrepreneurs desperate to sell their very souls for the 'next big idea'.

Meanwhile the shrewd traders at Carfax are becoming impressively rich and ever more devious in their tactics, the holdings of more powerful shareholders often determining whether a business lives or dies. Entire swathes of Dunkunom's rich elite now serve no industrial purpose whatsoever beyond funding the innovations and expansion of the city through buying and selling shares.

Carfax Market (the Dunkunom Stock Exchange)

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DUNKUNOM

15 Palace of Menas Lothar An ancient palace carved from the rugged hillside of Carnaby Tor and approached by The Mall, one of the longest and grandest roads in the city. Menas Lothar (from men as eglos thanne, meaning The Historic Hill of Worship) was likely some form of Wythian monastery converted into an outpost of Tornyth by the Chersyas at some point after the Anglian civil war. It was almost certainly the cornerstone from which the rest of Dunkunom grew and may have been in this part of the world long before the Shrine of Vanyir was uncovered and Castle Portstone built around the entrance.

The current resident of the palace is the Accentor (a form of guild-privileged nobility) Tyrol Sulamon, Grand Doyen of the Chieftain's Lodge and former captain of the Dunkunian grenadiers. He dwells here with his wife, the Accentress Abiss Sulamon.

Tyrol has become a reclusive character in his retirement and expends much of his time and effort now tending to the sprawling gardens and courtyards of Menas Lothar.

DUNKUNOM

16 the Sylfurdome A grand opera house and theatre, the Sylfurdrome stands on Portstone Crescent, one of the most exclusive addresses in Dunkunom. Its tremendous portico entranceway is lined with pillars and statues and its great domed roof is plated in silver, gleaming even in the midst of Dunkunom's ceaseless grey smog.

Within the sylfurdome is an immense

hydraulic organ whose keys are arrayed on three tiers in an arc within which the player sits. Above this bank of keys tower mighty pipes filled with pressurized water.

Each key opens a valve, releasing a jet of water from one of the pipes which then strikes one of numerous gongs, strings and percussion surfaces suspended above the contraption. A minstrel's gallery stands above the organ where a conventional orchestra will be situated.

DUNKUNOM

17 Newtun Part of Norsia, but more akin to Sergon in its inhabitants and architecture, Newtun is, as the name (New Town) suggests, a relatively new addition to Dunkunom having appeared some time around the late 1940s. The houses here are little more than ramshackle shacks, sheds and lean-tos crammed together in narrow, unpaved streets, as yet unconnected to the main city sewer and only joined to the main water supply by occasional communal taps situated at the end of the more easily defined roads.

Most of the people who dwell here are immigrants and exiles from elsewhere, the hastily erected lodges - intended to be a temporary shelter while appeals for citizenship were heard by Dunkunom's magistrates - now a permanent home to a people widely regarded as 'the unwashed'.

Newtun is a perpetual bone of contention for the authorities of Dunkunom and those of neighbouring counties. The upper classes of Norsia demand removal of the town, which they classify as an illegitimate ghetto and a threat to the welfare of their wealthy enclave; while the workforce populace of Sergon view 'the unwashed' as a potential threat to jobs and sovereignty (many of the exiles being from non-Wythian lands and bringing with them outlandish religious ideas and cultural

Newtun

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differences). Meanwhile neighbouring counties (particularly those of north and south) are unhappy about the expansion of Dunkunom's city borders into the vital green belt thoroughfare between the lands of the Gwelenbryals and the lands of the southern wyrmen. And yet Newtun remains, its shabby citizens protected by unknown political supporters who overturn every attempt to evict them and demolish their homes.

The reason for this is almost certainly expansionist greed; an underlying and powerful motive force within the city. While Dunkunom is prevented from expanding its own borders under the agreed covenants of inter-county treaties, there are no stipulations outlawing the settling of temporary shelters for exiles, refugees or homeless citizens.

Where shelters are erected by the exiles themselves they fall even further outside the indentures of inter-county agreement; no more a matter for Dunkunom's authorities than the pitched tent of a travelling itinerant.

The desperation of immigrants seeking a life within the city is thus being exploited by renegade factions in local authority to grow Dunkunom into the no-man's land between itself and Arvortun.

That Arvortun is essentially a part of the Chersya estate makes the task of defining this no-man's land all the harder, the indifference of the Houses of Parlance causing frustration among the northern and southern counties.

DUNKUNOM

18 the Dun Stone When the ice thawed about the feet of the Sailing Hills in times of old here was revealed a great fossilized ammonite, the remnant of some unimaginably vast creature whose coiling shell was now immortalized in granite.

In the year 179AD, some years after discovery of the Shrine of Vanyir and construction of Portstone Castle, a town grew about the ammonite and the castle walls. During this year the terminating wall of the ammonite's coiling shell crumbled and collapsed, revealing the immense fossil to be hollow. The people of Dunkunom followed the twisting passage of the shell to its centre where it continued below the ground, a spiraling tunnel, narrowing and descending hundreds of feet before emerging into a vast cavern.

Here stood the Heartstone of Dunkunom - the so-called Dun Stone - and here the then head of the Chersya family learned from the spirit of the stone that the town would become a city and the city a great power within the land.

Today the ammonite stands at the heart of the guild district where most of the city's chapterhouses are based. Grenadier guard the great vaulted entrance into the fossil and gates of iron now bar the way within the hollow shell.

Brume's Closet (front facade showing the clock tower)

DUNKUNOM

19 Fossil Hill Upon the side of this hill, excavated as part of work on the Wyrsys necropolis, can be seen the giant fossil of some ancient arthropod, now petrified in the granite rock face.

The site is maintained for historical interest, though many local superstitions surround the fossil and its origins. Folklore tells of times (usually during the winter months) when the fossil comes alive, clambers down from the hill and sinks into the lake. Other stories tell tales of an ancient race of creatures resembling the fossil, but much smaller, living in tunnels beneath the Sailing Hills. Such stories are almost certainly relating to the Clacker, an animal that bears a striking resemblance to the fossil but which belongs to an entirely modern species of fauna.

DUNKUNOM

20 Brume's Closet One of the city's most infamous inns. Brume is the patron spirit of mist and fog and thus is honoured here, the smog that shrouds the city deemed to be a manifestation of Brume's grace.

The inn is a popular destination for the crowds of Norsia and Sergon and is large enough to house many hundreds of patrons at a time. A split-level bar serves drinkers over several floors while the uppermost storeys are given over to lodging.

On Saturdays Brume's Closet will be packed to the rafters with folkball fans from all parts of the city. Fights are common and a heavy watch presence should be expected.

The clock tower in the centre of the building is the main city clock serving Dunkunom. On a Saturday all city criers congregate beneath the clock and when the bell tolls 2pm they set off toward respective stadiums, ringing their own bells to announce kick-off.

DUNKUNOM

21 the Pickled Egg An earthy 'black country' pub where the working class folk of Sergon drink, particularly before and after folkball fixtures.

The inn sign shows a chicken egg at the heart of an ammonite shell, referring to the city's poultry-keeping past and the great fossil that stands over the chamber of the Dun Stone (see location 18).

Strangers at the Pickled Egg are unusual enough that their arrival will likely draw the attention of locals, the bar falling silent as patrons watch the newcomers for signs they

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might be rival folkball fans. Visitors and tourists from outside the city will generally be welcomed once the pub's usual customers have established them to be non-threatening while fans from Underlith or Norsia will be promptly ejected into the street.

DUNKUNOM

22 Puck's Poultry Farm One of the few remaining farms in Dunkunom, Puck Lodestar's enormous chicken ranch is one of the longest standing businesses within the city and has outlasted almost all the old farming empires of past centuries. The ranch has passed through numerous droughts, the famous gapewyrm infestations of 1722 and many market troughs, surviving to operate in the present day much as it did in the city's early inception.

The ranch is a large ziggurat structure in one corner of a large field filled with free range chickens, roosters, turkeys and ducks. The terraced levels of the building are used to house nurseries and specialized breeding coops while the sprawling Lodestar family dwell within the structure's gloomy interior.

Nobody in Ereth knows more about keeping, raising and living on the produce of chickens than the Lodestars, the last word in all things poultry in a city whose very foundations are bedded in the feathery history of poultry expertise.

DUNKUNOM

23 the Shant A small pub frequented by citizens of Underlith. A shant is a local measurement roughly equal to a pint, the traditional quantity of a single ale pulled at the bar.

The Shant is a quiet and friendly place for locals and visitors alike, though fans of rival folkball teams are likely to be met with a frosty reception and may be asked to leave if they look set to cause trouble.

PELGALLO The city of Pelgallo is home to the Gostyth family whose ancestry can be traced to the first ruling families to come out of Cornoval and establish new homes in the south.

When the family and their followers first arrived in the land now known as Gondaras they were welcomed and sheltered by the Olgallosek of Carnuntun and many descendants of those refugees still dwell within that city. Most, however, moved further north in search of a place where they could establish their own settlement and Pelgallo was that place.

Here the people of the Gostyth clan developed the familial and racial quirks now associated with the sowyrman and, indeed, Pelgallo is inhabited by a majority sowyr culture alongside ethnic enclaves of elkenwyr and common wyrman.

The people of Pelgallo are keen gamesmen, the Erther sowyrmen who live here always keen to practice their positivity and hone the personal battle they wage constantly against their own inner cynic. Pelgallo is, in many ways, a rebel enclave in its refusal to embrace county-wide views on ethics and morality. Gambling is legal within the city, though only those citizens or visitors possessing an Exemption Certificate may indulge. It is generally

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considered bad form to gamble on public games like Chaturanga (see location 3) but acceptable to gamble on private games behind closed doors. Such games will invariably be instigated by the sowyr themselves, with most homes keeping a stock of dice, board games and card decks for the purpose.

Pelgallo was originally a castle built to guard a small town in the shadow of the Ulyan and Sailing Hills from Fell incursions along the Iyfelion Pass (The Place Where Evil Passes).

This wide, meandering valley, formed by the melting glaciers of retreating Merendir, was one of the favoured points of entry into the southwestern tail of Morturth for the monsters of the Gungin Gap. But it also made for an appealing place to settle with its proximity to Lake Sulis and the river Serkis (whose waters are said to contain natural healing properties). Thus the Gostyth settled their town here, barring the way into the Angle and protecting their people from the perils of Iyfelion with one of the most impressive fortresses in Ereth.

Today the town has expanded to become a

small city. A wall shelters the western side and the now extended fortress of Pelgallo stands as an immovable bulwark against incursions from the east.

Fell still filter routinely into Iyfelion and Pelgallo still serves as a vital wall against their attempts to infiltrate the Angle. The noble families of the north and east all pay homage to the essential border guards of Pelgallo and funds to maintain the castle and the city are commonly donated from Verdandi in the form of tax exemption or the waiving of fealty fees.

Pelgallo is also the original home of the Lenadier fighting force whose mounted patrols may be encountered in Iyfelion, the hills bordering Dwarro Woods and sometimes even the Anglian side of Lorel.

All Lenadier who serve in other parts of the nation of the Angle at some point were trained and undertook patrol duties in Pelgallo, thus any Lenadier Creed in the player group will have a sound knowledge of the city and of Iyfelion Pass.

PELGALLO

1 Lake Sulis The Ice-Covered Lake of Souls, as the name

translates, may have been covered with ice when the Gostyth first arrived in the pass of Iyfelion but it has long since thawed and is now a wide, glistening body of crystal water, fed by the River Serkis which winds down out of the Sailing Hills.

The road out of the west passes along the northern shore of Sulis but not before coming through the Pier Wall, a stone bulwark stretching between the Ulyan and Sailing hill ranges. Parts of the wall have crumbled into ruin and travelers visiting the city can easily step through the gaps where stonework has collapsed rather than use the main gate (the gate itself is rarely guarded). The arched gate in the heart of the Pier Wall has stood open for so long now that the hinges are fused with rust and are probably no longer fit for purpose. The wall and its gate were designed in a time when the Gostyth believed they might need to fend off a marching army coming along the western branch of Iyfelion from Sanas Morcorm but no such attack ever took place and no further threat has ever come from that direction.

The waters of Sulis are commonly filled with fresh water Sun-Bream fish and the water itself contains healing properties. Anyone drinking from the lake will recover 1 LifeForce point per day for every day they take a drink, up to but not exceeding their maximum value.

The people of Pelgallo consider the lake to be sacred, its healing magicks derived from the Shrine of Vanyir, a chamber in the underdark beneath the Sailing Hills through which the river Serkis passes as a subterranean stream.

While Pelgallans are happy for visitors to sip the water and heal themselves, they take a dim view of anyone bottling the water to take away, sailing boats upon the lake or swimming in its waters. Indeed, removal of water from Lake Sulis or the river Serkis where it passes through Pelgallo is a crime, punishable by some form of enforced community service within the city, or a hefty fine if the perpetrator can afford to pay.

Torkald Island, at the heart of the lake, is a small grassy hill covered in trees and the occasional ruin. A small and unspoiled idyll, Torkald is considered sacred by the Pelgallans who protect its shores with strictly enforced trespassing laws.

PELGALLO

2 the Pellodrome For many decades the Pellodrome has opened its doors to all-comers and citizens from all over Ereth commonly flock to watch the games unfold.

The Drome - as it is more commonly known has been privately condemned by the current Grand Duke of Verdandi as barbaric and uncivilized while the Tablemen of the Mountain have placed a blanket ban on all Weavers participating (though there is no such ban on Weavers attending as spectators).

Lenadier patrolling in the south of Mortun Pandi routinely herd any Fell monstrosities wandering into Iyfelion Pass into specially adapted dungeons in the western aspect of Castle Pelgallo. Here they are contained and their numbers increased throughout the year until the games begin in early summer.

Entrants are encouraged (for their own safety) to band together into groups, or to attend as teams representing different cities and nations. These teams are then thrust into the Pellodrome, a large rectangular ward of the city completely enclosed by its own fifty foot high curtain wall, filled with abandoned ruins and overlooked by amphitheatre-style seating.

The rules of Pellodrome are simple: Ten Fell breeds (each breed having a random number of combatants) are released into the Drome each day through random portals and teams are tasked with battling whatever monstrosity happens to cross their path.

Teams will traditionally set up a base of operations in one of the ruined structures of the Drome and from there lay ambush to anything wandering by. There are those teams, however, who choose instead to patrol the Drome and while this tactic is more dangerous such teams do invariably pin down the greater number of points.

After seven days teams are awarded points for the number of Soul Stones harvested and deducted points for debilitating injuries or deaths incurred. PvP (player vs player) combat is banned and any aggression shown between teams results in automatic expulsion

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from the Drome. Entrants are only allowed to target the Fell breeds in their midst and acquire points only if they secure Soul Stones and submit these stones at the end of the seven day period.

From the multi-tiered battlements and seating of the surrounding wall spectators will gather for the full seven days, wagering on the outcome and cheering on their favourite teams. Odds can change over the course of the week, but bets placed will be honoured based on the odds given when the wager was laid down and not the final odds when the Drome games reach an end.

The Lenadier are rarely selective about the Fell they catch and sometimes inexperienced teams will find themselves facing an impossible enemy. In such cases, when defeat looks inevitable, archers on the wall might attempt to weaken the Fell attacker with arrows. Inevitably there have been moments of horror, a massacre taking place before the Fell can be brought down. Such deaths have drawn to the event a great deal of negative criticism and the ire of both the Tablemen and the Grand Duke.

The Pellodrome is a natural draw for gangs of Catharxis who, armed with slave oberorbs, will record the more visceral aspects of combat between entrants and Fell enemies. These orbs are freely available to purchase in Pelgallo's central market and switch hands on a regular basis, the borderline Necrostatic nature of the orbs accepted only because they depict the slaying of Fell breeds for sport and not for the express purpose of entertaining ergos. Such orbs are officially classified as Broadstat Thrillers, though orbs depicting the brutal deaths of teams faced with insurmountable enemies are also rumoured to be circulating on the black market (see System & Setting, the Catharxis Creed for more details).

PELGALLO

3 Main City The main city follows a repeating circular design, influenced heavily by the architecture of Carnuntun but constructed on a single flat plain (as compared with Carnuntun's more archaic ziggurat layout).

A large central park serves all outer lying districts from the hub of the circular design.

Here is a permanent market and trade centre, along with a public courtyard where locals traditionally meet to drink mead and play games of Chaturanga, a war-game played on a hexagonal shaped hex-grid of dual coloured squares. Pieces are usually carved from ivory or limestone, though sowyr will typically possess their own set at home carved from gemstones or molded in gold. Chaturanga games are usually in progress at all times of the day, the playing sets carved into stone plinths which are numerous enough for up to forty games to play out simultaneously.

PELGALLO

4 Pelgallo Castle Home to the noble sowyr Gostyth family, ruled by Duke Feldspar Gostyth and his wife, the Duchess Shay Lee. Their four sons and three daughters dwell in the castle with them, along with an army of servants and men-at-arms.

The family wing of the castle can be found in the central section of the southern keep, while the eastern wing houses the Lenadier company whose barracks are stationed here permanently. A training courtyard between the northern and southern sections of the castle is used exclusively for the training of Lenadier.

The western wing houses the Pellodrome event. Here are dungeons housing all manner of entrapped Fell monsters, training pits, guard rooms and chambers used by competitors waiting to enter the game.

Numerous portcullis and access doors open into the Drome itself (see location 2).

On the northern aspect of the castle structure stands the Flintbreak Wall, a sheer bulwark formed of granite blocks contained in spiked iron cages piled twenty feet thick at their densest and seventy feet at their highest. The western side of the Flintbreak harbours the gaming arena of the Pellodrome while the eastern side contains

the Lenadier training grounds. A crescent wall connects the two, a broken gravel path leading to a surprisingly small and narrow door in the dead centre of the wall. This is the only access point into and out of Pelgallo from Iyfelion Pass without scaling either the Flintbreak or the sheer walls of the pass.

Hooked barbs jutting from the enormous iron spikes containing the Flintbreak blocks, along with a chaotic tangle of razor wire prevents climbers using the cage structures to climb the wall. Along the ridge of the hills to the west great spars of splintered wood and shattered slate act as a deterrent, at least to larger invading creatures.

Iron pylons jut down and out from the parapet of Flintbreak while a system of extended scaffold creates an irregular fretwork, preventing ladders or grappling hooks from landing on the battlements themselves. These defenses can also be found surrounding the inner walls of the Pellodrome.

Any visitor approaching the city from Iyfelion with the intention of gaining access to the Angle will instead need to find the beginning of the heavily patrolled western road across the Sailing Hills. The door into Flintbreak opens only to returning soldiers or to expected noble visitors accompanied by a military escort. Those who enter or leave must do so in single file, the door and the crescent of the central Flintbreak acting as a deliberate funnel to prevent mass ingress by an invading army.

PELGALLO

5 Cathedral of Eret Here stands the Cathedral of Eret, a colossal monolith, seemingly carved out of one impossibly vast slab of stone, lovingly crafted by the original settlers of Pelgallo, its ornate architecture and ornamentation visible from most points in the city.

At the centre of the cathedral, resplendent upon a plinth of sublimely carved and polished white marble stands the tremendous Heartstone of Pelgallo.

From the same marble great sculptures of the original Gostyth founders of the city surround the stone on all sides, gazing with serene admiration at the angled facets of the stone. Scenes depict the struggles they and their people faced during their time in Drood-Cynncarn and thereafter as they sailed into the southern ice floes and settled Iyfelion Pass.

The stone was unearthed at the centre of a hill that once stood where the Cathedral now stands. The hill was excavated and the stone surrounding the Heartstone carved to form the cathedral. For this reason does the stone stand aloft upon its plinth where the majority of other city Heartstones are typically found buried deep in the soil beneath the municipality they represent.

Statehouse of Secrets Underground (The Delver's Guild Headquarters)

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PELGALLO

6 Statehouse of Secrets Underground Most well known of the various headquarters for the Delver's Guild, the Statehouse of Secrets Underground is considered the base of operations for all Dungeon Master creeds in Ereth.

In the underdark beneath the statehouse there exists a great cavern wherein a stone lodge dedicated to the guild has been hewn from the rock itself and here is the guild house used by members of rank 4 or above.

Access to the interior of the underground guild house is via a great stone door which can only be opened using command words which change daily and are given to each rank 4 or higher member who collects it at the above-ground statehouse. Beyond guarded chambers and trapped tunnels is an extensive museum containing incredible artefacts from Erethian history and blueprints to traps not available to Dungeon Masters of lesser rank.

These trap designs are listed in The Overmaster's Companion, the GM's companion volume accompanying the Wyrd series and will bolster the Dungeon Master creed's existing list of trap build options.

traveler rises out of the east they will first see the statue of Eret standing where the road levels out and thereafter will spot the rooftops and spires of the city beyond.

PELGALLO

9 Statue of Eret Looming on a jutting spar of rock which itself towers above the winding road approaching Pelgallo from the south, stands a statue of Eret, spirit of the Deeping Earth.

The statue is roughly hewn, a stone giant, forty feet tall hoisting a boulder above his head which he seems about to hurl down upon the road. A plinth set in the wall next to the road and directly beneath the statue warns visitors:

"In light of day or dark of night, the Lord of Deeping Earth suffers not the enemies of Pelgallo to pass this way."

LANDMARKS The notable landmarks and named places of the Angle, covering the unified counties from the southern edge of Wodoak to the eastern border of the Albion Wall and the southern edge of the Fynereth Canal.

Albion Wall Constructed by the heirs of Kenwythi, the Albion Wall was created to keep the Fell enemies and the Morvanians out of the Angle in a time when both were believed to be a threat to the Wythian way of life.

Today the Albion Wall remains much as it has always been, looming over Bargenham and the town of Breetun, its Gorzonite stone still as snowy white as the day each block was laid, though the mortar between has long since

PELGALLO

7 Dunrin Citadel Statehouse of the Slayer's Guild. An imposing black tower rising from a moat of oil which, itself, is surrounded by a high brick wall. An arched stone bridge spans the moat but is blocked on the road-side by a heavy iron gate.

The gate is guarded at all times and only members of the guild will be allowed access into the tower (see page 286 of System & Setting).

Dunrin stands as a stark reminder to all who dwell in Pelgallo that the city resides outside the recognized social and cultural ethics of the rest of the Angle.

PELGALLO

8 the Southern Road A winding road cut into the side of a steep ridge on the southern side of Pelgallo. The city stands above the road atop the sheer wall flanking the ridge while a gradual but potentially dangerous drop falls away on the other side.

The road is crumbled at its edge and treacherous for vehicles or visitors approaching in any great number. As the the Farmlands of Bargenham

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Breetun

crumbled away.

An old watchtower called Scion Keep stands between two spurs of the Albion Wall just to the east of Jesterton. This is an abandoned ruin, no longer used to watch the barren plains of Lorel and sealed up to prevent the inquisitive or vagrant from gaining entry.

Amdarn Hill A high hill overlooking Mortun Pandi in the east. Castle Levena, home to the Gwelenbryal family, and Elek Fort, a small stone fortification at Amdarn's southernmost point, both command a clear view of any enemies approaching the border.

Bargenham Bargenham is an industrious and historical region of small holdings and farms nestling against the northeastern shoulder of the Sailing Hills.

The fields here are used to supply the Anglian counties with some of its seasonal harvest while orchards to the west of the fields provide a variety of native fruits, including Sunny Smyth apples, used typically in seasonal cider.

The renewable woodland of the Burning Woods is used to provide the many districts of Angle with firewood. Timber for construction or repairs is alternatively sourced from the Lumbering Jacks of Trestun Mill on the southern coast of Sanas Morcorm.

Along the eastern fringe of Bargenham runs the towering Albion Wall, a colossal gorzonite wall visible from as far away as Elowen. The wall keeps the evils of Mortun Pandi's wild lands at bay.

The people of Bargenham, personified best in the characteristics of those who live in the town of Breetun, are a sunny and friendly

country folk, early to rise and early to bed, hard worn from their toil and devoted to the Wythian faith. As inhabitants of the front line regions they are also hardy and stalwart, fearing very little and philosophical about the terrible dangers lurking just a mile or so beyond the barrier of the Albion.

Breetun Hill Town. Breetun is so called not because of any affiliation with nearby Ylyntor, nor because of its proximity to the Sailing Hills, but because it stands upon the edge of the Saddle Ridge, a spine of high cliffs running from the southern tail of Amdarn down to the mouth of Iyfelion Pass, the drop hidden from those who dwell within or visit Breetun by the overshadowing mass of the Albion Wall.

Breetun is a small settlement and a close knit community of farmers living alongside orchard workers, brewers and earthy manual workers serving the region of Bargenham and the city of Verdandi.

A pleasant place to visit and an oft welcome refuge in the midst of Ereth’s chaotic lands, Breetun's ruddy faced locals are always keen to treat visitors to coffee and mead, to share folklore and to hear news from beyond the borders of the Angle.

Here are quaint cobbled streets upon which run pony and traps, old maids ambling merrily along in traditional dress, and leather clad mongers plying their wares outside the doors of their workshops. The Weavers are frequent visitors, greeted like heroes whenever they show their faces, the people of Breetun being devout in their faith, devoted to the Tablemen of the Mountain and rustic in their approach to anything 'untoward'.

The Halig Plough is a tavern worth visiting

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where Bargens (as the people of Bargenham are known in the Angle) engage in card and dice games while demolishing copious quantities of Honey Mead and Tanowder Moonshine. In the summer season when the sun blazes down and the Bergens drag their tables and stools outside the Halig, SunCider is served; a quite disgusting golden brew fermented from seasonal Sunny-Smyth apples. One or two mugs of Sun-Cider are usually enough to knock the average wyrman on his back, though most who are unacquainted with the taste will fail to make it past the first mouthful.

From time to time, Fell breeds entering the Angle via the mouth of Iyfelion Pass wander into the Sailing Hills, evading the watchful gaze of patrolling Grenadiers and stumbling out of the hills and into the south of Bargenham. Such events occur perhaps once or twice a year and when they do they are dealt with swiftly enough by local militia or grenadier units.

Most of the more senior locals will recall the events of 1927, known as the year of the anointment of Prentice Gwelenbryal as Grand Duke of the Angle and also the year of the ‘three hags of Bargenham’. The old soaks who frequent the Halig Plough will happily recount the tale in return for a suncider or two.

The alarm was raised at sunset one fateful night in that year. A young farm hand rushed into the Halig Plough to warn that Fell beasts had been seen in the Sailing Hills, witch-hags heading for Bargenham. While one group of militia set off on horseback for Verdandi to muster the Grenadiers, a second group, their courage fuelled by Honey Mead and Sun Cider, set off with pitchforks and lanterns in search of the threat.

A foul coven of Irgin crone had, by this time, found their way into Bargenham by way of the western Sailing Hills and were making their way along the main road into Breetun, even as the mob were leaving the road and heading into the depths of the hills. The crones fell upon Breetun like a whirlwind, slaying and feasting upon ten Bargen souls before a unit of Grenadier guard finally arrived. The Grenadier were slaughtered, along with many of the militia-men who returned in the midst of the carnage.

At the last, White Thorn soldiers from Verdandi met the Crones as they reaved through Jesterton. In the resulting battle many inhabitants of Jesterton and two White Thorn perished but the Crones were driven south.

The Crones were slain later by a Lenadier unit from Pelgallo. Their heads were removed then sent one to Verdandi, one to Jesterton and one to Breetun as a sign of solidarity. One of these terrifying skulls remain on show behind the bar at the Halig Plough, a horror to remind the people of the village never to fully abandon their guard lest another night like that of 1927 recur.

Calendar Woods

Coalpit Heath

East of the river Serkis stands Calendar Woods, a small but wild forest harboured by the sheer walls of the Crambla Cliffs. Anyone venturing into Calendar Woods after dark is almost guaranteed to encounter wolves or bears roaming in search of food.

A flatland of long grasses, tussocks and rough undergrowth. A much mined area with many open shafts hidden underfoot by tall grass and brush, old pit heads and chimneys. Here and there signposts warn of the danger of open shafts, but many of these are also overgrown, their message hidden by bracken and ivy.

The heath is criss-crossed by the Carnvale Road, a wide grey path of ancient cobbles laid long before the establishment of civilization in Angle. Those who travel the Carnvale will avoid the pitfall mine-shafts but are likely to encounter other traffic in the form of trade wagons moving between the south and west and grenadier or lenadier patrols.

Catamite Falls The majestic Catamite are a series of enormous waterfalls cascading over two high plateaus within the canyon of Carnun. As the highest of the two falls thunders over the brink of the uppermost plateau the force of the water turns the enormous Chiming Wheel of Carnuntun, a paddle-wheel powering the mechanical bellows and hoisting cranes of the mighty Tariyorn Forge. The wheel is so-named because its paddles are each furnished with a great iron bucket, hinged at the base. As the wheel turns the buckets empty their water into the mechanism of the bellows and cool the working parts. As each bucket turns on its hinge it hits a buffering beam of iron with a deafening peal.

Thus, as the wheel turns, a ceaseless tolling of mighty bells sounds across all of the city.

The Westrein bridge spans the falls, connecting western Carnuntun with Coalpit Heath, and where the bridge connects with the western ridge of Carnun stands the Citadel of Num. The Catamite Falls and the Carnun river which it serves, emerge from a vast cave mouth set into the southwestern corner of the Ulyan Hills. A wide subterranean river rushes through huge caverns beneath the hills and some twenty miles north enters one of the largest known natural grottos in the underdark - the Middle Mist Cavern - the floor of which is comprised of an immense underground lake. At the northernmost edge of this lake is the mystical Corthirst Falls, a cataract larger even than the Catamites, but one which powers upwards, thundering into the cavern from the depths of the earth and feeding rather than draining the lake. As the waters reach the level of the cavern floor they hurtle outward in a great arc and then crash down into the lake.

Nobody knows why or how the waters of the Middle Mist Cavern fall upwards, nor whether the process is natural or magickal.

Scholars of Anglian geology and natural history believe the threshold where the falls reach the cavern may harbour some kind of magickal artefact whose ancient power dates back to the time of the gods. Others believe the water is not 'falling upward' but is merely some kind of mighty geyser spewed from pressurized caves far below that of the Middle Mist. Detractors of this theory point out the apparently inexhaustible supply of water which would surely dwindle (or at least fluctuate in the force of its flow) as pressure decreased below ground.

Cormislew The Hamlet of Cats, as it is known, is the oldest standing village in the Angle after Carnuntun and is the original seat of the Granger family. Historians believe Cormislew was the first permanent location settled by Cornovish migrants fleeing Jarl Megalamon's brutal reign in Drood-Cynncarn and may even predate Verdandi. Both the name of the village (meaning The Cornovish Cat) and the architecture (low roof granite stone cottages with thatch and narrow windows) support this belief.

Today the village has expanded south into the midst of the Burning Woods where more modern and stately buildings of white Gorzonite and black oak frame stand amidst the trees. North Cormislew serves as a harbour, standing in sight of the Nordroor Bridge and the regular thundering passage of the Hyns-Horn engine. Here vessels coming

up the Misty River from Arvortun, Tornyth and Elowen may land to pick up or drop off cargo and passengers bound for the northern region, though such traffic is increasingly rare.

Cormislew is best known for its cornucopia of cats which festoon every part of the village, visible in cottage windows, upon rooftops and lounging in the roads. More recently it has become a well known and much loved part of Verdandi because it marks the last leg of the Gigaerack's journey before the creature heads back out into the perilous regions of Damnum and Iyfel.

The field northeast of the village has been cleared and reinforced specifically to aid the passage of the gigantic beast as it lumbers toward its final destination and here there is a weekly fair, held in celebration of the Gigaerack's passage, the creature's arrival marking the high point of the day's events. So enshrined has this event become that a landing point has even been created in the corner of the field, while the fair is now a permanent fixture.

The original hamlet is named after the Sandlew tiger of Cornoval, images of which can be found on lintels over doorways, engraved into the glass of windows and in many other aspects of local symbolism. The swinging sign for the local tavern, The Thirsty Goslew, sports an image of a saber-toothed tiger cub lapping milk from a saucer (Goslew meaning Spirit of the Cat), Inside the tavern the owner’s numerous cats lounge here and there, languid and confident in their domain.

When the Gigaerack passes through, as it does regularly, the cats congregate at the edge of the northern field to watch and it is this spectacle that appeals to many of the Gigaerack's regular passengers. It is also for this reason that the Verdandi way-station has

The abandoned pit-heads of Coalpit Heath 144

earned the name of Mousehole (pron.

Mowzle).

The Woodhenge Walk is a sizeable pub in Cormislew and is famed as the traditional drinking hole of Weavers travelling up from the south or in from the east on their way to the annual meet at Drood-Cynncarn. From the rear of the pub a ferry carries travelers across the mouth of the Misty River to the banks of Elowen. The rest of the year the pub is a favourite haunt for passengers of the Gigaerack who wish to stay in the famous 'Hamlet of Cats'.

Drawn A river-side town of stilted huts, walkways, balconies and ramps inhabited by a variety of different peoples, most of whom are not native to Elowen but have migrated there as a result either of exile from other lands or from the Wythian/Weaver domains south of the river.

The town is typically shrouded in mist flowing out from Tregeagle Mire and is seen, by citizens of other parts of the Angle, as a somewhat shabby and unwholesome place, populated by rogues and rabble from non-Anglian lands.

The grey wooden timbers, sagging roofs of slate, and general tumbledown nature of the town, its buildings leaning one against the other, or one atop the other in some cases, all combined with the constant presence of swirling mists do little to improve Drawn's image.

Drawn is in reality a fairly well managed location, with its own localized government in the form of a man (or woman) known as The Prefect and group of volunteer civil servants who perform the roles of magistrates, watchmen and councilors (prefectures).

Most of the civil volunteers are farmers from Tregeagle whose homes are based in Drawn, but others will be taken from the various ethnic groups inhabiting the town - approached by the Prefect and given the option to become a prefecture. The Prefect him or herself is merely an Amonight appointed by the noble Theon family of north Elowen. The estate includes all the lands along the north shore of the Misty River from the river mouth up to, but not beyond, the Nordroor Bridge. Traditionally the Amonight given this post lives within the highest and largest house in Drawn, but, unlike Amonights who might preside over more sprawling estates from the comfort of disconnected and well defended mansions, is very much shoulder-to-shoulder with those who dwell upon his land. His policies, therefore, with regard to how he treats his serfdom will reflect his proximity to the roots and culture of his prefecture.

Dunrevy Dunrevy (meaning That Which Removes the Veil of Darkness) is an old lighthouse used to alert Fynyreth shipping of the treacherous headland known as the Galliwasp Coast.

The lighthouse is manned by a lone sowyrman who lives in an apartment in the base of the tower and is charged with the lighting of the lamp at nightfall or when sea-mist, bad weather or dark skies reduce visibility.

The post is a lonely one and the lighthouseman is likely to be suited to the job, even more sour than is typical of his race and unwelcoming to strangers.

Elowen The original homeland of Morvagh Elowen and the Elowen family whose history is entwined with the origins of the Elvian cult and the runes of elemental magick.

The Elvian aspect of Elowen has been greatly diluted by the encroaching influence of the other Anglian counties, the culture of nearby Verdandi and the influence of countless Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses over the centuries. The people of the region now rarely display Elvian tendencies and where such tendencies emerge they are usually discouraged (see Also Elvians).

Modern Elowen is a land of marshes and paddy fields wherein sun-rice and other water-loving plants are grown. The people are a simple folk who tend to their wetland fields, care for their water-buffalo and ride on the backs of llama steeds. They remain, despite the efforts of the Anglian powers to water down ancient cultural influences, a unique and an interesting people, friendly to strangers and welcoming to all and sundry.

Not lightly do the people of the other counties name Elowen Land of Exiles, for here dwell refugees from all over Ereth, welcomed as readily as if they were born and raised in the marshes all their life.

Granger Fields Once part of the working estate of the Granger family, these fields are no longer serviced and stand merely as a green belt between Verdandi's southern wall and the Burning Wood.

Immortal Wall, The Natural buttresses of glacier-striated stone hold up the plateau upon which Carnuntun is built. The Immortal Wall is a cliff sloping steeply down into the valley of Gondaras and Naderos Heath and stands a colossal 1,200ft in height.

Iyfelion Pass A valley bordered on both sides by the Ulyan and Sailing hills. At its easternmost end the valley opens into the Lorel district of Mortun Pandi, the sky-reaching trees of Dwarro Woods immediately to the south. At its

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western end the pass culminates against the Flintbreak Wall of Pelgallo's eastern defenses.

Anyone travelling the pass is extremely likely to encounter a Fell enemy along the way, though the enemy is unlikely to be waiting in clear view and is more likely to ambush the traveler from the underbrush of the surrounding hillsides.

Both Ulyan and the Sailing Hills on this side of the Angle harbour uncountable potholes, caves and deep hollows wherein Fell monsters may be sheltering, watching the pass and waiting for a lone or weak-looking victim to happen by.

The traveler is also likely to cross the path of at least one Lenadier patrol, the members of which will probably tell the traveler to get out of the pass if he values his life. The Fell are wary of Lenadier and will vanish into their various hiding places when a patrol makes a pass. The Lenadier know the Fell are there, however, and may even be able to point out the glittering eyes of a malevolent watcher for the benefit of any traveler who believes the pass to be benign despite all warnings to the contrary.

Jesterton A small hamlet of tumbledown farms and rural buildings south of Verdandi. Jesterton stands in the shadow of the Albion Wall and is the original site of the old Morlu estate.

The hamlet will appear to be in a state of disrepair to any visitors, with roof tiles missing, stonework cracked and flaking and mangy dogs wandering around, scrabbling at the dusty ground for scraps. The people of Jesterton are similarly wretched, their faces gaunt and their shoulders stooped.

The fields here are unused and anyone passing along the east/west road through the hamlet will notice the fields are surrounded by rotten fencing topped with barbed wire. At a point halfway along this fence is a sign that reads;

"Keep out by order of the Grand Duke of Verdandi, the county holders of Bargenham and the unified Anglian nation. Trespassers will be prosecuted under Verdandian law."

In the middle of one field is a patch of what looks like blackened earth where a fire has burned away the grass. The rest of the fields are scrubland, covered in weeds and wild grass. To the untrained eye there will seem to be no obvious reason for so stern and officious a warning sign.

However, this is the place where the Fronc端dha Barrowomb was slain during the time of Kenwythi Gwelenbryal and the massacre of Morlu (see Beyond the Thaw).

Anyone entering the field who possesses a CC Fate & Fortune value of 6 or higher will experience an unsettling feeling and the urge to leave the field at once. Anyone with a CC

Fate & Fortune value of 6 or higher who actually approaches the blackened spot will lose 1d6 Spirit points and will feel such an overwhelming sense of dread that they will start to sweat and tremble with fear. They will hear a guttural laughter resounding deep in their head, a vibration in the ground beneath their feet and the sensation of thin, wet tentacles sliding over their flesh.

Any player character who wishes to remain must make a successful AA Courage dice check for every skirmish round they remain or flee the field. For every skirmish round the stubborn character remains they lose an additional 1 Spirit point and, once all Spirit is depleted, they will then start to lose any Skill Dice they possess in AA Resistance to Evil (if any). If this depletes or they have no Skill Dice and no Spirit they then begin to lose one point from CC Fate & Fortune.

Anyone caught trespassing in the field by grenadier or lenadier patrols will be arrested and are likely to face a hefty fine or even imprisonment if they cannot pay.

Loofarn High on the ridge of Shoulder Hill - the highest point in the Ulyan range - stands the watchtower of Loofarn, a lookout vantage from the uppermost windows of which an observer may gaze across the tops of the Sailing Hills to the smoking chimney stacks of Verdandi herself.

Anyone or anything coming down the Iyfelion Pass from the east will be seen by sentries posted in Loofarn and identified by them using one of several telescopes bolted to the

turret battlements. An alarm can be raised in the event of approaching enemy using a beacon fire which is kept stocked and fuelled on the same turret roof.

When the fires are seen to be burning the people of Pelgallo know there is trouble afoot and Lenadier will be dispatched to investigate, travelling at speed from the Flintbreak Wall to meet the threat.

Duke Feldspar Gostyth, for all his various faults, has proven to be a sound military strategist but also a clever economist and has managed to reduce the number of false alarms and Lenadier call outs by applying a colour code system to the beacon fires.

Those manning the beacon throw crushed calcium powders onto the flames to give them a distinctive orange colour, indicating the approach of a lone Fell threat or a minor peril warranting only a small contingent of Lenadier. For numerous Fell and a greater threat, the sentry will throw pine-cones dipped in copper sulfate into the flames to give the fire a fierce green hue.

For a monumental threat, such as a marching army or a major Fell enemy beyond the capabilities of all but the largest countering force, pine cones covered in the black rubberized sap of a Wythywyr are thrown into the flames, producing huge banks of thick, black smoke which will be seen for miles around and which permeate the air with a distinctive woody odour.

The other cities of the Angle are informed of this system and know that where a column of thick black smoke rises from Pelgallo the very defense of the realm may be under threat.

Thus far, the black pine cones of Loofarn

remain in their locked barrel deep in the tower's undercroft where it is hoped they will remain ever untouched.

A catapult and accompanying mound of small iron balls situated in the grounds alongside the tower can also be brought to bear on any large threat in the pass. The catapult has proven to be more useful as a means to give the enemy pause for thought than as a way to destroy them and is generally fairly inaccurate.

Merwen Cove A dread place, long forsaken by the people of Carnuntun and Pelgallo, Merwen Cove is the rumoured home of the fearful Merwen.

The Merwen - known locally as Anglers - are Fell shape-shifters whose appearance will depend on the gender/sexual preferences of the observer. Anyone who spies a Merwen in or out of the water (basking on the beach or reclining on rocks) will see them as the personification of their ideal sexual partner.

In most cases this will be some kind of stranger with an idealized body-type and gender, but other times the observer may be deeply in love with or lustful for a specific individual, in which case this is the person they will see. In every instance the Merwen will appear naked and her monstrous/fish-like attributes will be hidden to the observer's eyes.

Merwen are nocturnal creatures, seen almost exclusively at night. They have no need to hunt for sustenance and do so only for sport, reveling in the collecting of decapitated heads which they strip of flesh, polish and then store in grottos under the water. See The Wyrd Pandemonium for further information on the Merwen.

Nabuland Hills A scattering of high hills crested with jumbles of granite and jutting crags of stone.

Nabuland affords a spectacular view in all directions.

Naderma Lake Dragonfly Lake. The dragonfly of Naderma Lake are abundant and colourful, shooting across the waters in quick, darting movements, their wings a blur as they hover and skim.

The Naderfell is a creature born of and strangely embedded in Erethian mythology. The true origins of this immortal monster are unknown to the modern lands of the wyrmen and the reality bears little relation to the true Nader, a The watch tower, catapult and beacon of Loofarn on Shoulder Hill

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Nordroor Bridge, seen from the Damnum Channel looking southeast

fragile and beautiful flying insect found in lakes, swamps and wetland meadows.

Many cultures in Ereth believe that the Oak Lord Mot Elyeth first came to the ancient continents of Er upon the back of a great white horse with a mane of fire. Her name was Nader Roselvia, meaning Horse of Flight and the Primal Fire, thus the term Nader would seem to invoke both that which flies and that which is intrinsically linked with Fyrnys and fire; one of the principal elements and spirits of the Elvian pantheon.

In Skytorian culture Mot is described as riding in a living chariot named Nader Dargon (The Point of Original Fire) a great flying vessel with a tail of flame and claws capable of crushing cities whose pilot was called Ros el Via (Elevated upon the Horse), a character rarely mentioned in norwyr or common wyrman myths.

In ancient Cornoval Nader Roselvia was the name of a colossal and divine sky ship piloted

by Mot, hence the Sailing Hills, often referred to as The Nadertor (Hills of Primal Flame) across which Mot supposedly flew the craft when he arrived upon Ereth. This belief is still favoured in some parts of the world and particularly in the city port of Arvortun where the people call the ship Agg-Aerskath (meaning Sky-Ship From the Stars). The vehicle is depicted as a strange and magickal galleon shaped in part like a horse and in part like a winged serpent, galloping not through the sea or across the land but through the dark of the night sky, carried aloft on a 'column of flame'.

In the strange culture of the morcelt, the Nader of myth was believed to be a flying beast called the Mordwyrm, with wings so large that their shadow covered all the continents of Ereth when they passed in front of the sun.

Naderma Lake, embroiled within this etymological and historical series of beliefs, is a sacred site and lies above the caves harbouring the Sepulture of Vanyir. Water from the lake drains through natural culverts to form the source of the subterranean river Serkis whose

bubbling, frothing passage flows through the shrine of Vanyir and emerges in the south of the Sailing Hills. The lake itself is fed by the twin rivers Auris (Waters of Aura) and Ostis (Waters of Ostia) that flow down from the high central wold of the Sailing Hills.

Naderos Heath The marshy plain where, so the Oaken Myths tell, Mot Elyeth first came ashore on his horse Roselvia and beheld the lands of Ereth in times of old.

The heath is divided by the river Serkis which runs down out of the north, tumbling into the valley of Gondaras in a series of narrow falls after first passing through the Ulyan Hills and the city of Pelgallo.

Nordroor Bridge A long Gorzonite bridge of gleaming white stone spans the mouth of the Misty River, carrying outbound traffic destined for Elowen along with the Hyns-Horn railway from Verdandi and into the west.

The bridge is neither a draw nor swing-bridge and only low boats may pass beneath through one of numerous low-slung archways. In the event of turbulent weather and raging waters in the Damnum, oaken doors can be closed on these archways to keep the lands surrounding the Misty River safe from floods. These doors have also been used to prevent fishing boats from Arvortun and Elowen accessing the Damnum during times when the western seas are too turbulent to fish or over-fishing threatens Verdandi's food supply in winter.

A gatehouse at either end of the bridge monitors incoming traffic, with less interest paid to outgoing. The guards at the gatehouse are also charged with monitoring the river and its traffic.

