Sovereignties — Adanak Lithor Campaign Notes — Home last changed 5 October 2006 |
This winter resort community on the lower west slopes of the Kerrungdehellor Mountains was built many centuries ago by the hartig but more recently ceded to the liorespiyr. Many of the original hartigkeit lodges still stand, and the diminutive stature of the current proprietors makes the wide halls and arched ceilings seem even grander. Visitors who awake early in the morning are often delighted by fantastic ice sculptures on the trackless snow–covered meadows, created in the starlight by the unseen spirits of the mountains.
Modeled on lodges I've seen at Mount Hood, Stoneman Lake, and Sequoia National Park.
The intensely lawful capital city of the tritons, Llash'lurroth has no shortage of scale–armored defenders or meticulously honest merchants.
Myth Cedherid is a cosmopolitan metropolis, inhabited primarily by n'tuven but open to all races.
Famous for the thorny flowers known as roses.
A small city in the western desert of the human imperial colony, known for its purveyors of masks, perfumes, and finery.
The secret gateway to Lual'sh'maurr, "hidden" in plain view. The community was infiltrated by andern a few decades ago, and now all of the local leaders and most of the merchants have been replaced with look–alike monsters. Woe betides the unwary visitor!
Vhoern straddles a crag of the eastern Kerrungdehellor mountain range, overlooking the desolate plains of Merrann.
The immediately noticeable features of Vhoern are its monolithic black basalt walls and the huddled caravan camps outside. Neither beasts of burden nor large wagons are allowed within the walls.
The high basalt walls were created to withstand the siege engines of ancient Mhorredd but now they cast long shadows over the narrow winding streets, making torches necessary in many parts of the city, even during the daylight hours.
Coincidentally, the chandlers' guild is very powerful here, and hosts an annual candle making competition which attracts chandlers from all over Dathenest... the resulting masterpieces are guaranteed to stun the visitor.
For the most part, the citizens of Vhoern are happy, prosperous, and human. Other races are neither persecuted nor welcomed, but tend to feel uneasy in the dark and inexplicably ominous city.
Vhoern has a forgotten legacy of intrigue and sorcery. It was built in the waning days of the Maghdoeran empire, and is one of the last surviving relics of that time.
At the heart of Vhoern's continued existence is the Shadow Throne, a piece of magecraft that probably predates the city itself and may have been constructed by fiendish beings in another plane. The sentience of the throne makes its wishes known through the Archduke of Vhoern, who is something more or less than human.
Maghdoeran was a powerful empire many centuries ago, but it is now forgotten by all but the most ancient texts. Scholars who know of its legacies will not utter its name, referring to it (when absolutely necessary) as The Dark Kingdom.
Maghdoeran was a land of humans, and its ruler was hated and feared throughout the world. Tales spun in taprooms and campfires from Lliiyleirn to Phruutt described the imperial palace as a golden tray upon which every pleasure was indulged in, suspended over a fiery chasm of infinite depth and despair. The emperor himself was alternately described as a screaming demon, a fire-breathing dragon, and a sorceror of great power whose beating heart was removed from his chest by the gods as punishment for crimes too heinous to recount.
Even more hated than the emperor of Maghdoeran, if that was possible, were his mages. Known as the Black Robes, their only duty was the furtherance of the emperor's wishes… and they had unlimited rights and freedoms in the pursuit of their goals.
Merrann is probably a degenerate form of Maghdoeran, especially since the plains bearing this name are within the historic boundaries of that empire. Other traces of Maghdoeran remain in the names of nearby regions, including the Doer Isles.
Lliiyleirn was once a city on the border of the liorespiyr woods, where the tiny folk mingled with members of other races. While the kingdom of Maghdoeran was still young, the intuitive liorespiyr sensed that the world was darkening, and they began to gradually withdraw from Lliiyleirn and the other races of the world. Today, the location of Lliiyleirn is forgotten and all maps showing it have vanished. The carefully shaped woodland where the city once glowed with faerie radiance has become wildly overgrown, and navigating with or without the aid of magic is nearly impossible.
Phruutt was, in the early days of Maghdoeran, a raucous port on the Trackless Sea. Frequented by pirates, merchants, and outcasts, it was an exciting and dangerous city for many decades. It was destroyed centuries ago by storms and internal discord.