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Sailing Hills, The Sometimes called the Toros Wold or Nadertor (Hills of the Horse) The Sailing Hills are a huge central range of undulating hills dominating the middle ground of southern Morturth. The land here is considered a free state rather than a county, conserved, preserved and cared for by all the unified counties together and deemed to be one of the most profound historical regions within the Angle.

Here Mot Elyeth rode his horse, Nader Roselvia, into the forests of the Wythyreach for the first time and here Roselvia roamed freely during Mot's exile in the Cavernlands deemed by the Oak Lords to be an omen of doom. The significance of that event is immortalized in the white chalk picture of Roselvia carved into the hills overlooking Tanowder. This site dates back to the thawing of the hills and is associated with ancestors of the Chersya family (a family more enmeshed with the contemporary history of the Sailing Hills than any other) around the year 163AD. Around the Sailing Hills the wyrmen of old once lived, constructing their city of Carnuntun in the south while Mot built his mansion of Yseldyr in the north. In the sacred Cavernlands below the hills Mot endured self-imposed exile from the world and here the Elvian spirits were once manifest, walking upon the greenswards as living, breathing avatars.

In shallow aspects of the Cavernlands, now accessible through Portstone Castle of Dunkunom, can be found the Sepulture of Vanyir. Here the likeness of Vanyir - said to be Vanyir herself, her divine form calcified in death - rests as though asleep atop an enormous sarcophagi of stone. Upon the side of the great stone slab are marked the runes of sorrow, etched by the falling tears of the vanyirborn Aura Num. And beneath this is the Megdart of Aura, placed there hence by

Mot Elyeth in honour of the role Aura played in the story of that mythical time.

The Sailing Hills are a semi-tame land, occasionally host to wandering Fell who find their way in through Iyfelion Pass and the permanent haunt of packs of wild dog and Ulyan wolf. Travelers in the hills will find themselves outside the jurisdiction of any one county but under the likely scrutiny of them all, if seen by patrolling grenadier. Traffic is sparse and the hills are known to be unpredictable, the ground prone to the formation of sudden fens and treacherous bogs during rainy seasons, the earth itself sometimes opening up where a cave or tunnel below has collapsed. The hills form a roof above a honeycomb of potholes and passageways, caves as vast as cathedrals connected by worming tunnels and uncountable connecting chambers. This shadow-realm, named the Cavernlands, descends to unguessable depths through endless layers whose fathomless tunnels, at deeper levels, likely spread further than the boundaries of the Angle itself.

Tanowder Vale A scenic stretch of grassland edged by fields and Lake Nimue to the south and low hills bordering the Misty River to the north.

Tanowder is the main thoroughfare from the other counties of the Angle into that of Bargenham and Verdandi. A well travelled road passes through the heart of the vale and at most times of the year this road will be busy with traffic moving to and from the southern provinces.

A T-Junction in the heart of the vale takes the traveler south to the great stone pillars and flanking wall collectively known as the Merrigate. The road then enters the north of the Sailing Hills and connects with Dunkunom via the north shoreline of Naderma Lake.

local delicacy - usually served with sun rice and beets - while the oily flesh is used for making cooking oils, lubricants and grease (a waterproofing agent used to prevent tools and machinery from rusting or seizing).

The fields are invariably veiled in mists, a result of cold air blowing in from the west Inland Sea and crossing the warm marshlands. The mists tend to dissipate as the air cools on the southern shore of the Misty River (whose own name is derived from the phenomenon).

Tregeagle farmers till and work the land using water buffalo, a huge cattle with long shaggy fur and great arcing horns who spend their lives wading through the paddy fields, their hooves churning the silty marsh-waters and agitating the tiny forms of life crucial to the healthy growth of the sativa reeds from which the rice is derived. The buffalo are also variously used to drag the marsh boats used by farmers and as steeds, though generally the people of Elowen prefer to ride on llama than the large and cumbersome buffalo.

Ulyan Hills Here are the central wild lands of the Ulyan Hills, a range nestled between the cities of Carnuntun and Pelgallo to east and west and the Sailing Hills and Crambla Cliffs of Gondaras to the north and south respectively.

The Ulyan are a wild range of hills, inhabited by wolves and sometimes even bears wandering in from the direction of Dwarro Wood and the southern coast. The hills are peppered with old abandoned mines, their seams long spent, their shafts and ducts now either empty, collapsed or used by local wildlife as convenient burrows.

On hills rising above the Merrigate wall can be seen the White Roselvia, a tremendous picture carved into the hillside and filled with white chalk. The picture depicts Nader Roselvia, god of horses and the steed of Mot Elyeth.

Tregeagle Mire Locals of Elowen call this Tregeagle, the somewhat derogatory term of mire being an addition imposed by Anglians from the far shore of the Misty river.

Here are paddy fields surrounded by coastal marshes whose warm waters and hot springs are heated by geothermal activity probably associated with Mount Ascona. The people of Elowen grow sun rice in the fields, a staple food stored in granaries during the winter season. The Elowen frog, a local species that inhabits the mire in huge quantities, is also harvested here. The legs of the creature are a

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Ylyntor A conical hill upon the summit of which stands Dr端th Eglos, one of the most holy of all the Wythian shrines and a place of pilgrimage for wyrmen of all nations and creeds.

Dr端th Eglos is a hexagonal building with a large central hall and four wedge shaped chambers sited to align with the four polar directions of the planet, the western of these being the grand hallway access into the middle chamber. The visitor standing in the middle of this central hall will see doors on three sides and the open archway of the entrance to the east. If the visitor stands precisely in the middle of the room and gazes east he will observe the sliver of Yrmynsyl dividing the archway perfectly from floor to keystone. Etched into the architrave stones of the arch are a series of horizontal lines and symbols, the nature of which Wythian scholars have never been able to fathom.

The east chamber houses a stairway that leads down into the interior of the ziggurat beneath Ylyntor. These are the chambers of the ancient mansion of Mot - Yseldyr, the first house constructed on Yarnia by that most sacred of all the Oak Lords in a time before even Seth Elgan, the All-Father, set foot upon the world.

The ziggurat interior - which lies directly beneath the grass-covered mound of the hill and whose floors delve to a depth of 600 feet below the uppermost promontory of Dr端th Eglos - is accessible only to characters of the Weaver creed, though Weavers may invite non-creed guests provided these guests have been suitably blessed. To bless anyone who wishes to explore the ziggurat, the Weaver character must make a successful opposed AA Wythian Lore - Occult Version dice check versus the AA Opacity value of each character to be blessed. Those for whom the dice check fails will be able to enter Ylyntor but their safety within the chambers below (which are furnished with many ancient traps and wards) cannot be guaranteed.

The north chamber is a portico facing the city of Verdandi and, beyond, the glistening waters of the Damnum. Between the twelve columns stand twelve White Thorn sentries, ever facing inward, keeping a careful eye on the priceless artefact at the chamber's heart.

In times of old the view through the columns of the portico would also encompass the endless forests of the Wythyreach, and thereafter the great continent-stretching forest of Fawen. But today the visitor will see only the grey/brown wastes of Sanas Morcorm beyond what remains of Fawen and, far beyond this on the distant horizon, rising plumes of black smoke and dark clouds lingering above the abysmal city of Old Urd. On the eastern side of this view can be seen the twin-peaks of the Hammer Dwale, two jagged teeth soaring into the sky, and the mists that lie always upon the wastelands of Iyfel.

Sheltered by the roof and the thick stone columns of the portico is the tomb of Lord Kenwythi Gwelenbryal. Kenwythi, first of the line of the ruling families, became embroiled in the story of the Tome of Kings, losing his life and, almost, his soul to the vile Fronc端dha Barrowomb. After his death the Weavers of Wythia bound Kenwythi's soul to his sword, the Rill Blade of Amon. The sword was then embedded in the tomb stone atop Kenwythi's barrow in a bid to prevent the Elgan gods seizing the dead Conteth's marred soul and dooming him to an eternity in the Nether Dymension.

The sword remains in the tombstone and it is said that whomsoever successfully draws the blade from the stone shall also free Kenwythi's soul from its purgatory within the blade and shall thus be named rightful and righteous ruler of the Angle.

Nobody has ever been able to draw the blade which seems somehow fixed in place, and thus the Angle remains without a king or queen. Instead the Gwelenbryal house remains the dominant ruling force in the land, uniting the various noble houses of north, east, south and west under one banner, their house leaders deemed to be stewards only of the throne whose king or queen is yet to present themselves.

About the tombstone is written the following passage:

"The sword undrawn should yield a kingdom.

Only a king shall draw the sword."

The modern Weavers interpret this to mean that only a true king shall draw the sword from the stone and become rightful ruler, but there are those scholars who believe the message is more cryptic and may in fact suggest that the kingdom is better ruled without a king.

The southern door of Dr端th Eglos opens onto another portico, this time gazing out over the verdant scenery of the Sailing Hills and beyond, the great white alps that mark the vastness of Merendir.

In the centre of this open chamber, placed atop an ornately carved plinth and surrounded by a mosaic floor of stunning intricacy (in whose design can be seen many of the stories from Yarnian mythology) is a golden acorn under a glass dome.

This is the last fallen acorn of the new forest of Dwarro, made by the combined efforts of the Wythians, Wyrthies and Elvians of the south using the original acorn of Womad. Though the golden acorn that stands in Dr端th Eglos is not the original it is of the same sacred seed and represents the last tear shed by the great god of life and vitality as he sank into the earth in times of myth.

The acorn is a priceless artefact and, as with the portico of Kenwythi, here twelve White Thorn guards - the best of an already elite force - stand sentinel, ever watchful against the encroachment of enemies who would harm or steal the acorn.

Access into Ylyntor is highly restricted and only characters of the Weaver creed may enter freely. The White Thorn sentry guarding the entrance know the faces of those Weavers who regularly attend the sacred site and will require a vouchsafe from a known Weaver for any newcomer whose face they don't recognize. All other Creeds will be barred entry unless accompanied by a Weaver who is either known or has been vouched for.

INSIDE YLYNTOR (THE MANSION OF YSELDYR) (A) A wide stairway descends into the uppermost chamber and hall of Yseldyr. Here the walls are covered with the remains of a mozaic depicting life within the mansion when Mot Elyeth still lived.

(B) Around this level of the mansion small lateral shafts are bored to the outside of Ylyntor, giving some ventilation to the interior of the hill. The air at this elevation is cooled by a howling draught whose direction will differ depending on the direction of the wind outside. On calm days with little wind the interior may smell more musty than usual, but will still be cool. vertical and diagonal conduits surround Yseldyr's chambers, spiralling steadily downward and conveying fresh air to all corners of the mansion. The shafts remain the same today as they were in Mot's own time and are considered sacred Oak Lord engineering which the wyrmen of the Angle have thus far failed to replicate successfully in their own architecture.

(C) A well in the corner of the main hall (A) leads to the top of a flight of stairs and at the back of the landing of these stairs can be found a stone door. This opens on ancient hinges, allowing ingress to a mezzanine balcony overlooking a deep room. The walls of the room slope outward as they graduate to the floor, making it difficult either to climb the walls or descend into the chamber from the balcony. A strange geometric pattern is etched into the floor of the room and at the centre of this is a well. Additional wells lie at all four corners of the room outside the pattern. The purpose of the room is unknown, though studies of the central well suggest there may once have been a plug here and in the corner wells which, in turn, suggests the room might have been a pool of some kind. This also goes some way to explaining the mezzanine which seems too high to give any

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practical access to the lower room while the opposite wall seems to indicate the balcony was not used for observation purposes.

(D) A large chamber with an undulating floor. A long cloister stands on one side and behind the high columns of this is a sloping floor which ends at a short drop of some eight feet. Below this is a floor which can be removed by throwing a switch within room D itself. The floor slides into a cavity beneath room D, opening a long and narrow well shaft which descends to room G. Anyone who stands under the central point of room D will feel a strange energy ebbing through them from their feet to their scalp. Their Spirit will increase to maximum value and their LifeForce will be healed by one point.

(E) The false floor here slides away when a lever is pulled in room D. Beneath is the steep slope of a diagonal well shaft leading to room G. At the upper point of the floor of this shaft are rows of holes leading to the roof of shaft F. The purpose of these holes may be for ventilation or there may have been some form of water drainage system here.

(F) The upper part of a deep vertical well shaft which drops almost three hundred feet into the bowels of Ylyntor, emerging via a circular aperture high in the wall of chamber M. The purpose of the well shaft is unknown but may have served either for ventilation or as some kind of drainage system.

(G) The Heart Chamber, a colossal hall with a vaguely domed ceiling and concave floor. The chamber is long from north to south and lined on east and west sides by rows of immense statues depicting naked female Oak Lords, their arms extended above their heads as though to hold the roof aloft. The floor between these rows is countersunk and ornamented with intricate mozaic designs while the curving roof shows the night sky and the twelve houses of the Agg in their respective positions (presumably) when Yseldyr was constructed.

In the middle of the room stands a rotating crystal shard from which a strange energy

seems to pulse. A shaft of indistinct blue light rises from this crystal and connects with another identical stone jutting from the roof above. Anyone of righteous or neutral ethos who is either of the Weaver creed or who has been successfully blessed by a Weaver (see above) and subsequently touches the crystal or passes a hand through the blue light will benefit from an immediate rejuvenation of orphic plasm (up to but not exceeding maximum Orphic Plasm) and will also gain maximum Spirit points. Any unblessed character or character of wicked ethos who touches either the crystal or light will experience an orphic blast which throws them off their feet and inflicts 3d20 Life-Force damage. Their Spirit will also be drained to just one point.

At the northern end of the sunken floor stands a great altar of ornate design and behind this a tapestry showing the stars of the Agg and the position of the twelve houses in conjunction with the stellar constellations. Behind the tapestry are a series of levers, the purpose of which has never been determined. One of the levers will cause the false bottom floor in chamber E to slide open and shut respectively.

(H) The Hall of the Rising Sun. A strangely shaped hall with a sloping floor surrounding an immense well which the Weavers believe was once full of water. At the back of the room in the middle of the floor is a mozaic star surrounded by expanding rays giving the impression of a sun-like symbol. This chamaber has many magickal effects but will prove deadly to anyone who has not been blessed by a Weaver or who is not of the Weaver creed.

The west wall (the wall facing the outside of the hill) becomes transparent at dawn, the rising sun appearing at a perfect dead centre position respective to any observer who stands on the mozaic star. Non-Weaver creeds who have not been blessed by a Weaver will turn to stone in the face of the sunlight, their calcified body disintegrating as though they were a statue made of molded ash. Weavers or blessed visitors will not be harmed. Instead their shadow, projected on the wall behind them will gain a life of its own when the sun is at the right angle. The shadow will jump down into the well at the heart of the room and vanish (see room M).

The floor on the west side of the room directly beneath the transparent wall is formed of a diamond-like crystal surface which, at some point shortly after sunrise, will suddenly reflect the rays of the sun into myriad multicoloured shafts of light. These will lance out at uncountable angles, striking small crystals embedded in the walls which, in turn, refract the beams into a single focused pyramid of crystal which juts down from the roof. This crystal will seem to absorb the light, glowing with rainbow hues even as the beams of light vanish. It will then fire out blasts of colour at anyone standing in the room.

Characters of wicked ethos (even those blessed

by a Weaver) will incur an orphic blast which inflicts 4d20 Life-Force damage and prevents the character casting any kind of rune magick for 48 in-game hours. Non-Weaver characters who have not been blessed should, by this point, already be turned to stone, thus the light will otherwise only bestow benefits to those it strikes. Weaver or blessed characters will gain 1d20 Life-Force, heal one Severe Wound and lose one Psychic Wound (if they possess any). These effects can only be enjoyed once in any 24 in-game hour period by any one character and Severe or Psychic Wounds cannot be healed into negative values (i.e. -1 Severe Wounds or -1 Psychic Wounds).

(I) On the wall of this long hallway is a freize (created by the Weavers and not the original inhabitants of the hill) depicting the last battle of Yseldyr when the Oak Lords were slain by the Engel and the mansion of Mot was overrun. As the story approaches the eastern end of the hall it explains that a last stand was made in this very chamber where the remaining Oak Lords tunnelled into an adjacent room then attempted to block their escape by bringing down the ceiling above.

They failed in their attempt and the crude escape tunnel joining this hall with room J still remains. The story of the battle culminates at either side of the western end of this tunnel, a ragged hole surrounded by thousands of smaller holes (created by the firing of some kind of godly weapon) along with scorch marks and deep nicks where blades have bitten into the stone.

(J) A chamber where it is believed the Oak Lords fled to make their last stand but were slain by their enemy. At the back of the room is a large door which leads to well shaft F. Upon the door is carved the Megdart rune of Jova Eltari, seventh Oak Lord of the divine pantheon.

(K) A steep curving chamber as long from north to south as Ylyntor is wide at its base.

The Floor, which is also the east wall, is formed of white marble and almost impossible to scale without using magick.

Magick, however, cannot be cast within this chamber as anyone crossing the threshold into this room or chamber L will lose all Orphic Plasm points and any orphic sinks will also be drained of their plasm to zero (the GM should note that where most orphic sinks are reduced to zero they can no longer be used as orphic sinks thereafter and revert to being normal objects). Moreover, vampiric runetools and abilities will no longer work.

The contents of the chamber at the top of the sloping wall remain unknown to all but the highest ranking Weavers. Most believe the chamber contains some form of treasure or artefact of old, kept safe by the anti-magick wards in place in the room and the virtually impregnable entrance.

(L) Hall of the Moon. A long, empty chamber beneath the eastern corner of Ylyntor's lowermost region. At either end of the hall, embedded in the centre of the square wall

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there, is one hemisphere of the Yarnian moon, rendered in stone. It is said that whomsoever places their fingertip upon any part of either of these intricately carved hemispheres will be teleported in spirit to the surface of the moon itself, to arrive as an invisible presence in the precise spot correlating to the place where their finger makes contact with the carving.

The character returns to the room and his physical body by removing his hand or finger from the surface of the carving.

As with much of Yseldyr, the reason why this strange room should perform the way it does, or how it does, remains a mystery.

(M) Chamber of the Dish of Jorum. A large chamber with a concave roof shaped like the interior of a pyramid. In the centre of the room directly beneath this roof stands a great bronze dish and upon this a marble mortar. A polished spike made from an unknown metal extends vertically from the base of the mortar and is mirrored by a spike pointing down from the apex of the ceiling. The walls, ceiling and floor of the room are made of a strange diamond-like crystalline material which is cold to the touch but vaguely adhesive, like ice.

Anything placed in the mortar that makes contact with the interior bowl and remains in contact for one full in-game minute will vanish. During this minute the crystal walls, floor and ceiling will start to glow with a queer inner light which steadily pulses, the rythm of the pulse gaining speed as the end of the minute grows nearer until, a few seconds before the full sixty, the pulse is so fast as to create a strobing effect.

Where those items placed into the mortar go is unknown, though it has long been known that wherever the destination may be, the item will never be seen again.

The Weavers consider the Chamber of the Dish to be one of the most sacred locations within Yseldyr and though the dish might have many useful applications they are loathe to use it for any practical means. In the past there have been discussions pertaining to the permanent discarding of Fronc端dha objects or particularly malefic weapons, black Soul Stones and artefacts of great evil. But the Weavers baulk even at the idea of placing such items within the dish and are certainly wary of sending them to an unknown destination which may have profound connections with the gods of old.

Hidden doors stand where the walls of the chamber meet the floor and these lead to rooms L and N respectively.

(N) Chamber of Seth. A statue of Seth Elgan stands in this high ceilinged room. Seth stands gazing east, toward the direction of Yrmynsyl. However, if the visitor follows Seth's gaze he will notice a balcony above the entrance into the chamber and this would seem to be the object of Seth's attention.

Upon the balcony the Weavers discovered the acorn of Womad which now resides in the shrine on top of Ylyntor Hill.

Cult: Elvia Culture: largely wild, dangerous territory, with enclaves of progressive but unrefined civilization.

Notable Landmarks: Yrmynsyl, The Gungin Gap, Dwarro Wood, Grail Mountains.

Prevailing Climate: Extremely cold toward the south, typically seasonal but inclement and cold most of the time with morning frosts occurring throughout the year, even during summer. Ferocious storms are common, with hurricanes frequently battering the east coast and massive tornados likely during the months of Merriday, Rune and Zeuly in the Helterlands, the Plains of Felgin-Gal and the Middle Vale.

Government Type: ungoverned outside the city of Santun Morvagh. Inside the city the cult of Elvia controls the city in conjunction with the major guilds and institutes.

Ruler: no ruler outside the city of Santun Morvagh. The city is ruled by numerous representatives at the highest level of guild and institutional control, the system administered by Scribes who themselves are commanded by the Overseer, Elias Shorgrave.

"The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together"

Mortun Pandi

For many long centuries the land of Mortun Pandi was a barren, uninhabited and (so many thought) uninhabitable waste. Scarred by the detonation of Merrlith, its soil irrevocably ruined, its climate languishing in the grip of the Winter of Discontent even after the snows of Morturth and northern Annarr had thawed, the land appeared beyond colonization.

Many came to Mortun Pandi in the early years of the Age of Thaw, drawn to its heart by the climbing spire of Yrmynsyl, the world tree, at whose tapering summit rests the inverted mountain of Karrekith upon whose apex stands the Haligvalt; sky-bound fortress and home to the gods of old. Toward this beacon, long known and long observed even from the narrow windows of the Arkhold, the wyrmen trekked, hoping there to find answers to the most profound mysteries of their time.

But instead the pilgrims of Yrmynsyl discovered the world tree was now bereft of life, a pillar of withered and petrified stillness rising like an embedded spear from the gaping maw of a vast and seemingly bottomless canyon, too deep to explore, too wide to span.

The Gungin Gap, first named the Grislic Chasm by the living god Mardock, is a rift torn in the very fabric of the Entopic Plane by the emergence out of unfathomable realms of Gungin, primordial spirit of chaos. Upon the edge of the chasm the pilgrims beheld a septic vision; a city of sorts dragged from the dust by things born of darkness. The Fell, they were

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named, and their dire city was called Gungingeth. The black socket of the Gap harboured a darkness revealed to be much more than mere shadow. For here in the belly of Gungin's living mouth lurks Abysmal Dunlight, the manifestation of the empty and substanceless void between the strands of the Web of Wyrd, an anti-matter of pure, untethered evil and the absence not just of light but of all things.

From the rent and the impenetrable dark the Fell crawled forth; some born of chaos, others of chaos and wicked Elgan influence. The dark gods of myth languished in the membrane of Dunlight and their influence was great upon the disorderly mind of Gungin.

From such scenes the pilgrims fled, seeking sanity in places far from Yrmymsyl's towering presence. And thus the land of Mortun Pandi was abandoned as a region only for the dead or the doomed until, at the utmost, its lifeless soil gave sanctuary to a desperate people in desperate need.

People Morvagh Elowen and her brother Loren, fleeing persecution in the lands of the Angle, came to Mortun Pandi and here determined to make for themselves a new home.

Morvagh, founder of the Elvian cult, scaled the towering mountains of Grail and found there a safe enclave beyond in the Valley of Cataclysm. There the people of Morvagh constructed a village which grew to become a town and then a city upon the coast of the East Inland Sea. Santun Morvagh it was named, New Town of Morvagh, and it would outlast its founder and many generations of her children, there to remain upon the coast of Annarr thousands of years later.

Loren, meanwhile, took his people - the Loremasters - further south and away from the perils of Gunginhame, into the permafrost plains of the Helterlands where he felt certain the land could be reclaimed and the Fell banished. There his people survived for many years but their settlements were repeatedly sacked by the Fell, their attempts to establish civilization ruined by the effluence of Gungin's Gap and the undying nature of their enemy. Before long the hamlets and villages of the land named Lorel were utterly destroyed.

Only the original town of Lore itself remained intact upon the border of Dwarro Wood, but soon even this stronghold was overrun and the Loremasters were forced to flee.

Today the Fell dominate the lands of Mortun Pandi beyond the sheltering peaks of the Grail Mountains. The Loremasters live a dispossessed existence in the tree line of Dwarro, their numbers greatly diminished and Loren Elowen long since passed from memory and knowledge.

The Elvians of Morvagh prevail, however, and now dwell in vast numbers within the Valley

of Cataclysm. This sanctuary in the bowl of the crater formed by the very fall of the Hammer of Merrlith provides an indomitable fortress against the ever-encroaching evils of Gungin and a haven for any folk who are dispossessed and disenfranchised.

Military There is no organized military force within Mortun Pandi, and even the city enclave of Santun Morvagh exists without a protecting army. The various creeds who dwell therein, honour-bound to protect the Elvian cult and the city, act as guardians of the metropolis, while the soaring mountains forming the crater wall provide most of the city's defensive needs. Criminal organizations maintain a sub-culture whose elements are regulated by rules of law that apply only to them, while a coastal guard, known simply as the Port Guard, act as a municipal police force in the docks and harbours.

Wildlife Animal life in Mortun Pandi is sparse and where it occurs will be as hardened and ugly as the terrain it inhabits. Vultures are a

common sight in the Helterlands, appearing as silhouettes circling lazily in the sky or as shambolic, hunch-backed figures hopping awkwardly across the grey dust. Hyena and coyote are similarly common but rarely seen except in the distance as crooked shapes scrabbling in the dirt, snapping and snarling at one another or whatever carrion they manage to find. Both creatures are weak and cowardly, preferring to observe living prey from a distance, awaiting such time as life becomes death when they can move in and pick apart whatever remains.

Some scavengers, like the vulture or the hyena, will dog the footsteps of travelers and caravans in the hope of an opportunity, making of themselves a nuisance should their quarry stop to rest or sleep. Hyena are particularly bold at night and will riffle through any unattended packs looking for food, though it takes little to frighten them off.

The giant crowned viper is a species of large snake commonly encountered in the hills and mountains of Mortun Pandi. It is naturally adapted to cold environments and more likely to be found in the south than the central or northern regions. The viper is an exceptionally venomous, nocturnal predator, likely to slip quietly into tents or makeshift camps in search of sleeping prey, seeking

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small targets; children or animals no larger than an average sized dog - though the viper may attack larger targets if it feels threatened or cornered. Telltale signs of the sideways slithering viper can often be found as a series of S shaped marks in dusty soil or sand, from which it gains its common name Sideweaver.

Insect life is perhaps the most prevalent type of wildlife the traveler in Mortun Pandi will encounter and the greatest nuisance he faces.

Biting Mosquitoes and burrowing mites; fleas and chiggers; fat emerald green flies; red and black wasps and hornets of startling size; waddling beetles, swarms of ants, termites, locusts, centipedes, millipedes, scorpions and endless types of spider all very common and all possessing brutal and deadly methods of acquiring food (be that other insect life, or larger and more vital prey).

Only in the country's woodlands will the dominant insect life favour vegetation for sustenance. In the wastelands, where scrubby plains of tussocky furze and moss, the occasional cacti and husks of rolling tumbleweed constitute the only plant-life, warm-blooded prey and its warm blood will be the preferred meal. Unprepared travelers will experience persistent bites, nips and stings, though even the most irritating of these will be nothing compared to the

potential horrors certain insects see fit to inflict. Those species of spider or mite, for example, who use their prey as an incubator, their scuttling broods bursting from the blister-like result of what at first may seem to be nothing worse than an innocuous bite. Or those airborne woodworm whose preference is to bore deep into the bark-flesh of a wyrman and establish their nests in the hardness of his bone, from which vantage point they cannot be ousted and can squirm freely beneath the skin, feeding on whatever pulp they find.

Particular care must be taken by the traveler not to bed down on the earth but to elevate themselves away from the ground, to keep clothing and armour, packs and other items they intend to carry about their person clean and free of bugs. Insect repellants such as Birch Tar (bark of the birch tree processed into a tar-like substance which is then liberally smeared on the skin) or the yellow oil Jeet, a chemical insecticide developed by Premancers which repels mosquitoes and most kinds of mite, flea and tick.

In Santun Morvagh insect life is solely responsible for the spread of the city's most deadly and dreaded diseases, the many middens of the city's streets and avenues being a hot-bed for swarms of biting pests.

Culture Mortun Pandi was colonized by Elvians and thus the ethos of this pluralist cult has shaped the architecture of the region. It has oft been said that the Elvians possess power enough, within their mighty city and their magickal abilities, to dispose of the City of Thieves; Gungingeth, and its rancid denizens who live squalid and violent lives on the edge of the Gungin Gap. But Elvian restraint and a desire to live and let live even those creatures who form the seedy underbelly and violent sub-culture of Gungingeth is arguably what sets the Elvians apart from the other wyrman nations. It could, more cynically, be argued that the sub-culture of Gungingeth has long been harnessed by the policy makers of Santun Morvagh and now serves more as a source of cheap muscle and the ever lucrative Soul Stone than it presents a threat to life and limb.

Elvians would claim they are not knowingly or intentionally collaborators, or enablers of evil, and would insist that they would never stoop to the thuggish lows of the Fell alongside whom they live as patient neighbours. They would dismiss the possibility that holocaust is the solution, precisely because such considerations fall so far outside the Elvian ethos. The many essences of life, not of death, is the elementalist's passion.

Soul Reapers, by contrast - a far more candid section of Morvanian society - would argue that the Fell are too profitable to exterminate

entirely and would likely defend the city of Gungingeth as any investor might defend his most lucrative commodity were the order given to wipe it from the face of Ereth.

At a less jaundiced level, Mortun Pandi was settled by the Elvians as they found it in the early centuries of the Age of Thaw and they have come to love their land despite its many and profound flaws. From unfair persecution Morvagh Elowen led her people out of the feudal counties of the Angle and into this dark and barren environment. With her blessing was Santun Morvagh raised from the dust, not to stand as an embodiment of the wyrman ability to dominate and transform that which he perceives as extra to requirement, but as a paragon of survivalist pride and a place where all the exiles of the established nations would find a welcome home. Few nations epitomize the outcast more than the universally loathed Fell and so it might be said that the relative taming of Gungingeth's southern wards represents Morvagh's greatest achievement.

Within the towering crater-wall of the Grail Mountains the city harbours much more than just the cult centre of Elvian lore. Here live wyrlung, norwyr, common wyrmen, elken, ethenan and sowyr. Soul-Smyths, Stonemasters, Wyte Wytches, Spell Binders, Loric Mages, Electrasmyths, Balatrons, Shamancers, Soul Reapers, Slayers, Catharxis and Raiders rub shoulders as they walk along the same grey cobbled streets. The Elvian church dominates the city, but here too is room for almost every sectarian schism known to the wyrman race, with temples dedicated solely to deities as mighty as Rinan and Syldaer and as apparently inconsequential as Brume, spirit of mist, or L端rmyth, spirit of gravity. And lurking underneath it all, hidden in the nooks and crannies of the city's seedy underworld, the Elgan cults and sects, bolder here than anywhere else outside the walls of Old Urd itself, their confidence bolstered by a lack of pursuit and persecution.

Common Laws There are no laws outside the Grail Mountains beyond those dictated by the natural world; survival of the fittest and the strongest in charge. The Loremasters, disenfranchised and homeless, roam in the south around the fringes of Dwarro, and here they keep a law of sorts, though their ragged society is often dysfunctional, consisting of squabbling factions, isolated individuals and grim bandit crews, all of whom have their own ideas about what constitutes law and order (if they consider such things at all).

Within Gungingeth there is a mechanic of controlled and contained lawlessness, the various tumbledown slums existing in a fragile state of symbiosis and delicate equilibrium. The slightest imbalance can trigger neighbouring wards to turn on one another, the mightier Fell falling upon the

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lesser or even slaughtering their own; the ever present desire to revert to chaos a potent and enduring motive force. Beyond a cursory attempt to instill order by the authorities of Santun Morvagh through the receptive Orflin breeds, there is no real system of law. Those who dwell within the city depend on the brutal power of corruption to maintain balance in their lives. In Gungingeth there is no place for the enforcing of regulation based on ideology and ethical considerations, only the law of the blade and the rule of fear.

In Santun Morvagh law is mutable and determined largely by the edicts of the city's industrial, cultic, guild and criminal masters.

As in Gungingeth a sometimes strained symbiosis forces mutual peace, but where this balances always upon the edge of a serrated blade in the City of Thieves, things are less volatile in Santun Morvagh.

Cults The Elvian cult prevails, almost to the exclusion of all others, though there is no prohibition on other cults and, indeed, prejudice against those who worship gods, spirits or ideologies outside the arena of the Elvian pantheon, even the Elgan pantheon, is actively discouraged.

Sects of Elvian belief have established temples throughout the city of Santun Morvagh, but these are deemed, by and large, to be ingenerate children of the dominant cult centre and therefore fall within the category of Elvian and elementalism.

Gungingeth is an Elgan enclave, though worship of the Cult of Flies seems more automatic than deliberately nurtured.

Historical events have impinged on the otherwise free nature of the chaotic hordes and the result has been a certain acquiessence to evil cultism in order only to keep the ruthless powers of Old Urd and the Hammer Dwale satisfied. In reality few denizens of Gungingeth truly worship at the altar of the Cult of Flies, most being too embroiled in their own self-serving chaos to give any consideration to greater transcendence.

Electroplasm Santun Morvagh is the first city of Ereth to openly embrace and adopt the progressive magicks of the Electrasmyth.

The process is still in its infancy and much remains to be organized and funded, but thus far all street lamps (previously oil-lanterns) have been replaced with lamps driven by electroplasm generated by a hydro-turbine which is itself powered by a tidal barrage system constructed in the harbour. This tidal barrage produces limited quantities of electroplasm but the Electrasmyths are working on methods to store and generate greater degrees of plasm which can then be used to power more services.

GUNGINGETH The aptly named City of Thieves, Gungingeth (named by the Weavers in the old Cornovish tongue and meaning Dereliction of Gungin) stands on the southern edge of the Gungin Gap and is a tumbledown mass of alien looking dwellings, structures and shambolic shanty towns built almost entirely by the Fell breeds.

From the Gungin Gap the Fell crawl forth into the world, creatures born of the abysmal Dunlight that loiters in the depths of the chasm, given life by the schismatic Soul Stone at their heart and driven by chaos. The Fell have no need for sustenance and are creatures either of pure chaos or hybrids formed of the stuff of chaos and Elgan evil. Their city reflects this, and also the fact that the Fell, once born, have no need to seek food or even shelter from the elements.

Their dwellings are bizarre, growth-like abominations while the city is entirely without industry. There are no fields for the Fell have

no need for food. There are no smoke-stack factories, or trade centres because the Fell have no desire to work. And yet, the monsters of Gungingeth are largely a lustful species, ever seeking desirable things, the glitter of gemstones and the satisfaction of wealth.

About the currencies of the civilized lands there is a strange, almost mystical evil, a darkness whose oft hidden power inevitably manifests strongest in those who possess the most. To this arcane and materialistic evil the Fell are drawn like moths to a flame, and thus do they crave gold, silver, diamonds and other valuable artifacts as much, if not more, than the wyrmen, though they are the least willing to work for their rewards.

There is no peace or order within Gungingeth.

Within the encircling curtain wall - itself erected by the rune casters of Santun Morvagh in an effort to define the border of the ever swelling city - a visitor can expect to encounter pandemonium and chaos in the raw; lawlessness balanced by a certain necessity for mutual survival; and everywhere an unfettered hatred for the wyrman and his civilization. For the wyrman possesses a wealth beyond mere baubles of shiny metal or fiat currency; one which the Fell can never

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acquire. He possesses mind and soul, intellect in the first and immortality in the second, both of which give him spiritual superiority over the Fell. So do the Fell, who typically lack both soul and mind, despise the wyrman and his hateful sense of order. When they die no tranquil eternity in the Web of Wyrd awaits them. Only reincarnation from the Gungin Gap, their spirit essence disgorged into the same or a different form, forced back into the membrane of the Entopic Plane to suffer life anew as one of the loathsome breeds.

The city languishes on the southern edge of the Gungin Gap, its poorly built houses - most of which are little more than clay sheds teetering on the edge of the abyss. From a distance the city is visible as a dark smudge on the horizon and as the traveler approaches from the south or the west the stench of the place will greet his nostrils. Long before he spies the alien architecture and shambolic rooftops he will sense an unnerving atmosphere and his feet will seem to develop a mind of their own, willing him to turn back.

Fell have no need for warmth, so there is no smoke or soot hanging above the city, only an ever present mass of flies whose hum will become ever more audible the closer the

traveler strays in the direction of the city.

Accompanying this unsettling sound, the traveler will hear also the dire acoustics of the Fell themselves; hundreds of thousands of guttural voices yelling, screaming, roaring, laughing; and beneath it all a steady, ceaseless drumming.

Within the city only certain breeds will favour life under a roof, crammed into quasi-social wards, usually with their own breed, where they scrape together an existence of sorts and survive as best they can. But there are as many Fell who feel no compunction to take shelter or make for themselves a home in any one part of the city. Such creatures will routinely wander the streets, avenues, alleyways and middens, usually feral by nature and a menace to anyone or anything unfortunate enough to cross their path. Such horrors may include the Mawsquirm, the Grief, the Mikelmer, the ubiquitous Sawbone, the Shitfink, the Thrawn, the Wapperjaw, the Wherow and the Mammyeth (see The Wyrd Pandemonium for full details on these and other Fell monsters).

they have the authority, they attempt to deter those Fell deemed onerous from climbing onto the terraces and wherever the opportunity presents itself they will revel in their portioned endowment of power by loosing off arrows or yelling threats through the bars of the gate. It is entirely because of them that the north, and unregulated side of the Gungin Gap is now the main gateway favoured by the nightmare scourge of Gungin, while the southern wards remain merely dangerous and disorderly.

Within the city avenues the Gunginken also patrol, sloping around in their own slovenly way, a presence rather than a force and a deterrence rather than an active militia.

the Gunginken The city of Santun Morvagh stands in uncomfortably close proximity to the sprawling chaos of Gungingeth and, over the years, has paid a heavy price for this dubious honour.

The masters of that wyrman city long ago realized that the Fell were irrepressible as a nation and any war waged against them would prove to be an exercise in futility. As quickly as the breeds could be slaughtered, they would be renewed by the Gap, thus the strategic minds of Santun Morvagh reached the conclusion that if they could not destroy Gungingeth and its people, they could at least exercise some semblance of control.

Of all the Fell, the Orflin were known to be most susceptible to outside suggestion and easily bought with gifts of (by Morvanian standards) very little, and even zero, worth.

But as a workforce, and in particular a security workforce designed to impose some kind of regulation to a place that, by definition, was anathema to regulation, the Orflin were too stupid and too indolent to be of any real use.

So the Morvanian Wytches took the most promising Orf and offered them the greatest treasures in return for compliance. Using elemental magicks the wytches uplifted the minds of these largely docile creatures and healed the worst of their afflictions so that they could carry out certain civic functions.

Today the ragtag brigade of Orflin soldiers and guards are now a common and accepted sight in Gungingeth. Orflin archers man the wooden balconies and stone walled terraces projecting over the edges of the Gungin Gap and stand sentinel at the great palisade gates that stand between the balconies and the stairwells down to the Coarctan Ramp. Where

Fell replenished too swiftly and despite protection from Morvanian Wytches and other rune crafters, the engineers were captured and killed. The project was completed by uplifted Orflin around the year 646AD, instigating the uplift program and marking the inception of the Gunginken as a means to impose some semblance of control over the city.

Around the outer edge of the wall the Fell planted long rows of wooden pikestaff, each topped with the severed head of wyrmen, most of which belonged to the engineers captured and slaughtered in 642.

A hole in the wall gapes in this location like a ragged wound. There is no gate, for there are no restrictions on who comes or goes. The majority of those who dwell in the city care nothing for the defense of their realm and those who visit can import no evil that does not already exist here in some diabolical form or another.

Above the hole the name of the city is daubed inexpertly using what may be brown paint but which could just as easily be smeared blood or even dry excrement whose taint is so foul that even the lashing rains of Mortun Pandi cannot wash the stain away. A chamber has been hollowed out of the wall and a ragged window, criss-crossed with iron bars, overlooks the approach, forming the dot in the i of the word

Gu NginGeT h

Where true peril rears its head and something nasty emerges from the Gap, or where violence and death breaks out on the city streets, the Gunginken can be relied on in every instance to abandon their posts and melt into the shadows.

GUNGINGETH

1 Southern Gate & Wall The wall is formed of mighty blocks hewn in place (initially) by the engineers of Santun Morvagh in a vain attempt to define the boundary of the City of Thieves and keep its vile citizens contained.

Dydr端eth, queen of the Naderfell, lay waste to the city in 642 leaving the diminished Gungingeth in a tame enough state for work on the planned wall to finally start. But the

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Within loiter members of the Orflin race.

Those city guards known as The Gunginken.

The guards will likely demand to know who any approaching traveler is, though the answer is unlikely to interest them and will certainly have no bearing upon whether they let the visitor into the city or not. Unless the response identifies the stranger as someone important and someone the Orflin should be wary of or respectful to they will routinely welcome the stranger into the city by hurling rotten vegetables at them through the barred window.

The entrance door to the chamber occupied by the Orflin is reached via a crooked stone stairway inside the curtain wall. At the top of this is a small wooden door which the Orflin keep locked, though the lock is nothing more sturdy than a wooden latch, the wood rotten and the door liable to cave under a solid kick.

GUNGINGETH

2 the Wallward Slums Sagging against the inner wall of the city are the stinking mud-mired slums of those weaker Fell who, upon emerging from the Gungin Gap, are typically forced out into the fringes of the city. Such creatures will either be picked off by the monstrous horrors that wander the streets or will drift away from the densely populated central areas and discover

others like themselves here in the Wallwards.

As the slums continue to expand, so they become ever more haphazard, new structures thrown together seemingly overnight will clog up avenues and roads which the denizens will carve afresh and in entirely new locations the following day. Thus it is likely any visitor to the slums will find roads by which they entered vanish during the night, the broken shacks and shabby hovels suddenly seeming to surround them on all sides like a living, encroaching thing.

The Wallwards are typically home either to the Orflin population of the city or to the more malevolent Carker. Most common of all the Fell breeds, the Orflin, as they are collectively known, or Orf as they are called in the singular, make up the vast majority of the creatures who somehow eke out an existence in the city’s filthy slums. Orflin wards are easily identified by the noisome odours that seem to prevail wherever the creature chooses to settle and (in strange contrast to the stink) by their apparently clean roads and avenues, albeit roads and avenues comprised almost entirely of mud.

Either very small or very tall in stature, possessing either hairy, moon-round faces covered in warts or tiny nub-like heads with long noses. All Orflin have an ash-grey palour, somewhat protruberent eyes and many sport long beards or ridiculously bushy eyebrows. Some have small feet and a dainty manner, others immense feet and a whimsical attitude. They typically favour bizarre clothing, covering themselves in multiple layers of different fabrics and clashing patterns, their ragged garments ornamented with the endless bric-a-brac and broken oddments they routinely collect and hoard.

Orflin (Oafish Changeling of Divine Lineage) will sometimes appear female, sometimes male and sometimes a mixture of the two.

Whatever their adopted sex, they are usually simple minded and deformed in some unique way; perhaps bent double with a crooked back, hobbling sideways under the weight of a colossal hunch, or dragging one overly long arm along the floor. As a species they tend to be friendly but shambolic in their mannerisms, clumsy and overbearing.

Orflin are martyrs to their skin conditions and are usually covered in painful sores, abscesses, boils and other kinds of festering canker. For reasons known only to them, they like to nurture these conditions by binding their skin in tight muslin bandages dunked in filthy water. These swathes are then wrapped around the legs, groin, torso and neck and extended up and over the skull where they are wound into a tight bulb of a turban known as a toque. Over these swaddlings the Orf will throw his other clothing which is generally tattered, stiff with dirt and as rancid with age as it is eccentric and mismatched in styles.

The result creates a festering smell, one part soiled rags and the other diseased flesh.

Those Orflin found living in the slums are

called Denizens. Orflin Denizens are nonuplifted materialists and have an almost religious passion for the ownership of ‘things’.

The average Orflin hovel will be filled with chaotic piles of random items the creature has found while scavenging in the general debris of Gungingeth’s streets - pieces of broken stone, old objects discarded by those who pass through the city, half-eaten moldering fruit and, occasionally, the odd object of small worth; a rusty sword hilt or dented helm visor taken from some fallen traveller found dead in the streets of the slum, or even, sometimes, the odd green Soul Stone recovered by chance and happy fate.

Swapping items, trading, bartering and accumulating rubbish are all primary motives and will create the cornerstone of most Orflin communities. The more tradeable possessions are often worn as ornaments about the Orflin's person, their wares on display for the delectation and perusal of other Orflin.

Bartering is the principal form of greeting, with Orflin often trading their entire 'worn stock' in the space of one day.

The best objects and those which the Orflin refuses to part with are hidden in pits or kept tucked safely within the folds of the Orf’s crusted clothing, crooned over in private and rarely revealed to the eyes of another Orf. Where an Orf suspects another of hoarding something particularly good, small skirmishes might break out and even deaths, the Orflin being, by and large, a peaceful but capricious and unethical breed.

The arrival of any outsider within Orf territory will be a rare cause for much celebration, since the newcomer will invariably have an inventory of actually valuable gear which can either be bought, stolen or taken by force, depending on how gullibe/powerful the Orflin think the stranger looks.

Only on the odd occassion will an Orf’s first thought turn toward the nefarious, however, most of his sort being mild mannered and as eager to befriend a stranger as to delve into their gear. Many Orf will happily perform some simple task or act as guide in return for the promise of something eyecatching from his employer’s backpack and once such promises have been made the Orf will show a degree of loyalty uncommon even among wyrmen.

Most of the stuff found in Denizen possession comes from those uplifted Orf who are employed by the wagemasters of Santun Morvagh (the Gunginken and Gungindask).

These employed Orf possess something of a status as a result and are seen by the status quo as one of the main doorways through which new rubbish enters the city.

The Carker, by contrast, are child-like street urchins gathered together in groups of between ten to twenty. With their small hands, quick wits and eagerness to perform mischief, the Carker make excellent thieves and pickpockets. Their childish appearance is invariably disarming to the uninitiated who

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may think they are surrounded by malnourished street kids or impish midgets with no more malicious intent than most children. This is an illusion the Carker nurture and use to their advantage wherever and whenever they can.

In fact the Carker are a vicious breed, though there is certainly something of the juvenile in their behaviour. They are as likely to be encountered giggling like children, playing ball or engaging in mock-battles with wooden swords as they are to be seen drawing daggers and murdering without compunction. This anomalous duality is likely to be noticed for the first time when a Carker opens its mouth to speak, for the average Carker's voice is that of a gruff and brutish villain, while the language they employ is likely to be foul and peppered with lewd sexual connotations.

Carker are invariably in the employ or under the thumb of one or another Shabble gang.

Though they won’t answer directly to the Shabble they will almost certainly be enthrall to one of the Shabble’s many henchmen and, where they capture victims they are invariably obligated to hand them over to superiors in order that their blood be harvested and returned to the Shabble’s lair.

Patch warfare between gangs of Carker is also not uncommon where one Shabble’s territory and goons impinge on that of another of equal strength.

Carker are the bane of Orflin communities where they run riot on a regular basis, burning, killing and pillaging with wild abandon and without fear of retribution.

Since the inception of the Gungindask and Gunginken, arbitrary attacks on the Orf slums have greatly diminished, though they still occur far too frequently for the average Orf's liking.

GUNGINGETH

3 the Gapward Slums Where the land crumbles away into the Gungin Gap it descends toward the abysmal Dunlight as a series of plateaus and upon these flat terraces stand the congealed slums of the Gapwards.

In this ward live the stronger and more deadly Fell whose might and aggression allows them to turf out any weaker Fell and to defend against any would-be invaders of already established territory.

Here dwell the Gorbelly - a dull, unintelligent but highly aggressive Fell, capable of speech, but with little to say. They are fond of alcohol and invariably spend any wealth they manage to find or earn bingeing on cheap petroleumlike spirits in the city's various bars. They are quick to anger, especially when drunk, and will puff out their membranous wattle like a balloon in an effort to intimidate their enemy.

Where the Gorbelly earns his wealth it is

usually in the capacity of hired muscle, the creature being a favoured staple-grunt of Shabble gangs and routinely employed as goonish doormen by those trying to run some kind of business within the city.

Another common inhabitant of the Gapward is the Scarfer, slavers who typically operate caravans and roving press-gangs and who favour the Gapward as their base of operations.

Scarfer are always on the look-out for fresh meat to procure and sell, or to eat, though they eat only for taste and the sake of inflicting pain and take no sustenance from what they consume (Fell victims are usually kept alive as a source of meat, since they will immediately revert to their Soul Stone state if they die). Among the Fell the Scarfer are one of the few breeds to generate raw sewage, the streets of the Gapward more gutter than road as a result of the prevalent Scarfer population.

Captured victims considered unfit for consumption or more valuable alive may be dragged in chains to Old Urd or the Hammer Dwale, or they may be sold at one of Gungingeth's own slave markets. Or they may be kept by the Scarfer himself, a pitiable dogsbody, abused and malnourished, running around after his brutish master and attending his every whim.

Beneath the slums, in pits and dungeons delved into the stone of Gungin's edge, live the Narbroc, known to the other Fell as the Uruk or Urken (which roughly translates as the Irksome) but to the wyrmen as Narbroc ( Hole Burrower). The Narbroc favour the dark and the dank of the underdark, but they infest all parts of the city and may be spied slouching and skulking in shadows, watching the narrow avenues with their septic eyes. They are an odious people, filled with hate and spite, more prevalent than either the Gorbelly or the Scarfer, but less likely to be encountered - the greater part of their number dwelling below ground.

In the Gapward Slums the Narbroc will seem energized in their proximity to the Gungin Gap and bolder in their willingness to venture above ground. Sullen gangs may even be encountered mooching in the Gapward taverns, hunkering in dark corners and hissing threats at anyone who dares to glance their way.

Non-Fell are also likely to be encountered living in the Gapwards, races including the myrmen, but also wyrman agents of the Cult of Flies; the Creant, the Dunwytch, the Warlock and Haruspex.

reflects the strange eye they possess for aesthetics. No two buildings are alike, there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to the layout of roads and no cohesive sense of function. A form of crude cob seems to be the predominant building material and while there must be a more solid frame under some of the larger structures, their shapes give the impression not of something constructed but of something vomited into existence.

Where there are windows, they are typically little more than tiny slits or rabbit holes, while Gorbelly guarding the door to a Shabble lair doorways, by stark of the Shabble crime lord Mump Infargo, a comparison, tend to be large, surrounded by self-styled aristocrat and the head of a vast ornate archways decorated with unsettling prostitution racket. gargoyles and unwholesome friezes (these almost always hammered or molded out of Within Mump's estate can be found the metal and added to the frames almost as an Mergin, the Grymm, the Pyknic and those afterthought. The doors themselves are agents of the Cult of Flies whose power and traditionally immense wooden affairs, wealth afford them privileged status and studded with rivets and furnished with immunity to the murderous attention usually massive iron hinges. lavished upon wyrman visitors to the city.

The Taint is an exclusive district of Here too may be found many of the fearful Gungingeth, where the city's political and Irgin Crone covens who dwell and operate in criminal elite dwell, it falls within the domain Gungingeth.

GUNGINGETH

4 the Taint A congealed ward of gruesome architecture, monolithic high-rise blocks of grey, green and brown, slab-shaped villas and high-walled estates. The Taint was built by the Fell and The Gapward Slums

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GUNGINGETH

5 the Coarctan Ramp In days long passed the Fell of Gungin would scramble out of the Dunlight and onto the shelves and terraces of the chasm's inner walls wherever they could. They were as likely to emerge in the east as the west and the horrors that ventured forth were unmonitored and entered Mortun Pandi unchecked.

In 642AD Dydr체eth, queen of the Naderfell, rose from the Gap and smote all that she beheld, fleeing into the north only after a concerted counter-attack by the elementalists of Santun Morvagh. The City of Thieves was devastated, its slums razed to the ground, its Fell inhabitants reduced to steaming, bubbling heaps of Soul Stone.

The elementalists were swift to act and work began immediately on construction of both the curtain wall and efforts to restrict the manner in which the Fell emerged from the Gap. The rift of Gungin can never be fully sealed, even using the most powerful runes, for the rend in the fabric of space and time exists and must seep, or become distended with the stuff of chaos and burst like an over-ripe blister. So runes were scribed into the edges of the Gap, designed to limit and dissuade but not prevent egress by the Fell. In the centre of the southern bank a series of stairways were carved out of the stone and a great walkway, named the Coarctan Ramp (The Birthing Ramp) was extended out into the gloom above the lake of Dunlight.

Here the Fell now come into life, shambling or sliding on their bellies out of the murk, avoiding the elemental runes, scrambling up the stairways where the runes are deliberately omitted until they reach a mighty palisade overlooked by the Gunginken and Gungindask watchmen.

The Orflin are cowardly and in the face of a violent assault will abandon their posts and flee. The palisade has thus been destroyed numerous times by vicious newcomers intent on accessing the city, but in most cases the newly born are so bewildered and weak that they will merely tack around the edges of the chasm below the impenetrable dark until they find an easier way out.

Elemental runes act to dissuade emergence anywhere within the boundary of Gungingeth itself, but outside the defined border of the western wall, to the extreme east and west or on the northern side the Fell can clamber free without restriction.

In the south, the Soul Reapers will be waiting, and to these hunters of the Fell, the greater and more loathsome the foe the greater the prize. Only on the northern bank can the Fell enter the world freely and unhindered.

On the walls of the Coarctan Ramp can also

be found the Aumon Bell, a great iron bell furnished with a pull rope which the Orflin will yank, tolling the alarm, whenever an Aumon emerges from the Gap and gains ingress into the city. The Aumon are renowned for their ingrained hatred of all things living and will sweep through Gungingeth, murdering anything that happens across their path. Thus the bell tolls and all who dwell within the city know to watch the dark ways and the thoroughfares for sign of the Aumon's approach, lest they fall under his hateful gaze and end their days throttled or torn asunder by the monster's powerful claws.

GUNGINGETH

6 Alucard's Funhouse Alucard Ruth-Haven is the local Shabble crime lord, his estate extending to cover the entire southwestern quarter of the city.

The Funhouse is a giant pit surrounded on its eastern side by a semi-circle of stone seating and flanked to the west by a high cob wall upon whose battlements is seating for Ruth-Haven's cronies and guests. A central box with a tented roof houses Ruth-Haven himself, along with any muse who happens to be particularly close at the time. His immediate bodyguard (the Ferror Thunk Lanhammer and the Mammyeth Nane Toopka) will always be close at hand if not standing guard at his side.

The Funhouse is a place of misery, torment and, eventually, death for anyone unfortunate to find themselves in the pit, but a place of obscene enjoyment and entertainment for the mobs who occupy the seats or spectator stands.

The pit opens daily and at the same time, lines forming in the streets to the east where Scarfer gangs will patrol before and after. There they keep a beady eye on the dark alleyways, rooftops and overlooking windows for signs of danger, their purpose to keep paying spectators safe while they wait to enter the stands. They will also deal with anyone who tries to gain entry without paying, dragging the perpetrator into some dark corner to mete out typical Gungingeth justice.

At the start of each game, the Funhouse announcer (known as the Stooge and typically a trembling Orflin) stands before the crowds and describes the day's itinerary from an unrolled scroll. His voice is rarely heard, the wild cacophony of the spectators, their pounding drums, shrieking, wailing and manic laughter rising into the air above the city like the roar of some demented beast. Traditionally the Stooge is allowed to read at least half his list of events before the crowd begin pummeling him with rotten vegetables, sharpened stones and feces.

The life expectancy of the average Stooge is short, but the pay is excellent and there is never any shortage of Orflin waiting to take the place of the previous worthy.

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The games themselves are less like games and more like public executions, often as imaginative as they are gruesome to behold.

Between the arbitrary killings, gladiators spar for the entertainment of the baying mob. These are usually prisoners, captured and forced to fight repeatedly; to maim and draw maximum blood but not to kill, since fighters who bleed are more satisfying to the crowd but less easy to come by in a predominantly Fell realm.

Wyrmen and myrmen will feature heavily (the morcelt and the elken being firm favourites), along with Berbrock Badger-folk and Faunans from W천doak. Gigamyrwen and Myrwyr, though rare, may also be used. Any shortfall is usually made up with savage gangs of Carker or nervous Orflin.

At the end of the spectacle the traditional Execution of the Hapless Orf takes place. The Orf in question, simply named 'The Jerk', was captured many decades ago by Alucard's henchmen and was intended to be slaughtered for the delight of the crowds in the routine fashion. He reincarnated from the Gungin Gap shortly after his murder and was immediately recaptured, quite by coincidence, and scheduled once again to be killed in the Funhouse. He has since become a firm favourite and is routinely recaptured by the Scarfer of the Gapward slums for an ever attractive reward, dragged back to the Funhouse and executed anew to the uproarious delight of the screaming mob.

Alucard keeps things interesting by requiring each execution is different in some way from the one before. Thus on one day The Jerk might be yanked limb from limb by a raging Ferror, on another he might be pounded into a pulp by the same Ferror wielding a warhammer, and the day after that he might be torn apart by Wapperjaw or tethered between two wild horses and dragged apart. The miserable individual forced to endure this unending plight of murder and rebirth is simply a focus of delight and nothing more for the watching crowds, while Alucard takes great satisfaction in the depths of the victim's misery. None have ever attempted to rescue the Orf and though he begs for mercy none has ever been offered.

Tickets to the Funhouse cost just 1 Wealth per spectator, with the majority of Alucard's profit coming from the Soul Stones he reaps at the end of each 'game' and the extras he earns from gambling. Wagers on gladiator battles are commonplace, but typically fixed, the combat carefully rehearsed beforehand and any gladiator who refuses to follow the script given instead to the executioners for liquidation in the next game.

GUNGINGETH

7 Slave Market Each Friday of every week the Scarfers converge on this part of the city where they parade their slave captives and sell them to the highest bidder.

with the Assassin's Guild and assassination attempts must first be agreed upon and condoned by a majority vote from the city's Shabble crime lords before a contract can be officially drawn. In all the long and bloody history of the Fellorn only a handful of leaders have remained enthroned until death by some means other than assassination. Despite the certain knowledge that acquisition of high command will eventually mean almost certain death at the hands of an assassin, there is never a shortage of ambitious ministers scrabbling to reach the top spot.

The current ruler of the Fellorn, and therefore Gungingeth, is the Mergin Mordar Crome, a truly contemptable tyrant, much loved by the citizenship because of his open hatred and open calls for war against the despised wyrmen. So far Mordar has survived twelve attempts on his life and is understandably paranoid as a result.

GUNGINGETH

9 the Peon Ward House of Poor Lament (Main Southern Tower and Entrance)

The majority of slaves will belong either to the myrman or wyrman race, these being the most easily subjugated through their fear of pain and death. Fell, including the Orflin and Carker, may also be sold as slaves, but Orflin tend to be untrustworthy regardless of the punishment their master metes out, while Carker are generally too unruly and feral to be of any use except as a cheap labour force.

Thus myr and wyrmen will be the most expensive and sought after slaves. Male wyrmen with their family (wife and children, for example) will be worth even more since the family can be used in numerous ways to force the male (or female) to perform tasks they might otherwise refuse, even in the face of pain or death.

A surprising number of buyers in the slave market will come from Iyfel, Old Urd and even Santun Morvagh or the other civilized wyrman lands. Agents from underworld cults such as the Cult of Flies or sects that worship alternative Elgan gods will utilize slaves in their hidden institutions or may simply require them for sacrificial and ceremonial purposes. It is therefore common to see wyrman or wyr-woman Dunwytches, Warlocks, Haruspex, Creants and even Darklorn Spell-Binders perusing the wares at the slave market.

Another buyer likely to be found here is the Catharxis who specializes in necrostatic orbs (snuffers and griefers) on the lookout for likely victims to star in his next production.

Such individuals will be wyrmen working under the protection of one or another Shabble who, in turn, fund the Catharxis' operation and take a hefty chunk of his profit.

GUNGINGETH

8 the House of Poor Lament So named (purportedly) because this is where (supposedly) the desperate and those without justice come to plead their case. The House of Poor Lament is the seat of Gungingeth's schismatic government - the Fellorn - a board of corrupt and villainous politicians comprised almost entirely of Mergin, Grymm and Pyknic breeds who, in turn, command armies of administrative Peon and actual armies of Scarfer and Gorbelly to do their bidding and protect them in their enclave.

The government (initially named the City Parliament) was established around the year 650AD by the guild, cult and institutional masters of the city of Santun Morvagh in an effort to impose some kind of decorum upon their chaotic neighbour. The originally appointed parliament was promptly slain by Shabble crime lords and replaced with characters more sympathetic to the ways of the city. Over time the name Poor Lament became a running joke which somehow stuck and the ever-replenishing governors came naturally to be known as the Fellorn, meaning Fell Lords.

The governing hierarchy is a dictatorship of peers whose uppermost echelons are determined in almost every instance by the assassination of those in high office by those in low office. The whole is deeply integrated

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A high-rise, gated and secured district populated exclusively by the vile Peon breeds who play a crucial role in the administrative side of Gungingeth's corrupt government.

Despite the surrounding walls, patrols of Scarfer and Gorbelly and internal security system of locked doors and barred windows, the Peon are a popular target for the lawless Fell, being supremely weak and an easy source of green Soul Stone Most Peon will seek protective services in the Shabble crime-lord Scelero Durma whose patch covers the entire eastern side of the city within the curtain wall, starting with the Peon Ward and the House of Poor Lament. Scelero cares little for the loathsome Peon but offers his protection provided they pay him regularly and ensure he retains certain privileges in Fellorn circles.

GUNGINGETH

10 Ugsome's Freak Shack The enterprising Grymm, Ugsome The Unholy constructed this large complex with funds loaned by the Shabble crime lord Scelero Durma who controls the easternmost quarter of the city and has the majority owning interest in Ugsome's business.

Here Fell monstrosities who enter Gungingeth via the Coarctan Ramp and which are subsequently deemed to be too dangerous even for the City of Thieves will be funneled into holding cells and chained up. These creatures are then either sold to the highest bidder or slaughtered, their Soul Stone then sold on the black market. Illicit Soul Reapers can earn a handsome purse at the Freak Shack if they are willing to enter the holding

cells and slay the beasts held therein, recovering the Soul Stone for Ugsome. Most of the time Ugsome will have a gang of loyal and well paid Reapers who live dangerous lives here on the very brink of the Gap, within Fell communities who would tear them limb from limb were they not living under the Grymm's dubious protection.

Ugsome retains some of his stock as living specimens and sells them either to the Shabble as guardians for their lairs and their treasure hoards, or to other clients who may have some equally nefarious purpose in mind.

Ugsome cares nothing for the race or nature of the buyer, only that they bring plenty of hard currency and their own handlers.

GUNGINGETH

11 the Scumward Shanty Beyond the city walls the hovels and tin pot shacks of the Scumward seem to grow in number and density on an almost daily basis.

This quarter of the city, which lies entirely outside the official city wall and in the shadow of the great Grail Mountains, is controlled by the Shabble crime lord Glander Fowl. This notoriously evil Shabble (repulsive even by Shabble standards) is the least wealthy of the city's over-arching crime lords but the most ruthless. He cares nothing for city politics or territory and seems incapable of understanding the necessity for mutually assured survival, a necessity the other three Shabble crime lords embrace as a matter of course. Glander desires only death, pain and destruction and murders those who dwell in his ward with routine indifference. He lives on

the blood of chickens which his minions breed in vast quantities in huge battery-farms on the edge of the slums, thus he cares less about wealth than he does about power over and control of those weaker than himself.

The shanty is populated almost entirely by Orflin, Gorbelly and Narbroc, the latter boring their warrens and tunnels into the sheer wall of the Grail Mountain, their caves visible even from a great distance as thousands of holes pock-marking the cliffs.

GUNGINGETH

12 Jarhouse of Flies In 642AD Dydrüeth, queen of the Naderfell, emerged from the Gungin Gap and beheld for the first time the City of Thieves. There she saw the festering product of Gungin scurrying like insects in their mud-streets and hiding in their clay towns and approved of their chaos and their unrelenting depravity. But nowhere did she see evidence of deference to the great Elgan gods, without whom Gungin's mighty essence would still be entombed far beneath the earth.

Thus Dydrüeth raged as she lifted herself from the chasm of Dunlight, declaiming Gungingeth to be 'an insult' before promptly razing the city to the ground.

The Fell learned their lesson that day and upon reviving from the Gap they remembered well the gods to whom they owed their very existence. Thus was the Jarhouse of Flies erected; a tremendous pillar of metal (forged by the Ferror) whose surrounding temples were hefted stone by

The Jarhouse of Flies

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stone by the hands of slaves and whiplashed Orflin.

As the temple rose out of the ground Dydrüeth hunkered upon the northern bank of the Gungin Gap, watching with sly interest.

When the structure was complete Dydrüeth came once more into the city and declared the temple to be an everlasting and binding symbol of Gungin's kinship with the Elgan host. The Fell should worship there, she declared, or face annihilation once again, from which this time they might never return. She then left the city and has been known only to return on a handful of occasions.

Thus does the Jarhouse of Flies stand, as a testament to Gungin's connection with the Elgan host, locked in their substanceless prison between the strands of the Web of Wyrd.

The temple is one of the largest and most well constructed buildings in Gungingeth, consisting of a tremendous metal tower of black iron encircled by lesser temple structures and shrines.

The pillar is made of iron grid work and algae covered glass and within this hothouse Fell priests (mostly Dunwytches, Warlocks and Haruspex) cultivate a festering farm of Tetsy Flies.

On the first day of Augurs, generally the warmest day of the year in most of Ereth, the priests release the flies to swarm over the wastes of Mortun Pandi and the greenswards of the Angle.

The unleashing of the swarm is both a celebration of Gungin and a deference to the Elgan gods while the misery the flies inflict upon the hapless wyrmen living within range of the swarm is deemed to be a gift given solely to the spirit of chaos.

Where warm winds blow the swarm into the west they typically wreak havoc on the lands of the Angle, the Tetsy being a type of mosquito that lives on the blood of animals and the fae, including wyrmen and women.

They also spread various infectious pathogens and the event, which coincides with many of the summer fairs and other outdoor activities enjoyed by the sun-loving wyrmen, will invariably lead to uncountable bites and the spread of disease.

Generally the Fell of Gungingeth are nondevout and merely tolerate any city-wide ceremonies performed by the cult. The city is a harbour for many of the alternative sects of the Cult of Flies, the Cleave Priests and the Temple of the Black Dyad being the most common and openly practiced. Few Fell routinely attend the Jarhouse temple regularly but nor would they ever dream of ousting the temple from their midst. Most retain a vague memory of Dydrüeth's warning and recognize the importance of keeping so mighty an adversary on side.

GUNGINGETH

13 Temple of the Wyvern A black, featureless tower at the top of which the Naderfell Fyslak is sometimes found, coiled behind a parapet with gargoyle crenellations, his hideous head lolling over the battlements, surveying the city below.

Fyslak is a foul creature worshipped by Fell acolytes of the sect known as the Church of the Wyvern, a sect of the Cult of Flies. The entrance to the interior of the temple is hidden and located elsewhere, underground tunnels connecting to the main shaft of the tower.

Acolytes revere Fyslak, despite his status in the ranks of the Naderfell being far from exalted. In Gungingeth he acts as an agent of the queen of the Naderfell, Dydr端eth Greyfold, and returns regular reports to her on the state of the city and its chaotic people.

During his time here, however, he has established himself as a political activist, jockeying for status with the Shabble crime lords who recognize him as a useful ally and a connection with Old Urd. The temple is Fyslak's folly, the sect an amusement he encourages. He presents himself as a saviour to certain Fell breeds, favouring in particular the Orflin and other lesser beings whose comparatively diminutive lives may be a miserable affair and whose loyalty is easily groomed. Few know what membership to the sect entails, but rumours suggest the black tower is used for sacrificial rites and other dark practices associated with Craven magick.

SANTUN MORVAGH Founded in the year 186AD by Morvagh Elowen, head of the Elvian cult, Santun Morvagh (literally New Town of Morvagh) was established as a sanctuary for a people who were driven from their homeland by persecution and prejudice and has since grown to become an asylum for outcasts from every race and all walks of life.

The city stands in the Valley of Cataclysm within the crater formed by the detonation of Uselyorn Elgan's weapon of destruction, the Hammer of Merrlith. The walls of the crater, the Grail Mountains (so named in reference to the cuplike-shape of the crater bowl), surround the city as a natural bulwark against the perils of the grim land beyond and the Fell threat of Gungingeth.

A winding tunnel called Tollboreth cuts a natural path into the basin of the crater from

the desolate plains without, connecting civilization and sanctuary with the barren wastes of Mortun Pandi's chaotic Helterlands.

It was into Tollboreth's western caves that Morvagh and Loren Elowen first sought refuge, along with the Elvian people they brought out of the Angle and into exile. The Fell were snapping at their heels as they fled into the caves, and there they used magick to bring down rocks from above, cutting off their pursuers but simultaneously (or so they thought) entombing themselves underground. In darkness and with all hope of retreat cut off, they walked the main tunnel of Tollboreth, emerging at its eastern end to behold for the first time the spectacle of the Valley of Cataclysm.

To the east the walls of the crater have been eroded by the sea to form a natural inlet and harbour embraced by a crown of craggy rocks and islets. Trade vessels and ships of all shapes and sizes pour into and out of this harbour, coming from the Angle, from Skytor to the north and even, on rare occasions, from the land of Listholm. Export and import is the city's stock-in-trade, its industries as unusual and unique as its people.

The ideological systems and politics of Santun Morvagh are diversified over a variety of different institutions, with leading figures from each playing a role in the management of the city. At the head of this system is the Elvian church, followed closely by the guilds whose level of power is matched only by the organized criminal families who maintain (in their own schismatic way and in strict conjunction with the Thief's Guild) law and order within the twelve city wards. Thereafter come certain high powered institutes, headed by the Abbraxian School of Geomancy, the Nostrafarian university and the wealthy Portland Docks. At the lowest rung of this political ladder can be found the Scribes and their leader, the Overseer Elias Shorgrave - the face of Santun Morvagh's government, but not the driving force.

Operating somewhat outside this complex hierarchy of jostling power houses is the Port Guard, a customs and excise force brought into existence by the majority of Santun Morvagh's masters of industry to protect tax interests. The Port Guard oversee the vast influx and out flow of goods travelling by sea and ensure the implementation of duty tax.

Their targets are the smugglers who operate routinely as part of the criminal underworld import and export existing outside the recognized jurisdictions of the Thief's Guild.

SANTUN MORVAGH

1 Tollboreth Tunnel Domed structures stand at either end of a tunnel bored through the heart of the Grail Mountains by the passage of water in ages past. Upon the keystone of the archway in the western dome is the legend:

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SAN TUN MORVAGH 'Oid treuspenn ys pub brid' ...which translated from old Cornovish into modern Erethian means 'New Town of Morvagh, a roost for every bird' .

The tunnel has been reinforced with stone pillars, but is entirely natural and, though it meanders and branches at points into smaller spurs which themselves delve into the depths of the crater wall, the main thoroughfare provides an ideal and perfectly situated link between the Valley of Cataclysm and the outside world. A stream trickles through the tunnel, travelling its length and then crossing the valley beyond to trickle half-heartedly into the sea; all that remains of a once mighty river whose surging waters were probably fuelled by melting glaciers.

The western structure is furnished with a portcullis and guarded by gatekeepers who watch the approaching road and meandering stream from the safety of a well fortified barbican. It has become customary for Soul Reapers (with the necessary territorial license) to station themselves routinely in the barbican, watching the land and reaping Soul Stones from any hapless Fell who should wander too close. As competition is high to acquire such posts, the Soul Stealer's guild rotates shifts for its members, giving everyone an equal opportunity to use Tollboreth as a vantage point.

By now the Fell of Gungingeth know better than to approach the barbican, only those fresh from the Gap and unwise to the ways of the world likely to blunder out of the City of Thieves and into the sights of a Reaper.

Most Fell who attempt to enter Santun Morvagh do so by scaling the Grail Mountains, though any attempt to do so is unlikely to succeed (see Location 2).

Within the gatehouse and the western end of the tunnel stands Lithdelve Station, a tramway where visitors can embark and disembark the electroplasmic trams that travel across most of the city. The trams are free, but set off sporadically, operating to a vague timetable which is likely to place a tram in Lithdelve once every ten minutes.

Anyone walking through Tollboreth will be passed by several trams heading in both directions numerous times during their journey, the tunnel through the mountains and the approaching road to the city being considerably long.

SANTUN MORVAGH

2 the Crater Wall This crown of riven stone known as the Grail Mountain range is the circular wall of a terrific crater formed by the detonation of the Hammer of Merrlith. The explosion of that ancient and mythic weapon was so powerful it threw such quantities of earth into the upper reaches of the

sky that the sun itself was veiled, triggering a nine thousand year ice-age wyrmen refer to as the Winter of Discontent.

The inner walls of the crown slope gradually down into a roughly circular, bowl shaped valley (The Valley of Cataclysm), while the outer walls are sheer and uncompromising; ramparts of broken stone presenting a wide and sudden emergence of snaggle-toothed cliff tops to the empty barrens beyond.

In the morning the cliffs of Grail are black against the rising sun, jagged fangs jutting against the skyline in the east, and at night they blaze with the oranges, yellows and reds of sunset, glorious to behold and mythic in scope.

The inner slopes will typically be home to wandering Soul Reapers, their tents and makeshift camps pitched near the ridge-line where any Fell attempting to scale the mountains are most likely show their face. With so many hunters watching the crags Fell incursions into the inner slopes (let alone the valley and city below) have become almost unheard of.

SANTUN MORVAGH

3 the Pass of Felgin-Gal Here the crater wall has split apart, like a gaptoothed grin, presenting the wilderness beyond with an opportunity to sneak into the valley. A narrow road, barely wide enough for four wyrmen to walk-abreast, cuts a claustrophobic channel through the pass.

The sheer wall of the mountains on either side loom so high that any traveler taking the path will feel they are walking along some subterranean tunnel whose roof is cracked and glowing with the light of a sky far above.

Only when they emerge and look back to see a doorway as tall as the crater-wall's riven summit will the traveler realize they were in open air the whole time.

The Pass of Felgin-Gal is used routinely by horsemen riding in from the south and by travelers who wish to bypass the main gate.

Like Tollboreth, the pass is often patrolled by

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Soul Reapers, though the narrowness of the road restricts their presence and the Soul Stealer's Guild has, as a result, imposed regulations on the number of Reapers who may hunt the pass at any one time. Generally Reapers prefer to loiter in the land directly outside the pass - the plains from whom the pass takes its name. Here they compete to acquire the Soul Stone of any Fell stupid enough to lumber close to the mountains.

SANTUN MORVAGH

4 the Elemental Temple Here at the heart of this predominantly Elvian ward (itself officially known as the Temple Ward but known more commonly to Morvanians as the Unsleeping Ward) upon the Hill of Pied Horses stands the Elemental Temple of the Elvian cult and the centrepiece of the Elvian church.

The structure is a towering edifice of white stone, hexagonal in shape and rising to a

height of three hundred feet. Construction on the temple began shortly after Queen Morvagh moved her people into the Valley of Cataclysm. She experienced a vision in which the Elvian spirits informed her that for every foot of height she built the temple during the day, they would increase the height by a further twelve feet during the night. Thus was the temple famously completed in just 24 days.

In appearance the temple seems to be formed of numerous towers combined around a larger central tower. In all there are eighteen smaller towers, each rising to a conical roof beneath which is an observation window and chamber. On a plinth in the middle of each chamber is a plaque upon which is etched the name of the rune-tool or talisman associated with the dominant eighteen spirits of the Elvian pantheon: Syldaer (Wood-Pipes of the Runic Breeze), Rinan (Wind Chimes of Dreaming Rain), Fyrnys (Ever Burning Stave of Primal Fire), Eret (the Finger of Stone), Womad (Prong-wand of the Sacred Antler), Yneur (Amber Stones of the Carved Runes), Gungin (Shard Stones of the Gethwall), Ancor (Shard Stones of Oberor), Hellior (Red Virgate of the Fallen Star), Gloose (Sickle of the Resting Dead), Dannan (the Ornate Dagger of Dannanion Num), Jadisfroth (Ever Renewing Phial of Never Warming Water), Ham (Undying Sunflower of Ham), Nabunum (Whistle Flute of the Messenger), Voltamerr (Wired Baton of the Charge), Wyrdorph (Hornpipes of Orphic Swell), Yrmat (the Silver Leaf of Fawynwend) and Wutang (the Sacred Pine Cone of Fey).

Only some of the plinths are furnished with the corresponding talisman. These are Syldaer, Rinan, Fyrnys, Eret, Yneur, Hellior, Jadisfroth, Ham, Nabunum, Voltamerr and Wutang. The others were either never recovered or have been recovered at some point in the past but have since been stolen from the temple, their current whereabouts unknown.

The greatest story of the talismans is that surrounding the Prong-wand of the Sacred Antler, rune-tool and talisman of Womad. The quest to find this artefact has claimed many lives, not least being the father of Queen Morvagh Elowen herself. The quest also consumed the life (and some say the sanity) of Morvagh's brother Elowen, founder of the Loremaster creed.

Inside the main temple, Elvian priests perform the daily ritual of consecration, appreciation and elementalist adoration deemed to ensure the power of the Elvian pantheon prevails and the spirits of Yarnia remain potent in their domains.

Here too the visitor will encounter the Morvanian Wytch creed, a seemingly wild female elementalist and magick-user whose devotion to the cult and to the greater arena of the city is almost fanatical in scope.

Elvian worshippers from all over Ereth converge here, from the Empath to the

Stellamancer and Sectan and the common man or woman in the street. The halls of the temple are open to all-comers and the priests who live and work here will embrace anyone who comes in peace, paying particular attention to those pilgrims or visitors who require healing, psychological help or have come seeking knowledge through the enlightening paths of Elvian lore.

It is not uncommon for a visitor to the halls of the temple to stumble into a chamber where one of the Elvian spirits themselves are manifest, called at the behest of an Empath in order to lend aid or to answer some esoteric query.

Such moments can have a profound effect on the casual visitor and Elvian devotee alike, the essence of a presence from beyond the Entopic Plane altering the labyrinth paths of their life and drawing them closer to the lore of Elvian belief.

THE SHRINES OF ALKOREMMI At the tapering ends of five of the Temple Ward blocks stands one of five shrines collectively known as the Temple of Alkoremmi or the Temple of Senses . These shrines encircle the main Elemental Temple building and are considered to be a part of the Elemental Temple.

The Shrine of the Unsatiating Banquet is a meadery, tavern and food hall whose doors never close, even in the darkest watches of the night. Sumptuous aromas rise from the chimney of the shrine at all hours of the day and night, food prepared by some of the most skilled and highest paid chefs in the city and served by beautiful Ethenan maids in scant clothing. Visitors tend to be those of a high social or professional standing since

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prices are accordingly high. Any meal consumed in the Shrine in any single 24 hour period will award the character Spirit points equal to any Skill Dice they possess in AA Taste & Smell (not to exceed maximum Spirit value). They also gain one LifeForce point.

The Shrine of Melody is a magickal music hall wherein musicians of an infinite variety perform on an almost continual basis, music playing day and night with only short breaks between performances. In theory shows will proceed even where no audience fills the shrine's auditorium, but in practise the shrine is never empty and when a particularly popular musician plays there may even be crowds listening outside the front of the building. All music played within the shrine takes on a special cadence, becoming even more beautiful, haunting, rythmic or entertaining than if it were played elsewhere, regardless of the talent of the performer.

Anyone who attends a show gains +1 Skill Dice in AA Hear a Pin Drop, though this bonus can only be enjoyed by any given character once in their life. Cost of admission to popular shows is typically high but standard performances and newperformer debuts can be as cheap as 1 Wealth per head. As well as the one off Active Ability gain audience members will gain Spirit equal to any Skill Dice they possess in AA Aesthete (not to exceed maximum Spirit) for every show they attend in any one 24 hour period.

The Delight of the Eyes is always open to the public regardless of the late hour and imposes no charge on those who wish to peruse its particular sensual delights.

Within the shrine are rarities collected from every corner of Ereth and in such profusion as to dazzle and confound the senses.

A gallery exhibits paintings of celebrated artists under moody electroplasmic lights, and statues that seem so real as to be alive, landscapes encompassing the most spectacular views afforded the traveler and portraits of uncommonly beautiful women, handsome wyrmen and subjects whose dazzling variety will leave those gazing upon them breathless with wonder. The shrine is guarded by sentinels under the employ of the Elemental Temple and the more valuable exhibits will be under lock and key, displayed beneath thick glass within impenetrable metal cases.

Visitors will gain Spirit points equal to Skill Dice possessed in AA Aesthete. If they have at least +1 Skill Dice in Aesthete they gain +1 Skill Dice in the same Active Ability after Spirit gains. This Skill Dice bonus can only be enjoyed once by any one given character and requires the character spend a minimum one in-game hour in the shrine.

The Palace of Perfumes consists of various halls where an endless array of scented

candles, incense and oils are kept perpetually burning in censers of gold.

Flambeaux and aromatic lamps are lit in a central chamber, their hallucinogenic fumes heightening the senses and increasing the visitor's ability to drink in the many scents.

Where the effects of the delirium become overwhelming the visitor can enter a fragrant garden at the rear of the shrine, accessible via open cloisters. Here an assemblage of every fragrant flower diffuses the air with the purest odours.

Characters who have at least +1 Skill Dice in AA Taste & Smell and who remain in the shrine for more than one in-game hour will gain a one off +1 Skill Dice award to AA Place in the Cosmos. Anyone who sleeps in the aromatic garden will gain maximum Spirit upon waking, though they must sleep for a minimum 6 in-game hours.

The Retreat of Joy is a large inn whose portico with its massive columns, wide marble steps and ornamental roof suggest more of the temple than the tavern. Inside is a hedonistic bar where huge cushions of satin replace bar stools and tables and opiate pipes replace alcohol and food.

The Retreat is one of Santun Morvagh's legal houses of prostitution and the lounge area is populated day and night by troops of young females named Houris, beautiful as they are sensual. The Houris will attempt to seduce all who enter the Retreat, though many come only to partake of the opiate pipes and will require only that the Houris wait on them in the conventional sense. The Houris will never fail to receive with caresses all who come seeking the more physical services offered by the Retreat.

Anyone who partakes of the opiate pipe will gain Spirit equal to their AA Place in the Cosmos Skill Dice (not to exceed maximum Spirit) for every in-game hour they remain in the Retreat. However, for every in-game hour they also temporarily lose one point of CC Mind & Memory, the value recovered at a rate of one point per in-game hour beginning as soon as the character leaves the Retreat.

Those who merely wish to spend time with the temptress Houris gain maximum Spirit value but lose one Skill Dice in AA Resistance to Evil (if they have any to lose).

The Houris charge a flat rate of 10 Wealth per girl (or man, as the Retreat also offers handsome male Houris to those clients who require them) for every in-game hour they are required to serve their clients. For this price the Houris will perform their art to the utmost of their ability, leaving the client in no doubt that they are masters of their craft.

Unsurprisingly the Retreat sometimes attracts unwholesome characters and for this reason the shrine door and interior are closely watched by heavily muscled and heavily armed but cleverly unobtrusive sowyrmen guardians.

SANTUN MORVAGH

5 Abbraxian School of Geomancy The Geomancer is one of the most powerful of the magick crafters of Ereth and one of those least beholden to religion for the power behind his magick.

Instead, the Geomancer is indebted to the Abbraxian School of Geomancy where all Geomancers are taught the mysticisms of the Fetish, the sacred Heartstone of Santun Morvagh which stands hidden in protected chambers beneath the school, itself contained and hidden at the heart of an impenetrable, three dimensional labyrinth.

In return for access to the powers of the Fetish the licensed Geomancer is obliged to follow the rules of the school. He may not take an apprentice, nor teach Geomancy in his own school and to his own students unless certified to do so by the school itself. He may not take outsiders into the school and he may not undertake any nefarious deed that would threaten the safety of the school, its students and the Fetish under its protection.

The Fetish - the Heartstone of Santun Morvagh - lies in the depths of a dungeon beneath the tower of Forfend, a high finger of conical stone which stands at the core of the labyrinth.

The labyrinth, known as the Maze of Grendanstan (the Twisting Turning Guardian of the Stone) or as it is known to the people of Santun Morvagh, the Maze of Woe, is a huge cube of stone whose walls stand 200ft high.

Within is an intricate and devious maze which passes through the width and height of the structure before opening into the central storey of the Forfend. The maze is furnished with uncountable tricks, traps and guardians, the safe paths known only to those who attend

the school. All others must either enter accompanied by a Geomancer or take one of the special balloon flights which, from time to time, are organized to carry VIPs or foreign diplomats onto the roof of the Grendanstan where a great trapdoor of six foot thick iron is opened to allow entry into the upper floor of the Forfend. These flights are the only guaranteed safe way to cross Grendanstan which, in its time, has claimed the lives not just of many would-be intruders but numerous forgetful Geomancers as well.

THE HEARTSTONE OF FORFEND The crystalline Heartstone known as The Fetish is the only mystical stone in Ereth to play an integral role in rune magick.

It stands at the foot of a long sweeping stairway of marble that descends four hundred feet into a cavernous space beneath the Forfend tower. Here it rests at the centre of a circular pattern designed to mimic parts of the Maze of Grendanstan, a slender pylon of blazing green crystal thirty feet tall, marked with the runic name of the city above and rotating slowly on its vertical axis, the tiniest point of its lowermost aspect drilling a hollow into the stone floor. Standing at equal space around the perimeter of the pattern, their backs to the stone, are twenty four Guardians of Abbraxia; the Grendarm as they are known; heavily armoured warrior priests of the cult of Elvia avowed to protecting the stone and the city of Santun Morvagh with their lives.

The cavern surrounding the stone pulses with green light and a powerful electricity hums in the air. Anyone standing in the presence of the Fetish will feel a sense of profound calm and all Spirit will immediately be replenished to maximum value.

Nobody is allowed to approach the Fetish or set foot upon the pattern of the floor and anyone attempting to do so will be warned off by the Grendarm and then, if they persist, attacked without hesitation.

Abbraxian School of Geomancy (exterior of the Grendanstan)

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SANTUN MORVAGH

6 the Nüon Skyber Tram Stop A recent construction, built in 1955AD, the Nüon Skyber stands at the heart of a burgeoning movement surrounding the electroplasmic Tidal Barrage power station.

The tower stands eighty feet high and is covered in gaudy Elvian runes, symbols and pictagrams formed by glass tubes filled with Nüon (meaning New Beginning) gas. When a highly charged electroplasmic current flows through the gas it glows with an intense and colourful light, producing an effect that only magick can replicate. The Electrasmyths responsible for the towers creation hold no stock in the runes or pictures the tower displays and have merely chosen to honour the cult centre in which they find themselves sheltered. Their interest lies purely in the mechanistics of electratech, any mystical element dismissed as superstition.

The interior of the Nüon is, at present, a chaos of electratech equipment, offices in varying shambolic states and laboratories filled with gizmos. Space within the tower is rented out to the growing community of Morvanian Electrasmyths and the tower owners have applied for guild status with the Scribes of the city (which they will eventually receive, though there is much bureaucracy to wade through before this can happen). Their hope is to create a guild servicing Electrasmythery only, a utility currently offered only by the Smyth's Guild whose members consider the Electrasmyth to be a lowly form of artisan.

The south exterior side of the tower harbours the Tram Stop and here the tram service which now covers most of the city gets its power and its technology. The tram has gained the name of The Nüon Skyber even though this is the name of the tower only and not the transport system. The system has no given name and is merely a function provided by the electrasmyths of Nüon, funded by the Morvanian government, the guilds and the institutes as a way to keep the city infrastructure running smoothly.

SANTUN MORVAGH

7 Tidal Barrage An electroplasmic power station that works using the predictable tides and a series of damming structures.

At high tide waters are captured inside the barrage dams and then released gradually through sluice-gates, powering mechanical mill-wheels which, in turn, spin the electroturbines from which unstable electroplasm is generated. The release of water is timed in order to maintain a consistent flow during

low tide which is immediately replenished at high, ensuring the turbines turn continually.

At present only the city's street lighting system and tram network make full and consistent use of the Tidal Barrage, but with the expansion of Electrasmythery, encouraged by guild masters, institutes and the church, the number of public and private utilities plugging into the turbine are likely to increase.

SANTUN MORVAGH

8 Alchemical Exchange In the same way that stocks are routinely traded in the city of Dunkonum, the elementalists of Santun Morvagh have discovered an even more fundamental way to make market gains on viable stock - by turning clay into gold.

In fact, the process of making wealth by transmutation is a delicate business and to leap from clay to gold would not only lead to bankruptcy but would also see the alchemist drummed out of the exchange for stupidity.

In order to trade on the Alchemical Exchange an applicant must be a member of the Elvian cult and must possess a minimum 5 points of Cult Allegiance. Membership is free, but joining requires the applicant take Institutional Allegiance to the Alchemical Exchange to the tune of 10 points. If the value of Institutional Allegiance equals or drops below 4 points the trader will be ejected from the exchange with no recourse to join again.

The Exchange operates on the basis that the transmutation of one material from another leads to an increase in profit for the alchemist, but that the weight and value conversion means a cosmic loss which must be redressed in order to maintain a safe universal equilibrium.

For example, the creation of 1k of Feldspar Quartz requires a 2k base mass of flint (see System & Setting, Table 16, Transmutation

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Reference). A 1k weight of flint has a market worth of 1w, therefore a 2k weight has a market worth of 2w. By comparison 1k of Feldspar Quartz has an average market worth of 5w. Thus the transmutation of flint into Feldspar Quartz yields a 3 Wealth profit per 2 Wealth investment of flint, profit being generally determined as the difference between investment and return.

In exchange terms this is described as an Alchemical Share with a value of 3w per share.

An alchemist intending to make any considerable gain from such transmutation will require capital enough to stock up his base mass (acquiring enough stores of flint to produce a profitable output of Feldspar Quartz, in the case of the above example). In order to generate this capital he is able to offer his Alchemical Share Options in the Exchange, selling shares in quantity equal to the amount/value of material he intends to acquire through transmutation.

Anyone in the world, from an Elvian to a norwyr in Listholm, may purchase options in shares floated on the Alchemical Exchange, though the system is currently only really understood (and then only to a limited degree) within the city of Santun Morvagh.

Only members of the Exchange may offer shares, however, and doing so requires exposure of the business proposition to a board of critical officials.

Like any business, certain trends will determine how likely the alchemist is to turn a profit by offering shares. However, unlike the trader in business where intrinsic economic uncertainties associated with currency stock and shares are determined to be part and parcel of the risk, there are wider market responsibilities the alchemist is ethically and religiously obliged to consider and where he fails to consider them - his Institutional Allegiance will drop accordingly.

The transmutation of too much material from one to another can lead to a flooded market

and the devaluing of a previously expensive material. Where too much flint is transmuted into Feldspar Quartz, for example, the price of flint is likely to rise and the price of Quartz is likely to drop. As a result the original share price will fall (as would occur with the overexpansion of any material commodity in an economic market) but there will also be a fundamental imbalance in elemental stability.

In short, the alchemist has misused the runes of elemental magick to upset the balance of natural worldly materials in order to make personal gains (note: shareholder gains count as personal in this instance, since shareholders are merely investors in the personal ambitions of the alchemist). In addition, the explosion of a desired material will lead to limited buyers, potentially leaving the alchemist with worthless quantities of transmuted stock. Turning such stock back into its original material in order to recoup losses is deemed to be both unethical and probably extremely illegal by the Exchange; a method known as Inverse Commodity Yield and one that will see the alchemist thrown out of the institution and his Institutional Allegiance reduced to zero.

In cataclysmic cases (all of which - thanks to the existence of the Exchange - remain theoretical) the very Elvian spirit associated with the reduced element suffers a loss of essence and is diminished in strength; a direct attack (whether intentional or not) against the sacred entities of the Web of Wyrd and thereby an act of Craven blasphemy.

So great is the potential for the destabilizing of the Elvian pantheon and the natural world that even a one point (translates as one Wealth) drop in the price of any share compared to its initial price when floated on the Alchemical Exchange will result in a 2 point reduction in the alchemist's Institutional Allegiance value.

Alchemists are, of course, free to undertake their transmutational experiments outside the regulating oversight of the Alchemical Exchange, but where the generation of profit is reliant on the crowd-sourcing of funds, only the exchange has the far-reaching capability to provide large numbers of investors and make any wholesale transmutation of product a viable Wealth-generating affair.

The Exchange is currently seeking guild status, which would allow for the formation of an Alchemical Stock-trader creed entirely authorized and regulated by them. So dire would the result of a private alchemical transmutational experiment be if one of the base elements were transformed out of market dominance (and so adept are the authorities of the Exchange at explaining the potential disasters to city officials) that the acquisition of guild status would no doubt allow the Exchange to integrate current unofficial regulations into solid city law.

For now the risk remains and only the regulating stance of the Exchange prevents such disasters occurring.

SANTUN MORVAGH

9 Ward of Golems As is often typical of pluralist societies, certain ethnic minorities will tend to band together, forming self-styled ghettos whose borders can often be defined to within just a few streets.

Golems, in their most fundamental form, are constructs formed using elemental magick and base elemental materials combined with elemental talismans.

Only where the conjuror of a golem subsequently transfers their memories from an Oberorb and installs them into the golem does the creature become entirely autonomous and a characteristic copy of its maker. Thereafter, only those golems who either manage to outsmart their creator and somehow prevent him from dismissing them back into the base element from which they came, or who live on where their creator has died, gain independence and the right to sentient existence.

Such golems, over the centuries, have gravitated to Santun Morvagh, most civilized of the accepting cultures in Ereth, and thereafter have been naturally drawn to live amongst kindred spirits in the Golem Ward.

Here dwell sapient golems of every size, shape and description, from squat wood golems to ethereal mist golems, glistening black oil golems to clanking golems of iron and steel.

Unable to find normality in the lives their memories insist are their own, the golems typically make a living by working in one of the nearby golem factories, using their strength or unique abilities to produce goods.

Even the liberal minded citizens of Santun Morvagh find the golems to be something of an enigma at best and at worst a spooky and unwelcome addition to the city. The willingness of these citizens to employ golems regardless of their strange nature is testament to the enduring pluralist philosophy found alive and kicking in every aspect of the city.

They are undoubtedly a people, but a people without history, for their origins are in the lives and memories of souls who have probably long since passed from the world to dwell in the Web of Wyrd, the golem remaining as a kind of inferior copy - lacking a soul and lacking a connection to the mythological esoteric that links all wyrmen with the spirit plane.

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10 Santun Portland The largest dockland area in the civilized world, the Santun port also sees the greatest amount of shipping traffic, merchant vessels coming and going on a continual basis, taking and delivering goods to and from

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lands as far afield as Listholm, but more routinely from the city ports of the Angle and Skytor.

On the dockside, in a prominent position, stands the imposing Port Guard building whose officers are known locally as the Mooncursers (a shortening of Mooncurser's Bane, the original Moon Curser being the smuggler and purveyor of non-taxed contraband whose activities would be made all the harder to hide on nights illuminated by a full moon. The title has now shifted in the strange way that language tends to mutate to those who hunt and prosecute such villains).

All ships coming into the port will be exposed to an intensive search by the Mooncursers and all goods offloaded must be checked and certified by an officer before warehousemen and merchant seamen alike can shake hands on any done deal. A secondary outfit known as the Watchmen oversee Port Guard operations closely, their purpose being to expose corruption and bribery and ensure smuggling does not become institutionalized.

There are labyrinthine layers to the Watchmen, with different aspects of the same organization operating, apparently, with complete independence from the main office and reporting back to unknown, often secret, contacts in the Scribes, the guilds, the church or some other city institution. The complexities of the organization has led to the question 'who watches the watchmen?', the answer being those whose purse receives an ever diluted version of the original bribe and, therefore, those whose motivation to keep their mouths shut diminishes the further from the main operation they are. The system, while hideously compartmentalized, works admirably, albeit at great expense to the taxed masses. Some might speculate that the cost of running so costly a regulatory practice would cancel out gains made by preventing smugglers. The Elvian church, widely regarded as the architect of the system, disagrees, arguing that smuggling is, in and of itself, an infestation of corruption and a boil worth lancing at any cost.

Warehouses line the edge of the port in their hundreds, some no larger than sheds, others looming edifices stocked to the roof with crates and barrels. Derrick cranes running on rails and powered by mechanical means line the side of the dock while teams of grease smeared wyrmen keep the machine of trade and commerce turning at the level of levers and cogs.

Between the warehouses and shambolic structures whose sagging rooftops and ancient stone predominate in the avenues overlooking the bay, there are numerous watering holes where a visitor (or hard working docksman) can lay his hand on a drink or two. The larger and more eyecatching of these includes the Reaverhouse (a public bar frequented by Soul Reapers, Slayers, Raiders and anyone unafraid of a good healthy fight with their pint) and the Wirmsday Inn, named in honour of the day

the Naderfell Molothek, vast and mysterious, rose from the Gungin Gap and loomed over the city like a winged apocalypse.

large stone dagger so that the point is buried in the ground. A plaque on the plinth at the foot of the statue is inscribed with the words

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You whose foes are enrooted with friends shall unfasten and shake friendship when plucking enemies from thy midst - beware and keep thy friends close but thine enemies closer.

11 Citadel of Levenbrand Ine of the most mysterious and troubling locations in Ereth, the Citadel of Levenbrand is entirely sealed, its doors and windows bricked up, the structure itself surrounded by a wall furnished with turrets which are guarded day and night be warriors employed by a secretive order authorized and given legal status by the Scribes and Overseer of the city.

It is said that within the Citadel stands a large stone chest upon which the spell Yneur's Cask has been cast. Within the chest, the rumour persists, is something so terrible that the building in which the cask resides has been sealed and the area around the building quarantined. Whatever lurks inside is too hideous to speak of and remains a secret known only to conspirators at high level of office in the city guilds, institutes and church.

The gates of Gallo House open rarely and when they do they do so only for noble visitors, envoys from other cities or guild masters of high rank. The not so casual visitor who tests the gate will find it locked, though his rattling of the bars will set small bells chiming in the upper pylons of the gate which may, in turn, bring solemn faced guards into the courtyard.

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14 Foundry of the Primal Fire

12 the Temple of Tears Home to the Sectans of Rinan who worship the spirit of Flowing Rain.

The temple is thought to have origins in the Arvorian Mariner's Shrine, though there is no known evidence for this beyond the fact that many of the sect's adherents are mariners.

The temple is a stunning structure of crystal, glass and stone standing in the centre of a large lake with access provided by stone causeways. Within the temple a fountain fills the air with the sound of babbling water, while acolytes pour water from the font onto burning coals, creating steam that precipitates toward a central dome high above. Here the water condenses and drips, falling as a warm light rain on those who wander through the space below.

Ceremonies at the Temple of Tears tend to honour Rinan as spirit of the sea rather than rain, river or lake.

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13 Gallo House A grand white stone building, unmarked and set back some way from the street beyond a courtyard surrounded by iron railings. The casual passer-by might easily stroll past Gallo House and fail to notice the building, though if he should glance through the railings he would surely appreciate the quiet splendour of the building inside and the well crafted statue standing in the porch. This depicts two lithe female wyr-women, each holding up a

Officially, Gallo House is a political establishment serving a variety of guilds, institutions and private clients in the ambiguous capacity of a consultant.

Unofficially, most who live in Santun Morvagh know this is the statehouse of the international Assassin's Guild; a building most will take pains to avoid.

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The main temple of the sectan Lords of the Primal Fire and the Temple of the Hammered Forge, Elvian worshippers of Fyrnys, spirit of fire and Stenlorn, spirit of metal respectively.

The temple, which serves as both a ceremonial site and a working foundry, amasses funds by casting metal for industry and export, melting metal into molten liquid using one of four blazing furnaces.

A grid of iron platforms and walkways are suspended above the furnaces and upon these the priests of the temple - almost always sowyrmen - operate great clanking machines that run on overhead chains. The machines carry large weights of virgin metals which are tipped into the furnace along with scrap and alloying elements in the required quantities.

The priests are commonly masters of elemental forging and know precisely how much of which base material to use in order to refine certain alloys. While the furnace charges the priests will also bless the fires, scattering ashes, sprinkling water and reciting lengthy ceremonial scripture, the dust, water and pages of carefully scribed writings all thrown into the melt together.

Immense crucibles are loaded into the furnace once the melt is accordingly refined and blessed and these then carry the liquid metal for pouring into clay or stone molds.

The foundry produces numerous items, all at high price and all of which are divine in nature. Weapons cast here are naturally of divine status and automatically gain a weapon bonus of at least +10. When used

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against any Fell foe whose origins are both chaotic (Gungin) and evil (Elgan) this bonus is likely to at least double.

Similarly the foundry produces divine armour, shields, helms, gauntlets, solarets and molded parts for semi-metallic weapons.

It also crafts molded plates for the production of large statues, some of the greatest metal statues of the modern age being forged here in prefabricated parts then assembled on site.

The structure of the foundry itself is overlooked by a huge monolithic cuboid of White Satin steel etched with curlicues of flame and swirling smoke. This stands in a prominent position on the docks, uncompromising and hard-edged as those who work and worship in the foundry, but beautiful as a thing of sublimely crafted perfection, particularly when its keen edges catch the light of the sun. The workings of the foundry are spread in square grounds at the base of the cube, like pews arrayed before an idol upon its altar.

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15 Mansion of the Kingship Statehouse for the guild of Starcraft, the Mansion of the Kingship is a towering ziggurat upon a hill overlooking the rest of the city. The height of the hill is precisely the height of the highest point on the crater wall, giving anyone standing thereon a perfect, uninterrupted view of the horizon in all directions except the north, where the colossal bulk of Scalar Mened mountain shatters the view. Upon the top of the ziggurat is a domed structure housing the great looking glass of the Agg, a telescope that charts the passage of the stars.

The ziggurat is terraced with three levels, each level constructed so that from each the position of a star or planet and its motion across the sky can be triangulated and a speed and distance calculated with extraordinary precision. This way the scholars of the guild can plot the future motions of the Agg and divine future predictions and future events in the cosmos.

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16 Magickal Ward The city's magickal ward plays host to numerous mansic stores, premantic suppliers and tailors who specialize in the kinds of garments favoured by rune-casters.

Here also is the Parthenon of Thaumatics wherein the sectans of Wyrdorph worship the spirit of sorcery. In recent years the Magickal Ward has also started to provide premises for stores catering solely to electroplasmic gizmos and devices.

Mansion of the Kingship (Statehouse of the Guild of Starcraft)

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17 Eglos of the Gravyan Rune A tapering tower painted with spiraling bands of rainbow colour and flaring at its base into four buttresses stands at the head of a castlelike structure whose bulk covers an entire quarter of the Magickal Ward. Here is the statehouse of the Guild of Magick - the Eglos of the Gravyan Rune - the only establishment belonging to that guild which has not yet been banned and dissolved by local authorities.

The tower stands in the centre of a circular garden whose lawns and flower beds have been ingeniously designed to display the interlocking discs and four pointed star sigil of the Guild of Magick; a deviously difficult sigil to recreate even with ink and parchment.

The buttresses of the tower stand precisely upon the four spokes of the star, their stone points positioned with uncanny precision.

Once a lofty guild, founded by Wythian migrants whose intention was soon discovered to be the inception of a Wythian cult centre at the heart of Santun Morvagh, the Eglos of the Gravyan Rune has since lost all allegiance to any one religious doctrine and now represents only magick in its rawest form.

The guild generally only attracts the Dunwytch, Nefaromancer, Spell-Binder, Warlock and sometimes the Stellamancer Creed, though this latter will usually favour the Guild of Starcraft, choosing the Guild of Magick only in cities where Starcraft is unrepresented. The majority of statehouse members are Nefaromancers, Spell-Binders and Warlocks. To-date, the guild has never had a Haruspex join its ranks.

The guild is infamous for attracting and welcoming casters of the Craven runes and this has led to its chapterhouses in the cities of Listholm and the Angle being closed down and all guild facilities and presence being banned.

Today only the statehouse remains and this is where all members must go to receive training and to mingle with their peers.

The Guild of Magick has but one rule and that is all who enter the great arched doorway of its statehouse immediately set aside their differences, quarrels, ethical judgments and cultic loyalty. The guild is deemed to be neutral ground wherein the words and actions of the member are hidden from the rest of the world.

Where conflict breaks out between members they will be temporarily expelled and their Guild Allegiance will drop to zero. Whips will then observe magickally recorded data of the controversy (every inch of the Eglos is constantly under observation by magickal means) re-instate the injured party and

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permanently expel the antagonist. Where the matter is ambiguous, both parties are typically expelled.

This zero-tolerance approach has led to a curious no-man’s land wherein usually dedicated enemies set aside their differences in order to share their singular love for the runic arts.

The large fortified buildings behind the front tower contain the Orcarn, a vast library and depository in which much of the world’s esoteric, orphic and runic lore has been recorded and bound within an unimaginable collection of books and grimoires. Highbinder members of the guild gain unrestricted access to this library and may be able to unearth untold secrets in its sacred depths, including rune spells not generally known to the spellcasting creeds. (Details of these spells are contained in The Overmaster's Companion).

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18 Church of Welkin's Eye The temple of Syldaer, Spirit of the Reaching Sky, is a seemingly delicate structure built in beams and molded castings of prefabricated White Satin steel whose apparent fragility belies an infrangible hidden strength.

An ingenious network of echo chambers, whispering galleries, pipes, ducts and vents

capture the easterly winds, transferring them into strange fixtures resembling huge conch shells, curled ammonites and tusk-like horns, all molded out of glistening metal. These bizarre objects can be seen nestling like limpets in the crooks and interstices of the building interior, the voice of the wind captured within, somehow altered and then amplified into the temple as a restless, ambient fluting.

When storms rage in the bay of Santun Morvagh the temple is filled with a doomladen music of powerful bass tones peppered with the growl of deep tuba-like notes, while light and playful winds typically create a mischievous lilting song, amusing to hear and likely to prompt a smile from those wandering through the temple halls. In dour weather, when the sky is leaden and the city lies shrouded in mist the winds may translate as a sorrowful lament, dark but profound as the infinite sky, while days of sunshine and summer promise will result in harmonious melodies of unimaginable beauty, drawing crowds to the temple who come merely to listen. The music is said to reflect not only the mood of the weather outside the temple, but the mood of Syldaer herself and is sacred to those who worship Syldaer above all others.

Outside the temple are tranquil gardens segmented into ornamental lawns and terraced patios where the Sectans of Syldaer will most likely be found on clement days.

Anyone is welcome to wander in the serenity of these gardens or to attend the temple itself and many who do so regularly may not even belong to the Church of Welkin's Eye. The priests of the church are always present, and are typically as serene and exotic as the temple they inhabit.

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20 Church of the Nuclei The temple of the Sectans who worship Ascorn, Spirit of the Core, sometimes a spirit associated with bones and blood, and at other times representative of beginnings, of the core and the inception.

The temple is a high tower of dark stone with a baroque architecture and a tapering turret at its apex. At the centre of the structure is an open-topped amphi-theatre surrounded by balconies and galleries looking in, the crown shaped roof of the tower open to the sky. The floor of the amphi-theatre is a furze covered lawn marked with a cross formed by white lilies, a statue of Ascorn standing at the heart of the cross.

The dead centre of the cross purportedly marks the dead centre of the Valley of Cataclysm and the crater gouged out of the earth by the detonation of the Hammer of Merrlith. The statue and flowers indicate the core not only of that flowering explosion but

the beginnings of the Age of Hammer Fall and the beginnings of the crucible of incarceration that would see the wyrmen incarcerated for nine thousand years. This is representative of a positivity and honours survival and fresh beginnings in Ereth during the Age of Thaw.

Those Sectans who worship at the temple hold Ascorn in higher esteem even than the principal spirits of the Elvian pantheon, identifying him as the bud of all things; the root from which all other spirits must surely follow. Their beliefs are not widely accepted within the Elvian cult despite the often compelling case they present.

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21 the Nostrifarnian Principally a magickal seat of learning, the Nostrifarnian is a sprawling university founded by Queen Morvagh herself for the teaching of elemental rune lore to Elvian students. Morvagh's statue adorns the grounds of the university, standing before the main campus, a crown of magickal fire burning upon her brow as she blows upon the open palm of her right hand. In her left she carries a chalice and her right foot is raised, resting upon a great carved boulder. Water tumbles from the chalice and collects in a pool at the statues base. Carved words upon the boulder read

"Here stands Queen Morvagh Elowen, matriarch and founder of the University of Nostrifarnia and the city of Santun Morvagh.

The crown represents fire, the open palm air, the chalice water and the boulder earth.

Though the university teaches magick primarily, its courses are open to anyone who wishes to learn and prices are considerably more affordable than those of other nations.

See System & Setting, Table 20 for a list of available courses and associated costs.

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19 Gigaerack Port The overland Gigaerack puts into port here on the 1st, 11th and 21st of every month, arriving at 6:40pm and departing for Dunkunom in the Angle the following day at 9:40 in the evening.

The oversea Gigaerack arrives on every even day of the month at around midday, departing for Arvortun in the Angle at 2pm.

The circular landing pad is accessed by the Gigaerack via a ramp out of the sea and cannot be reached from the city without first passing through the ticket office and security gate. The pad stands five storeys higher than the road outside, a spiral staircase taking passengers from the ticket office to the landing pad.

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22 the Sectarian Ward Here are the collected temples and shrines of those sects established after the establishment of the Womadic Church of Morvagh.

This sect of Womad, founded in the year 1298AD, subsequently invested in surrounding properties and in the centuries after donated the buildings to other emerging sects. The original intention may have been to create a supercell of factional cults to match that of the main Elvian church, or the motivation may have been more altruistic.

The Church of the Nuclei (North Elevation)

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Here can be found the sects of Ancor (Sect of the Sacred Dusk), Hellior (Temple of the Sun), Eret (Chapel of Clay), Brume (The Miasmics), Forge (Temple of Brimstone), Jadisfroth (Abbey of the White Queen), Kaldyr (Abbey of the Grey Veil), L端rmyth (Beadles of the Centrobaric), Nabunum (Heretics of the Rune), Oyldun (Sacristans of the Holy Vial), Voltamerr (Ecclesiasts of the Storm-fire), Womad (The Womadic Church of Morvagh) and Yneur (Temple of the Burning Loom). The various temples operate shoulder to shoulder, their Sectans mingling freely and without discourse, the ward as a whole turning a profit on the sale of religious trinkets, ornaments, prayer beads, rune-tools and other items, church stalls and markets collected together every day in the main square.

On the outermost corner of the ward stands a Wythian church operated by Weavers who purport to be exiles from the Tablemen of the Mountain and at the end of an adjacent avenue is a temple dedicated to the Motian faith wherein a group of devout norwyr attempt to bring the word of Mot into the lives of the faithless.

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23 Rivage & Shore The Morvanian branch of the magickal deposit bank stands here on the road leading to the Abbraxian School of Geomancy. The school is one of the bank's most lucrative clients, the Geomancers of Abbraxia always in need of storage for their extensive personal stocks of magickal stone.

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24 Helter House A building with a triple purpose, Helter House is both the national music hall of Santun Morvagh, a circus and the statehouse of the Circus Guild.

The building stands on two levels, with a large amphitheatre housed in the fore-most structure and a permanent circus established in the rear. The guild statehouse is situated in buildings connected to the back of the main structure.

The front theatre shows music-hall comedies and pantomime while the building at the rear houses a permanent circus, replete with performing animals, clowns, jesters and acrobats. The statehouse contains dressing rooms, studios, miniature stages for auditions and rehearsal rooms, an enormous wardrobe of costumes (any of which members may use within productions, though costumes may not be taken out of Helter House) and a warehouse-sized building filled with props, backdrops, scenery and endless bits and pieces useful for the creation of props. Here

can also be found ropes, gantries, curtains, fly-wheels, windlass and other mechanical gadgets commonly found in use within the theatre setting.

Upon the outside of the main building is a domed cupola of stone painted with a swirling pattern of red and white. A chaotic mass of mechanical figures act out a variety of zany performances around the exterior of the cupola and the roof of the theatre, their antics driven by a system of clockwork whose complex machinery is hidden inside the dome.

A miniature version of the Hyns-Horn circles the cupola on a rollercoaster track, pumping out smoke as it clatters by, comedic faces jiggling in the windows of the carriages pulled unceremoniously in its wake, the loud honking of a horn akin to the call of a duck announcing the trains passage as it orbits the dome. A caricature depiction of the Gigaerack, its face a picture of confusion, orbits in the opposite direction, a large gondola on its back wobbling from side to side, its mechanical passengers waggling their heads and waving their arms in panic. Every now and then the Gigaerack's tail rises and a risible tuba-note sounds, accompanied by a puff of green gas from the creature's rear end.

A row of jesters stand at the base of the dome and perform a ridiculous dance, their arms about one another as they kick their legs in the air. When the train thunders past they all bow to a mechanically simulated applause (the clashing of symbols) and the engine passes overhead, missing them by inches.

Above the track clouds skim around the dome at regular intervals, repeatedly dumping bucket-loads of water onto the same rank of hapless-looking characters clearly designed to mimic Anglian grenadiers. Over the top of the dome a sun and moon rise and fall, the sun laughing and jiggling from side to side, the moon frowning with a down-turned mouth, its eyes rolling.

Accompanying all this is a cacophony of carnival music, a crazy racket audible from many streets away.

Shows performed in the music hall stage of the Helter are typically low-brow comedies, unscripted improvisations where the cast generally go about one another with rubber props and repeat inane but much-loved phrases to the uproarious glee of the audience. Strangers to the city may find the shows perplexing, if riotous, and it may take several visits before shouts of 'whoops missus' and the gratuitous use of words like 'portion' and 'sausage' start to have the desired effect.

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25 the White Lion A large inn house arrayed over six floors with rooms enough to house up to 200 guests in varying degrees of comfort, the White Lion

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Table 2 ~ Meals Served at the White Lion

Meal

Price

Sun Salamander Fried in Butter (1pt Sun Food)

4w

Grilled Sun Bream with Lemon and Barley Sauce (1pt Sun Food)

3w

Roast Chook with Imported Anglian Vegetables

5w

Tuber Fries Drowned in Vinegar and Salt

1w

Metazoan Beets With Parsley and Butternut Gravy (+1 Orphic Plasm)

5w

Oylock Ribs in a Mustard & Bean Sauce

12w

Water buffalo Tenderloin with Seasonal Anglian Veg

10w

Morvanian Sun Salad with MintBean Dressing (1pt Sun Food)

1w

Star Gazer Pie with fresh Mackerel and Sun-Bream (1pt Sun Food)

6w

Crater Grail Hot-Pot with 'Unnamed Meat'

1w

Shadowvalt Stew of the Valley with Braised Lamb

1w

(named after Rama, the familiar of Brighd, spirit of the Hearth & Fire, Shelter and Rest) has established itself as something of a monopoly on lodgings within the city.

Most evenings the inn puts on some kind of entertainment and banquets are served nightly in the attached meadery. Prices are affordable and the fare is of a reasonable quality, including enough local dishes, wines and ales to tempt even the most discerning palate.

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26 House of Pan A large round house made entirely of wood, the outside of the circular building made up of galleries and balconies overlooking the busy Morvanian streets. A roof of bound thatch covers the uppermost of the building's six storeys, a stone chimney rising from the apex of the thatch and disgorging a steady plume of cannabin tinged smoke into the air.

The House of Pan is the statehouse of the Order of Cosmic Light, a shamantic guild promoting the ways of the Shamancer, but also embracing other Creeds from all cults and regions, most notably the Wood Sylf, the Loric Mage, the Wyrthy, the Morvanian Wytch, the Medicine Man and the Empath.

Stellamancers, Weavers and Yarnsayers are also known to attend, though their numbers are lesser within Santun Morvagh than within Anglian chapterhouses.

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27 Soul Taker's Academy Statehouse of the Soul Stealer's Guild, the Soul Taker's Academy is one of the largest Soul Stone exchanges in Ereth and boasts one of the largest estates of any guild in Santun Morvagh. The academy's buildings comprise an entire ward of the city wherein training grounds and enclosed facilities are housed behind a high curtain wall. Here too are the administrative buildings of the guild, contained in three buildings over a total of twenty six floors.

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28 the Gild House The Gild (as the Thief’s Guild is most commonly known) was conceived by Queen Morvagh Elowen herself as a method of curbing corruption influenced by the proximity of Gungingeth and its dark denizens.

Not only does The Gild place constraints on criminal activity within the city, it also forces segregation of criminal elements from ordinary citizens.

Gild members must operate with The Gild’s knowledge and only members may participate in the city’s black market underworld. Those who shirk The Gild and continue to perpetrate crimes will fall foul of the ruthless family gangs given positions of power and wealth over each of every city's twelve guild controlled wards. Such individuals are usually made an example of for others who might be considering the same course of action.

The twelve city wards (the Abbraxian Ward, the Ward of Golems, the Dockland Ward, the Magickal Ward, the Sectarian Ward, the Temple Ward, the Foundry Ward, the West Ward, the Kings Ward, the Warehouse Ward, the Nor Ward and the Ward of Soul Stealers) are run by twelve Rank 6 Eldermen, each the surviving patriarch of a criminal gang or family. Any criminal activity is monitored closely by them and usually focuses on the black market and ‘illegal’ drug trades. The Gild operates a complicated business of protection rackets and fraud similar in many ways to insurance and everyday political corruption, with a greater degree of intimidation, violence and murder.

There are, of course, laws governing the extent of this criminal activity and any member of The Gild must adhere to these laws or face loss of Guild Allegiance, demotion of rank or even expulsion (see System & Setting, page 291 for further details).

LANDMARKS The most notable landmarks in Mortun Pandi, excluding the cities of Santun Morvagh and Gungingeth.

Arnun Mened In the crook of Mount Ushership's southern aspect stands the ancient ruin of a walled fortress dating from before the Age of Thaw.

Here the mountain is generally shrouded either in cold mists rising off the waters of Fynereth or low clouds, the building typically out of sight to ships travelling the canal far below.

The architects and builders of the ruin of Arnun Mened (Stronghold of the Mountain) are unknown, but seem likely to be either the wyrmen of Mot Elyeth's era, or the Oak Lords themselves.

Like most ancient sites the fortress stands upon an impossibly huge and tremendously heavy foundation slab of granite which has been identified as alien to the stone of the mountain and even to known types of stone in the immediate vicinity. The structure is said to be in a state of disrepair but has suffered only the effects of long ages past and does not seem to have been damaged by any past war.

Wyrmen do not dwell in Arnun Mened for various reasons. The mountain is cold and during winter snows extend down to the Fynereth Canal and all but cover the fortress.

It seems likely, as the ice-age caused by the Hammerfall of Merrlith dwindles and the world warms that Mount Ushership will become a lush site of greenery and trees, more receptive and friendly to wyrman settlers.

However, rumours surround the site and these may persist beyond even the thawing of ice.

Sailors call Arnun Mened, The Valt of Ghoulmoot (Stronghold of Speaking Ghouls ) and when the fortress is visible to those passing along the Fynereth on those rare days where the clouds are high and mists refuse to conceal the shoulder of the mountain from view, it is customary for the crew to stand silently upon the starboard side of their vessel and avert their eyes until the scene has passed.

Ghosts are said to haunt the snowbound chambers and cloisters of the fortress. At night terrible, strangulated screams are heard and a hideous cackling that echoes through the icy air and chills sailors and travelers alike. Those who have actually visited the fortress speak of a dire place, made fell by uncountable centuries alone in its mountaintop eyrie. The courtyard, they claim, is filled with iron gibbets within which the remains of victims too well fleshed to belong to the original period when the fortress was built

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swing in cold mists, making food for greasefeathered rooks and crows. No inhabitants can ever be found, but it is said that ever there is a feeling of being watched and a sense of faces appearing at windows into rooms where none have dwelled for aeons of empty time.

Arn Merrtor Mighty Stronghold of the Hill, the castle of

Arn Mertor stands in the shadow of Mount Phume, a dormant volcano to the north. A fortress similar in design and architecture to that of Arnun Mened further to the west, Arn Merrtor is used by a remote and hardy company of Santun Morvagh's Port Guard (the so-called Mooncursers) as an outpost from which they can watch the pass of Fynereth for smugglers and their ilk.

The deep water estuary of the River Mog, which runs down from Mount Phume to join a convergence of small streams flowing out of Dwarro and Mount Ushership, is a known mooring point for ships and a potential dropping off point for a massing army. Thus, the Port Guard operate officially as sentinels charged with observing Fynereth's traffic, on the lookout for smugglers and pirates, but unofficially as an advance warning against incursions from Anglian forces.

A road runs from the front gates of Arn Merrtor, across the back of the Xenolith Crags and enters Santun Morvagh via the Pass of Felgin-Gal, a journey a wyrman can make on a swift steed in a matter of under an hour, arriving to raise the alert long before any marching army or fleet of warships can reach their destination.

Like Arnun Mened, Arn Merrtor is an ancient and crumbling ruin, though its walls are sturdy enough to give the guards posted there ample protection and the newly made front gate is sturdy as any found on a modern stronghold. The castle stands at the top of a steep but scalable mountain of igneous rock whose ridged and terraced contours are suggestive of flowing magma. The foundations of the castle are buried within this stone, suggesting the structure (or at least its foundations) were present during an eruption of Mount Phume. As such an eruption has not been recorded since the Epic Age the castle is believed to date from before or during that period.

The land surrounding Arn Merrtor is grim and, particularly to the east, likely to be infested by wandering Fell. The narrow road through the Xenolith Crags and the subsequent exposed approach to the castle tend to be avoided by Fell, though they do occasionally venture that way. The Mooncursers keep themselves locked within the castle, emerging only to travel to Santun Morvagh or to patrol the River Mog Estuary.

Visits by certain Loremasters and other wyrman creeds who know of the castle's existence and of its isolated guardians occur now and then; the fringe of mighty Dwarro

standing to the west of Mount Phume, the canopy of the forest's tremendous trees almost level with the turrets of the castle on its high promontory. Such visitors are rarely duty bound to check on the castle, but do so only out of concern and friendship for the guards.

Day Wythylorn is a known ally to the guards of Arn Merrtor and though his visits are infrequent they are always welcome. He invariably brings news of the outside world along with food packages, alcohol, medicines and other supplies which the Mooncursers are otherwise starved of in their isolation.

Cornkarro Ridge A ridgeline of silicate and limestone hills extending out across the southern spur of Mortun Pandi.

The stone here is igneous, formed during the violence of a primordial era when much of the continent was either volcanic or molten.

In the dips and dells of Cornkarro can be found strange seams of naturally occurring glass wherein subterranean pockets have either formed as a result of trapped air or moving water to create bizarre smooth-walled tunnels and caverns formed entirely from glass. These tunnels delve to unguessable depths within the bones of the earth as endless boreholes and sloping passageways whose floors are slippery as ice.

Dwalmeer Cove A small bay with a white shale beach accessed either from one of the adjacent coastal regions or via the slopes of the Windham Hills. Two rocky promontories jut into the waters on either side of the bay, the skeletal ribs of a shipwreck lodged in the northeastern rocks.

Dwarro Here the golden acorn of Womad, found by the Weavers of the Angle when they excavated the ziggurat of Yseldyr beneath Ylyntor Hill, was sown into the soil of Gondaras. Upon the sacred soil where Mot Elyeth and Womad himself, spirit of life and vitality, walked through the towering trees of the Wythyreach and beheld together the glory of Yarnia in its primordial evanescence, grew the Wythywyr of old. The lost forests of the Wythyreach would never again cover the face of the world as once they did in that fleeting, but harmonious past, but the Wythywyr would stand again and now soar together as a vast woodland in the form of sacred Dwarro.

The Wythywyr are of the original Wythyreach lineage, though even the modern colossus found growing in Dwarro are dwarfed by some of the greater and more eldritch of that global forest.

Travelers walking through Dwarro will encounter Loremaster enclaves on the northern and easternmost fringes and Carnuntans (female elkenwyr from Carnuntun) in the south and west. They will likely find themselves stopped and checked over for signs of Craven malignancy or the company of Fell breeds during either type of encounter, but Loremasters are more likely to be forceful in their questioning and search.

The Loremasters are variously hostile and indifferent, as likely to dismiss those they stop and search as they are to rob them. Their numbers are matched by the equally wilderness-bound but more refined creeds of the Loric Mage, the Shamancer, the Sylf and the Empath. Encounters with these characters are likely to be a more open, friendly and accepting experience, the traveler assumed to be just another pilgrim come to appreciate the beauty of the forest, though none of the kinder Creeds are so naive as to think every

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individual who wanders into Dwarro is benign. Rather, their ethos is solicitous both to the woodland and to the races that choose to come there, thus innocence is assumed before guilt is proven and only where guilt is proven (or shown) will the true ferocity of those who have charged themselves with the protection of the forest emerge.

Fell breeds of various types are known to lurk in the northwest and western edges of the forest, though all Fell are wary of the Loremasters and of Soul Reapers licensed to operate in the woods and so they tend to remain well hidden, loitering in caves and mustering in those denser parts of the forest where wyrmen find it hard to move freely. The Aumon are most common of these breeds and, though they live solitary lives, distancing themselves even from their own kind, they are a prevalent enough menace to have become a nuisance to the county of Gostyth and the city of Pelgallo. Also in these parts of Dwarro may be found the rare Beast Masters of the south; elusive hermits whose kinship with animalian fauna elicits strange allegiances with unlikely creatures and whose aversion to their own kind will likely make any encounter with them a profitless affair.

Deeper within the tree line, toward central Dwarro, are fey provinces wherein live creatures like the Berbrock Badger-kin, the Faunan mouse warrior Day Wythylorn and the feral Mauler myrmen. When travelling at night the woods may echo to the call of the giant Ulefroth Owl, while the ground, covered by vast fallen leaves from the mighty Wythywyr, may chitter with the massed movements of swarming insects.

All of Dwarro has become home to the Dwarro Ynatt, an impish form of Elvian sprite, thought to be as indigenous to the woods as the Wythywyr trees themselves. This silent and mischievous creature resembles a small humanoid with indistinct contours and

features. It appears almost as a living shadow, though the outline of its small child-like body shimmers with silvery lines which may be spied moving between the trees or high in the branches.

The Ynatt will play tricks on travelers they encounter, attempting to goad a response.

The more emotional or vengeful the response, the more the Ynatt will escalate the seriousness of their trickery until, if the victim allows themselves to be drawn, the severity of their tricks and traps may even become lifethreatening. If the initial trickery is dismissed as nothing more than the fey mischief of the forest the Ynatt will soon lose interest and move on.

Angle's defenses against Fell threats and most grenadier will be expected to serve a tour of duty at Gor; a rite of passage which usually occurs early in their career.

The castle is regularly attacked by Fell who see only the promising hiding place of an ancient ruin and are typically surprised when they meet resistance in the form of the Anglian soldiery. The defensive walls and stone of the castle is sturdy enough and most Fell who encroach on its territory will be easily repelled.

The current commander of Gor is Conteth Skylerat Eaglewood, step-son of the Anglian Grand Duke Triton Gwelenbryal and, by all accounts, an unpleasant task master and poor strategist, unloved by his men and, for his own part, apparently uninterested in the defense of the realm.

mythic place, gilded in shades of gold and fire with each sunrise in the east and a blacktooth silhouette as the sun sets in the west. Air currents spiraling upward from Gungin invariably cause low cloud to form on the summit, this precipitation rolling through the pine forests in early morning and late evening, the hilltops peaking from sea mists like drifting islands.

The Beach of Eagles, so-named in reference to

Guncorn, Mount

Helterlands, The

Evenshade Wood

Rising from the talon feet of the ScalarMened, Guncorn merges to the south with the Grail mountain range and to the east sinks into forested foothills and the East Inland Sea. The pine trees of Evenshade Wood grow like fur upon the numerous flying buttresses of the mountain, covering the foothills and those Fell denizens who gravitate here out of the Gungin Gap in equal measure. Guncorn is a

The flatlands between Gungin and Dwarro, encompassing the Middle Vale, Lorel and the Plains of Felgin-Gal. Here is a wild country of Fell banditry where the Scarfers drive their slave caravans, the myrmen roam freely and the Soul Reapers loiter in watchful bands, ever ready for a lone or vulnerable Fell prize to stray into their sights.

Travelers in the Helterlands take a great risk

Engel Plage the Engel servants of the Elgan gods who once dwelled in this part of the world, here is a long span of sandy beach on the southern shoreline of the Damnum Channel.

Dense pine covering the slopes of Mount Guncorn and the northern spur of the Grail Mountains down to the sea.

The woods are a wild and perilous place, a sink-hole for Fell and a location only the Soul Reapers will visit with any regularity.

The proximity of the woodland to the eastern edge of the Gungin Gap imbues Evenshade with a strange and eerie atmosphere. The trees seem somehow darker than usual, the pines thick and the ground barren with dusty soil and serpent roots. Anyone entering the woods will be unable to put their finger on the precise reason why the place seems unfriendly and pregnant with dark potential. They will merely feel an unsettling tension in the air, a feeling of being watched and a ubiquitous grey palour that seems to infest the trees and the shadows between.

The dark nature of Evenshade is not altogether atmospheric, for the woodland lies within close proximity to the Gungin Gap. Not lightly should a traveler enter the woods, for while the trees seem grim and the shadows thick with portent, both hide the presence of very real perils in the form of the lurking Fell.

Gunginhame A no-man's land between the Windham Hills and the western corner of the Gungin Gap. The plains of Gunginhame also border the dismal lands of Iyfel and are considered, by most, to be a place only the foolhardy would tread without fear for their lives.

Gor A castle constructed by the Anglians in the year 200AD as an outer defense against any Fell incursion hoping to invade the Angle via Menhirnar.

Today the castle is a ruin which has been partially restored with a company of grenadier permanently quartered in the refurbished wings. The castle is considered, in military terms, to be the frontline of the Fell enemies lurk in Evenshade Wood

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upon which stands the stone circle of Brodgar Henge. This collection of immense standing stones is thought to date back to a time when the Wythyreach still covered the face of Yarnia and may even predate the arrival of Mot Elyeth himself.

The stones are arranged in a circle, with lateral stones of equal size resting on top to form a roof. Stellamancers claim that certain stars of the Agg align with certain stones at certain times of the year, though why this might be remains a mystery. Even the layman visitor to Brodgar will notice that the largest stones lie to the east and west precisely and when the sun rises and sets at equinox its position matches these stones respectively.

Most Anglians believe Brodgar is the remains of some long ruined castle, while the Weavers believe it may be a clue to the location of further buried artifacts dating from the time of Mot.

Middle Vale, The if they wander without precaution and are as likely to be robbed and left for dead by wild myrmen as they are to be captured and thrown into a slaver cage by Scarfers. An unholy fate in the city of Gungingeth awaits anyone careless enough to find themselves so captured, even a painful death being preferable to the long, slow and degrading horror of slavery in the City of Thieves.

Lorel Where once the Loremasters of Loren Elowen attempted to settle a civilization, Lorel is now a place of silent ruins and land-lashing wind.

The Loremasters of Lorel were a valiant creed in their time, but were unable, even with all their talismanic magick, to fend off the ceaseless assault of Fell from Gungingeth. The small hamlets and villages of the Loremasters fell one by one to devastation and the people who lived there either perished or fled to the sanctuary of Santun Morvagh and the Angle.

The Loremasters themselves have migrated into the safety of Dwarro where they now live as disenfranchised wanderers, gathering in bands or ranging alone.

On the fringe of Dwarro stands the ruins of Lor, largest and last of the Loremaster enclaves, now little more than collected piles of old stone and brick buried amidst the roots of the Wythywyr.

A little way to the east stands the Boneyard, a huge natural cave mouth delved into the face of a rocky bluff. The cave leads into chambers occupied by Maulers, wild myrmen who hold no allegiance to Mardock or Uselyorn. Here they live feral lives in the underdark, subsisting in solitary and hostile clans.

Much of the district of Lorel is comprised of hilly country and here the Fell lurk in hollows, caves and dells, hidden from the sight of the casual traveler unless they choose to make their presence known.

Menedrune, Mount Actually a particularly massive buttress of Scalar-Mened, Menedrune's long ridgeline graduates down into the plains of Iyfel and the narrow channel of Skyhook Creek respectively.

On its southern side the mountain is covered by lush, almost tropical greenery; tall ferns, palms and dense undergrowth, while its northern side, overlooking the desolate barrens of Iyfel, is devoid of flora, as though the very visage of the dead lands north of the Gungin Gap were sorrow enough to strip this side of the mountain of all vitality.

At its easternmost end, Menedrune's tail sinks below the level of the plains and into the Draegen Croft, a deep canyon filled with dense jungle (see Iyfel).

Menhirnar A valley to the east of Amdarn Hill, Menhirnar is officially a part of the lands of Mortun Pandi. However, the valley is so close to the edge of the Gungin Gap and the cesspit city of Gungingeth that the Morvanians have long given up all hope of ever taming the place. Thus the Anglians consider Menhirnar their responsibility and its defense is of paramount concern.

The valley takes its name from Menhirnar itself, a wide hill crowned by jagged rocks

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A wide valley surrounded by the hills of Saddle Ridge and Lorel and sloping downs leading to the Helterlands. The river Lethe winds through the heart of the Middle Vale, running down out of Saddle Ridge and its source in the highlands bordering Menhirnar.

Caves in the natural buttresses of Saddle Ridge have become home to both the Fell and the myrmen who dwell beneath the Sailing Hills and anyone crossing the vale will be highly visible from these caves.

Plains of Felgin-Gal A rugged country, similar in most respects to the barren veldt of the Helterlands, the traveler in Felgin-Gal will find the climate cold and the atmosphere eerie.

The most likely sign of life a traveler will encounter here is the Soul Reaper, dressed in heavy furs and probably on horseback, the Reapers patrol this region habitually in search of Fell and their Soul Stone harvest. The Fell themselves have grown expert at hiding from these hunters but will never be far away, for the lands hereabouts and right up to the eastern coastline have ever been inhabited by the wandering effluence of Gungingeth.

Scalar-Mened The Unscalable Mountain, Scalar-Mened rises out of the depths of the Gungin Gap and, if the height of the peak were measured from the bottom of that seemingly bottomless gulf, Scalar-Mened would be the highest mountain in all the known continents.

In fact the summit stands at 17,000ft when measured from sea-level and is merely the sixth highest in Ereth.

The mountainside sometimes harbours Fell

and Soul Reapers alike, though the southern shoulder where the mountain rises directly from the Gungin Gap is exceptionally steep.

Further to the east, where the transverse roots of Scalar-Mened and Mount Guncorn merge, there are easier climbs, crags and ledges where the Fell will be more prevalent.

The eastern flank of Scalar-Mened slopes at a sheer angle down to plateaus and terraces atop high cliffs that eventually flatten out into a small footing upon whose bedrock stands the town of Shadowvalt.

Shadowvalt As the visitor approaches by boat he will pass along the claustrophobic channel of Skyhook Creek, the lush mountains of Menedrune and Guncorn looming on either side. Where the two colossus meet at the root of a third mountain, known as Scalar-Mened (the Unclimbable Mountain), the traveler will see the jutting pier, stone harbour wall and crooked rooftops of the town of Shadowvalt.

Here stands a most unusual enclave, isolated in a small elbow of land even narrower than the creek itself, tiny beneath the three behemoth peaks which themselves seem to shrink beneath the sky-reaching spire of Yrmynsyl. The houses on either side of this crook of land are built into the mass of the mountains so that their faces seem to blend into the uncompromising stone.

Shadowvalt is a microcosmic culture of wyrmen cut off from the rest of Ereth by its unusual position and usually found only as a matter of serendipity by some error of navigation. The people of the town are distantly related to the wyrlung of north Annarr who probably landed here by boat a long time ago and were so taken with the scenery they chose to settle. They possess their own language, their own traditions and even their own architecture whose quaint gothic intricacies and ornate designs produce exceptionally pretty buildings, many of which are embedded in the sturdy rock of the surrounding environment.

Despite their ancestry, the wyrlung here are a superstitious breed and though they adhere to none of the known cults of Ereth, they possess a rich heritage and a complicated folklore based in fairytales and generational lore loosely akin to the Oaken Myths.

Much of their beliefs surround the pillar of Yrmynsyl and the floating mountain of the Karrekith, but also the Fell with whom the people of Shadowvalt have a particularly long and unhappy history.

The Morvanians discovered Shadowvalt some time around the turn of the third century, importing their knowledge of the modern world and their mythology. Thus, the old folklore is now somewhat diluted by more solid facts, but the ancient stories long told remain a staple for the fireside of the Black Eagle pub.

Today the young men and women of Shadowvalt tend to escape their backwater roots as soon as they can, boarding boats bound for distant places and returning only to visit those friends and relatives they leave behind. As a result the town has lost much of its vibrancy and is now a sleepy place of fusty elders and insular pipe-smoking locals who refuse to quit the place they have known and loved all their life.

Shadowvalt is occasionally the scene of horror as some wandering Fell comes clambering down out of the mountains to find the town emptied of the strong and the vital and largely defenseless against assault. Only a few men and women capable of repelling such attackers remain in residence and so dogmatic have these individuals become in their refusal to abandon their homes that it seems likely they will continue to defend Shadowvalt until death takes them or the Fell cease their attacks.

Skyhook Creek A narrow channel and a series of treacherous coves formed by the buttresses of Guncorn and Menedrune where those two mountains melt into the sea. Where the creek ends is the town of Shadowvalt, an isolated settlement which can only be easily reached via Skyhook.

The name of the creek has no known interpretation in the old languages of

Cornoval or Skytor (the indigenous population of Shadowvalt being wyrlung descendants of explorers from north Annarr) but probably refers directly to Yrmynsyl as a hook within the sky, or perhaps to Karrekith perched upon the end of Yrmynsyl like some prodigious hook on the end of a fishing line.

This latter seems to be the most likely etymological interpretation since Shadowvalt's people, those who likely named the creek, are reliant upon fish and fishing for sustenance during winter.

Werrow Lake A deep socket in the ground filled with a fresh water lake which itself is fed by the river Lethe. Werrow looks harmless, maybe even tranquil, but the lake can be treacherous.

Once in the water there is no easy access to solid ground and anyone trying to clamber out via one of the socket's sheer banks will find the muddy consistency of the soil around slides away under their grasp.

Windham Hills A circlet of craggy hills descending to the Damnum Channel and the various bays and beaches bordering this side of Annarr.

Windham is a likely destination for Fell clambering from the western end of the

Shadowvalt (Harbour Road looking south to Scalar-Mened)

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Gungin Gap and is thus considered a perilous place, however the lands hereabouts are also routinely patrolled by Anglian soldiers barracked at Castle Gor.

Xenolith Crag Jutting stone hills rise here from the striated limestone of Cornkarro, the petrified lava flows of Phume and the level plains of Felgin-Gal.

Xenolith (meaning Foreign Stone) is a granite stone projection whose hardness probably allowed it to survive the volcanic activity of the distant past and the subsequent land-shaping effects of the ice age.

A crude road of broken shale and cinder meanders across the back of the hills, leading in one direction to the castle of Arn Merrtor and in the other to the plains of Felgin-Gal and, eventually, the city of Santun Morvagh.

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Yrmynsyl The Oaken Myths claim that Womad sank into the earth and passed from the Entopic Plane into death. But his essence, the spirit of life and vitality, lived on in the form of a golden acorn. Mot Elyeth planted the acorn in the soil of the ancient world and from the seed sprouted Yrmynsyl, the World Tree - greatest of the Wythywyr whose lofty branches once spread across all the skies of Ereth.

Within the boughs of Yrmynsyl Seth Elgan constructed his palatial castle - the Haligvalt, which remains even now upon the floating mountain of Karrekith at the apex of Yrmynsyl. No wyrman has ever set foot upon that lofted place and many believe Seth Elgan dwells there still, alone in his isolation from where he watches the affairs of the wyrmen at a distance.

When the Hammer of Merrlith fell at the end of the Epic Age Yrmynsyl withered in the ferocious heat of the detonation and was reduced to a thin spire, its bark and branches stripped away, leaving only the core root.

Today Yrmynsyl rises out of the fathomless depths of the Gungin Gap, a spindle dividing the sky from ground to stratosphere.

Yrmynsyl is visible from hundreds of miles away in all directions and from every location within the realm of Ereth it dominates the sky, a vertical sliver that seems to taper to nothing as it climbs ever higher; an optical illusion resulting from perspective. In fact Yrmynsyl widens with height, finally flaring where it meets the underside of the great inverted mountain Karrekith. This sky-bound shard seems to balance impossibly upon the tip of Yrmynsyl, a flaring wedge of massive proportions, jagged rocks and pennants of root tangled soil dangling from the underside, the flattened uppermost surface hidden from the eyes of anyone beneath.

Only from a great distance - perhaps on the open seas of the Endeleas or the frozen north and south of Frothrein or Merendir respectively - does the natural curvature of the world bring the eye-line of the observer to a point where the upper horizon of Karrekith's summit is visible. So few have achieved this view that few accounts exist of their observations. Only in the log of the Argos are such rare words found and known to be written with the weight of certain knowledge.

They describe an alien skyline of strange megaliths and slab-like pillars rising to great over-arching domes, the Haligvalt of the gods, above which arcs an anomalous sliver of glittering light, the silvered edge of a tremendous bubble encompassing the structures beneath.

None have ever scaled the incredible heights of Yrmynsyl or climbed the inverted mountain of Karrekith to see first hand the mysteries of the Haligvalt; the mansion of Seth Elgan. Even those birds known to fly to the most dizzying heights of the vaulted sky will be seen as specks against the watercolour undersurface of the great airborne rock and are never known to rise above or land upon the rock itself. Scale is difficult to discern, where distance defies measurement, but the Stellamancers of Santun Morvagh and those of Carnuntun seem to be in agreement that the underside of Karrekith is likely equal in width to the entire realm of Ereth, encompassing both Morturth and Annarr.

More a floating continent than a mere mountain, whose vastness is diminished by the immensity of the distance between itself

and the land far below.

Yrmynsyl itself is said to be hollow, but this has never been confirmed. The bottom of the great towering shaft is embedded in the depths of the Dunlight that fills the Gungin Gap and its sides are too smooth to accept or support the structure of something like a bridge.

In 643AD, after the great purge of the Naderfell when Gungingeth was laid waste and the Fell were few, the engineers of Santun Morvagh attempted to investigate Yrmynsyl in an effort to reach the shaft. It was learned then that the shaft is energized in some way and that any who touch its surface receive a massive shock similar to that caused by electroplasmic discharge. Many of the engineers were killed, while those who survived were scarred for life. The source and purpose of this strong electroplasmic field is unknown, but it serves as an effective deterant against any further investigations of the shaft and has ensured the Fell of Gungingeth have never attempted to climb its sheer sides.

In the records of ancient times Yrmynsyl was known to be associated with something known as Wyrtrad, or the Rooting Road as this translates into common wyrman. When Merriday Elyeth fell upon Yrmynsyl just before the Elgan gods detonated the Hammer of Merrlith she was said to 'break' the Rooting Road, and in this act she trapped the Elgan host on Yarnia and prevented them from fleeing into the safety of Yrmynsyl's heights.

The exact nature of Wyrtrad (which means Root Road in its purest translation) is unknown, though it seems somehow crucial to the use of Yrmynsyl as a means to ascend to the mountain of Karrekith (the Weighting Stone) and the Haligvalt thereon. Whether it was some form of bridge, or a ladder remains a mystery, though certain Ebberman scholars have, at different times throughout the centuries, sought to study the concept and reach conclusions based on what little evidence they have.

That the Oaken Myths refer to Wyrtrad as the Rooting Road is probably a convoluted interpretation based on the assumption that the road was a 'route' rather than a 'root'.

However, the Ebbermen seem to agree that the road was probably embedded in the earth beneath Yrmynsyl and may have been some kind of entrance into the interior of the tree, supporting the enduring rumours that Yrmynsyl's shaft is hollow. This would also suggest that Karrekith was reached by travelling through the core of the tree and not via the outside of the trunk, something the myths never allude to but which is often assumed.

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Cult: Elgan Culture: none, beyond that of the myrmen of the Hammer Dwale.

Notable Landmarks: The Hammer Dwale, Ruins of Halig, Ziggurat of Alluvia, The Draegen Croft.

Prevailing Climate: Cold and wet, the sky is typically either overcast or leaden, the sun rarely shining except in the height of summer when the plains of Iyfel will be covered by rolling mist and thick fog.

Government Type: none.

Ruler: Mardock Elgan, the living god of Yarnia and son of Uselyorn Elgan.

"The croaking raven doth bellow for revenge."

Iyfel

Iyfel, where the sky is ever dark and the most reviled of the Fell of Gungin crawl in the dust as living nightmares. Iyfel, a land ruled by daemons and forsaken by all that is good.

Uselyorn Elgan, anointed king of all Yarnia by blood and by decree of the stars themselves, was enthroned in the mighty city of Uselrein.

Here he ruled as overlord of the wyrmen and overarching monarch of the cradle of creation and here his loyal Engel warlords and his brutal sons and daughters lived out their violent and tyrannical existence.

The bejeweled and gilded cities of Ramat and Halig once stood in this land; vast and incomparable in their power and fecundity to anything known before or since. But all was forsaken when Seth Elgan decreed the use of that merciless weapon, the Hammer of Merrlith, and the fate of Yarnia was sealed.

Intending to flee at the last, Uselyorn and his minions were instead trapped within the land then known as The Vale by the clever strategies of the Oak Lords. They burned with the rest of the world and the majesty of their cities burned with them.

Today Iyfel and the ruins of Uselyorn's legacy is revealed from beneath the thawing ice of the Winter of Discontent as a land marred by evil and a place permanently broken by betrayal. The soil of the bitter plains is cursed and nothing vital or good grows or seeks to grow here. The air is foul with the reek of decay and the rumour of death lurks always upon currents of chill air; winds of ill-favour whispering and lifting the lifeless soil, choking the barrens in mists of grey and acrid dust.

To the south lies the gaping mouth of the Gungin Gap and onto the northern shelf of that abysmal chasm crawl the worst of the Fell, drawn to Iyfel like starving dogs to carrion meat. They stumble and stagger northwards into Marowan, straggling into the lure of death's own nation, the only place in all the realm of corporeal reality where their craving for desecration and the raw taste of evil can be satisfied.

To the west stand the twin fangs of the Hammer Dwale, two grotesque mountains on the shore of Damnum whose razor peaks curl

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one toward the other and whose knife-sharp blades of crag and stone harbour the dungeon realms of Mardock Elgan.

Here the land was hauled skyward in the strange detonation of Merrlith and the mountains made. In their heart the cellars and undercrofts of the city of Ramat were risen as well, taking on strange shapes and forms in the mangled earth. Into these baroque chambers and labyrinth halls came Mardock and his myrmen - the Mummer Men - rising out of the underdark at the end of the Age of Hammerfall to establish himself as the dark lord of Iyfel.

To the east is the Alluvion Coast and the narrowing of Iyfel by the river Flay. The river carves a whip-crack channel from west to southeast, defining a northern border which can only be crossed at strategic points. As spurs of the river delve into caves along its length then reconverge with the main body of water, the currents drag clay silt from deep beneath the ground and the water takes on the colour of diseased blood. The congealed and poisonous result drags steadily east, disgorging in slow ripples of muddied soup into the waiting waters of the Inland Sea. Iyfel the grotesquerie, a land existing in opposition to the real and the sane; a place where few would openly tread except at the direst of need or utmost desperation. Death lurks in a thousand guises, always waiting and watching for the arrival of prey. Anything living is a natural quarry, thus life has no place in this, the sovereign land of fear.

Mardock Elgan Only Mardock, the living Elgan god and overlord of Iyfel, is a more feared and daunting foe than Caynum Bitterblade. For those who find themselves face to face with The Lord of Marowan stand in the presence of a genuine deity of the eldritch pantheons, the son of Uselyorn Elgan, himself the son of Seth Elgan. Seth, whose name is known as the AllFather and whose firstborn son is worshipped the world over as Mot Elyeth. Mot, to whom Mardock is blood-related as nephew.

Mardock is an alien entity, humanoid, but formed of star-stuff and the fabric of those mighty beings who once ruled not only the world of Yarnia but the entire Oily Sea (that which the wyrmen call The Agg - the darkness of night and star-spangled oceans above the sky) and all the unknown worlds therein. He is an enemy beyond the capabilities of even the mightiest combatant and the strongest army, and yet he is unable to use his indomitability to wipe the nations of the wyrmen from the face of Ereth. Though this is his dearest wish, he is bound by certain mystical restrictions which seem to prevent his free movement about the world.

He is, for example, intolerant of sunlight and cannot exist for longer than the merest moment in the full light of the sun without

suffering horrendous pain and immobility.

But even in the shroud of night or thick cloud he cannot move freely beyond the borders of the land he rules and as he approaches the edge of Iyfel his awareness of reality fades and he becomes mindless as an automaton. He can move into the lands beyond but his form becomes ethereal, his thoughts vague and his presence as immaterial as smoke. So is Mardock, potential scourge of all the world, compelled to remain within his own domain and thus his burning desire to visit utter destruction upon the worlds of the wyrmen remains frustrated.

But nor can wyrmen bring destruction to Mardock, for a marching army, coming into the realm of Iyfel and the shadow of the Hammer Dwale, would be met by all the considerable might of Mardock's myrman forces (those creatures known as the Mummer Men of Mardock) upon some cloud-darkened plain, there to be shadowed beneath great swarms of carrion fly and defiled in ways few would willingly imagine.

The Mummer Men Second born of Uselyorn and Blavat, Mardock took as his wife his own sister Mercwynn but together they were unable to produce children. And though Mercwynn had little desire to be a mother, Mardock was bereft and took as his adoptive son Caynum Bitterblade (as he is now known), a vanyirborn betrayer of his own people.

When Merriday was captured and taken to the torture pits of Crewel, Mardock demanded of her the creation of a new breed of wyrmen, the seed for which would be taken from Caynum and planted in the belly of Mercwynn.

The resulting offspring was an abomination and hideous to behold. Mardock named it the myrman and took it into secret places underground where he nurtured it and used craven magicks to increase its numbers.

In the final years of Uselyorn’s reign, Mardock revealed his myrmen to the world; an army of repulsive creatures who called themselves by the collective name Mummer. Their minds were perverted by Mardock’s sole teachings and their forms twisted by the swift evolution of the oaken form.

When word came to Mardock that the Hammer of Merrlith would fall, he, like all the Dunmerr, sought to take shelter in the Haligvalt upon high Karrekith. But Seth would not harbour the myrmen and named them an abomination fit only for destruction, too close a kin to the wyrmen to be saved and unworthy of Elgan attention.

Mardock’s loyalty to the Elgan name wavered and then crumbled. He took the myrmen and his consort and fled into the deep caves of the Cavernlands where he knew only too well the secret ways into the bowels of the earth.

Mardock Elgan, the Lord of Marowan

With him went Caynum, and together these three immortals dwelled through the nine thousand years of the Winter of Discontent alongside the barbarous myrmen, alone in their isolation and consumed by the darkness.

Mardock’s love for the myrmen was capricious. In the deep darkness he lost much of himself that had existed from before and was no longer dedicated to his army which quickly became feral and unruly.

In the last years of the Winter of Discontent he abandoned Mercwynn and Caynum and made for the surface world. A tribe of loyal Mummer Men, the most intelligent and controlled of their ilk, following him and protecting him from the many perils he faced in his quest to return to the light of day.

Rising from the glaciers of the nine thousand year winter, Mardock found the spires of Ramat in the land of Iyfel and named them the Hammer Dwale. There he settled himself in the dark, for the sun now burned his flesh and the Mummer Men could ill afford to expose themselves to sunlight.

And there Mardock remains. He is today known as the Lord of Marowan (Lord of the Plains of Death), one of the few Elgan gods of

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old who still walk the lands of Yarnia. He cannot venture into the lands beyond the Hammer Dwale by day and his myrman forces are still too weak to challenge the risen might of wyrman civilization in the north and south. But the chambers of Ramat are thick with the evils of old and the mischief of Gungin Chaos. Thus far all attempts to infiltrate Ramat and destroy Mardock have met with abject failure and so the ancient god remains on his throne as ruler of Iyfel.

Adventure in Iyfel Any casual travel undertaken in Iyfel will typically see the traveler perish in one of numerous and generally grisly ways.

The Mummer Men of Mardock wander the flatlands of Marowan in gangs, tending to venture north and into the land of Niñel rather than south toward Gungin, as afraid of the Fell who dwell in that direction as any traveler with half a mind should be.

The Fell who clamber out of the Gungin Gap and into the northern edge of the chasm tend to be those refused entry at Gungingeth and, as a result, make up the very worst of their

own abominable kind.

In the mist shrouded hills and plains the traveler can expect to encounter such horrors as the Byrthynsak, the Guggler, the Harvestmen, the Kornkraw, the Mikelmer, the Skirl, the Thrawn, the Wherow and the Ympynyon. Along with these more daunting foes the traveler may also cross paths with some of the Fell found elsewhere in Ereth who here live freely and usually in nomadic clans wild packs of Wapperjaw; scavenging Shitfink; Scarfer bandits roaming in search of myrman victims or lower Fell from whom they can harvest black-market Soul Stones; tribes of Narbroc living in underground warrens and natural caves; shoals of Merwen living in the surf of the Alluvion and Vulgar coasts; roving gangs of Mawsquirm. Rare, but not unheard of are Irgin Crone covens, Hagbreg and their Tormentors, Grief and Gorbelly and even the odd clan of feral Carker or Orflin.

The mists and prevailing dark and overcast weather of Iyfel provide an ideal place for these monsters and their ilk to lurk and loiter.

Most may be spied at a distance, silhouettes shambling or loping across the greyness, or merely heard - their screams and alien cries echoing through the bitter air.

The slightest indication given by the traveler of his own presence - the flickering flame of a camp fire, the remains of a meal left carelessly on the ground, the sound of voices carrying on the wind or even the natural odour of the traveler's body - will bring any number of potential deaths stalking across the wastes in search of his soul. Scarfer, Narbroc and

myrmen are particularly talented natural trackers and will likely follow a trail if they discover signs of recent passing, but even they will be wary of intersecting the paths of Iyfel's more horrific denizens and will first watch their quarry to ensure they do not become victims themselves.

LANDMARKS The most notable of the locations found within the naturally defined borders of Iyfel, covering the area between the river Flay and the northern edge of the Gungin Gap.

Alluvia The mansion house of Crewel, the Elgan god whose greatest delight was the gratuitous infliction of pain upon others. About the base of this towering ziggurat was delved the infamous torture pits, wherein the prisoners of Crewel would be dragged by Engel guards to face unimaginable torment.

Today Alluvia is a dust-shrouded ruin whose capstone, once sharp as the point of a dagger, has long been eroded and whose once perfectly chiseled terraces have been worn by ice, wind and rain into smooth humps.

Everywhere about the base of the pyramid can be seen the suggested rumour of places where once mighty walls and pillars stood, cracked foundation stones lying half submerged

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beneath grey sands and the form of bridge balustrades and tremendous struts whose positions mark where the torture pit must once have been.

The torture pits themselves have been filled in by the shifting dusts and soils of Iyfel, the same capricious winds responsible for revealing the denuded underbones of the ziggurat also responsible for hiding from view the workings of Crewel's ancient folly.

If there were once obvious portals into the depths of the ziggurat these are also hidden; covered perhaps by fallen debris or merely buried by dust which has then been smoothed so perfectly at its outer extremity as to feather away the difference between architrave and wall.

Alluvia is a place of ghosts and dead voices carried on fell winds and chill air. Those who come upon the pyramid find themselves in the shadow of a looming horror whose nameless fear is as insidious in the land hereabouts as the winds themselves.

Draegen Croft, the A natural canyon, circular in shape and some eight hundred feet deep at its lowest, drops away from the edge of the Gethling Hills and the grey-ribbed tail of Mount Menedrune.

A river seeps into the canyon from the Alluvion Coast, though this seems to run away into unknown caverns and subterranean water courses beneath the canyon floor, the river's various fan-tail spurs seeming to

The River Flay (looking west toward the Hammer Dwale)

dwindle and terminate where they drain.

Pine trees grow in abundance on the inner walls of the canyon, which are gradual enough slopes to traverse on foot, albeit with a modicum of care and observation of the safest paths along the least sheer of the gradients.

The forest harbours unknowable hidden perils which likely include Hagbreg and their Tormentors, Wythery, Yammers and where the waters babble along the canyon floor, the hideous Merwen. There may also be clans of Mauler myrmen and Narbroc, the latter dwelling in tunnels burrowed in the dank hollows beneath tree roots.

of fungal growth favours the edge of the geyser mouth, the spores of the fungi propagated by flying on the erupting mists of water. These barbed and poisonous spores will cause damage to anyone unlucky enough to be standing in their proximity when one of the geysers burst.

Other aggressive and deadly breeds of fungus and moss grow near the snaking spurs of the river Flay, including the Ymenmaw and the Yrmdryn.

Felmist Marsh

A wide and treacherous tidal river whose waters are fed simultaneously from the Damnum and the Alluvion Coast, though the direction of the water and the force of the current are both dependent on high or low tides. Where the two currents meet during high tide the river becomes turbulent and concussive, the clashing rapids forming crested waves that clap together like thunder and send counter-currents ebbing back along the river's serpentine length. These tidal bores are forced outward by the arrow-head force of incoming currents and along the central length of the river will create lapping waves that suddenly smash against the bank and

A marshland basin fed by the Damnum on one side and the river Flay on the other. The ground here is boggy and treacherous, typically shrouded in low lying mists and hidden beneath tussocky mounds of bog-reed and blankets of springy moss.

The waters of the Damnum enter natural caves beneath the marsh and when the channel is turbulent the pressure of surf booming into these caverns will cause geysers on the surface to erupt suddenly and without warning. Where this occurs frequently a type

Flay (River)

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flood the shoreline, washing anyone unprepared who stands on the edge into the turbulent waters.

The waters of the river have delved a deep canyon through the heart of the continent of Annarr and nowhere is there an easy way to climb down, cross the perilous currents and unpredictable tidal forces, then climb up onto the far bank. There is only one bridge across the river (located in the far east of Iyfel) where a gnarled and ancient tree has been somehow dragged from locations unknown and thrown across the span, its leafless branches and spidery roots creating great intertwining gateways. A drop of eighty feet plunges into the broiling water beneath the bridge, though the trunk of the tree is wide enough to allow fairly safe passage for any travelers of average wyrman size.

At a point about halfway along its length the east moving current diverts at various points into subterranean caves which then reconverge with the main body of the river.

Within these caves the water picks up clay-silt which colours its depths an ominous red. As the silt deposits build up the river becomes not only an increasingly deeper shade of burgundy but increasingly thicker in consistency until, where the river passes under the fallen-tree bridge in the east and

then empties into the East Inland Sea, it seems to ooze rather than flow. At the eastern estuary during low tide the river rolls sluggishly into the glistening blue of the sea like a severed vein pumping arterial blood.

Gethling Hills Hills like slag-heaps of spent ash rise from the eastern flats of Marowan, winds whipping grey dust from their dismal summits and carrying the clouds hence into the dead wilderness of the west.

Gethling is riddled with hollows, caves, dells and potholes into which the Fell and the foul have wandered over the many centuries to make of the darkness within a home of sorts.

Fell are common here, as are other things besides. Nothing sacred or safe lives in Gethling and those who come here should come well armed, well armoured and prepared for the worst.

Halig Ruins All that remains of the city of gods are the original and immense foundation stones and a few crumbling walls here and there.

The ruins are overrun by Fell who dwell in the nooks and crannies of the ruins and the sublevels below, many of which have been tunneled out by Narbroc in the years since the end of the Age of Hammerfall.

Halig was once the outer lying district of the sprawling city of Uselrein whose western ward included the city now named Old Urd (Sanas Morcorm/Dunmonia) and the ziggurat ruins of Alluvia in the east. Many of the pedagogs of Skyssa believe that the city of Stratum, the northeastern most city of Annarr, stands upon foundations that once formed the cornerstone of Uselrein - thus the relic of Halig represents little more than a minor block of a once vast city state.

Hammer Dwale, the Strange magick there was in the detonation of Merrlith, and dark sorceries were at work when the ground beneath the razed city of Ramat was hauled into the air, as though the land itself had been pinched between a colossal finger and thumb and drawn upward by some cosmic power.

Dwale does not mark the epicentre of the blast, which has long been identified as the crater surrounding the Valley of Cataclysm, wherein the city of Santun Morvagh stands.

Instead the mountains were thrown up by the leading edge of the blast as it passed northwest toward Niflhelm. Some scholars believe the magick of the Oak Lords caused the rising of the land here to break the shock wave before it could destroy the Arkhold which lay in that direction.

The cellars and undervaults of Ramat, hoisted skyward with the ground they occupied, were reshaped and reformed and now exist as a honeycomb of strange chambers within the resulting mountains. The Hammer Dwale, as they are known - the mountains where flies dwell.

From the flatlands of Marowan the mountains rise alone and incongruous, their roots like splayed fingers in the earth, their peaks splintered, warped and malformed.

Above them swollen clouds of purple and grey muster ceaselessly, swirling maelstroms drawn ever inward by some unknown but potent force. Any traveler bold enough to approach may realize the clouds are somehow aberrant and their behaviour is more to do with the motion of wings than wind-blown current. For the clouds are formed from swarms of blue, green and purple bottle fly carrion swarms lifting out of caves in the high reaches of the mountains and massing in the sky above.

The summit of the southern mountain hunches toward the summit of its northern counter, as though both were bowing obsequiously one to the other. Snow gathers on the backs of these barbed peaks, melt water trickling toward the tip so that each mountain appears to drip with stalactites.

There is but one entrance into the mountains, a tremendous doorway at the top of a sloping ramp of stone which itself is formed from one of the natural buttresses of the southernmost peak. The arch of the door is so ornate as to almost obscure its purpose and hide the great iron gate within. The images depicted in the carved reliefs and statues from which the arch is formed are eldritch and strange, writhing shapes entwined in suggestive ways that may create the impression of deviant and sadistic violence but which never explicitly describe anything recognizable.

This is the domain of Mardock, the living Elgan god, one of only a handful of arcane creatures whose origins lie firmly embedded in the Oaken Myths. Mardock is the son of the incestuous coupling of Uselyorn Elgan and Uselyorn's sister Blavat. Mardock survived the hammer fall of Merrlith only because he rebelled against the will of his father and fled underground long before the detonation could flower. By such time the myrmen had emerged from Mardock’s lairs and were now abroad - a mighty force which Mardock desired to unleash upon Mot. But Seth decreed the myrmen were of the mischief of Merriday, for all their loathsome mantle, and should perish as a part of the world from which they were spawned.

“Only pure gods of the stars shall survive and emerge from the ashes of destruction as the glory of the Spindle of Fire risen again. No more shall the dabbling experiments of Elyeth blacken the lands of Elgan rule.”

But Mardock was incensed by these words and denounced the rule of Seth, for the ugly myrmen were as his children and dear to his

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heart. He stole them away into the crevices of the Cavernlands and was known no more until days long thereafter. He lurked in the blackened pits of Ereth’s dungeon realms, hidden from memory and from sight by a thousand feet of snow and ice with only the ailing mind of his wife, the plotting of his adopted son Caynum and the brutal culture of the Mummer Men for company. Many hundreds of years before the end of the Winter of Discontent, however, Mardock grew weary of the myrmen and of his consort and, taking a small and loyal company of original Mummer Men he occupied distant caves far from his wife, Caynum and the majority horde of the myrmen.

When the snow thawed, Mardock clambered into the light, but so long had he languished in the dark that his eyes and withered flesh could no longer tolerate the fierce blaze of the sun. So, leading the Mummer Men through eastern branches of the great subterranean realms which they now knew so well, he broke into and repopulated the catacombs of Halig and Ramat.

There Mardock resides upon a throne made from amber and agate, his myrman spawn serving his every whim, the flies of the mountain deeps funneling upward through hidden culverts to fill the halls of the dark god with their diseased thrum.

Mardock is bound to his throne by some magick whose work may have roots in the genius of Mot Elyeth, or may simply be a hangover effect of the power of Merrlith. For the Lord of Marowan, as he is known, cannot venture forth into sunlight lest that which gives the wyrmen sustenance should wither his flesh and burn him to cinder. Nor can he pass in darkness much beyond the borderlands of Iyfel where the curse upon the land seems ironbound with Mardock's own presence. If he crosses the Gungin Gap, the Damnum Channel, the eastern coast or the river Flay, Mardock loses power and becomes noncorporeal. His body fades to glass and becomes brittle. His strength wanes and he is unable even to cause the grass to sough beneath his falling feet. The further he goes into the lands beyond the less substantial he becomes, his mind failing with the fabric of his body until dementia might carry him ever onward, across the Endeleas, perhaps across even the Agg, to wander forever as a mindless wraith unchained from throne and from sanity.

Thus Mardock remains in Iyfel and fears to travel far beyond the safe boundaries of his own land. He desires the utter destruction of the wyrman nations, but is tethered by the curse of the land he inhabits and cannot unleash the extent of his fury. Instead he must lash out through the weapons and rage of his myrmen, a race beleaguered by their very origins and diminished as sapient creatures by the prejudice and hatred of the wyrmen.

Long centuries below ground have driven the myrmen insane and if they ever possessed any degree of sentient measure it has long been eroded and replaced by psychosis. They are as

hateful as their lord and master is ruthless, pitiless to the wyrmen whom they blame for all their ills.

This is the dire culture that lurks unseen but powerful as the earth shifting worm in the belly of the Hammer Dwale. A coiled power intent on the destruction and pain of the wyrmen and the resurrection of Elgan rule over all the world of Yarnia, restrained for now, but for how long only time can tell.

Hordruen Crater A pit whose salt-flat inner floor is covered in the salt crystals left from a dried up lake bed and the uncountable bones of long decayed fish.

The flying buttresses of the crater's inner wall hide vertical slits in the darkness of the rock and these lead into deep hollows and boreholes that travel into the underdark beneath Marowan. Many vile things loiter in these caves, watching the salt flats with septic eyes and emerging only when some hapless thing flutters or clambers down into the crater bowl.

Marowan Flatlands, the Most feared of the barrens of Ereth, Marowan is as wild and untamed as any land can be.

Mists and sudden rains are common, boiling in from the Damnum or the Alluvion Coast with alarming speed.

In the depths of winter the Marowan will likely be covered by a scattering of snow, though snow, rain or mist make no difference to the terrain - for nothing vital grows or lives here and the grey dusty soil is too loose and devoid of nutrient to harbour the roots of trees, plants or even grass.

Marowan is a dead land and those who dare to venture into its depths will likely find their own death lurks somewhere therein.

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Cult: none Culture: none.

Notable Landmarks: Skuld, Thrymrein Mountains, Helsmened Mountain, Mithrune Citadel, Ketal Keep.

Prevailing Climate: seasonal with warm weather in spring and summer along with monsoons over the plains. Snow on the mountains in winter with fogs and mist.

Government Type: none.

Ruler: none.

Niñel (pron. nin-yell) is a no-man's land between the impasse of the river Flay and the great estuary of the river Vathgelmir whose waters flow past the feet of Helsmened.

The Thrymrein mountains form a mighty bulwark across the heart of the land, marching from the east coast almost to the brink of the west. A well guarded coastal road is, thereafter, the only way around the roots of the mountains and into the land of Skytor.

In the south of Niñel the terrain is a continuation of the dead and empty wastes of Iyfel. The soil is arid and barren, the air dank, plagued by mists and though some undergrowth clings to the crumbling earth in the form of moss and lichen, there is little in the way of flora or colour to break up the dismal greys and browns.

Before long, however, the effects of the curse that lies heavy upon the dead lands of Iyfel gives way to scrubland and a revival of something resembling normal countryside.

Dust bowls become weed-throttled plains which, in turn, become tussocky grasslands.

These then rise to form the warm lowlands of the Thrymrein where a close heat clings to the sides of the mountains and waters run like sweat from the soaring peaks.

North of the mountains and the land gives way to a waterlogged region wherein glaciers have thawed but failed to drain fully, forming swamps and salt-marshes. This part of the country begins the waterlogged basin of Skytor.

Adventure in Niñel

"The southern wind doth play the trumpet to his purposes, And by his hollow whistling in the leaves Foretells a tempest and a blustering day."

~

Ninel

The river Flay is a considerable barrier against Fell incursions into Niñel, however Fell still trickle across the bridge in the east and over the many centuries clans of certain breeds have accumulated in Niñel, particularly on the southern slopes of the Thrymrein and in the hills of Mogthrandrill where they dwell in caves and the natural hidden folds of the landscape.

Mummer Men are rare in Niñel, though the occasional wandering patrol might be encountered on the northern side of the Flay.

Generally the lands of southern Niñel are considered the playground of the myrmen of Caynum Bitterblade - the Grognadians of Old

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Urd - who cross the Damnum regularly via the Draedan Bridge and Efodruin to wreak havoc on the borderlands of Skytor.

The traveler entering Niñel from the direction of Iyfel will, therefore, face only relatively lesser perils than those found on the southern shores of Flay, but as he moves further north the Fell threat will diminish, replaced by the dominant menace of the Grognadians, this threat tempered only by the presence of roaming Skytorian patrols.

At the western tail of the Thrymrein range the Skytorians have established defenses and venture regularly enough into the lands thereabouts that the myrmen think twice before lingering there. The traveler entering this part of Niñel will feel the grim atmosphere of previous regions fall away, to be replaced by a sense of watchfulness.

Nobody enters the north of Niñel and the northern flanks of Thrymrein without coming under the gaze of Skytorian sentinels in Mithrune Citadel. From this high keep on the edge of the mountains all the pass into the north can be clearly seen and no stranger enters the road to Skytor unchallenged. A beacon in Mithrune, when lit, will send a faster contingent force on horseback from Ketal Keep, a large military outpost on the headland, to meet whatever threat approaches along the main road into the Highland Ride.

LANDMARKS The notable locations of Niñel between Skytor in the north and the river Flay in the south.

Algaron Varying from a dry and grey-dusted barren in the south to scrubland covered with small shrub-like trees and mossy grasses centrally and finally to plains of tussocky grass, nettles, bramble and thistle in the north, the Fields of Algaron (Vale of the Spun Wool - a reference to the thistledown of the northern reaches) form the centre of Niñel's open flatlands.

Andvar A stony outcrop of jagged limestone hills forming the southern side of Verlan Vale.

Efodruin See Sanas Morcorm/Dunmonia.

Elderbarren Woods A large tract of woodland stretching from the river Flaybren to the northern reaches of Niñel. The woods are perilous, being a regular

haunt for the Grognadian myrmen of Old Urd and home to innumerable Fell, both from Urd and from Iyfel.

Flaybren River Carving in from the Damnum, this tidal river merges with the Flay and is used by the occasional boat as a safe way from the mouth of the Damnum into the southern waters of that channel. The river is considered perilous not only because of its proximity to Iyfel but because at high tide the convergence with Flay is often hidden by the flooding basin of the Felmist Marsh. An inexpert boatman can easily find himself suddenly adrift in the treacherous bogs under the sky-climbing peaks of the Hammer Dwale. Here whirlpools and snaring vegetation can take hold of even large boats and drag them inexorably into Felmist's heart.

Ketal Keep An ancient keep high on an isolated outcrop of the western headland. The outcrop is cut off from the mainland by a gap spanned by a high bridge.

The keep is home to a considerable garrison of soldiers from Skytor, there to protect the road into the Highland Ride from Fell or myrman incursions. Regular patrols embark from the keep to check the road and the Pass of Obereth, but a concerted force will only be dispatched if the beacon of Mithrune Citadel is lit.

The current captain of Ketal is Commander Gladshame Longsaga, a stalwart but

measured leader who will almost certainly be welcoming to any wyrman travelers from southern lands who approach his castle gates.

Strict security procedures designed to identify Elgan cultists or assassins will be enacted on any such visitor, but once they are proven to be safe (and have been disarmed of weapons) they will find the Keep provides a respite from the rigours of Ni単el.

Mithrune Citadel A fortress, citadel and military barracks constructed precariously on the westernmost end of the Thrymrein mountains.

Beneath the citadel is a sloping tunnel leading to hollow caves wherein can be found the Megdart runes of Yerah Eltari and Annarr Num carved onto a menhir which stands in the centre of a subteranean pool. It is widely believed that the citadel aspect of Mithrune was constructed by Yerah during his time on Yarnia, the mansion's lofty position chosen in order that Yerrah, who was known to be immensely fond of the natural flora and fauna of Yarnia, might gaze across the canopy of the Wythyreach as it then stood over all the lands of the world. The fortress was built long after by the wyrmen and seems likely to have been constructed at some point in the first or second century AD. The fortress is highly defensible, being at the top of a long and meandering road, anyone coming along the road being both highly visible and highly vulnerable in the open. The fortress possesses three inner bastions and is built on the eastern ridge of a mountain with two peaks. The citadel stands isolated on the western peak, the two buildings separated by a deep chasm. The gap between is spanned by

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a drawbridge which can be raised and lowered only from the citadel.

The citadel is typically only used to house visiting noblemen or government officials from Skyssa, though its ultimate purpose is to provide a last haven of defense if the fortress is ever breached.

From the turrets of the citadel almost all the lands of Ereth are visible, from the sweeping plains of Algaron; the jungles of Monigarn on the far side of the Damnum; the distant peaks of the Hammer Dwale, ominous beneath dark clouds; the glittering sliver on the southern horizon where Verdandi peeks from behind Amdarn Hill; to the snow-covered mountains of Merendir, ethereal floating silhouettes against the white mists of the south. Visible too are the grey peaks of Niflhelm and the rising highlands of Frothrein, the northern continental shelf of frozen ice and snow.

Despite its once divine purpose, modern Mithrune is a military outpost from which the Skytorians keep close tabs on the land of Ni単el and in particular any moving specks seen coming along the Pass of Obereth. The numerous Skyssan soldiers stationed here can be dispatched at a moments notice, travelling down the mountain road on fast steeds to intercept any perceived threat long before it makes the Highland Ride. A beacon on the highest part of the fortress can also be lit to alert soldiers garrisoned at Ketal Keep of any circumstance requiring reinforcements.

Thus any significant Fell or Urdian menace attempting to invade along the pass will be met by forces mustered from both sides of the road, the soldiery of Mithrune riding down on their enemy while reinforcements from Ketal block the road.

Mogthrandrill Hills A deadly place of Fell and myrman breeds, the Mogthrandrill (Where the Snakes Who Thread Through Roots Sting the People) is a range of conical hills rising from the grey wastes of southern Algaron.

From the outside looking in the hills resemble myriad grey beehives, their summits covered by topknots of wind-blown reed called ratstail, the troughs between their sheer sides muddy and waterlogged.

Many are the Fell and the foul who dwell in the narrow lanes between the hills, in sudden caves or unexpected rifts in the hummocks, or even on top of the hills themselves, lurking in the ratstails and watching the channels below for passing prey.

Skabryos Hills Although most maps mark the Skabryos as a range of hills, they are actually merely a series of sloping shale and flint cliffs marking the edge of the granite bedrock of Efodruin. A road leads down through a narrow gully in the cliffs and out across the Flaybren river via a narrow hump-backed bridge some fifty feet above the water.

Skuld Once part of Uselrein, city of Uselyorn Elgan, Skuld is now a small town and enclave for the Cult of Flies on the waterfront of the Alluvion Coast.

Bleak and usually either veiled in thin fingers of mist and ubiquitous curtains of depressive

drizzle or ravaged by screaming winds and storms, Skuld stands on the grey bedrock of Ni単el's barren east and is exposed to the very worst weather the sea has to offer.

The limpet-like hummocks of the Mogthrandrill Hills rise like welts in the landscape to the west and north while the mighty Thrymrein loom out of the drifting mists and low scudding clouds beyond. In early morning and late evening the massive facets of the Thrymrein are chalked with the vivid yellows, oranges and reds of sunrise and sunset respectively, providing brief intrusions of vitality into the stagnant desolation of the town, for here all colour is leached from the soil and the air, leaving a place that seems as lifeless as the gloom of a crypt.

The buildings here have been rebuilt upon archaic foundations and are squat, hefty affairs with rounded rooftops of seaweed thatch, small doors and narrow windows. The whole has been designed to withstand the worst of the savage winds that bluster in from the east Endeleas during winter months, thus there are no gardens, though all of the buildings are surrounded by protective leeward walls and sheltering yards.

The southern part of the town juts out on a man-made (or god-made) promenade which extends some five hundred metres out into the sea. Here are bunker-like structures wherein the worst of Skuld's residents currently dwell, protected from the storm surges and destructive winds that plague the rest of the town by the promenade's immense wind-break wall.

The people of mainland Skuld are Elgan worshipping wyrmen, mostly either of common stock or wyrlung. The town is ruled by a coven of Irgin Crone who live in the blocks and monolithic structures of the

promenade. There they command a handful of Gorbelly, Peon and Grymm to do their dirty work. The land immediately surrounding Skuld is stalked by a Skirl controlled by the Crones and serves as guardian of their domain.

Thrymrein Mountains Here stand the Thrymrein, a natural wall across the northern brow of Annarr.

The foothills and southern shoulder of the mountains are home to various Fell creatures, but this far north their numbers are far fewer than in the southern realms of Verlan, Mogthrandrill and Algaron. Most Fell encountered here will dwell underground in the caverns and tunnels beneath, the Narbroc being particularly common and infesting the underdark in great numbers - though they will rarely be sighted above ground.

Only two safe passes provide access across the mountains, though experienced climbers may be able to traverse the peaks by scaling the sheer walls on either side. In the west, between the last spur of the Thrymrein and the forest of Elderbarren lies the flatland Pass of Obereth, the simplest route into the north. A road snakes its way through the pass and into the narrow fields of Highland Ride where it crosses the east/west length of the Goldbinder Coast and ends south of the river Fimbleful. A ferry crosses the river once per day from the Vander Wall, the eastern estuary at the foot of Helsmened an impassable and treacherous mudflats of quicksand and tidal surges.

In the east the Pass of Mengloth provides the only other crossing point, a narrow but verdant gully between the bulk of Helsmened and the main mountain range. In the south the pass begins as a crook between the roots of the mountains and rises steadily to form a long and meandering valley no more than 100ft wide at its most spacious and flanked on both sides by the sky-reaching backs of the mountains. At its northern and highest end the pass crests the ridgeline of a rocky buttress, beyond which a long but gradual slope carries into the Highland Ride, the natural contours of the foothills joining eventually with the road into Skytor.

Both the road and the pass are patrolled by the Skytorians and watched, both from the Vander Wall of the city on the northern side of the Fingleful and by scouts in the mountains.

Verlan Vale An uncommonly spectacular valley at the feet of the tremendous Thrymrein Mountains, whose easternmost fields fringe the coast of Ni単el and present some of the most mythic scenery in all of Ereth. Verlan means Land of Eternal Spring and describes well the place southern wyrmen know as The Abode of the Gods.

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Cult: Allum Culture: Highly refined, progressive and socially advanced, with steam-based technologies forming an endemic part of everyday life.

Notable Landmarks: Skyssa, Stratum.

Prevailing Climate: Seasonal, with subtropical climates in summer, monsoon rains toward the end of summer and temperate climes during winter and spring. Skytor stands in a waterlogged basin of marshes and lagoons interspersed with solid granite islands upon which the majority of its city structures are built.

Government: The Haligentsia Forum of Skyssa (principle government and parliament) and the Temple of Forallum (church based governing body and moral guides).

Ruler: Chancellor Vilhelm Aphex (head of the Haligentsia Forum Council of Twelve) and Archbishop Enth Mystrandor II (The Temple of Forallum).

"The Wheel comes full circle."

Skytor

The history of Skytor, northernmost territory of the continent of Annarr, runs concurrent to the unfolding story of Morturth, but its details are oft disputed and rarely recognized as truth by the wyrmen of the south.

The northern tale is told not within the history books of the Literatii of Arkhold, for of the Skytorians the Arkhold people - even Mythyar herself - know very little. Instead the yarn of the wyrlung and the skyssan is told by the Skytorians themselves, as written within the holy Nomistic Eucholist of Skytor’s capital city Skyssa.

The roots of the tale begin during the exodus of wyrmen from Yseldyr to Niflhelm. The Eucholist states that Amon Elyeth did not remain behind in Yseldyr as the histories of the Motians decree, but travelled with the wyrmen, the Vanyirborn and with Mot and Merriday, his mother, into the north.

Contrary to the myths, none were abandoned in the southern vale as all the wyrmen - even the old and infirm - were born forth upon Nader Roselvia’s expansive back. Mot had plans for the less able of the wyrmen and even as the people left Yseldyr these plans were known only to him.

Nor did Caynum Bitterblade - then still known by his mother’s name as Cayn Num remain behind within Yseldyr. The exodus carried all the race of the wyrmen over the Sailing Hills and it was here that Cayn vanished from the travelers, revealing himself to be a traitor still and loyal only to the Elgan.

He hid within the same caves used by Mot during his self imposed exile and there survived the Winter of Discontent amid the languishing race of myrmen and in the company of his adopted father, Mardock.

When Mot led the wyrmen north through the flatlands of Morturth toward the highlands of

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Niflhelm, there to construct the Arkhold, they came to a great volcano which today is called Ascona (Of the Crown of Kings).

Here the sick, the infirm and the very young, along with their parents - for none would rightly abandon their children - were settled for fear that they would perish in the cold of the north. And they were called the people of Amon Elyeth, for with them the wyrman king stayed and was sworn to be their protector. From that place, happy that her son was safe, Merriday set forth upon Nader Roselvia’s back to sabotage the rooting road to Yrmynsyl.

Within the warming heart of Ascona, Mot crafted a haven for the people of Amon using the Runes of Naming. Then he and the Vanyirborn took the rest of the wyrmen and set forth upon the harsh trail into the frozen northlands where only the fit and the strong would survive to build the Arkhold.

Under Ascona the people of Amon did not stray as the earth shook and the ice formed over the world above. Deep under the mountain they lived, in the company of their king, subsisting for a time upon the creatures living in the lowest reaches of the caves and warm above the volcanic trenches beneath the mountain.

The gia of Amon’s people adapted to salvage sustenance from mineral and stone instead of sun and light and as they mined in search of fresh rock they burrowed ever further, so that the few chambers and halls forged by Mot became the aspect of a vast labyrinth.

And though the old perished before long, the young soon grew and inherited the underworld, which they named Lynyeth, the Halls of Ancestry. And their sons and daughters were many and filled the labyrinth.

They became skilled with stone and then steam, using the vast lava vats under the volcano as forges to smelt ore and build tools.

According to the Eucholist of Skyssa, Amon Elyeth, king of the underdark, as he was then known, passed in the second century of the Age of Hammerfall.

Before the coming of the end and in neardeath he spoke to his counselors of a coming age of light and an awakening from ancient superstitions and subjugation by the rule of the stars. There was, he told his people, only one true divinity within the Nüsphere and it was that which was spoken of by the Elvian spirits - entities with whom his father had conversed long and in depth during his exile in the Sailing Hills. Only this one divinity could save the wyrmen from evil.

The Supremacy Beyond Reckoning watched all that unfolded beneath the stars and was the great maker of all things. From the roots of Oak Lords had the wyrmen sprung, from the womb of Vanyir and the wisdom of Merriday. Mot had protected them and with fortune the strongest of the wyr now survived in the northern lands. But the Oak Lords were not divine. They were parents, deserving

much respect and the gratitude of their children, but they were not gods. Rather, they were simply a people of higher mind, hailing from a different place on the far shores of the Oily Sea. In truth, there was only one god; the Supremacy Beyond Reckoning, and to him and him alone should Amon’s people direct their worship.

A prophecy Amon made then, for he was between the worlds of the Warp and the Wyrd and could see unfolding histories yet to come.

Great war would befall the lands about Ascona when the ice thawed; a war between Vanyirborn brothers and sisters and their many followers heralding evil times. His own people should not settle above Ascona, for they would perish in these wars if they stayed.

Instead they should wait until ‘the time of great drowning had changed them’. They should then travel east into the continent of Annarr, to the remains of Yrmynsyl whose roots would be buried still in the depths of the snow, and from there go north until the land reached a great vista of mountains and, beyond, a wetland of lagoons before the sea.

In this place, he proclaimed, lay lands unsullied and rich of soil where the ice would soon be thawed. There his people should settle their nation and name it Skytor, High Upon The Hill. And there they would make a nation that would one day come to rule all the world of Yarnia.

The faith of Allum was born with Amon’s passing and his people embraced it. The prophecy was written and over the many generations to come was passed from father to son, mother to daughter, that when the time came to return to the light of the world, Amon’s people would prevail.

The term of nine thousand years approached its end and the ice thawed, but the thaw sent great torrents of melt-water into the labyrinth beneath Ascona. The wyrmen were flooded and, though the volcanic heat warmed the water, it did not drain and most of the halls of Lynyeth were filled either with water or with steam.

As the water found the deepest culverts leading to Ascona’s volcanic vents it flooded those chambers and the homes of the wyr so that much that had been dry was now drowned. The gia of the wyr soon adapted to extract oxygen from the water and the rising steams, thus when the lands above warmed to degrees enough that Amon’s people could stand comfortably above ground, those who had for the longest dwelled in the smytheries and vaults of the deepest chambers were become a semi-aquatic folk known to themselves as the People of the Lands of Lung.

Moreover they had passed the centuries between the drowning and their emergence into the light of the sun harnessing the energies of water and of pressurized steam.

Even as Laird Listnum Hammerclaw was founding the city of Tunturthis in Listholm, the people of Lung, already well advanced in their skills and technology, were abandoning

their subterranean realm and marching east across the then frozen Damnum Channel, over the white-laden frost grounds still covering the ruins of Halig and Ramat and into the shadow of Yrmynsyl. At their fore the Council of Twelve, ruling body of Ascona's upper caverns, marched. Here were proud wyrmen and women who would one day build the city of Skyssa and become known as the skyssan. And at the head of this council was a powerful Allumnist named Obereth Goldbinder.

They saw the World Tree, withered and dead, Karrekith untouched upon its highest point, and they saw, at the crumbling edge of drifts hundreds of feet deep, the bottomless pit of the Gungin Gap. They saw in the south the crater of the Valley of Cataclysm where Merrlith had burst and far to the northwest the twin fangs of an evil mountain, that which is now called the Hammer Dwale. And though Yrmynsyl loomed, it was an evil place and the air was filled with a sense of coming doom.

So following the instructions of Amon’s prophecy, Obereth Goldbinder turned his people north and walked from these abominations until the snow fell away and their feet were striding over meadows of grass; until the flatlands rose into an undulating paradise of mythic mountains and the land reached its end. For here the breaking waters of inland seas lapped against golden shores, the ice foretold by Amon already thawing, the land High Upon the Hill already lush.

Here Obereth settled the nation to be named Skytor. Two cities would emerge as the wyrmen in Morturth fought their bitter wars, and the western nations of Sanas Morcorm rose and fell. In the industrial city of Stratum the wyrlung of Ascona's drowned quarters perfected their skill with metal and steam, building a progressive society far in advance of any other, layer upon layer, ever higher into the sky. And in the temple city of Skyssa the cultists of Allum and the Council of Twelve forged their faith in the Supremacy Beyond Reckoning and built therein a powerful nation of enlightened and civilized people.

People Here are the skyssan (Skytorians as they are most commonly known) and wyrlung, predominantly and almost to the exclusivity of any other race. Skytorians, in most physical respects, are very much like common wyrmen.

They typically belong to the Allumnist religion though adherence to the cult varies wildly, and is typically dependent upon how much time the Skytorian spends in his homeland.

outfits to cover all eventualities. The male dresses in fine regalia, double breasted jackets with gold trim and brass buttons, epaulettes of badger hair and high top hats of garish colour. Females dress in ankle length, flowing garments, brass corsets and wide brimmed hats. Both genders wear goggles to protect their eyes, which are small and accustomed to darkness more than daylight.

The men sport fine heads of twig and polished leaf or magnificent braids of twisted fir reaching to their waist, while females fashion the stem and flowers of their hair into neat designs; buns, coils and braids which they then augment with red and gold tinsel or decorative baubles shaped like cogs or springs.

Both genders are likely to be armed with mechanical or steam pistola or musket, while males often carry a foil, if only for appearances sake. Gear is always finely honed and exceptionally clean. The Skytorian himself is always perfectly presented, personal hygiene observed at all times.

Because of this apparent obsession with ‘keeping up appearances’, the southern or western races of Ereth consider Skytorians to be supercilious and shallow, a prejudice compounded by the apparently haughty Allumnist faith.

In rough and ready situations it is anticipated by most southerners that the Skytorian will affect the same airs and graces as might be used within Skyssan polite society. He will probably cause trouble by demanding a soft bed with fresh linen upon which to recline, a comfortable stool upon which to be seated or a cigar of fine leaf and a crystal-cut glass of porter with every meal - even in the midst of wild country.

But such expectations are mere prejudice and while most Skytorians do prefer this level of comfort in everyday life, even when everyday life takes them beyond the bounds of their comfort zone, they are a highly adaptive race and perfectly capable of looking after themselves. Anything a Skytorian thinks he may require while away from home, he will adequately supply for himself, or fashion from whatever raw material he can find in the field.

To rely on others to provide such luxuries would be an embarrassment to the Skytorian and a stain upon his impeccable honour.

It is the skyssan style to watch with quiet dismay as others struggle and lament the lack of appropriate gear while he himself unpacks with calm deliberation not only the right equipment for the moment, but the finest equipment wealth can buy.

Skytorians are an advanced and aristocratic race, reliant upon steam and electro-powered gizmos and committed to the sophisticated conventions of Skyssan society, regardless of where they may travel.

Skytorians do not absorb sunlight and convert energy using their gia. Instead they eat regular meals in the form of vegetables or meat. Underground they have uncannily good eye sight and will never depend upon the artificial flame of a lamp to light their way.

No self respecting skyssan is ever without his full complement of equipment and enough

By comparison, the wyrlung are a less refined version of the Skytorian template. They

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open to stringent classification and, consequently, restrictions on where they may settle.

At the core, Skytor remains an isolated city state, technologically advanced compared with other nations and proud of its progression and its culture, but possessing ideologies that clash with the polytheistic and feudal principles of the other races.

The skyssans are a noble breed with two thousand years of lineage described almost entirely in terms of peaceful and conservative social development with no civil wars or campaigns against other lands.

Indeed, the Skytorians have never known the wrench of war beyond those ongoing skirmishes in the north of Niùel against Fell and myrman bandits. One result of this is stability, the Skytorian having had Skyssan females (skyssan left, wyrlung right) two thousand years of peace and prosperity in resemble Skytorians in appearance, both male which to become as established in his own and female, but lack the airs and graces of skin as he is in the society he inhabits. that haughty race and possess an additional Instead of waging war, travelling, exploring protrusion in the centre of the face (the nose) and engaging in political subterfuge and which serves as a breathing organ when the feudality, the Skytorians have invested all wyrlung is not immersed in water. The their energies in the worship of Allum, and wyrlung gia has evolved into several gill-like the scrupulous development of their principle slits to the sides of the head and neck, the city, Skyssa. A system of social engineering, usual external appendages having shrunk established early in Skytor's inception back to negligible proportions. When under probably imported from the hierarchical water the gills open and the nostrils close. structures of Lynyeth - divides the ruling, With these two systems of oxygen and energy aristocratic, upper and upper middle classes intake the wyrlung can live both above and (along with certain upper middle and middle below the water. working classes) from the majority middle and lower working classes. These levels of Wyrlung are less religious than their western society live within the factory city of Stratum, counterpart and more philosophical, prone to a hive-like municipality whose structure, like Numinist ideals and likely to carry either a the layered politics of the nation itself, is built single copy of The Refutionist Enchiridion one level atop the other, bottom feeders about their person or multiple cheap copies dwelling in the basement levels and ruling which they will leave in strategic places for masters dwelling in the heavens (those levels other wyrmen to find and peruse freely (the known as the gods). The result is a ghetto drawers, chests and cabinets of an inn’s bedsystem, with each subsequent layer of the chambers are a common favourite). ghetto (including those apparently luxurious Wyrlung are natural engineers, artificers and ghettos of Skyssa) enjoying greater freedoms craftsmen. They toil in the forge pits of than the one before and contained, overall, Stratum, experimenting with the science of within the borders of a safe enclave. A utopia steam, electrasmythery and Soul Stones, to many, or a prison - depending on the creating ever more bizarre inventions and individual's point of view. then exporting their designs to the rest of So firmly embedded, accepted and subtly the world. enforced through a mixture of propaganda, As Skytor's history has merged with that of social division and institutionalization is this the southern and western races so migrants system that rebellion and calls for change are from afar have filtered into Skytor and made virtually unheard of. Where they occur, they their home here, though they find themselves are crushed, by the government, by the

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church and by the ruling elite of each individual ghetto - all working toward the same mutually beneficial goal. Indeed, in almost every case, anything considered a risk to the establishment becomes the subject of controversy and regulation before it has a chance to gain ground. Conspiracy theorists are ridiculed, insurrectionists and anarchists either expelled, imprisoned or 'disappeared'; modern inventors are encouraged but channelled using a system of rewards and incentives; science is championed but heavily regulated with anything that contravenes the beliefs of the Church of Allum and the ruling classes deemed to be bad and anything that upholds or supports the established infrastructure embraced as 'leading edge'.

The current target for this precursive method of social control is electrasmythery, an inventive and highly contemporary technology associated with the middle working classes of Stratum but considered, by the social engineers of Skyssa, to be perilously akin to magick. Electratech threatens to make magickal leaps in technological progression compared with the slow and measured pace of steam and those in power fear free expansionism as a result, technological leaps so swift that no amount of regulation will keep them in check. Thus electratech, labeled a blasphemy by the Temple of Forallum, is banned in Skyssa and its development has been deliberately suppressed in Stratum.

Electrasmyths represent the current front line, or as the Skyssan social engineers refer to it the leading edge - of potential dysfunction and chaos.

Just as the Fell of Gungin manifest on the southern border and threaten in no subtle way the safety of the people of Skytor, so the concepts and principles of electrasmythery (and all subversive ideologies that oppose the established status quo) threaten the social stability of the nation from within; thus far an onus associated only with the runic magick and superstitious religions of the other wyrman nations.

Military The Allumni form the elite soldiery of the city of Skyssa and are the national emblem of military might within Skytor generally. Their numbers are actually fewer than would usually be expected of a typical country-wide armed force, there being usually fewer than two thousand or so Allumni in all of Skyssa at any one time. However, the might and prowess of the Allumni more than compensate for the diminutive size of their force.

Allumni will be encountered throughout the city, daunting in their immense, automated steam-plate and heavily armed with steammuskets and tremendous war blades.

Officially the Allumni are protectors of the Temple of Forallum and the Haligentsia Forum, but in practice they patrol the city tirelessly, lending aid wherever they may be needed as police, guards and even medics.

They are also elevated members of the church and, as such, are deemed to be paladins and worthy of ceremonial duties.

Operating at a level somewhat to the side of the Allumni is the Chancel Politcry, a redsuited, red-capped police force who work as undercover agents for the church and parliament. The CP, as they are known, are officially a form of non-military municipal law enforcement officer, but a surprising quantity of their workload involves the suppression of anti-Allumnic activities, investigation of 'rebel-thought' or 'rebel-speak' and the interrogation of individuals found guilty of attempting to subvert the various balanced protocols of Skytorian society. Their tunics are emblazoned with the iconic Ever Reproachful Eye of the Forum which marks them as loyalists of the Haligentsia first and foremost.

The common soldiery are formed of companies operating under typical hierarchical command, with numbers somewhere in the region of ten to fifteen thousand, though garrisons are stationed across all of Skytor and most will be barracked at either Mithrune Citadel or Ketal Keep in Ni単el. Skytor also possesses a navy with steam-powered frigates and might enough to repel almost any threat coming in from the sea, either from another wyrman nation, a Fell source or the Endeleas itself. Soldiers serving either in the ground force or navy are permanently embedded in military life and, therefore, are unsuitable as player character creeds. Most individuals in the military are career soldiers, aiming to climb the ranks as they advance in years and acquire status through time served and honours bestowed.

While the Allumni are deemed to serve both the church and the government, the military is largely controlled by the government and, more crucially, the guilds who fund their operations. In the event of any internal dispute between church and state the Allumni would almost certainly side with the Forallum and oppose the Haligentsia, and with their superior might, weaponry and firepower would undoubtedly overpower political dissent. Thus a balance is maintained and the threat of mutually assured destruction keeps both the church and the political power structure enmeshed as a single complex.

The Haligentsia are keen to expand the military presence in the lands of Ni単el, Celtrein and, given free reign, would probably engage Old Urd and even the forces of Iyfel in war on their own territory. However, the Forallum condemn expansionism and this well established opposition to imperialist doctrine prevents the armies of Skytor from marching upon their enemies in the south. Why the Forallum refuse to consider the benefits of military campaigns is a mystery and a frustration to the would-be-

warmongers of the Haligentsia. The church seems eager instead to spread the word of Allum by means of travelling missionaries and Allumnic crusades, largely ignoring the growing menace and presence of the Elgan foe.

Wildlife Almost all wildlife in Skytor can be catergorized as urban or as livestock, the majority of animals raised on farm holdings or kept as pets. The Oylock is the most common livestock, while cats, dogs and reptiles comprise the majority of familiars.

Most steeds are equine, though the average skyssan will be wealthy enough to afford more exotic forms of mount if he requires it.

Animals living wild are largely benign, hedgerow creatures including badgers, foxes, rabbits, weasels, hedgehogs, squirrels, voles, rats and mice along with numerous species of bird life, the most common being arrow hawks (commonly used as messenger birds) herons, ravens, buzzards and falcons. Pigeons, seagulls and rats form a troublesome vermin problem within both of Skytor's cities and culls are frequent, the flesh of both the pigeon and gull being something of a local delicacy.

Fell and other wicked breeds of creature are unknown in Skytor, any incursions coming along the coastal road through Ni単el dealt with by the soldiery of Mithrune and Ketal.

Where perils rise from the sea the Allumni will typically despatch the problem in quick measure, gaining swift victory in their numbers and superior weaponry.

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Culture Most Skytorian culture is informed by the embedded social class system which determines where certain demographics will live, how they will behave and what they will do for a living.

The majority of individuals in Skyssa are classified as either skyssan or Skytorian (as opposed to wyrlung) and anywhere else in the world would be labeled as either nobility or moneyed aristocracy. Clothing is expensive and finely tailored, possessions are of the highest quality and homes are furnished to a high standard, the buildings themselves belonging to schools of architecture where aesthetics, the principles of design and artistic reference, particularly religion, are as crucial as function and far more important than cost.

Skyssa is clean and disease free, which is important for a city whose thoroughfares are largely submerged canals and whose flooded basements are likely to harbour all manner of algae, mold and salt-water crustaceans.

The culture of Stratum is diverse, each layer of the city possessing its own unique social structure and its own heritage, the details of which are explored in more depth below.

Food, drink and entertainment are all essential considerations to the average skyssan, while Stratumians have their own rich culinary traditions and dishes, often unique not only to the city but to the level within the city where it originates.

Fish is consumed in great quantities, as is imported seafood. Shell fish is a favourite repast, along with foods most wyrmen would never dream of consuming: squid tentacles, oysters, sea cucumbers, eels and even roe.

Beyond fish, the average Skyssan will eat meat only rarely. Cuts of oylock are enjoyed as the cornerstone of a hearty winter meal, but most cuts are too extravagant and too resource intensive to be practical all year round (there are only so many oylock farmsteads in Skytor). Beyond the oylock, roast boar, lamb, venison, game and fowl are popular meats, though the majority of these are imported from the Angle.

Whatever the dish, be it seasonal vegetables and meat or a more complicated recipe, the average meal is a grand affair, requiring the correct observation of etiquette and always a high level of hygiene and table manners. Even out in the field, the Skytorian will typically look for some solid surface upon which to spread the necessities of his meal and will first lay out all courses along with necessary plates, cutlery and glassware before eating. Such grandiose ceremony can seem bewildering to southerners, but to the Skytorian and especially the Skyssan the observation of manners is more important in barbarous

circumstances the procedure of etiquette and good taste defining the wyrman as the vessel of order rather than the vessel of chaos.

Common Laws The carrying, displaying and use of firearms is entirely permitted and, indeed, encouraged within Skytor. But as in all aspects of Skytorian culture, the correct and appropriate use of the weapon is far more important than the type of weapon used.

Pistola at dawn is a respectable, traditional and lawful way for skyssan nobility to settle disputes of love or business and swordplay is a refined art, taught in schools and university and practiced at clubs and events. Indeed, most kinds of violence are acceptable as part of the Skytorian way, but the violence must be measured and must be tasteful. Street brawls with knives and cudgels are unheard of.

Quiet fist fights in a nearby alleyway are far more in tune with the Skytorian ethos, while an organized meeting of enemies and a duel with mutually approved weaponry is always far more preferable.

Gambling is officially legal in Skyssa provided wagers are made in private. In Stratum, by comparison, gambling is a way of life and has provided many of the city's more wealthy citizens with a step-up from the lower classes.

Excessive private wagers between Skytorians will rarely result in anything other than a stern rebuke from the Politcry, while organized gambling where organizers make a consistent profit is considered a form of organized crime and treated as such.

The open practice, preaching, proselytizing and promotion of non Allumnic cultism is strictly forbidden and one of the most likely reasons a wyrman from elsewhere in Ereth will find himself coming to the attention of the Chancel Politcry. Imprisonment is likely to follow, or exile - depending on the culprit.

The open practice, promotion or use of electratech is also forbidden in any shape or form within Skyssa, though in Stratum the technology is merely suppressed, discouraged and frowned upon.

Slavery is legal in Skyssa, but outlawed in Stratum. In Skyssa slaves are given certain rights - the slave is paid a wage which accumulates in an account overseen by the Guild of Slaves and which is paid to the slave in full upon the last day of his or her 'tenure';

usually a three year term in which the slave works from seven to six, all meals, lodgings and necessities provided. Wages for the average slave are extremely attractive and though their rights are restricted they are legally protected against violence, abuse and sexual misconduct from their master or masters. For this reason skyssans will acquire slaves from the guild where potential slaves volunteer their services, rather than from a slave market. Not only is the short-changing of slaves deemed to be an immeasurable social faux pas, it is also an offense punishable by imprisonment, thus the Slave Guild is enmeshed with both the Guild of Magistrates and the Society of Free Law and Universal Ethics.

All ideologies, anti-Allumnic teachings, runemagick and esoteric beliefs, especially those that venerate the characters in the Oaken Myths to the status of gods, are strictly outlawed and anyone found to be pushing alternative political or religious philosophies will soon find themselves in deep trouble with the Haligentsia and the Temple of Forallum.

The use of legal systems to define legality as a separate issue to ethical consideration is a common precept of Skyssan law. Torture, for example, is legal provided the victim is a political or religious enemy proven to have subversive intentions against social stability.

Torture of Fell is legal without restriction, while torture of non-subversives is outlawed.

The arrested perpetrator must therefore be proven to be subversive (a process often taking months, if not years of legal paperwork) before he can be tortured.

Similarly, privacy and the observation of public and private activities alike is a concept in a constant state of flux. Privacy is a moral given if the target is lawful, a member of the Allumnic cult and a productive constituent of society, however the privacy of such individuals is deemed to be 'liquid' if there are doubts about the individual's commitment to these conditions. For example, the upstanding citizen suspected of anti-Allumnic beliefs has no privacy until such time as his innocence is proven using surveillance. Once proven innocent, privacy is guaranteed. This guarantee is void as soon as the citizen falls under suspicion again.

In Stratum common laws are a more organic affair, reacting and changing depending on decrees filtering down from the upper echelons, with the execution of different laws and diktats a matter for the individual ruling bodies of each level of the city within the wider 'suggested' body of national doctrine. These include the fundamental laws of Skyssan decree - the perpetuation of social stability and the maintenance of established political systems primarily. Where city rulers fail to observe these unbreakable laws and act against accepted jurisprudence they become liable for any resulting dissent or anarchy and fall firmly under the watchful eye of the

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Chancel Politcry. More accurately, their superiors - masters of levels above their own and ultimately the overlords of the entire city come under the scrutiny of the Haligentsia.

Thus individualism is encouraged in principle, but restrained in practice.

Rune magick is strictly outlawed in Skyssa and Stratum and for this reason certain rune-based institutions and guilds are forbidden. Notably, there is no branch of Rivage & Shore, the magickal banking depository. Similarly the major rune-caster guilds are banned from representing their members within Skytor's borders and mansic provision merchants, found in every other part of Ereth, while not strictly illegal, are certainly unwelcome. Premanceries, geomantics, mansic stores and other sellers of supernatural wares are free to openly trade if they wish, but strict licensing laws will prevent them from remaining in business for long and their activities will inevitably bring them to the attention of the Chancel Politcry.

Cults In Stratum the religious ideologies of Allum have largely been replaced by the atheistic philosophies of Numinism. For centuries the Allumnists attempted to prevent the growth of the Numinists but eventually conceded that a certain diversity of thought and identity may be necessary in order for a class-led system to function without conflict.

Numinism is considered a movement, rather than a religion, a system of axiomatic principles that give Stratians the illusion of faith without the necessity or commitment to any one ideology. More importantly it gives the lower and middle working classes a sense of betterment over the elevated class structure of Skyssa and a crucial sense of rebellion without incitement to actual revolution. In effect this calms, rather than encourages disorder between the inhabitants of the two cities; the wyrlung gain a newfound sense of intellectual superiority while the skyssans retain their inherent sense of self assurance.

Only if Numinism were to evolve and acquire a more powerful status would efforts to restrict its practice be resumed.

SKYSSA The land of Skytor is a city state, the city of Skyssa extending from one border to the other, the secondary city of Stratum crushed into the northeastern corner of the country.

For this reason the lamdmark key is given below as that of Skyssa, all aspects of the landscape being encompassed within the boundaries of the city limits.

Most of Skyssa's thoroughfares are waterlogged canals which are tidal in nature

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and join at various external points with the coast surrounding the city. An extensive system of locks and sluice-gates is used to control the height of the water, while weighlocks are used to charge tolls on boats transporting heavy goods along the canals.

Weighlocks work on a system of displacement and are manned both by lock operators and soldiers.

Most Skyssans possess a boat of some description, be it a working barge, a small rowboat or a steam powered paddle craft, but taxis (sauceboats as they are called) are also prevalent, carrying passengers to their destination while avoiding most of the slower locks and wicket gates. Taxis are also exempt from weighlock tolls, though they are not allowed to carry trade goods, only luggage of certain weight belonging to their passengers.

The city architecture is grand, a sprawling metropolis of saffron-coloured buildings fashioned from silver, stone and glass; beatific edifices rising from the myriad canal networks and flagstone paved roadways, all impeccably clean and tended by social services. Utilities include clean, fresh water on tap and steam powered hydraulics, though for the most part individual homes will possess their own boilers and agas for the purpose of running domestic steam-tech.

SKYSSA

1 Ferry Crossing The Fingle Ferry crosses this part of the river once per day, hauled across on chains running laterally along the river bed and a steam-operated winch on the city side. An emergency system allows the ferry to cut loose of the chain and chug away with its own steam-powered paddle wheel.

The ferry is a large flat-bottomed barge with room for numerous wagons of considerable size, tie-bars for horses and even a separate

wooden pinfold with stalls of various sizes for the safe transport of livestock.

The ferry costs 1w per passenger on foot, 10w for horses or other steeds and 40w for livestock or wagons. Costs for wagons/ livestock and steeds comes on top of costs for accompanying herders, drivers or riders.

SKYSSA

2 the Vander Wall A wall of iron and stone, the Vander Wall extends across much of the southern part of the city where it fringes the river Fingleful.

The wall is utterly impassable and at strategic points along its length wooden hatches can be hoisted open to allow cannon to fire on either enemy boats coming up the river or an enemy threat in the Highland Ride.

The battlements of the wall are patrolled by musketeers and behind them, planted in raised 'military zones' are catapult prepped and ready to fire at a moments notice.

These defenses are a contingent against Fell or evil forces encroaching along the northern shoreline of Niñel, the greatest of these threats being the ever present menace of the forces stationed at Old Urd. Antagonist patrols of Grognadian myrmen regularly test the defenses of the Skytorians in Niñel, drawing out soldiers from Mithrune Citadel or Ketal Keep, but rarely breach those defenses and move further beyond the wall of the Thrymrein mountains.

SKYSSA

3 the Government District A triangular shaped ward with imposing architecture and stately buildings presenting the might and beauty of Skyssa to any visitor travelling in from the ferry. The district is

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surrounded by canal thoroughfares but all roads within (except for the main access routes into Haligen House) are paved.

A wide parade of grey flagstones runs from south to north, arriving at the tremendous porch of Haligen House (House of the Illuminated), seat of Skyssa's, and effectively all of Skytor's, over-arching government, the Haligentsia Forum.

The Forum's sigil is the Ever Reproachful Eye, a single gazing eye positioned at the apex of a triangle, the icon deemed to represent the pinnacle of the cosmic whole - the capstone of the Supremacy whose gaze oversees all things in all tiers below. This sigil is replicated in many parts of the city and also informs the design of the entire government district.

The parliamentary house is an immense dome of sparkling white with a ribbed design similar to that of a beetle carapace, its main entranceway formed of a great arch above which an undying flame burns in a golden dish. The flame is called the Haligfyr - the Holy Fire - known commonly as The Eternal Flame of Allumra. The flame represents the light of knowledge and awakening from dream times and when followers of Allum speak of being ‘enlightened’ they have in mind the city that sprawls beneath the flickering flame of Haligfyr. The politicians of Haligen House would rather the flame was associated with their own apparent enlightenment and this is the metaphor they personally choose apply.

Beneath the Haligen dome the offices of the Haligentsia are free-standing structures within an iron grid work of platforms, stairways and walkways, many of which are suspended from the underside of the dome by chains. The floor of Haligen House is submerged and surrounded by a secure port, allowing politicians and other visitors to arrive and leave by boat, though access by conventional roads and bridges is also possible.

The government consists of a Council of Twelve whose mandates inform city policy and dictate the ethos of those who work under them. In theory the Council is elected by the majority vote of the city populace and can potentially be changed every four years. In practice the same two Council bodies have been elected into power one or the other for almost three hundred years, suggesting they either excel at the task of running Skyssan society or that the election system is corrupt.

During the run-up to elections the manifestos of the two parties will typically vary, with rifts of opposition appearing in the details of proposed policies. After election it usually becomes clear that both parties share the same common ground, previous disparate and controversial policy propostions melting into one mutually agreeable decision.

The current head of the Council of Twelve is Chancellor Vilhelm Aphex, his underlings selected from cronies and officials who adhere to his personal political leanings. The Chancellor is tyrannical, but judicious, a

former magistrate and factory magnate with a labyrinthine understanding of business and politics. His ferocity as a despot is matched only by his unwavering belief in Allum.

SKYSSA

4 the Chancelrein Predominance The main ward of the Chancelrein forms the northern corner of the triangular government district. Four additional wards stand on the north, east and west sides of the canal bordering the district, the overall complex forming a design like a four-petalled flower.

The Chancelrein is the headquarters for the Chancel Politcry, a red-uniformed branch of the Skyssan military whose duties err more toward policing the city than defending its borders (though the Politcry would argue both things to be one and the same). In fact the majority of the Politcry's activities focus not on the keeping of law, but on the enforcing of Haligentsian and Allumnic tenets, namely the weeding out of subversive elements, the identification of potentially anarchic movements and the arrest of anyone known to be actively opposed to the church of Allum, the political powers of the Haligentsia and the general social structure of the cult centre. They are typically officious and austere, immediately recognizable by their red tunics which are adorned with the Ever Reproachful Eye icon of the Haligentsia.

Deep within the Chancelrein dissidents will be interrogated and their beliefs dissected for examination. Individuals themselves will either be imprisoned if their crime is particularly reprehensible, or exiled to follow their personal edicts as they see fit. Leniency is typically shown only to Numinist leanings but those guilty of openly preaching Numinism within Skyssa will be given the option of exile or relocation to Stratum.

SKYSSA

5 Temple of Forallum A tremendous ziggurat rising from the Mangr端n wetlands and the shoreline of the northern beach. So vast is the temple it almost constitutes a city in its own right, standing 481ft high and 756ft wide from side to side and front to back (with an overall footing of 571,536 sq ft). A huge arch stands two hundred feet high at the front of the pyramid whose terraced sides are formed from millions of blocks of stone, no single brick larger than a foot in width.

Within the ancient building - whose foundations were among the first to be established in the newly found land of Skytor nearly two thousand years ago - is the intricate temple society of Forallum. Here the

priests of the cult of Allum worship the Supremacy Beyond Reckoning, living in communities entirely segregated from the city beyond the temple's enormous front door.

Adherence begins at the lowest levels with ordained acolytes and functionaries whose duties include lighting the ziggurats many thousandfold oil lamps, the sweeping of its endless corridors and the preparation/ serving of meals to name but a few of their various duties. No servants exist within the temple who are not also priests, and so all who dwell within the great pyramid are, in some capacity or another, members of the priesthood.

As the ranks climb higher, the priest's duties become more administrative and less menial. Above medium grade ranks the priest takes on ceremonial and catechistic responsibilities, overseeing large swathes of underling priests and answering to priest masters of the higher tiers.

Above the middle levels priests (eclectically known as presbyters) take on titled roles, beginning with that of deacon and rising to the most exalted position of arch-bishop.

Such roles are given only to the most experienced priests; proven loyalists well versed in the internal politics of the temple and more than capable of dealing with the often ruthless power play of their peers.

Only medium level priests (ecclesiasts) move beyond the great door of the pyramid and walk freely in the city, mingling with the citizens and spreading the doctrines of the church.

Elsewhere in the city smaller churches and temples exist, these serving the more remote wards of Skyssa and usually those sections of society deemed to be at greatest risk from subversive influence. Medium tier priests will take on the mantle of the parish priest (the prester) and will operate the church with the help of both lower level functionaries and volunteers from the parish. Of all the priests only the Allumni come and go freely from the Temple of Forallum, paladins who enjoy complete freedom of movement, in theory, as a reward for their courage in military service to the church and to Allum. The likely truth is that the Allumni are considered an effective visual tool, their steam-plate armour, colossal muskets and jagged war blades a useful reminder to both the citizenry and the priesthood that the church is all powerful.

SKYSSA

6 Castle Festungern A military academy housed in a star shaped structure built from gold, bronze and crystal.

Here Skyssan officers and Allumni are trained, along with extensive barracks for the majority of soldiers stationed in Skyssa. The castle, one of the largest structures in Skyssa

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after the Temple of Forallum, and one of the most extraordinarily beautiful, stands on a hill overlooking the utopian gardens of the Earharben Vale.

SKYSSA

7 Newlynyeth

Farmsteads and paddy fields emerging from the water basin of the river Fingleful. The land here is waterlogged and used for growing sun-cress, rice and barley.

SKYSSA

8 Newtown Oylock Farms The oylock farmsteads where oylock are raised as livestock. Other animals are also farmed here, but oylock are most common.

The fields hereabouts, which stand on solid loam as opposed to the wetland paddies of Newlynyeth, are also used for the sowing of vegetables harvested to supplement the city's imported food.

During the planting season the farms are worked by steam powered engines that both plough and sterilize the soil using steambased systems (the steam pouring out across the ground, destroying weeds, bacteria and fungi that may otherwise destroy crops).

SKYSSA

9 Goldstone University Named after the fabulous golden and silver stonework used predominantly in the city of Skyssa, Goldstone is a uniquely Skytorian seat of learning which teaches mainly history (from the Skyssan and wyrlung perspective only) along with crafts and languages.

Students must possess a minimum CC Mind & Memory value of 10 and courses are expensive, but the standard of teaching is extremely high and the resulting gains are worth the expense.

Rune magick and even the teaching of runic history is forbidden and no course teaching these aspects of Erethian culture are available.

Goldstone has extensive archives and a large library of strictly fictional and non-political non-fiction along with a variety of historical ledgers which can be studied on site by visitors and students alike.

The Nomistic Eucholist, an almost biblical account of the wyrlung and Skytorian story from the nation's inception in the vaults of Ascona to its contemporary 'glory' in the city of Skyssa is also kept here. The book is held behind a glass cabinet which is locked at all times, but extracts are available to be read in parchment form and copies of the entire book are also available to study in full.

SKYSSA

10 Earharben Vale Huge ornamental gardens with halcyon lawns of lush grass, arboretums of rare and exotic trees and endless pathways bordering monuments, statues and public spaces.

In the middle of the vale stands a statue of Obereth Goldbinder, wyrlung founder who brought his people out from the dungeons beneath Mount Ascona at the end of the Age of Hammerfall and led them to Skytor.

SKYSSA

11 Port Sanca Southern gigaerack port where the land-based gigaerack arrives and departs on the 1st, 5th, 11th, 15th, 21st and 25th of every month.

SKYSSA

12 Thermal Station These vast steam-boilers are used as thermal energy reservoirs for powering various aspects of the city. Heat is produced by process steam resulting from the mills and factories

surrounding the station then stored and extracted by heat transfer.

Most of the industrial applications whose mechanics are reliant on the station operate at close proximity, taking advantage of the high energy transfer from the reservoirs to site.

These include pile-driving systems used for crushing and grinding raw materials in factories and locomotive systems, such as the belt-driven ambulator used to pull the citywide Steam Tram along its track.

Residual heat is also distributed to the rest of the city by way of thermal conductors whose consistent output heats homes in winter and provides water of varying degrees of heat to residents, the level of heat dependent upon their proximity to the station. In most homes booster systems using agas increase conducted temperatures, the efficiency of these systems depending, again, on the resident's proximity to the station.

SKYSSA

13 Steam Tram Station A free public utility, the steam tram runs perpetually, circling the entire city on a thirteen mile sky track.

The tram resembles a shuttle, hanging from an overhead track which is held aloft by pylons. The tram's momentum is powered by a belt-driven ambulator which itself is

powered by turbines and pistons driven by heat transfer from the Thermal Station (see above). The pistons operate an enormous winch and windlass system that spools the belt running the length of the sky track on a continual basis, the shuttle effectively attached to the belt and moved by proxy.

The tram moves at a consistent 10mph but circles the entire city and provides a fast and comfortable way to cross Skyssa without using the canals or roads. Where the track takes sharp turns the tram doesn't slow but instead is carried outward by the sideways force and yaws to one side. Seats inside the tram stand on a gridiron system akin to a gimbal which itself rests on the concave lower surface of the shuttle on wheels. When the tram turns a corner the shuttle rolls but the seats and the frame they are attached to remain horizontal.

The general effect of this can cause nausea where the passenger is unused to the tram. All characters riding the tram for the first time must therefore make a passive AA Place in the Cosmos dice check, suffering from motion sickness and vomiting if they fail the check.

SKYSSA

14 Gigaradask The main port for the Gigaerack and the headquarters for the company who operate and maintain the Gigaerack themselves.

SKYSSA

18 Peng-Merdok Northernmost Gigaerack port in Skyssa, Peng-Merdok serves both the dockland area and passengers embarking and disembarking for the northern wards of the city.

SKYSSA

16 the Amnest A centre for the abolition and appropriate disposal of subversive artifacts, abstractions and accoutrements' the Amnest is a large covered amphitheatre situated in a grand and theatrical building of typical Skyssan design.

Within the halls of the building those items deemed to be anathema to the Skytorian ethos are brought for disposal. Most of those items that find their way to the Amnest are runic in nature but there is also a market for epic and enchanted anima crafted by SoulSmyths and these are by far the most gladly received.

The Steam Tram Station serving all of Skyssa

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The Amnest pays a reasonable price for most items, especially rune-tools, rune-weapons and rune-armour, with the greatest rewards given in return for anima.

Once every month the Amnest opens its doors to the paying public and presents a gladiatorial 'show' within the central pit. All anima collected during the previous month will appear in the show and, without exception, meet their end in some brutal and spectacular way. Enchanted anima are especially popular with paying spectators and their appearance (and teasers hinting at the nature of their likely demise) are often advertised long before by bill-posters.

The Amnest has given rise to a new breed of Allumnic Soul-Reaper whose quarry is the anima rather than the Soul-Stone. SoulSmyths of dubious morality have been known to forge anima with the express intention of selling them to the Reaper who will then sell them on to the Amnest. This practice is strictly outlawed both by the Skyssan authorities and by the guild of Soul Stealers, a guild with considerable presence in Skyssa.

Soul-Reapers are encouraged to bring the anima they capture to the Amnest, but those who do so repeatedly will come quickly to the attention of the Politcry. Most have determined that they will thereafter be allowed to continue their business with the Amnest provided they show suitable allegiance to the cult of Allum and the institute of Haligen House.

SKYSSA

17 Paganda Palace A theatre in the north of Skyssa surrounded by beautiful gardens and ornamental lawns.

The theatre has both an indoor and outdoor stage, the outdoor aspect open only during the summer months.

Paganda plays only a certain type of show and the material it offers is strictly regulated by the Skyssan government. These include the Mockery, which focuses on the mythologies of the non-Skytorian races, presenting them as humourous fairytales; the Tragedy where the story revolves around some fictional romantic or political proposition (never anything resembling Skyssan politics) and the subsequent horror resulting from the implementation of the proposition; the Historical which tells the story of Skytorian or wyrlung histories in a romantic and often rose-tinted way; and the Proverbial wherein farcical situations lead to nonsensical and often surreal journeys for the protagonist.

Most stories have a leading cast of heroes and villains are invariably portrayed as conniving, scheming and dastardly breeds of common wyrman, myrman or Norwyr. It is traditional for Fell parts to be played by actors dressed to resemble norwyr in costume, effectively two costumes merged to give the impression of a norwyr dressed up as a Fell creature.

The great paddle steamer Skytan berthed in the Northern Docks

Plays critical of the political system, specific politicians, the cult of Allum or any other aspect of Skyssan society, or those showing the cults and cultures of other nations in a positive light, will be removed from circulation long before they ever reach the stage of the Paganda. Those responsible for penning such works are deemed to be a particularly loathsome breed of subversive and are dealt with severely. The use of insidious methods like fiction to pervert the impressionable mind with untruths is considered the lowest form of attack on social stability, dishonest and entirely at odds with the ethical purpose of storytelling - to entertain and inform, but not to corrupt.

SKYSSA

18 the Euphonic A music hall whose architecture is designed to amplify and improve the sounds played upon the stage, carrying the music to every part of the surrounding auditorium.

The symphonies played in the Euphonic use instruments designed exclusively for use with steam. Piston organs exhale a range of notes through valved pipes, from high wind-like whistles to deep throbbing tones; turbine drums provide beats with mechanically precise rhythm while the hooting, keening, hissing and trumpeting instruments of the main harmonic structure, typically accompanied by a vocal orchestra, create powerful depths of sound.

The resulting music, while loud, is both unique and impressive, unable to match the gentle symphonies of conventional orchestras but possessing a strength and vibrancy that seems to compliment perfectly the Skyssan culture and its people.

The Euphonic uses Blattnerphones (a technology exclusive to Skyssa, export abroad

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being prohibited and the expense of owning one being too great for most of the residents of Stratum) to record the music played on stage. The tapes are then sold to citizens who own their own Blattnerphone so the music can be enjoyed repeatedly in the comfort of their own home.

SKYSSA

19 Northern Docks A huge industrial dockland where goods from Stratum, Mortun Pandi, the Angle and even, on rare ocassions, Listholm are offloaded for distribution in Skyssa, or where Skyssan export goods are loaded onto ships bound for other lands.

The fishing industry of Skyssa also operates predominantly out of the Northern Docks, small fishing vessels, trawlers and motor boats embarking daily into the North Inland Sea to catch every manner of fish and shell fish. Almost all the boats of Skyssa are steam powered with a variety of vessels using either paddles or some form of underwater turbine for propulsion.

Mechanical cranes line the edges of the dock and behind these are great warehouses wherein most of the import/export trade occurs. Some of the warehouses have also been turned into chandlers and dry docks.

Visitors to the docks may be privileged enough to witness the mighty ships of the Skyssan naval fleet berthed in the harbour or moving across the open sea beyond the coast.

Here is the Jewel of Allum, a conventional four mast frigate, bristling with cannon and great billowing sails marked with the Ever Reproachful Eye. Here too may be seen The Skytan, a colossal paddle steamer whose vast bulk will dwarf all other boats in the bay. Only one ship outmatches the Skytan and its name is Wargeist, a deep sea behemoth which is also

Mordran is a forbidden place, wherein no wyrman is allowed to tread, not even the templars of Skyssa, nor those tasked with guarding the hall's outer domain.

Those who attempt to breach the Allumni defenses and break into the hall will face the full force of the law and a likely term of imprisonment.

They will be charged not only with contravening city legislation but attempting to commit an act of blasphemy that directly challenges the authority of the Supremacy Beyond Reckoning.

SKYSSA

21 Vengerwing Landing Strip

a submersible, capable of powering through the ocean at depths up to 60ft, its great black stacks jutting from the surface of the sea like the spines of some monstrous sea creature.

SKYSSA

20 the Mordran Hall A monolithic building stands here, guarded by Allumni and closed to the public. The great front door to Mordran is formed of steel and is ever locked, whatever secrets the house contains hidden from view and concealed from prying eyes.

Outside the building is a wide courtyard of white cobbles surrounded by black railings and here, at any given time, there will likely be a small, medium or large crowd (depending on the time of year) of pilgrims from the south of Annarr and sometimes even the land of Listholm.

For Mordran contains the sacred Megdart rune of Merriday Elyeth, sister goddess of Mot Elyeth and the divine being accredited with the creation of the wyrmen.

The skyssans recognize the historical significance of the site, but refuse to acknowledge the power of the Megdart within.

The Mordran Hall was built around the rune some time in the first century AD and its doors have remained locked ever since.

None may pass into the chambers within to view the rune and though this is a matter of great contention to the other races of Ereth, the Allumnics remain steadfast in their position.

The Vengerwing is a tremendous flying vessel, designed by Leonid Stromm, a wyrlung recognized as one of the greatest engineering minds of modern times.

The machine is delicate, unwieldy and often unpredictable and requires a pilot blessed with great skill and no short amount of courage.

There is room within the vessel for only two pilots and a cradle wherein up to 1000k in weight can be stowed.

The Wing (as it is most commonly known) is used almost exclusively to deliver supplies to the outposts of Mithrune Citadel and Ketal Keep, the machine dropping its supply caches in midflight then returning to land on its specially constructed runway. The Wing is capable of achieving considerable height and can fly above even the peaks of the Thrymrein, but it has limited fuel capacity and can only remain airborne for between fifteen and thirty minutes.

The mechanisms behind the Venger are a mystery even to most of the smyths of Stratum, though it is believed to operate on a principle of kinetic momentum (supplied by steam powered turbines) and vertical lift supplied by the wings which flap in much the same way as those of a bird.

SKYSSA

22 Fell Pounder (the Wrath of Allum) Here in a field surrounded by a military wall replete with its own gatehouse, battlements and a garrison of Skyssan troops stands the greatest non-magickal weapon known to the modern world - an enormous 30,000k battery known,

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with no small affection, as the Fell Pounder.

Ocassionally the citizens of Skyssa will feel the ground beneath their feet suddenly tremble and will hear the solid report of the gun as its crew fire a shell into the sea, testing the weapon's functionality. More rarely will the great gun be turned south and a more purposeful shell fired into the northern reaches of Ni単el, there to explode in the midst of Fell enemies marching on Skytor's distant southern borderlands.

The range of the gun is somewhere between five and five and a half miles, allowing its crew to zone in on Fell targets impinging on the Pass of Obereth and even the northern reaches of Elderbarren Woods - a location the myrmen of Old Urd often use for linear cover against attacks from Skyssan forces in the pass.

The gun is exceptionally accurate once successfully zoned. The crew will achieve this by firing harmless salvos of powder shells which stream behind them a plume of white dust and then burst on impact. Observers on the southern wall of the gun emplacement can clearly track the arc of the shot and convey adjustments to gun operators on the ground.

When the Pass of Obereth has come under considerable threat in the past, the gun has been brought to bear in conjunction with the Vengerwing, the pilots of the wing signalling to the gun operators using light reflection on mirrored glass in order to help them zone in accurately on specific targets.

SKYSSA

23 Mansion of Leonid Stromm Widely regarded as the greatest engineer of his time and a genius beyond compare, Leonid is an eccentric Steamsmyth wyrlung, originally from Stratum but now firmly ensconsed here in the wealthy districts of Skyssa where his skills are put to great use by both the church and the Haligentsia.

The Vengerwing, the city canal weighlock system and the deep sea submersible Wargeist are all accreditted to Leonid, as are some of the more modern of the steam-instruments found in the Euphonic Hall and the intricacies of the city-wide tram system.

For his troubles Leonid is exceptionally well paid and looked after by those who admire and benefit from his genius. He is, however, a man of simple desires and most of his wealth he ploughs back into his inventions, funding his own prototypes and his own testing facilities.

He is also known to be something of a subversive, a supporter of the Numinist movement and a skeptic when it comes to the powerful institutions of Skyssa.

Rumours abound that Leonid sits at the head of a secret underground organization championing intellectualism over theocracy

The Underfall Catacombs

and theology and that the secrets of this order are so well preserved and so well concealed that its existence has never been confirmed. If the order exists, its member identities remain unknown and its purpose remains a mystery.

Leonid himself refutes the existence of any such thing and claims he is far too busy in his work to expend energy on insurrection.

For more details on the secret group of Leonid Stromm, see the Overmaster's Companion.

SKYSSA

24 the House of Warcrest Here lived the Warcrest family, descendants of a line of smyths who achieved greatness at some time in the fifth century AD and were thus able to move from the wards of Stratum into the aristocratic circles of Skyssan high society.

The genius of the Warcrest smyths lay in the manipulation of flammable powders within metal firing cylinders, and thus the Warcrest flintlock was the first example of a firearm ever developed in the history of the wyrman.

Thereafter the patent was taken by other smyths and reproduced in uncountable ways, leading to the development of the pistola, the rifle, the machine gun and eventually the cannon. The Warcrests never suffered to lose the fruits of their ingenuity, however, and have ever been connected with superior craftsmanship and exceptional quality in the guns they produced.

The line of the Warcrests ended with Isadella Warcrest, a spinster who never produced an heir to her estate and who lived out the last years of her old age within the great mansion of her forefathers convinced that the house was not only haunted but cursed and in the grip of spirits who desired to drive her mad and claim her soul.

Isadella was arrested for these claims and tried as an imprecator. In her trial she stated that the invention of the gun, an event in which her ancestry was so firmly embedded, was so dark a deed in that so many lives would eventually be claimed by that singular invention, that the Elgan gods had singled out the name of the Warcrests as worthy of attention. As the sole keeper of the Warcrest legacy this attention was to fall entirely upon Isadella.

Her claims were refuted and Isadella was imprisoned for blasphemy, ending her days in a deep dungeon cell and bringing to a sad end the long story of the Warcrest line.

Today the great house stands empty and derelict, its brickwork crumbling, the edges of the estate slowly vanishing beneath a rising tide of bramble and ivy. The laws of Allum forbid those who dwell in the neighbourhood of the house from mentioning the terrible atmosphere that haunts the place or the strange smells and sounds that often emenate from its supposedly abandoned walls, little less the figures that are often observed standing as dark silhouettes in the grimecovered windows and shadow-veiled grounds.

To admit that something is amiss at the Warcrest mansion would be to villify Isadella, a woman who maintained even to her last breath that the presence of some overwhelming evil infested the house. And to villify Isadella would be to implicate the Forallum of wrongful imprisonment, the suggestion of which would doubtless result in a visit from the Politcry.

So those who know the truth about the Warcrest house remain mute on the subject and merely avoid that part of the city, ever hopeful that one day someone will purchase the site and raze the house to the ground.

SKYSSA

25 Underfall Catacombs Here stands the main entrance into the Underfall Catacombs, a vast subterranean burial site wherein the Skytorians traditionally bury the ashes of their cremated dead.

The catacombs are monumental in scope, stretching the entire length and breadth of the Earharben Vale and even beyond, riddling the ground like an enormous honeycomb cellar. The chambers and crypts are deep enough that most can only be accessed by this main door, though certain wealthy citizens have been known to connect to family vaults by excavating elevator and stairwell shafts in private structures which may be found dotted around the Vale.

The main entrance to the catacombs is ornate in design, ornamented with statues of those most noteworthy characters from Skyssan history, paramount among them Obereth

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Goldbinder, founder of all Skytor.

Inside the entrance is a steep stair comprised of 120 steps and at the foot of these a visitor will find themselves at one end of an unimaginably wide but low ceilinged chamber supported in all directions by intersecting archways and wide stone pillars and lit for as far as the eye can see by oil lamps.

Each pillar is divided vertically into five sections and each of these sections possesses twelve alcoves wherein urns containing the ashes of the dead are placed. The urn itself will be etched with the name of the deceased but the design of each urn is typically unique and highly decorative.

Those individuals who warrant a more exalted crypt of their own can be found in chambers embedded within immense squat pillars which may be seen from time to time, or observed in the distance blotting out sections of the catacombs. Doors in these pillars will allow ingress into the circular crypt within where the ashes will be displayed on a solitary plinth - the plinth traditionally fairly unobtrusive, while the urn that stands upon its surface will likely be spectacular in size and design.

The size of the catacombs requires a considerable and permanent workforce who maintain its structure, keep it clean and help visitors to find their way.

At the foot of the main stairway is an underground stable where pit ponies can be hired as steeds by individual visitors or ponies and traps can be hired to drive visitors to the site of their loved ones' resting place. Drivers of these traps are also available, the traps themselves ranging from simple open-topped wagons to stage coaches of sombre design.

SKYSSA

26 the Opus Pit A wide pit excavated in the second century AD by the priests of the Temple of Allum as a place to cremate the bodies of the dead. The pit is a wide arena surrounded by a retaining wall above which are ascending circles of seating for the funeral congregation.

The interior of the pit walls are covered in ornate tiles depicting symbolic icons copied from larger paintings in the Temple itself. The smaller tiles along the uppermost row depict images from the Agg, showing cosmic

representations of Allum's finest work as witnessed through telescopes and copied from the ancient texts of the Oak Lords, beings whom the Allumnists believe saw Allum's great work first hand and were able to pass on their observations in minute detail through the scripture they left behind. Below these images of strange worlds, starscapes and galactic swirls can be found rectangular reliefs, each showing the Ever Reproachful Eye of Allum in different baroque designs, the iris of each eye an open hole in the wall.

The Allumnists believe that the soul departs when the body is cremated, not when the individual dies. When the pyre is lit great steam-powered belows are switched on in the depths of the amphitheatre structure and air is subsequently blown through the holes where the eyes of Allum decorate the walls. This air fans the flames and ensures the pyre burns with tremendous heat, reducing the body of the deceased to ashes.

The ashes are then ceremoniously carried by temple priests whose duty it is to serve the Pit of Opus into Underfall Catacombs.

SKYSSA

27 Norann A wealthy suburb of Skyssa containing attractive and expensive country mansions of cream brick and terracota tiles.

Norann is populated by the wealthiest citizens of Skytor and the mansions here will typically provide a peaceful second-home retreat, rather than a singular base, far from the bustle of the main city in the west.

The land undulates here as it rises toward the cliffs of Mount Tinderfume and the mighty edifice of Stratum, the gentle hills providing spectacular views across the sea to the north and the Thrymrein mountains to the south.

SKYSSA

28 Maus Tower An ancient, crumbling and abandoned structure whose origins are as murky as they are mysterious. The tower stands on a spur of granite which juts like a runway from the marshlands here, an isolated spot which can only be reached by boat.

The tower was purportedly constructed by Obereth Goldbinder, founder of Skytor, as a retreat from the expanding city which he used extensively in his later life. The site was inherited by various heirs to the Goldbinder estate but fell into disrepair some time around the sixth century and was left empty for some decades. The tower legacy fell to Hayto Goldbinder, twelfth in line to Obereth himself, but by this time was close to ruin. Hayto invested a great deal in the restoration of the tower and thereafter moved into the building, but he disliked the isolation and in an attempt to solve the problem attempted to construct a bridge connecting the granite

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island with mainland Skytor.

Hayto perished in strange circumstances and after his death the tower was finally abandoned. Those who inherited the estate thereafter merely held the deeds but did not use or even visit the site.

The only witnesses to Hayto's final days were the builders employed to work on the bridge (which they never completed and the halffinished ruins of which are now visible, spars of wood and broken stone sagging into the waters of the Blefmire Estuary). They claimed that Hayto was driven to distraction by strange scrabbling and scratching sounds in the walls and floors of the tower; sounds the builders themselves could never hear and the source for which they could never find.

One day, so the legends say, Hayto emerged from his tower shrieking for help. The builders looked up from their tools to see their master running before a great swarming mass of black rats. These chased him down and covered his body, feasting on his flesh and reducing him to bone in a matter of minutes.

The builders hurled down their tools and fled to their boats, rowing away from the scene and the rats before they could suffer the same fate.

The details often vary, depending on the one who tells the tale, but the general story remains the same. Most believe the story to be entertaining, but untrue, while some believe there may be some validity to the claims of the builders, even if their first-hand account has been twisted out of all proportion since the original telling. For the stone island on which the tower stands was named Maus Land in texts of old and on maps found in tomes predating the Age of Hammerfall the spit of granite is referred to as Ratstail Isle.

Furthermore, no wildlife is ever seen on the island; birds and other natural creatures avoiding the place as though it were cursed.

The Church of Allum discourages talk of the supernatural and officially Maus Tower (as it has come to be known) is now the property of the Temple of Forallum, the site preserved for its historical significance as the last home of the city founder.

STRATUM Rising from the flat topped mesa of the Tinderfume Mountain and visible to any ocean-going vessel travelling from the south of Annarr and rounding the northern headland into the ports of Skyssa, Stratum is perhaps one of the most astonishing sights in modern Ereth.

A tower of immeasurable proportions, unique and daunting in its size and scope, Stratum rises against the sky, its uppermost reaches seeming to scrape the cloud-strewn canopy, its feet embedded in the mountain and atop a sea-

wall of god-like proportions. The overall structure is a vertical monolith forged not from a single slab of stone or metal but compiled from many courses, each layered one atop the other, each a mass of architectural bedlam; complex, so that individually the layers are a confusion, but taken as part of a whole give the impression of organized chaos. By day the city seems to fester, surrounded by motes of drifting

ash, plumes of venting vapours and an all pervasive smell of grease, metal and industry mixed with brine and sea spray. By night the structure glows eerily with a strange blue light and flickers as though caught in a microcosmic thunder storm of ghoulish intensity.

Stratum is a city filled with people and built by people, though few who gaze for the first time

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upon the seemingly empyrean structure would guess that they were looking at anything less than a folly of deranged gods.

The wyrlung who inhabit the city are descended from ancestors who dwelled in a natural multilevel subterranean realm beneath Mount Ascona. It seems likely those early settlers, whose generations knew only the layered

underdark before they came to the land of Skytor, imported the same manner of living when construction first began on Stratum, though it seems unlikely they envisaged - at least at first - the monstrous sky-raking megalith of modern days.

The sub-levels were excavated initially, the builders perhaps hoping to replicate their former home in the Asconan dungeons. But the hollowing of the mountain soon slowed, then ground to a halt, the mechanisms of the diggers breaking against an impassable floor of granite bedrock peppered with narrow vents leading into the bowels of the earth from which came strange and disturbing magnetic energies.

Confounded, but not beaten, the builders instead started constructing upwards, using the deep delved walls of the sub-levels as a foundation, with no restriction on the heights they might attain.

Today Stratum is an edifice of unequalled height, matched nowhere else on Ereth either in height or mass. It towers like nothing else known to the wyrman, as wide and as tall as the highest mountains of Niflhelm. And from its apex, where windmill sails turn languidly in the ferocious high-altitude winds, strange blue lights and floating orbs of fizzling energy hover, dart and play like lightning over the city structure. These are the Ley-Lights; a product of strange energies flowing up through the magnetic vents in the basement levels of the city and discharging from the grid work of the mega-structure.

Much as the cramped cavern labyrinths of Ascona must once have been, the levels of Stratum are compressed sandwich-fashion to form a huge and crowded society of people who live shoulder to shoulder in an environment filled with steam, heat and moisture. The culture is as complex and strange as the city itself, ordinances of hierarchy, class, caste and structure maintaining a strict balance of selfregulating law and order based on a peculiar mix of status, responsibility, engineering talent, usefulness and political clout.

Those who dwell in the core of the city may never see the light of day, and these are the citizens who possess median status. They are the Steamsmyths and Electrasmyths, the forge workers, engineers and conduit rats. They are tasked with the most grueling and mundane of jobs but are happy, in their own way, with their given lot, having, for the most part, no knowledge of the world beyond their own limited experience. Some may live in the capacious chambers of the city, while others may scurry like wall-rats in the maintenance ducts and spaces between chambers, areas large enough to accommodate the passage of titanic engineering vehicles that clatter up and down on vertical tracks or swing laterally on chains, serving the clambering workers who use them to service the city in turn.

The talented and indispensable citizenry those smyths deemed to be at the top of their profession or at least commanding the utmost respect from their peers - dwell in

the outer skin of the city where they might enjoy such epicurean delights as a window, or an air-vent bringing in the fresh, cool scent of the world outside.

The wealthy, powerful and important (albeit of a lower class to the Skyssans) dwell at the top of the city, above the clouds in the balcony layers or in high ceilinged chambers with windows, balconies and arch-windowed cloisters that encircle the city edges like angular serpents.

Those who suffer such low status they are barely considered part of the social structure at all languish in the foul smelling cellar levels into which all the effluence and detritus of the city above is poured.

Despite this apparently dystopian culture, the wyrlung are a largely happy breed and accept their given positions with a humility born of long years unquestioning loyalty in the service of their community. There are no restrictions on moving beyond the city walls, and many wyrlung have jobs outside the main bulk of Stratum. Some tend to the Gigaerack terminal and the Gigaerack themselves, while others work in the Skyssan Catacombs, operate the Skyssan trams or other city services, man the many iron-clad steamships that ply the coastal waters or toil on fishing trawlers and paddlesteamers. Others still are given the honourable task of maintaining the outer walls of Stratum, a job with high mortality rates that require its engineers spider up and down the dizzying outer flesh of the city on rickety scaffolding, ropes, cradles and ladders.

Outsiders visiting Stratum will find the interior of the city, and the apparent subjugation of its lower caste, unpleasant. However, the wyrlung themselves are well adapted to the city and thrive on the dank, cramped and gloomy conditions inside. While there are obvious inequality issues to which the wyrlung are not oblivious and with which many are not content, there is a sense of security and indomitability about Stratian culture rarely seen elsewhere in the world.

STRATUM

1 The Great Door The road into Stratum ascends a gradual slope, steadily climbing to the flattened summit of Mount Tinderfume. At the culmination of this road stands the main public entrance into Stratum, a huge building furnished with two soaring towers at either side of a great oak gate. Here - to the untrained eye - would appear to be a doorway at the base of the city, but in fact this is merely the midway level, at least half the city being embedded in sub-levels below the flattened summit of Tindefume's cliffs.

Scribed into the face of the wall above the Great Door is the legend:

without efficiency'. Beneath this, in painted script, faded with age, is written

STRATUM Inside the oak door is a hall at the northern end of which is the uppermost landing of a wide stairway of grand proportions. This leads down into a cavernous reception chamber and thereafter the Plaza of Whispering Falls.

Other doors lead from the landing into chambers surrounding the main hall and to the spiral stairways ascending the twin outer towers.

In the summer months a permanent market of stalls selling local wares springs up around the lowermost edge of the building housing the Great Door. Vendors typically sell trinkets, food, alcohol and tobacco products, using eyecatching product displays to tempt visitors as they approach along the main road.

STRATUM

2 The Plaza of Whispering Falls A trade mall on two levels (one main floor and an overlooking mezzanine) wherein the smyths of Stratum congregate to sell their merchandise and skills to buyers entering through the main door of the city. The great stairway from the main entrance building culminates in this chamber.

Here are permanent arcades selling Steammech, raw materials and the tools of the professional Steam-Smyth, along with less permanent stalls, stands and stores selling more bespoke and harder to find gizmos, many of which may be made to order in the Octave (see location 5).

The plaza may be the virgin visitor's first experience of Stratum's interior and is likely to make a suitably unforgettable first impression. For here is a spectacular chamber whose roof is open to the rocky underside of the mountain summit and whose walls run with the ever present condensation of the midway levels; walls composed almost entirely of vast vertical pipes, conduits, ribbed tubing, working pistons and arterial ducts through which water, steam and oil, the life blood of Stratum, pump and flow.

OECONOMIA WAR EFFICIENTUM

Water cascades in huge sheet-like falls from collared openings high in the upper reaches of the roof, vanishing through apertures in the floor. The sound of these falls forms a background hiss whose sibilant rhythms give the chamber its name, for the falls touch nothing as they pass through. The thrum of heavy machinery accompanies the susurration of the falls, mechanical vibrations permeating through every surface until the air itself seems to throb.

...which translated means 'no economy

The smyths are extremely flexible in their

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size and quality of the mechanism this may take anything between one week to several months.

STRATUM

3 Level One The Founding

creativity and will attempt to accommodate the request of any buyer, though more complicated propositions may require equally complicated creations and some form of contractual agreement with regard to payment. If the smyth can make something that fits the client's brief there and then he will do so, retreating into one of the plaza's many enormous and ironclad elevators to the Octave on the next floor below. In most cases, where the brief requires considerable thought, the smyth will request a few days or maybe longer to produce a blueprint, sometimes working

with other smyths to reach a solution.

Typically, the more complex the request, the more ingenious the outcome will be and the higher the end-price to the buyer. A smyth will never proceed with construction of the finished piece until the client has seen the blueprint and heard a proposed solution or at least seen a model of the item to be built. If the client remains unconvinced a scale prototype may be put together to show the exact way in which the end product will work. Only if the client gives the full go ahead will the smyth then work on the end-product. Depending on the complexity,

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Named the Founding in honour of its role as the first of the above-ground levels (a name from which the modern term 'foundry' is derived), this is the principal midway layer of Stratum.

At the western side of the level stands the majestic Plaza of Whispering Falls and surrounding merchant chambers, storage blocks and arcades. In the central column of the level middle-working class residential city blocks stand in orderly rows called malls, their narrow windows gazing out into the gloom and moisture hazed atmosphere. There are twenty five blocks, each capable of housing between two thousand and two thousand one hundred people. Most of the residents are qualified Steamsmyths, guild functionaries or students of the Memoric Halls. At least one block is used as a campus and is also likely to house faculty staff.

The Founding is governed by the Principle Order of Foundrymen, a body elected by the uppermost tier of Stratum's government and approved by the parliament of Skyssa. The Principle Order usually consists of elders who hold a high rank in the Guild of Smyths and have shown unwavering loyalty to the Skyssan authorities, the Temple of Forallum and the overlords of Stratum's high government. They will also play a pivotal role in organization and implementation of the annual Steamsmyth's Octave.

Beyond the residential malls stand the monstrous Hyetal Chambers wherein immense arcing pipes rise from the boiler wards below, carrying pressurized steam to the levels above. Wardens dressed in oily yellow garments and hats work on an array of platforms and gangways surrounding the myriad pipes, operating valves and monitoring gauges, throwing levers and releasing great gouts of steam where necessary.

As the released steam condenses on the walls and ceiling of the chamber it falls as warm droplets, a persistent, cloying rain that pools on the floor and drains into strategically placed concavities which, in turn, drain into the lower reservoirs and then the sea.

STRATUM

4 the Memoric Halls Here the labyrinthine chambers, corridors and tunnels of the upper midway level are entirely dedicated to teaching and learning.

The floor beneath the Memoric is refrigerated using a system of air-cooled pipes whose entire structure can be rotated to face into oncoming winds. The cooling effect chills the floor of this level and renders the air here cold, but more importantly chills the ceiling of the Hyetal Chambers below, facilitating the condensation of vented steam.

Students and staff of the Memorics will typically dress in warm clothing, though respite from the chill can be acquired by spending time on the eastern side of the level where the heavily lagged super-pipes carry steam to the upper levels, releasing just enough ambient warmth to counter the cold.

See System & Setting for further details on the Memoric Halls.

STRATUM

5 the Octave An immense hall with annexed chambers wherein the Smyth's Guild statehouse, the Forge of Anvil, is based. The Octave is much warmer than the plaza above and anyone unused to the heat is likely to find the atmosphere stifling.

The waters falling through the chambers of the Forge Plaza above also drop in great sheets through this chamber, almost as soundless as they are in the plaza, though here the muffling heat seems to deaden the curious rushing noise of the water's motion, turning it into a dull thrum.

All about the edges of the walls gargantuan forge chimneys rise like the bulging tentacles of some black-fleshed leviathan growing from the floor. Here the wyrlung smyths work their art, the sound of their hammers battering metal, water hissing as it evaporates into steam and the roar of forge fires accompanying the rhythmic voice of the city's embedded machinery.

The air is damp as well as uncomfortably warm, misty with water vapour as the fringes of the mighty falls evaporate in the heat. The floor can be slippery with trickling condensation, warm pools collecting in custom made concavities behind each forge where the smyths can quickly access and use the water in their work. It is customary for the wyrlung to gather and bathe naked in these pools, their modesty concealed by the languid banks of vapour that rise from the surface of the water. Bathing is considered a communal and social activity during which those who share the water will swap stories, meet with friends and family and discuss politics and philosophy (in the form of Numinism).

The statehouse of the guild is actually a group of open chambers accessible through high archways with jagged, angled architraves marked with the idiosyncratic philosophies of Numinism. Arches of this sort feature repeatedly throughout Stratum - a concession

to the Skyssan authorities who insist on the use of Allumnic arches in most architectural features but one that is not without its subtle rebellion. The arches are overly functional and imperfect in their hard-edged design (the church preferring smooth curves, indicating grace and beauty) and the Nuministic scripts etched too deep into the stone to be erased are often secular in their philosophy. Some examples include: FOLAROL WUNDRAN, WISAN AISKON (Fools wonder, the wise ask) HWANNE ONCNAWAN THUMB ES WISAN (Acknowledged ignorance is wisdom) WIZ MORALIZARE MONG DERELICTUS (We who moralize among ruins) Despite these concessions to the church, nowhere is the Ever Reproachful Eye of Allum displayed within Stratum, the wyrlung refusing to adopt this symbol of oppression despite continual and often aggressive efforts on the part of the Haligentsia to implement its use.

Within the statehouse members of the guild and visitors alike are welcome, the guild's principle purpose being to serve the smyths but always with an underlying Nuministic agenda.

Once every year the Stratumian Octave takes place in this level. This eight day celebration, organized and overseen both by the Forge of Anvil and the Principle Order of the midway levels, is a festival of innovation allowing the Steamsmyths to introduce their latest invented gizmos in the hope of winning property in the upper wards and a substantial monetary prize.

Anyone wishing to participate in the Octave must be a paid up member of the Steamsmyth Octave institute, which is a subsidiary branch of the city's Smyth's Guild. Only Steamsmyths may join and only Steamsmyths may take part in the Octave competition. Participants must be members of both the Octave and the guild (see System & Setting for more details).

STRATUM

6 Weedback Mill Here in chambers heated to stifling temperatures by the proximity of the immense boilers of the under levels is a mill whose sole output is a form of tobacco called weedback, a popular alternative to W천doak cannabin.

Vents and glass skylights filter sunlight from the surface of Tinderfume Mountain's flattened summit, this forming the ceiling of much of the chamber, while heat throbs continuously from the western side of the mill, creating an artificial sub-tropical climate.

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Only the wyrlung can tolerate the mill conditions, thus all workers toiling in the huge weedback fields planted here are wyrlung. The workers live permanently in the mill, dwelling in a tarpaulin tent city at the southern edge of the immense room in which the mill is constructed. Cold water flows down from the higher levels of the city via pipes and conduits and on these condensation gathers and trickles down into pools, providing the workers with fresh water (much of it recycled).

Much of the water flowing through the pipes is vented into the fields, irrigating the soil and stimulating growth. Steam blasters, used by the millworkers to sterilize the soil between harvests, adds to the intolerable temperature and dank atmosphere.

The mill sells much of its product to the residents of Stratum but exports just as much to Skyssa where it is shipped out to the Wythian, Elvian and Motian nations. A byproduct of the conditions in which the weed is grown is a form of potent fungi that grows in abundance in the nooks and crannies of the mill walls. These are also harvested (though less regularly) as a rare hallucinogen called Ergoline which is typically sold to the more discerning Shamancers of the south.

STRATUM

7 Boiler Wards These are the lower levels of the city wherein the true working class citizens toil and live.

At high tide sea water flows into this part of the city where three core boilers raging at a constant 100 degrees each heat the water to boiling point, separating the water (as water vapour) from the salt and impurities.

The salt, collected in gravity pits, is harvested and used in many of Stratum and Skyssa's industrial processes, particularly as flux in the creation of aluminum. Salt is also used to produce sodium chloride for use in the production of paper and plastics, though this process is in its infancy and the wyrlung are still experimenting with both materials.

Parchment and oil-based plastics remain market dominant.

Some of the steam created by the core boilers rises through a system of compression pipes furnished with a complicated system of valves where it initiates ignition used to burn diesel fuels (in particular biomass liquefied peat) in the combustion chambers of the boilers themselves. Thus the system perpetuates and is self-perpetuating provided the tidal reservoirs remain fed.

The majority of steam rises naturally through the ducts and pipe work of Stratum, heat transfer maintained by compression valves.

The heat is used at various points to power baking ovens, heat engines and heat sumps, the latter used to create refrigerated sections of floor, ceiling and walls in order to facilitate

condensation and remove water moisture from the air where damp and vapour would be detrimental (rust of metallic elements, for example). Where they pass the turbine ward the rising thermals turn the paddle-wheels of the eastern turbines.

At the highest part of the city the steam coalesces in condensing chambers and reverts to its liquid state. The resulting heated water precipitates downward by way of gravity, flowing through fan-cooled pipes and falling as great cascading water falls, the water losing heat the further it falls. As the falls drop through the turbine ward the kinetic energy of the water turns the paddle wheels of the western turbines.

The Boiler Wards are an extraordinarily uncomfortable environment for any nonwyrlung character or creature whose natural environment is one of even tropical temperatures. The air is stiflingly hot will seem robbed of all oxygen. The proliferation of damp and condensation facilitates the abundant growth of algae, mold and fungi to whose spores the wyrlung are immune but which are likely to prove perilous to nonwyrlung who breathe them in.

STRATUM

8 Sub-Level Grottos Known as the Stratian Slums by the Skyssans, the grottos are spread over six underground floors, each filled with the chaotic dwellings of the sub-level wyrlung.

What may once have started life as a system of organized shacks formed from the detritus and left-over material of Stratum's industrial processes (corrugated metal, broken timbers, steel girders and countless items of discarded rubbish) has grown to become a shanty town of extraordinary shape, size and smell, built like a makeshift mine, airless, stinking, damp, mold-infested and occupied by tens of thousands of wyrlung.

So densely compressed are the various items used by each citizen to build his home, or by the ward authorities to build public services, utilities and spaces, that the whole is now a virtually solid mass beginning at ground level and rising to the ductwork of the ceiling, crushed to the outermost extent of all four walls. New aspects of the ward are not built, but burrowed, while the precarious nature of those alleyways, avenues and tunnels already interconnecting the matrix of narrow arcades make any civic plan to change or extend part of the ward a logistical nightmare. Collapses are

less frequent than might be expected, but do occur, especially when newcomers to the ward attempt to expand their burrows or extend their territory or where banned machinery whose vibrations are deemed to be a danger to the stability of the ward, are smuggled in and powered up.

Much of the ward now exists in an almost organic state of careful flux, this measured and precarious system of architectural growth - heavily regulated and monitored by the authorities - punctuated now and then by some manner of disaster. Collapses are the most common, but accumulations of explosive gas resulting from putrefying rubbish, floods from burst pipes, fires caused by conduction and disease/sickness resulting from ingestion of waste matter are also typical.

The outer walls are sacred to the authorities of higher levels and, indeed, the integrity of the entire city structure is reliant upon the strength of the foundations wherein the grottos lie. For this reason the wyrmen are strictly prohibited from boring laterally beyond the outermost walls and the shoring up of structural damage always takes precedent over damage to the grotto itself, even where this means disregarding the life and limb of the grottos inhabitants.

Most of the architecture has settled into a pattern and an equilibrium which can probably never be altered or disrupted without causing immeasurable damage to the entire infrastructure of Stratum. Water flowing down from burst pipes beyond the reach of maintenance finds a new route and becomes an established stream or waterfall.

Steam venting from fissures, fed by pipes leading to parts of the city lost in the chaos of its labyrinthine design and probably only to be found on some ancient blueprint, are used as sources of heat and water or tapped to operate local utilities. Where a collapse occurs the compacted material often reveals cavities above or at midway points where new homes can be delved or connecting avenues can be extended, rerouted or simply enlarged.

The boilermen (as they are known) are a reclusive, mole-like breed, many of which work tirelessly as manual workers keeping the city's immense core boilers working and the steam systems maintained.

Many will be Steamsmyths, but smyths of lesser ingenuity, or at least of lesser experience and skill, than those of upper wards, lacking both education and opportunity. The need to work in return for the scrap of subsistence provided by ward authorities will relegate all skilled steam-work to the inhabitant's spare time. The average boilerman will instead focus all his hopes and dreams

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on the annual Octave competition, tinkering long into the night on a design that might win him freedom from the boilers and a chance to become a full-time smyth, sourcing the gizmos he uses to build his inventions from the detritus that surrounds him in his lair.

Most boilermen will never leave the Boiler Ward except to take part in the Octave, at which point they will emerge in their thousands, like rats abandoning a sinking ship, their creations cradled lovingly in their arms or dragged behind them on steampowered tractions.

Leaving the ward at any other time is an action the authorities of the Boiler Ward - the Underlords of Stratum, as they are collectively known - discourage by way of low-level intimidation and despotism. The boilermen tend to be highly pacifist and subservient, too consumed by work and their extra-vocational efforts to expend energy on concerted rebellion or political change. Those who do seek the air and freedom of the world beyond the grottos invariably return, overwhelmed by a sense of agoraphobia and chilled to the bone by the freezing temperature (as they feel it) of the great gaping spaces of the rest of the city.

Those rare boilermen who venture outside Stratum itself and into the open air of reality may even suffer a complete breakdown. They will be unable to cope with the infinite reaches of the sky above and the horizons in all directions combined with the sprawling openness and the looming mountains. All will overload their senses to the point of complete seizure, which may be the sole reason why the largely subjugated people of Stratum's lowermost wards remain where they are and do not seek a better life elsewhere.

STRATUM

9 Sump Wards Where all the effluence, detritus and waste (both material and wyrman) of the upper wards inevitably filters down. The sump wards are one enormous sewage and waste trap where the most beleaguered of the wyrmen of Stratum dwell. Here live the wyrlung Scags (as they are known), grimecovered sewer rats that subsist in lightlessness, sifting through heaps of waste, wading through rivers of raw sewage and maintaining the crucial sump mechanisms that pump the many millions of gallons of water pouring down from above back out into the sea.

Thankfully the filter systems distribute the waste of the city only into the lowermost level, the upper five floors containing slums and shanties similar in many ways to the grottos of the Boiler Wards but more sparsely populated and even more disorganized in structure. Here dwell the Gaffers, masters of the slum who are charged with ensuring the workers in their charge serve to capacity, though the Gaffers have changed considerably

in recent years when compared with previous form. For they were once organized criminals, little more than thuggish slave masters. Such times are long gone thanks to the current leader of the Gaffers, a former Electrasmyth called Dybbuk Waterman, self styled mutiny man and exile from the upper levels. Dybbuk remains the only individual in Stratum to break the unbreakable rule and descend from his lofty abode into the lowest depths of both society and physical city space. Disillusioned and despairing of the system, of his peers and of his place in life, Dybbuk has found peace of a kind in the underbelly of Stratum where he brings culture (of a sort) and industry to the dire setting of the Sumps.

Originally captured and enslaved by the then Gaffers, Dybbuk roused his fellow Scags to mutiny against their bullying bosses. The Gaffers were slain and disposed of with the rest of the Sump's refuse and a new order was established. Because the results of the rebellion were seen as potentially fruitful to the authorities of the levels above, Dybbuk's revolution was largely ignored.

Dybbuk has introduced culture and organization into the Sumps, bringing the Scags music, art and stories from the rest of the city, though not the rest of the world (that there is a world beyond Stratum is a premise for which the Scags are almost certainly unprepared). The Scags are of low intelligence and lacking in sophistication, but the use of music has had a particularly noticeable effect on their behaviour, lifting them from their voiceless and slump-shouldered place at the bottom of the sapient pile to a slightly more elevated position, giving them confidence and something akin to happiness. The voices of the Scags in song now fill the ward, their singing permeating the filth and the reek like a budding flower in the midst of muck-mired bogs. Dybbuk has even introduced instruments made from salvaged odds and ends, from which he produces something akin to music and from which the Scags create their own happy din.

Crucially, Dybbuk has brought industry to the Scags, allowing them to profit directly from their toil for the first time in their lives.

The former Gaffers made wealth from the sale of refuse derivatives, using the Scags to recycle enough bulk material to turn a profit. The money would be used to buy semi-quality food, clothing and other luxuries for the Gaffers while the Scags in their employ were lucky if they receieved whatever remained.

Generally they were given enough to keep them alive, but nothing more.

Dybbuk maintains the recycling plant but has also crafted the Stratian Gas Mill, abandoning his work on electratech and concentrating instead on gas and compression based technologies. Gases issuing from the cityserving septic tanks, once percolated into the sea, are now diverted and separated into different reservoirs, producing hydrogen, ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen. Pipe systems previously

redundant have been harnessed in order to transfer these useful gases to the upper levels.

So far the Mill has secured a contract with the Forge of Anvil to sell hydrogen (and oxygen) for use in welding torches. Higher city authorities are giving serious consideration to also using methane as a chemical alternative to liquid peat in the Boiler Wards.

Progress is tentative, all concerned being wary of Skyssan interest in the project and a sudden ban on gas (as was the case with electroplasm). There are also legitimate concerns about safety and the prospect of a gas leak and subsequent explosion.

All profits made by the Gas Mill and recycling plant are now shared fairly by Dybbuk with his fellow Scags. For their own part the Scags have little or no idea how to use money, but gradually Dybbuk is helping them to invest and spend wisely, improving the state of their slums, their safety equipment and the general accoutrements they use in the course of their work.

STRATUM

10 the Ley Vents Discovered by the deep delving founders of Stratum, the Ley Vents are a series of fifty or so holes in the bottom-most level of the Sumps. The holes are believed to be naturally formed openings into shafts of indeterminate length. Tests on the depth of the vents remain inconclusive, though it seems likely the chimneys below each one reaches far beyond the roots of the granite bedrock and probably extends into the very mantle of the earth.

When they were first uncovered, strange magnetic energies pulsed out of the shafts and a curious static electroplasm hummed around the mouth of each hole, crackling harmlessly on the fingertips of anyone who reached out to touch them. The mysterious nature of the vents prompted city authorities to cap them off, the position of each hole now marked by a colossal concrete bunker with no windows or doors. This prevents the septic debris of the Sumps from draining into the vents but doesn't seem to have stopped the egress of strange energies.

In the Sumps the energy is palpable as a continual magnetic pull on any form of metallic object toward whichever vent is closest (an effect the Scags call Ley-lure).

Beyond the Sumps this effect doesn't seem apparent, however the energy seems to permeate higher and can be seen, particularly at night, as a blue glow in the uppermost floors of Stratum. Wriggling snakes of rainbow hue are also sometimes seen discharging across the face of the city while orbs of scintillating light drift and dart through the air above the city summit - a phenomenon collectively known to the people of Skytor as Ley-Lights.

So far no ill-effect has ever been reported or

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associated directly with the energy or the light show it creates, leading the wyrlung to assume the Ley-Vents are peculiar but benign.

STRATUM

11 the Median Pinch Two levels where the majority of Stratum's lower/middle working class wyrmen live. Here stand floor to ceiling blocks whose vertical heights pierce the midway floor, as though the level between had been built after the blocks and not, as is the case, before.

Functional piers support the buildings and the midway structures, but here functionality is mixed with the first tentative displays of aesthete and architectural design. Pilasters stand proud of the main structure, the flattened plinths at their apex furnished with Numinist sculptures. The angular archways etched with Numinist philosophies are also prevalent here, along with other architectural details that serve no apparent purpose other than to improve the appearance of the otherwise slab-like buildings.

Each block has sixty floors and apartments enough to house seven hundred and twenty residents. Altogether the forty blocks are capable of housing twenty nine thousand residents, though many more than this are crammed into the available space, families often living ten people to one apartment, while individuals or couples rent out unused rooms to lodgers or students attending the Memoric Halls.

Crime is rife, but moderated by both the Thief's Guild and the Assassin's Guild, both of which operate openly in Stratum. Like most conventional city wards, the Median Pinch has both bad and more wholesome districts.

Prostitution and black market operations are prevalent in certain parts of the ward, for example, but tend to be extremely isolated, sometimes to just one or two alleyways, a single arcade, or even the interior of one building and in such cases only over a handful of floors.

The air in the Medians is cooler than elsewhere, which is unfavourable to the wyrlung but should feel more comfortable to other races compared with most of Stratum's residential wards. The smell of grease and metal is all-pervasive and where the roof above is uncovered by interior rooftops a steady pattering of condensed water droplets falls as a persistent drizzle.

Balconies, piers, arcades, gangways, walkways, stairwells and a labyrinth complex of metal footways, all illuminated by countless lamps running on a mixture of oil and steam-driven heat transfer, run between, into and out of the structures, while here and there at various points and various heights the residential is interspersed by the industrial or the commercial. Water flows everywhere through roadside gutters and downpipes while mists

often form in the air and sudden gusts of wind, caused by draughts blowing in from external vents and pipes bluster and howl between the buildings.

All kinds of provision stores can be found on the lower level of the Medians, from litheries to haberdasheries, mech-mongers to bazaars where every imaginable gizmo and bric-a-brac can be found at low prices by earthy traders who are usually open to barter. Lights are used in abundance, both to attract buyers or traders and to illuminate the otherwise gloomy interiors of shop floors. Residential homes, by contrast, tend to be permanently lit by lamps powered by heat engines that serve the entire ward. Tarpaulin covers, tiled roofs and tents are all used to keep the persistent condensing rain off the 'outdoor' spaces.

Here and there are also taverns and inns, peaceful yet vibrant bars where the wyrlung indulge their passion for drink, food, music and conversation, though what is said is often carefully measured before being spoken aloud, agents of the Median Politik always abroad and always watchful for trouble makers. Topics a visitor to the Medians is likely to encounter may include philosophy (particularly those of Numinism), scientific discussions and theological debates.

The Politik, governors of this ward, are a supposedly elected council of twelve who operate for a term of twelve years. The Politik tend to be somewhat corrupt, and mildly despotic but bound by the method of election to invest at least some effort into public relations, at least if they wish to be re-elected at the end of their term, and in most cases their behaviour will also be restricted by guild policy. Most citizens of the Median expect the Politik to be bullish and heartless, but there seem to be numerous unwritten rules which, when crossed, change a previously tolerated authority into an unelectable problem. In the past councils have been ousted from their positions by civil action, only to be replaced by self-styled statesmen who rapidly deteriorate to embrace the same template of corruption and self-serving agendas.

The election system is overseen by a public delegation of watchmen to ensure fair results, but in the past the delegation itself has become corrupt and the threat of civil dispute, rather than just civil action, has undermined the stability of the ward. The watchmen are now answerable to the authorities of the Ward of Highbinders on the next level of the city, but this merely seems to result in an elected council who exist only to serve the upper wards and guilds first and the people of the Medians second.

There are numerous factories in the Median ward, most of which can be found on the outer edges of the residential blocks where the falling waters of the city's condensing system power paddle wheels, turbines and mills.

Output from these factories varies from textiles to tools, glassware, pottery and ceramics to nuts, bolts and the mundane

necessities used in construction, all of which are sold both within Stratum and beyond, exported by Skyssan haulage firms then shipped all over Ereth.

STRATUM

12 the Highbinder Ward Constructed over two levels in almost precisely the same way as the Median Ward, the Highbinder is less heavily populated and more luxurious than the Median. The walls of both levels are open to the elements, arched cloisters opening in the north and east onto heavy stone balconies overlooking the cliffs above the East Inland Sea, while to the west the ward has its own entrance arch and road that connects with the main thoroughfare into the ground level entrance (see location 1).

Elevators and stairwells connecting to lower levels are secure and anyone wishing to enter will require a seal of authority; a pass which can either be purchased for an exorbitant amount or acquired as a gift, given either by one of the political elite of the Highbinder governing body - the Judicrats - or by a member of a government of a higher ward.

Access from higher wards is free to all, though residents of the Highbinder may not access higher levels themselves beyond the three tiers of the Industrial Complex (see below).

The apartments of the Highbinder are more expensive than those in lower levels and those on the outermost edge of the ward, particularly the ones whose balconies face the open cloisters, are especially expensive, reflecting the high skill and value of those who live here. Most are still of a working class, but among them will be found mill owners and factory bosses as well as politicians and steamsmyths whose contracts come from premium clients. At least half the residents of this ward commute daily into the Industrial Complex levels above the Highbinder where they maintain, operate and repair the great mechanisms of Stratum's various power systems.

As with the Median ward, the Highbinder has its own factories and mills, and like that lower level most of these stand on the outer edges of the residential blocks.

The main product of Highbinder is mechanisms and gizmo components used in the construction of more complicated contraptions. Where the machinery of the city structure and steam-based systems require repair, contracts are often sent to the Highbinders, freelance steamsmyths subcontracting to whichever factory they feel can best serve their needs or whichever factory boss is able to offer the best deal. A certain level of politics always determines which factory gets the most and best contracts, though all contracts are always sent to the Highbinder generally.

The Judicrat, governing body of the

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Highbinder ward, are an elected council of twelve who serve for a term of four years before seeking re-election. They tend to be corrupt, but more stately in their approach than the often thuggish Politik of the levels below. The Judicrat answer to the administrators of the Proconsul and are dependant upon that governing body's trust in order to maintain their power. The smyths of the Highbinder are too valuable to the overall integrity of the city for those in high power to allow the antics of self-serving politicians to destabilize fulfillment of contracts. Thus the Proconsul can remove a Judicrat council from power, or pare corrupt members from its midst, without recourse to the people of the Highbinder ward.

STRATUM

13 Turbine Levels These four levels of the city are given over to the massive turbine, heat engine and heat pumps used to operate many of Stratum's inner utilities and machines. Steam rises through compressors on the eastern side of the city, reverts to a liquid in condensers in the uppermost floors then falls as water, precipitating down the western side of the city through a series of conduits, open ducts and waterfalls. As the steam rises and as warm water falls both systems turn the paddles of turbines which, in turn, power pumps, fans and ignition systems, lighting the forges and boilers of the lower levels, pumping fuel into the boiler systems and keeping air flow, refrigeration and condensing devices working.

Only a few electroplasmic dynamos have been attached to the turbines and these are kept under lock and key by the Electrasmyths who design and manage them. Electroplasm is officially banned in Skyssa and frowned upon as a form of smythery - considered more akin to rune magick than the nuts and bolts technology of steam tech - nevertheless Stratum's upper authorities have shown leniency, paying lip-service to the laws of Skyssa but secretly interested to see where the new and seemingly natural progression of electroplasm goes.

The complex mechanisms of the turbines and all their associated machinery is maintained, repaired and operated by workers from the Highbinder ward in the levels directly below the turbines.

STRATUM

14 the Proconsulate The administrative government of Stratum whose politics and finance mingle with the equivalent systems of Skyssa. The Proconsuleers try in most instances to appease Skyssan demands while maintaining Stratum's status and identity as a separate

Proconsulate buildings and floors are nestled around the core of the city where the air is closest and the distractions are minimal.

These central buildings are surrounded by the larger, more imposing and unmistakably authoritarian structures housing the Consulate. Here the purported masters of Stratumian government determine how the city will be run, their orders trickling down through the Proconsulate, the Highbinders, the Medians and all the levels below.

In fact the Consulate are figureheads, handsomely rewarded for their loyalty with attractive wages and bonus packages, but strictly under the rule of hidden masters.

STRATUM

16 the Hall of Heimdell

The Procunsuleers attending administrative duties

city, furthering the interests of its citizens and its power brokers (particularly those of higher wards) before those of Skyssa's ruling elite.

The Proconsuleers dwell here, in luxury apartments arrayed over six floors in the eastern wing of the city. The wyrlung predisposition to making complex systems and apparatus work has here been put to practical use by the industrialists of Skyssa.

Those members of the Proconsulate not engaged directly in the management of Stratum or its low level politics are instead employed in the financial sector, managing Skytor's byzantine economy and its import/export markets. The work is sedentary and largely administrative compared with the more usual toil of the smyths, but equally wearing and demanding longer hours, greater degrees of concentration and higher impositions of stress.

Like the smyths of the lower wards, the Proconsuleers will either be found working in the administrative buildings of the neighbouring Consulate ward, or in their residential districts, resting, working on personal smything projects (many

Proconsuleers are aspiring Steamsmyths, SoulSmyths or Electrasmyths and some are likely to also study the forbidden fruit of rune-magick) or relaxing in one of the ward's numerous middle/working-class bars, theatres, cathartic orb libraries or Blattnerphone music halls (where Blattnerphone recordings of music originally played in the Euphonic of Skyssa are replayed). Few Proconsuleers have either the energy or the motivation to question the political systems they administer, nevertheless the Chancel Politcry of Skyssa are known to have secret agents living in the ward, disguised as members of everyday society but keeping a close watch for signs of insurrection.

STRATUM

15 Consulate Ward The offices and administrative levels of the Consulate and the Proconsulate, Stratum's centralized government and its clerks respectively.

This ward is without windows and most of the

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A tremendous covered plaza of parkland with its own lake surrounded by an entertainment district.

Stratum's supposed ruling class, known as the Consulate, and those more highly paid and higher status workers of the Proconsulate ward, dwell here in glass and stone towers at the western side of the plaza.

The standard of living here is much higher than anywhere else in Stratum, the outermost towers projecting beyond the wall of the city so that the balconies of apartments on that side overlook the summit of Tinderfume and the sea respectively.

The plaza itself is likely to be uncomfortably warm, humid and dark for non-wyrmen but ideally sub-tropical for the wyrlung who live here. Immense dehumidifiers operate on the eastern side of the parkland, extracting moisture which is then condensed and pumped into the central lake.

Restaurants, bars and stores of all kinds surround the lake along with a small tickerclank theatre, casino and even an Allumnic shrine for the use of visiting dignitaries from Skyssa.

STRATUM

17 the Dead Zone A buffer zone where the transferred heat rising from lower floors is dispersed through heat sinks and where steam building up as dangerous pressure spots in compression pipes is vented. Here also are backup systems and mechanisms powering fail-safes and emergency utilities, operated, repaired and maintained by an echelon breed of wyrlung smyth known to their peers as 'Towermen'.

The wyrlung call this region of Stratum the Dead Zone because access is denied to all but the highest ranking members of the Consulate or to the Towermen, all of whom live in the wards above the zone. Sentinel

warriors, usually non-wyrlung mercenaries known to the Stratians as The Black Guards, patrol the zone, heavily armed and ruthless in their enforcing of trespassing laws.

Officially the Dead Zone is an exceptionally important level. Damage to the back-up systems and failsafes would, the authorities claim, put the safety and structural integrity of the whole city in jeopardy. Concerns about terrorist attacks (in the form of the Togaedere) and insurrectionists working for Fell or Elgan forces are often put forward as further reason to guard well this most precious of Stratum's wards.

Few of the city's residents believe this official line, though they are powerless to disobey the legal restrictions and, in most cases, unable even to access the wards beneath the Dead Zone, never mind the Dead Zone itself. Gossip is rife but voiced only in private, and always in hushed whispers lest the Politcry's agents overhear.

STRATUM

18 Condensers Where the rising steam from lower wards condenses and is thereafter returned to the city below as water. See also Boiler Wards (location 7) and the Turbine Levels (location 13).

STRATUM

19 the Roof Here stand the uppermost floors of Stratum, a succession of grand and luxurious chambers, vast as many of the plazas in the city below, each one home to one or a handful of wyrlung residents whose identities are unknown even to the most exalted of Stratum's citizens.

The roof is home to the Ruling Elite, the true government of the city below and one with unlimited power within its own domain and the potential, given the right conditions, to unleash disaster upon the world beyond.

Details pertaining to the Ruling Elite can be found in The Overmaster's Companion, the GM's guide accompanying the core series of books for the Wyrd setting.

STRATUM

20 the Dain Stone The heartstone of Stratum stands in this immense hall, a green emerald of incomparable beauty, crackling blue sparks of Ley-Light playing about its surface and discharging into the surrounding walls.

More information pertaining to the Dain Stone can be found in The Overmaster's Companion.

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Cult: none Culture: none.

Notable Landmarks: Fyrnysforge Volcano, the ruins of Axton.

Prevailing Climate: icy cold, with occasional volcanic activity. Hot springs and vents create unexpected warm lakes and pools where the ambient temperature rises.

Government Type: none.

Government: none.

Ruler: none.

The northern tip of a landmass yet to be unveiled by the retreating ice shelf of Merendir, Yrmeneth is a small, mountainous island, at the heart of which stands the volcano Fyrnysforge.

The volcano is active, though it merely simmers most of the time, plumes of smoke rising from the central cone and from vents in its steep sloping sides. Lava flows are known to occur, but are becoming rarer.

Adventure in Yrmeneth

"Of dire combustion and confused events new hatched to the woeful time: the obscure bird clamoured the livelong night: some say, the earth Was feverous and did shake."

Yrmeneth

The island is remote from wyrman civilization and hostile to colonization, being volcanic and uncomfortably cold, despite the occasional warm spot where underground vents and hot springs raise the ambient temperature.

Travelers in Yrmeneth can expect to encounter semi-aquatic Fell who cross the East Inland Sea from Gungin territory and settle on the banks or in the dense woodland of Yrmeneth's coast. Myrmen are also known to dwell here, though whether they are loyalists to the Cult of Flies or mere Maulers living in feral clans is not known.

The land itself poses the greatest danger to any would-be explorer. Mountainous terrain covered with dense undergrowth harbours hidden potholes, ditches and plunges into deep ravines, while lava flows often appear without warning, emerging from vents high in the volcano's cone and melting the ice and snow that forms naturally on the summit.

This, in turn, leads to sudden melt water floods which churn through existing river channels but which raise the water level significantly and at alarming speed. Flash floods will carry with them huge spurs of fallen timber from high on the mountain sides, or great churning banks of ooze dislodged from cliffs and turned into an avalanche of mud.

Volcanic vents and geysers also lurk unseen beneath the foliage and woodland covering the foothills of Fyrnysforge, blowing without warning and at any time, hurling molten rock, billowing clouds of miasmic pyroclast and flesh searing plumes of steam high into the air.

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Fyrnysforge A significant volcano at the heart of Yrmeneth which, though active, has not erupted in many hundreds of years.

Crudent, one of the legendary Naderfell of Ereth, dwells in a lair hidden deep within the side of the volcano, a vast cavernous pit filled with lava and intense heat. Here the Naderfell deposits all precious metals into one enormous smelting pot where artefacts, weapons, shields, armour and helms alike become molten and swirl together in a bubbling and mercurial chaos.

This wealth of treasure cannot be recovered without herculean effort, the whole kaleidescopic brew swirling in a stone crucible suspended above the lava pits by thick iron chains. Crudent's strange magickal energy bubbles through the mixture, preventing explosive reactions and forcing together elements that would never bond in a natural environment.

Any mixture poured from the crucible becomes voltium when it has cooled. Voltium is the most powerful metal known to Ereth, and the most valuable. Any weapon made with this mystical material begins with a +40 bonus on top of any bonus awarded for craftmanship. Shields, armour and helms gain +30 armour bonus even where they are made in the crudest form. Such items, however, are extraordinarily rare since voltium is found only in the cave of Crudent which the Naderfell guards with his life.

Crudent sits in a macabre throne of strangely malformed stone atop an atoll surrounded by a sea of lava in the centre of the cavern and beneath a conical rift in the side of the mountain, shimmering like some mythic statue rendered in rising thermals. His throat is clamped within a mighty collar of spiked voltium which is, in turn, attached to an enormous chain bedded in the wall of the cave.

In appearance Crudent cuts an impressive figure, humanoid but vast in size - standing when erect to a height of forty feet, his powerful frame seeming to darken the very air with its presence. His head is that of a horned goat, the skull framed by a mane of seething tentacles beneath which the iron collar encircles a muscular throat. His eyes are those of a lizard, his smile sly and his gaze cunning.

Crudent is winged and capable of flight, but also impervious to the element of fire and able to flow eel-like through the molten lava to emerge into the persistent lava flows pouring down the side of Mount Fyrnysforge.

He has fallen from grace and refuses to answer the summoning of Dydr端eth for fear that the queen of the Naderfell will confiscate his stores of Voltium (which, indeed she would). When the Summoning Stone calls him, Crudent cannot prevent himself answering, but the great voltium chain to which he has shackled himself can.

The chain has slack enough for Crudent to crawl out of his cavern and onto the flank of Mount Fyrnysforge, but where he tries to go further he is held fast and no device known to wyrman or Fell can break the leash. There is a key to the lock where chain meets wall, but only Crudent knows where this is and doubtless has secreted it out of his own reach to prevent his using it when the Summoning Stone takes his mind.

Crudent is content with his fate, happy to pass the endless turning of time basking in the company of his beloved hoard and the warming heart of the volcano. He considers his self imposed incarceration a lesser horror than that of handing his precious metals to distant warmongers in far off lands at the behest of a queen he has never met nor wishes to know.

Combat with Crudent should only occur where the Naderfell has emerged from his lair or where his attackers are protected by some kind of magickal forcefield. The air within his throne room is too hot for any living thing to endure and filled with acidic miasmas capable of burning flesh and searing lungs. The crucible containing Crudent's precious hoard of molten voltium is situated in this chamber and should be considered impossible to reach by conventional means.

When Crudent battles he takes up two enormous voltium blades, great curved monstrosities with serated edges and hilts the size and girth of most wyrman torsos. With these colossal weapons in hand Crudent cannot fly but presents a daunting foe (see also The Wyrd Pandemonium for further details and stats pertaining to Crudent).

Axton Some kind of coastal town, or at least the foundations of one. Axton lies semi-buried under ripples of cooled and petrified lava and immense drifts of compacted ash. The rooftops, all wooden furnishings and architectural details - beams and rafters for example - have long since burned away and, here and there, fires burn still; small but hot and apparently fuelled by some kind of underground gas which vents between gaps in the natural stone.

Anyone entering Axton will experience an atmosphere of eerie isolation and an unsettling sense that those who once lived here may linger still, though they are most certainly dead and whatever remains in residence cannot be formed of flesh or blood.

Any search of the town will reveal the occasional bone or skull half projecting from the lava, confirming suspicions that Axton was destroyed, probably by a volcanic eruption, long before its people could escape.

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Cult: Numinist Culture: civilized but isolated enclave surrounded by wild jungle.

Notable Landmarks: Tortas, Jungle of Helterborg.

Prevailing Climate: tropical to west and south, becoming suddenly cold where the north coast of the island joins Frothrein.

Government Type: monarchy.

Ruler: King Bereneth Folksall.

North of Skytor and within easy reach of eastern Niflhelm lies the island kingdom of Sereth, original home to the Gigaerack.

Sereth is a sub-tropical land of dense jungle and rugged tundra, warm to the south, but frigid where the ice-floes of Frothrein infringe upon its northerly coast and icy winds flay the leaves from the palms. Here, wyrmen with origins in Skytor, have built for themselves a small and isolated community called Tortas which maintains a perilous existence against the many fae and wild animals indigenous to the island.

Sporadic Gigaerack landings occur upon the large beach under the western cliffs of Tortas and this way trade of goods harvested from the island ensures survival. Such exports include exotic sun fruit, berries and nuts from the jungles, large quantities of solar rice grown in flooded paddy fields east of Tortas and many unusual varieties of sun fish farmed from the shallow coral-rich waters of Tortas Bay.

Adventure in Sereth

"Under the greenwood tree who loves to lie with me, and turn his merry note unto the sweet bird's throat"

Sereth

The island, and in particular Tortas (being an ideal starting point), are popular destinations for daredevil prospectors and fortune hunters eager to source Sereth’s hidden treasures. The jungle deeps and shorelines are known to be riddled with diamond and gold-rich caves, though the caves are also home to many predatory forms of wildlife.

Most tropical forms of animalian life can be found here in one form or another, along with most of the tropical predatory flora. The island's potential wealth has yet to be mined, the territory fiercely defended by the wyrmen of Tortas who are well used to combat with the morcelt and other treasure hunters besides.

The Gigaerack exist here in the wild, though they are an exceptionally shy creature and usually only emerge from the sea at night, venturing into the jungles bordering the coast on the eastern side of the island. They stay away from Tortas and are wary of the tame Gigaerack who land in the west.

Wild Gigamyrwen are also indigenous and can be found living in small tribes, also on the eastern side of the island. Here they live in stilted huts of bamboo cane and reed, eking out a simple existence on the idyllic beaches of southeast Sereth where they stalk the shallows

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with spears and stone daggers, hunting fish and turtles.

Tortas A high wall stands between two sky-reaching outcrops, the town of Tortas sheltered on the inside of a cove, is entirely surrounded by both the wall and the two rocks, a heavy iron portcullis and wooden door one of only two ways into the town.

The other access point is the beach within the bay inlet. Here a stone bunker overlooks the beach, hidden from view by thick vegetation.

At least two guards will be on duty in the bunker at all times, operating a Myrdyrgun (see System & Setting, Table 31), which is kept fully loaded and trained on the beach, ready to fire on any unwanted guests. Morcelt landing parties are infrequent but occur from time to time and usually at night. Thus fires are kept burning on the beach from sun down to sun rise to illuminate any boats trying to sneak in under cover of darkness.

Tortas itself is a small but well armed and well fortified town of indomitable people. Most inhabitants are wyrlung or Skytorian with the occasional Wythian, Elvian or norwyr and even one or two morcelt exiles - prisoners from a former raiding party who were shown mercy and now work as farm hands in the paddy fields east of the town. Such morcelt are not enslaved and seem happy in their new life, though they remain somewhat feral and dwell in shacks set far apart from the main town.

King Bereneth Folksall is self-anointed monarch of Sereth, coming from a line of selftitled kings and queens stretching back almost six hundred years. His regal status is not recognized outside of Sereth (where he is usually referred to merely as the Town Master), though he is tolerated and his standing as leader of Tortas is acknowledged.

The people of Tortas (numbering around six hundred) are almost entirely of the Numinist cult, though they see themselves as free thinkers and philosophers rather than cultists. A statue of Dysraeli Numinar stands tall and proud in the centre of town and many of his quotes can be found etched onto rocks or scribed into plaques which are then hung on doors or the interior walls of homes.

There is very little crime in Tortas and no guild presence. The town sports just one inn the Lobster Pot - which has lodging space for ten people. The inn will be crowded if the Gigaerack has recently arrived and rooms will probably be limited.

Visitors arriving by gigaerack are deposited on the southwestern beach from where a series of signposts will direct them along a path up to the main barbican of Tortas. The gate and door of the gatehouse will only be opened once guards (armed with muskets) have checked the travelers. Guards may refuse entry to anyone they suspect is of wicked ethos

or of the Raider, Spell-Binder, Haruspex, Dunwytch, Warlock or Wyte Wytch Creeds.

Creants, myrmen and Fell visitors will be shot on sight. Myrwyr visitors may appear monstrous enough to be mistaken for myrmen, though there is always a possibility the guard on duty is enlightened to the appearance of Ereth's more exotic breeds.

Sunbream Coast A wide beach of golden sands fringed on the landward side by dunes and the dark tree line of the jungle. The sea here is crystal clear and sparkling, long, languid breakers rolling high up the beach, the transparent waters filled with shoals of sun-bream fish, turtles and whitebait.

The beach is typically deserted and tranquil but perilous given its proximity to the hazards of the jungle.

Jungle of Helterborg A jungle covering most of the island surface with impenetrable vine thickets, trees and densely foliated groves of plant, flower and grass. The passable regions of Helterborg are found in the south and west and are comprised mostly of acacia, sandlewood and chestnut palms, the splayed roots of the trees nestling in banks of fern, natural palisades of bamboo and dense green bushes of enormous rubbery leaves. Fruit and vegetables are also found here where light and space is available, species including yam, banana, coconut, cabbage, lettuce, chilli and papaya all growing in abundance.

Centrally the jungle becomes a tangled snarl of thickets, nettles (whose stings range from

merely painful to deadly), bracken and creepers. Passing through these regions requires the constant use of a machete and the undergrowth can hide all manner of deadly secrets, from hidden ravines to snakes, spiders and other lurking predators.

In the north the jungle is less dense and here trees more typical of the continental forests are found. Ferns give way to bracken, palm trees give way to pine and the ground, which may have been muddy, marshy or tangled with roots and foliage, becomes hard, dry and cracked. The temperature also plummets sharply as tropical flora gives way to subtropical, then continental, until finally the trees thin to nothing and the white wastes of Frothrein stretch before the traveler.

Animalian and fae life are common, but the Fell and the myrmen are almost entirely absent, with any presence usually being accidental, maybe even purposely imported for some reason.

Monkeys of various and numerous species, parrots, spiders and snakes are all, by far, the most prevalent creatures to be found in Helterborg. In the central region large apes may be encountered, while the outer areas of the island will be infested with small clambering varieties of monkey, unruly enough to swarm into a camp and steal food, but cautious and timid enough to make for the trees if threatened or attacked.

Porcupine, skunk, lizards, and jungle warthog make up some of the less perilous animals, while panthers, tarantula, naga snakes and alligators comprise some of those inhabitants of the jungle the traveler should hope never to meet.

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Index of Terms Abysmal Dunlight, 26, 34 All-Father, 26, 37 Allum, 40 Allumnist, 40 Amon, 28, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40 Anari, 30 Ancient City of the West. See Old Urd Animalian, 31 Annarr, 25, 26, 27, 28, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 archetype, 35 Arkhein, 29, 30, 32 Arkhold, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 36, 38, 39 Arvortun, 38 Ascona, 39, 40 Aura, 34 Aurulent the Just, 31 Azirpan, 30 Bargen. See Bargenham Bargenham, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38 barrow, 36 Barrowomb, 36 Bitterblade, 29, 30, 31, 32, 38 Breetun, 36, 37, 38 Canin, 36, 37, 38 Carnuntun, 26, 33 castle, 33, 35 Castle Festungern, 40 Cavernlands, 28, 29 Cayn, 29, 38 Caynum, 29, 30, 31, 32, 38 Celtrein, 26, 28, 29, 31, 32 Chersya, 33, 36 Citadel of Jung, 25 clay, 28, 34 common wyrman, 27 Conteth, 33, 35, 36 Cormysyeth, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32, 36, 37 Cornoval, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38 Cornovish Weavers, 31 Council of Twelve, 40 Craven runes, 30 Craven runes of cremation, 30 Creant, 32 Crewel, 41 Crown of the Cynn, 28 Crudent, 41 cult centre, 26 Cult of Flies, 28, 30, 32 Cursus Chasm, 27 Damnum Channel, 31, 32, 33, 40 Dingerein, 30 Doorway Into the Original Land. See Gondaras Draegin Vale, 37 Drogen, 28, 29 Drood-Cynncarn, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38 Druncnen, 30, 31 Drüth, 13, 28, 29, 30 Druwer’s Chair, 37 Dunmerr, 28, 34, 41 Dunmonia, 26, 31, 32, 34, 36 Dunmuthyl, 31 Dwarro, 35, 36 Eagles of Doom. See Engel

Earharben Vale, 40 East Endeleas, 27 Elek, 40 elementalism, 33 Elgan, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 38, 41 elkenwyr, 26, 27 Elowen, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38 Elvia, 33, 35 Elvian, 31, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39 Elyeth, 28, 33, 38, 39 Endeleas, 26, 27, 28 Engel, 41 Eret, 36 Ereth, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35, 37, 38, 40, 41 Erth, 34 Fawen, 28, 30, 31 Fell, 25, 26, 27, 34, 37, 38, 40, 41 Fell Breeds, 26 feudal lords, 33, 35 Flay, 41 Forallum, 38, 40 fortress, 26, 28, 29, 31, 40, 41 Fortress of the Throne, 29 Frona Pass, 30 Froncüdha, 29, 30, 32, 36 Frothrein, 27, 28, 41 Fynereth Canal, 38 Fyrnysforge, 41 Garwan, 33 Garwan Hills, 33 gia, 39, 40 Gigaerack, 40, 41 golden acorn, 34 Golden Sphere of Gonloric, 30 Gondaras, 26, 33, 37 Gostyth, 33, 36 Grand Duke of Verdandi, 36 Granger, 33, 34, 40 Grislic, 29 Gungin, 25, 26, 29, 30, 34, 37, 38, 40, 41 Gungingeth, 26, 34, 37, 38 Gwelen, 35 Gwelenbryal, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38 Halig, 26, 29, 40, 41 Haligentsia, 38 Haligvalt, 25, 26, 34, 37 He Who Rules The Lawful Runes. See Loremaster Head Weaver, 37 Helstone Shrinnill, 31 Hyns-Horn, 35, 38 Inland Seas, 25, 26, 28 Iranya, 30 Irein, 30 Ishtar, 36 Iyfel, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 38, 41 Keeper of the Realm, 36 Kenwythi, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38 Land of Immortal Divinity. See Mortun Pandi Last of the Wise. See Mythyar Lawesmor Lagoon, 28 Libra, 33, 36, 37

213

Listholm, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 35, 40 Listnum Hammerclaw, 28, 40 Literatii, 28, 31, 36, 38 Lorel, 27, 37, 38 Loremaster, 33, 35, 37, 38 Loremasters, 27, 37 Loren, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38 Loretongue, 33 Lornir, 38 Losian Plateau, 29 Lynyeth, 39, 40 Mangrün Hills, 40 Manye, 41 Mardock, 29, 39, 41 Meduselah, 32, 33, 37 Medyn, 32 Megalamon, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37 Merendir, 26, 27, 38 Meresken, 31 Merriday, 29, 38, 39, 41 Merrlith, 26, 28, 29, 30, 34, 40, 41 Monigarn, 29, 31 Morcelt, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31 Morlu, 33, 35, 36, 37 Morthol Wall, 38, 40 Mortun Pandi, 26, 27, 34, 36, 37, 38, 41 Morturth, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40 Morvagh, 26, 28, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41 Mot, 25, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39 Motian, 28, 31, 35 Mount Ascona, 28, 36, 37 Mount Meruthyl, 30 Mount Scarta, 27 Mul-Gerenum Evergreen, 28 Mummer Men, 29, 41 Myrcwynn, 29, 41 myrman, 29, 30 myrmen, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 39, 41 Mythyar, 28, 29, 31, 32, 36, 38 Nader Roselvia, 38, 39 Naderos, 26 Narpanum, 28, 29, 31, 32 Neomatt, 41 Niflhelm, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41 Nimrosel, 28 Nin, 41 Nińel, 41 Niñel, 26, 27 Norden Haligtor, 40 Norsborg, 35 norwyr, 27, 28, 30, 32, 35 Nova, 26, 28, 31 Num, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 38 Nüsphere, 39 Oak Lords, 25, 28, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39 Obereth Goldbinder, 40 Old Urd, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 38, 41 Ollgallosek, 33, 36 Orare, 33, 36, 37 Orbweb. See Narpanum Orflin, 38

Orster Beomeer, 37 Panthera. See Megalamon Pelgallo, 33 People of the Lands of Lung, 40 Prong-wand of the Sacred Antler, 28, 32, 33 pyramid, 34 railway, 35 Ramat, 26, 29, 40, 41 Rill Blade, 33, 35, 36 Rinan, 37 Runes of Naming, 28, 31, 39 runes of sorrow, 34 Saddle Ridge, 38 Sailing Hills, 33 Sanas Morcorm, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40 Santun Morvagh, 26, 37 Sereth, 41 Seth, 25, 26, 28, 30, 37 Shrine, 34 Skyssa, 27, 38, 39, 40, 41 Skyssan, 28, 40, 41 Skytor, 27, 28, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 Skytorian, 26 solar rice, 41 South Anglians. See sowyr sowyr, 26, 27 Sphere of Gonloric, 31, 32, 37 steamships, 41 Stratum, 26, 27, 40, 41 subterfuge, 36 sun fruit, 41 Supremacy Beyond Reckoning, 39, 40 Swelgan, 30 Tablemen of the Mountain, 37 Tansys, 32 Tarantel, 29 tattoos, 31 Temple of the Arch, 40 Thane, 31, 32 the Abominable Gap. See Gungin Gap the Angle, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40 The Angle, 26, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40 the Argos, 26, 27, 41 the City of Thieves, 26, 38 the corner of the world. See the Angle the Creants of Urd, 30 the Halls of Ancestry. See Lynyeth the Hammer Dwale, 26, 28, 29, 40, 41 the Inland Sea, 28, 41 the Jaguars of Drood, 32, 35 the Kenjarl, 32 the Oily Sea, 39 the rooting road, 39 the Sailing Hills, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40 the Sanctified Place of Great Importance. See Dwarro the Shivering Greed, 32 The Tome of Kings, 34, 36 Tome of Kings, 35, 36 Tortas, 41 torture pits, 41 Tresten, 35 Tunturthis, 28, 40 Twain Gate, 30 underdark, 29, 39

underworld, 39 Urtol, 27 Urwhorl, 30, 31 Uselrein, 26, 29, 41 Uselyorn, 25, 29, 30, 35, 41 Vanyir, 29, 30, 34, 35, 39 Vanyirborn, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 38, 39 Vault of Lynyeth, 37 Verdandi, 35, 36, 38 Ward Wall, 31, 32 Weaver, 30, 31, 35 Web of Wyrd, 25, 30, 34, 35, 38 West Endeleas, 27 Winter of Discontent, 27, 28, 29, 30, 34, 39 W천doak, 26, 27, 33, 35, 36 Womad, 25, 28, 30, 32, 35 Woodhenge, 28, 31, 32, 33, 37 World Tree, 26, 34, 40 wyrlung, 27, 37, 40, 41 wyrmen, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 wytch-queen, 38 Wythia, 33, 35, 37 Wythian, 26, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37 Wythyreach, 25, 35 Wythywyr, 35 Yarnia, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41 Ylyntor, 34, 35, 36 Yrmeneth, 41 Yrmynsyl, 25, 26, 28, 29, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 Yseldyr, 28, 34, 38 Zennor, 28 ziggurat, 29, 33, 41

214

Image Attributions Note: where an image is not included in this index it should be assumed the artist retains full copyright and the image is not included as part of the Creative Commons license.

All works listed below are marked either as derivatives or unaltered originals in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ All images listed below may be used as-is under the same Creative Commons license. Note: images marked as altered derivatives may contain original elements associated with a private copyright and use of these elements is restricted. For further information and permissions please contact david@foreverpeople.co.uk with your query. In most instances permission will be given for free reuse of original elements where permission is sought.

This restriction only applies to original elements found only in those images covered by the Creative Commons license which have been altered as marked and not those images used 'as-is'. However, the author advises any re-use of the same image to be done using the original source file which should be quickly available by searching on the Creative Commons website using Google and/or Flickr (http://search.creativecommons.org/) or by searching for the named book on the Gutenburg website (http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page).

Please note that Forever People and the author of this work are in no way associated with and in no way endorse the Gutenberg Project. A financial donation was made to the project to support the ongoing effort.

Page 6: "Dwarro Wood" is an altered derivative of two combined works: "Giant Redwood Trees of California" by Albert Bierstadt and "Knight at the Crossroads" by Victor Vasnetsov.

Page 13: "Listnum Hammerclaw" is an altered derivative of "the Sage Doobán" by William Harvey (1912) from the book The One Thousand and One Nights (Volume 1, published by Chatto & Windus); altered to resemble Listnum Hammerclaw.

Page 15: "Levena Castle" is from "the castle of the Baron Von Landshort", an illustration in The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving; changed to greyscale.

Page 17: "City" is from "Die Stadt auf dem Meeresgrunde" by Wilhelm Schulz from the book Wunderbare Reise (written by Selma Lagerlöf); changed to greyscale.

Page 18: "Joust" is a slightly altered derivative from "The wood and iron, for a cubit's length, pierced through the shoulder" by Gustave Dore, from the book Jaufry the Knight and the Fair Brunissende, A Tale of the Times of King Arthur; cropped, changed to greyscale and darkened hue.

Page 22: "Jol's Day" is from "Christmas and his Children" by R. Seymour from The Book of Christmas (written by Thomas K. Hervey); changed faces of characters and wording on illustration.

Page 34: "The Finding of the Shrine of Vanyir" is an altered derivative of "The tomb of Publio Vibio Mariano, commonly called the Tomb of Nero" by Giovanni Battista Piranesi; changed various aspects of the original etching to match the story of the tomb of Vanyir.

Page 39: "Amon" is an altered derivative of "So the

man gave him a pair of snow shoes" by Kay Neilson from the book East of the Sun and West of the Moon (published by George H Doran Company); cropped and changed to greyscale and face altered to resemble wyrman.

Page 47: "Phrygia" is an altered derivative of "Let your highness, lady, lead on whithersoever is most pleasing to you" by Gustave Doré, from the book The History of Don Quixote (written by Miguel de Cervantes); cropped out Don Quixote, the princess, the curate, Cardenio, the barber, and Sancho Panza and cropped the image so that the mountains are closer to the horizon.

Page 48: "The Wearywend" is an altered derivative of "Adirondack Pass" from The Adirondack; or Life in the Woods by J. T. (Joel Tyler) Headley, engraving attributed to "Inghan" and "Burt" - exact artistry unclear; cropped and added observer standing on outcrop of rock.

Page 50: "Listholm" is a cropped version of "By That Hidden Way My Guide and I Did Enter" by Gustave Dore.

Page 51: "The Wetlands of Listholm" is from "Lake Schroon" from The Adirondack; or Life in the Woods by J. T. (Joel Tyler) Headley, engraving attributed to "Inghan" and "Burt" - exact artistry unclear; no alterations.

Page 54: "University of Provost" is from "Gate of victory and minaret of the Mosque El Hakim" by David Roberts and Louis Haghe from the F.G. (Francis Graham) Moon edition (1846-1849); removed people and changed to greyscale.

Page 58: "The Buncombe" is from "The Gorgon" by unattributed artist in the book Curious Creatures in Zoology (written by John Ashton); changed to greyscale.

Page 60: "Blaedart and the Ward Wall, seen from the River Nova" is an altered derivative of "The Citadel-Rock on the Upper Missouri", an aquatint

by Karl Bodmer, from "Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834"; added Blaedart tower silhouette and changed to greyscale.

Page 61: "Dingerein" is an altered derivative of "The Fortified City" by Dora Curtis, from the book Granny's Wonderful Chair (written by Frances Browne); changed to lineart and added Gerhorn.

Page 62: "The Hyns-Horn steams through Fyrstnum, seen from the Haldan Hills" is an altered derivative made from combined works which include "View of the Rocky Mountains", an aquatint

by Karl Bodmer, from "Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834" and "Entrance to the tombs of the kings of Thebes-Bab-el-Malouk" from "The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia" (1842-1846) by David Roberts and Louis Haghe; also added character and train for perspective; changed to greyscale.

Page 63: "Mount Medrina" is an altered derivative from "Niobe Weeping for her Children" by unattributed artist, from "Myths and Legends of All Nations" published by the John C Winston Company, Philadelphia; deleted people and changed to greyscale.

Page 66: "Drood-Cynncarn in the shadow of Mount Ascona" is an altered derivative of different combined works, including "Cairo looking west" by David Roberts and Louis Haghe from the F.G. (Francis Graham) Moon edition (1846-1849); and "Convent of St. Catherine with Mount Horeb. Feb. 11th 1839" from "The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea,

215

Arabia, Egypt and Nubia" by David Roberts and Louis Haghe; images combined, with some additional buildings added and mountains landscaped at edges to make Mount Ascona, then changed to greyscale.

Page 73: "Trestun Mill" is an altered derivative of "Knight near Waterfall and Mill" by Gustave Doré, from the book The History of Don Quixote (written

by Miguel de Cervantes); removed Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and animals.

Page 77: "Powsow Foundry" is an altered derivative created with combined works including "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" an illustration in The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving; and "La Coruna, The Church of Santiago" by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street).

Page 84: "Barvek" is an altered derivative created with combined works by Harry Clarke, all of which feature in the World Publishing Company edition of Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.

Page 90: "Gudcrop" is an altered derivative of an unnamed image from the story "Satan as a Sculptor" from the book Irish Wonders (written by D R McAnally); changed to lineart and added Gudcrop (note, Gudcrop element is not part of the Creative Commons license).

Page 93: "Falcer" is an unnamed image from the story "Satan as a Sculptor" from the book Irish Wonders (written by D R McAnally); no alterations.

Page 95: "Damnum" is an altered derivative of "Lake Colden" From "The Adirondack; or Life in the Woods" by J. T. (Joel Tyler) Headley; added various original elements.

Page 96: "The Angle" is a slightly altered and cropped derivative of "Bridge-medieval-fantasycity" by David Revoy; concept-art done for Sintel, 3rd open-movie of the Blender Foundation (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Deevad) removed clothes lines and flamingo and changed to greyscale.

Page 98: "Lenadier in the Woods" is from "Don Quixote in Fairyland" by Gustave Doré, from the book The History of Don Quixote (written by Miguel de Cervantes). No alterations.

Page 107: "Levena Castle (northeast corner)" is from "Pamplona Cathedral Exterior From the NorthEast" by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street); reversed picture.

Page 108: "The Blade & Lion" is from "Medina Del Campo. The Castle." by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street); added Blade & Lion banner.

Page 110: "The Technographer's Guildhouse" is from "San Vincente, Avila, North-East View" by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street); cropped and added statue of Forge to roof turret.

Page 111: "Amonir Salver's Sanitarium" is from "Lerida Old Cathedral, View From Steeple" by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street); added flag.

Page 112: "White Thorn guard in ceremonial livery" is an altered derivative of "An Officer in the East India Uniform of the 74th (Highland) Regiment, Previously Called Colonel Donald Macleod" by John

Opie; facial features altered to resemble wyrman.

Page 113: "Central Library" is from "Choir Lectern, Zamora Cathedral" by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street); no alterations.

Page 114: "Ward of Orders" is a slightly altered derivative of "Las Huelgas. Burgos. North-West View" by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street); added Ward of Orders text to wall and list of orders below.

Page 118: "Serenporth Citadel (southeastern gate house)" is from "Puerta del Sol. Toledo." by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street); replaced characters on road with character on horseback to increase scale of building.

Page 119: "Podrak Lodge" is from "Timber Architecture. Church at Borgund" by uncredited artist, from Architecture Classic and Early Christian by Thomas Roger Smith and John Slater; no alterations.

Page 121: "The Arvortian Houses of Parlance (south wing)" is a slightly altered derivative of "Church of St. Sernin, Toulouse" by uncredited artist, from Architecture Classic and Early Christian by Thomas Roger Smith and John Slater; removed human characters from foreground.

Page 122: "View from Chapel Tor, looking north to Arvortun across the River Serth" is from "View of Toledo" by unnamed artist, from The Pictureque Antiquities of Spain by Nathaniel Armstrong Wells; slight alterations to foreground.

Page 127: "North Gatehouse & Wall (exterior)" is a slightly altered derivative of "Puerta de San Vicente" by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street); removed characters in foreground.

Page 131: "Dunkunom" is a slightly altered derivative of "Over London–by Rail from London: A Pilgrimage" by Gustave Dore; train removed due to Dunkunom having no rainway.

Page 132: "Folkball" is an altered derivative of "Chickens At Home" from a book by James Johonnot, artist unnamed; cropped, added folkball ball and shadowing.

Page 134: "Rinansarm Dam" is created from a combination of various works including "Hoover Dam Diagram" by Jarek Tuszynski (aka Jarekt) and various images from Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-Le-Duc (artist unnamed).

Page 135: "Carfax Market (the Dunkunom Stock Exchange)" is an altered derivative of "Castle "Tre Kronor, Stockholm" by Govert Camphuysen; reversed image, changed to greyscale and altered some of the character faces.

Page 136: "Newtun" is a slightly altered version of "A view of slums in India" by Biswajit Das (https://www.flickr.com/photos/greeno_777/with/4 665836842/); changed to greyscale and removed telephone wires in background.

Page 137: "Brume's Closet (front facade showing the clock tower)" is an altered derivative of "Valencia The Casa Lonja" by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street); removed some characters from foreground, added name of inn and chicken motif over door.

Page 140: "Statehouse of Secrets Underground (The Delver's Guild Headquarters)" is an altered derivative of the images: Image 1 "Abbey of Veruela,

Entrance Gateway" by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street) and Image 2 "The Adirondack" From "The Adirondack; or Life in the Woods" by J. T. (Joel Tyler) Headley; image one forms the foreground and Image 2 is used for the background.

Page 144: "Coalpit Heath" is from "Satan's Cloven Hoof" by anonymous, from the book Irish Wonders (written by D R McAnally); no alterations.

Page 146: "The watch tower, catapult and beacon of Loofarn on Shoulder Hill" is a piece created from various works, including "Gebil Hor March 5th 1839" by David Roberts and Louis Haghe as the main landscape; catapult and granary on the mountain top are from Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-Le-Duc (artist unnamed); and other elements are original (not covered by the Creative Commons license).

Page 147: "Nordroor Bridge, seen from the Damnum Channel looking southeast" is an altered derivative of "Zamora, The Bridge Across the Duoro" by uncredited artist in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street); added steam train and black smoke marks to towers at either end of bridge.

Page 148: "Kenwythi Lying in State" is from an untitled image in Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-Le-Duc (artist unnamed); added sword.

Page 155: "Gungindask" is an altered derivative composed of various untitled works by W. Heath Robinson from his book Bill the Minder.

Page 157: "Gorbelly guarding the door to a Shabble lair" is a piece created from two works including Image 1: "Rock-cut Tomb at Myra, in Lycia.

Imitation of Timber Construction in Stone" from by uncredited artist, from Architecture Classic and Early Christian by Thomas Roger Smith and John Slater; and Image 2: "Antonio is not Afraid of the Ogre" by H J Ford from the Grey Fairy Book published by Longmans, Green and Co (1905).

Page 157: "The Gapward Slums" is an altered derivative made from combined works, including "Hedingham Castle", "Ruins of the Parthenon at Athens", "Exterior of Santa Sophia, Constantinople.

Showing the Minarets added after its conversion into a Mosque" and "A Small Pagoda" by unattributed artist, from "Architecture Classic and Early Christian" (written by Thomas Roger Smith and John Slater); Page 159: "The House of Poor Lament" is an altered derivative made from combined works, including "Tower of Earl’s Barton Church" by unattributed artist, from "Architecture Classic and Early Christian" (written by Thomas Roger Smith and John Slater) and an untitled illustration of a castle from Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-Le-Duc (artist unnamed).

Page 160: "The Jarhouse of Flies" is an altered derivative of "the Chapter House and Cloister" by Wenceslaus Hollar, from the book Old St. Paul's Cathedral (written by William Benham); removed background and made the building taller and more sinister.

Page 163: "The Elemental Temple" is from an untitled image of a multi-tower building from Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-Le-Duc (artist unnamed).

Page 164: "Abbraxian School of Geomancy (exterior

216

of the Grendanstan)" is an altered derivative made from a wide variety of the images found in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street; artist not credited).

Page 165: "The Trams" is a slightly altered derivative of "Through the memory lane" by Biswajit Das (https://www.flickr.com/photos/greeno_777/with/4 645064514/); removed place names from sides of trams and changed to greyscale.

Page 168: "Mansion of the Kingship (Statehouse of the Guild of Starcraft)" is from "Environments-14-Ishtarziggurat" Concept-art done for Sintel , 3rd openmovie of the Blender Foundation by David Revoy (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Deevad) Page 169: "The Church of the Nuclei (North Elevation)" is an altered derivative made from a wide variety of the images found in Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street; artist not credited).

Page 173: "Fell enemies lurk in Evenshade Wood" is an altered derivative made from two images: "Evening in the Woods" by Worthington Whittredge and "The Witch of Endor" by D. Martynov. Cropped 'the witch' from second image and superimposed onto forest backdrop.

Page 176: "Yrmynsyl" is an altered derivative made from several images including: Main landscape "Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California"

by Albert Bierstadt plus various original elements not covered by the Creative Commons license.

Page 181: "The River Flay (looking west toward the Hammer Dwale)" is an altered derivative of several images including: "Clearing Up, Coast of Sicily" by Andreas Achenbach, "Yosemite Valley" by Albert Bierstadt and "Norman Knight at Richmond Castle" a photograph taken by Jeff Buck showing unknown historical re-enactment performer on horseback (http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/12987).

Page 183: "Looking Toward the Hammer Dwale" is an altered derivative of two Gustave Dore images, including "Then My Sight Was Livelier To Explore..." and "The Place Where Thou Hast Need To Arm Thy Heart With Strength", both from illustrations of The Inferno by Dante Alighieri.

Page 184: "Ninel" is from "The Adirondack" From "The Adirondack; or Life in the Woods" by J. T. (Joel Tyler) Headley; cropped into circle.

Page 189: "Skyssan females (skyssan on left, wyrlung on right)" is an altered derivative of "Back to the Baroque" by Mizu Sasori (http://mizusasori.deviantart.com/); removed mirror, added steampunk goggles, added wyrlung gills, made face of left female more like that of wyrwoman, changed to greyscale.

Page 191: "Pistola" is from "Webley’s Revolver" by unnamed artist in "Gunnery in 1858, Being a Treatise on Rifles, Cannon, and Sporting Arms" written by William Greener.

Page 193: "The Ever Reproachful Eye of Allum" is an altered derivative of "Window in Dunblane Cathedral" by unknown artist from Lectures on Architecture and Painting delivered at Edinburgh in November 1853, by John Ruskin; filled in central glass and rotated 90 degrees to make the window look like a stone eye.

Page 195: "The Steam Tram Station serving all of Skyssa" is an altered derivative of "Wuppertaler Schwebebahn", a public domain photograph of Werther Brücke monorail station taken in 1913; changed image to appear more like illustration and changed backdrop landscape. Deleted most of the pedestrians from the foreground.

Page 196: "The great paddle steamer Skytan berthed in the Northern Docks" is a slightly altered derivative of "The Launch of the Great Eastern" from The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 2, artist unnamed; added name of ship.

Page 197: "Vengerwing" is from "Then The Ship Rose Again Toward the Mammoth Rocks, Adorned With the Tapestries of Falling Wave" by unnamed artist, from the book The Goddess of Atvatabar, Being the history of the discovery of the interior world and conquest of Atvatabar by William R. Bradshaw. No alterations.

Page 198: "Underfall Catacombs" is an altered derivative of "St. Faith's Church in the Crypt of St. Paul's" by Wenceslaus Hollar, from Old St. Paul's Cathedral (written by William Benham); extended with duplicates of same image and added original door artwork.

Page 199: "The Opus Pit" is an altered derivative of "Opus Sectile in the Apse, Cathedral, Parenzo" by F. Hamilton Jackson, from The Shores of the Adriatic, The Austrian Side, The KĂźstenlande, Istria, and Dalmatia; changed sigils to resemble eyes.

Page 200: "Stratum Main Entrance" is is an altered derivative of "Sta. Maria Del Mar, Barcelona SouthWest View" from Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain (written by George Edmund Street; artist not credited); removed some of characters from foreground and added wall behind main building.

Page 207: "The Procunsuleers attending administrative duties" is from "Roman Columrarium" by an unnamed artist, found in the book Valeria The Martyr of the Catacombs by William Henry Withrow.

Also Available from Forever People

System & Setting Everything the player and GM will need to play a game with the Elderune system, plus basic details of the Yarnian setting.

Author's Notes The creation of a roleplaying game setting differs considerably from the creation of a setting for, say, a novel or a screenplay.

A game setting need not be complete, nor need it be fully realized. Part of the joy of forging a work like this then sending it out into the real world to be read and used is in seeing where GMs and players take the setting next. Which aspects they develop, which they discard and how the thread of narrated histories are picked up and evolved.

The end result could potentially be hundreds of different worlds spiralling off in a hundred different directions. In creating the setting of Yarnia this was my hope and indeed the brief I set myself before even tackling the nitty gritty of detail was to generate something believable and immersive but incomplete so that the frayed ends of the weave could be picked up and taken in virtually any direction.

I hope this has been achieved and I hope the GM and players alike enjoy taking what I've presented here as merely the foundation for their own unfolding yarn; inspiration for a series of adventures, for exploration and uncovering of stories as yet unspun, though they may be hinted at between the lines of this book.

More than anything I hope the effort I've applied in this fairly exhaustive study of a place that doesn't exist anywhere outside my own and the reader's imagination is considered worthy enough to make it into someone's game and that the information provided serves its intended purpose and fashions the basis of many days and nights of fun for you and your fellow players - David Sharrock.

Wyrd Pandemonium A complete and detailed bestiary charting the many Fell, Fae, fauna, flora and fungi of the epic Yarnian setting.

WYRD (Book 2) Chronicles of Yarnia 1, the Age of Thaw Game Design (first Edition): David Sharrock Additional Elements: Catherine Badjan Graphic Design: Far Country, Bristol Cover Art: Atelier Sommerland Cover Design: David Sharrock Art: Atelier Sommerland, Corey Ford, Dusan Kostic, Jeffrey Thompson, Anti Namasalu, David Sharrock, Nej Ron, Jesse Lee Lang, Fernando Cortes De Pablo, David Revoy, Biswajit Das and Mizu Sasori and photography resources from Jim Linwood, Don Graham and Jeff Buck.

Antique Map Backgrounds: Malgorzata Kistryn Map designs and artwork: David Sharrock Playtesting and acknowledgements Catherine Badjan, Wyn F Dawkins, Tony Jordan, Ian Clement, Lilli Neilson, Derek Wilson, Jayne Lagunov, Phil Grove, Michael McLinden and Alec Webster.

Thanks also to Tony the DM without whose inspiration this volume would not exist Copyright Š Forever People Games & RPG 2014 Forever People Games & RPG is a registered business: Praa View Cottage, Newtown Germoe, Penzance, Cornwall TR20 9AG All rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced or redistributed without the express permission of David Sharrock or any official representative of Forever People Games & RPG. All non-Creative Commons based content in this volume is entirely original and any similarity to works both fictional or non-fictional or to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Where the product is downloaded in PDF format the publisher and author may not be held responsible in any way, shape or form for damages sustained to computer systems or reading devices as a result of the download or the downloading process.

Distributed by the One Bookshelf group.

Visit the Forever People website at www.foreverpeople.co.uk For supplements, other core books in the Wyrd series, updates, add-ons, fixes, news and exclusive product offers.

Copyright for illustrations belongs to respective artists and authors. Any questions or comments on this book and other books in the series should be directed to wyrd@foreverpeople.co.uk.

Elderune is available for license to independent game publiahers on request. Please contact wyrd@foreverpeople.co.uk to submit your proposal or request licensing details.

Overmaster's Companion For the GM's eyes only, the complete companion to Elderune and to the Yarnian setting.

Includes The Unsung Weave, a series of starter adventures set in the realm of Ereth. visit www.foreverpeople.co.uk or our publisher page at www.drivethrurpg.com

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If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumbered here

While these visions did appear.

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