D&D 5E 5th Edition and Cormyr: Flexing My Idea Muscle and Thinking Out Loud

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Ches. Fifth day of the first tenday.

In Suzail, prospective buyers of Talarkgates have been seen entering the dilapidated mansion on Swordstars Lane. Bets are being taken nearby at the Cratemaker’s House (still known as Vardra’s to tenants living in the building) on how long the next buyer will last before “that which lurks within” forces them to sell the mansion.

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In Sembia, a book of plays belonging to Taumpras Irorlar has been recovered by adventurers. Rumor claims no spells were found within the book, but deeds of ownership to a handful of opulent mansions in upcountry Sembia were. On the heels of this rumor has come word of Taumpras’ disappearance from Saerloon.

---

An unnamed official within the Royal Court has confirmed the emergence of a speaking plague within the town of Immersea.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Ches. Sixth day of the first tenday.

Traffic in the center of the Promenade was halted upon the discovery of a severed hand grasping a leather bag that appeared seemingly out of nowhere on the street. No sooner did a porter let out a startled shout at the gruesome sight than a half-score concealed Purple Dragons appeared and formed a ring around the bag, preventing onlookers from getting close enough to pry the hand away and open it. A pair of Crown mages accompanied by yet more Dragons arrived within moments, and were seen to question everyone in the vicinity, including a quartet of furiously protesting nobles. That so many Dragons and war wizards laid in wait suggests the Crown knew something was about to happen on the Promenade. But if so, why question passersby?

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Ches. Seventh day of the first tenday.

An overnight blessing from Auril has left Cormyr’s coast from Dawngleam to Valkur’s Roar covered in snow.

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In Suzail, folk with coins to spare have braved the snow for Harbrittur's Librium, there to pay the two silver piece entry fee in the hopes of finding accounts of prior speaking plagues among its expansive collection of books. (The Crown remains tightlipped over events taking place in Immersea, other than to confirm the whole of the town has been sealed off.) Dethra of the Docks was seen selling hand pies and fingertarts that morning to patrons out of a large cart parked in an “alcove” in the snow (a space she “cleared out by hand that very morning,” if her word can be trusted, the snow stacked as tall as the fan atop her cart), near the entrance to the Librium. It’s an open secret that Dethra has a knack for remembering faces, and for a few coppers more will confirm if a person you describe to her was seen in the area. Folk who wish to remain anonymous need only pay an extra silver piece on top of the price of their purchase. So steady was Dethra’s business that her sisters (Dalantharra and Duskreene) arrived by the tenth morning bell with a replacement cart.

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A number of dwarves native to dwarfholds within the western slopes of the Thunder Peaks have emerged and traveled to destinations throughout Cormyr. Dwarves are no strangers to the Forest Kingdom, but the news that most have taken lodgings within the abodes of spellcasters is. Morning talk within the Eel Revealed centered on the account of an altar sworn priest of the Lord of Battles, who saw a pair of robe-wearing stout folk accompanying the Old Wagon Wizard, Dratha Shelduzun, two tendays ago in Thunderstone. At another table piled high with cooked eels smothered in sardragon sauce, a courier newly arrived from Marsember told of witnessing a beardless dwarf marshaling a handful of skeletons under the watchful eye of the necromancer Alashendal. Cormyreans have begun to wonder aloud what the reason might be for stout folk to apprentice themselves to mages in Cormyr. Will one or more of them present themselves at the next gathering of the Council of Mages?

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

(What follows is a guest post of sorts, written by Ed Greenwood in reply to a request from me for examples of what sorts of clack one might hear in the winter months in Cormyr. Forthwith, the Master of the Realms replies...)

Ches. Eighth day of the first tenday.

Folk in Waymoot and Dhedluk are reporting wolf pack attacks in the King’s Forest that are growing in boldness and frequency. Six people have gone missing thus far, and over a dozen have been mauled but lived to make it home and warn others. One account, by the herbalist Anthae Rymel of Dhedluk, claims the wolves were led by “a giant wolf that stood up like a man and snarled orders like a wolf, but pointed while doing so, as a man does.” Royal foresters have led Purple Dragon “wolfslaying” patrols, but found nothing. So far.

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Someone in Marsember is counterfeiting coins, stamping almost exact replicas of Cormyrean mintings that can be distinguished from genuine coins as they’re lighter and have a different sheen by candelight, thanks to being made of an alloy gnomes and dwarves resident in Suzail haven’t yet been able to identify (they can readily tell the metals in it, but say this particular mix may be unique to the counterfeiter). The coins are spreading, of course, but Wizards of War have been assigned to hunt down the source—and priests of Waukeen are conducting their own investigation that has already resulted in one of them being drowned in the harbour by unknown hands (who chopped a hole in the thick ice to do so).

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

(Here is the next bit of current clack that Ed Greenwood generously responded with. Enjoy!)

Ches. Ninth day of the first tenday.

The statue of King Duar that stands at the east end of the courtyard between the Royal Court and the Royal Palace, at the “going down” (west end culvert, where the waterway at the heart of the Royal Gardens goes underground to flow under the city and into the harbour), looking northeast along the water, has spoken. That is, an on-duty guard and a clerk of the Court hastening between Court and Palace both heard a deep, rough male voice issuing from the statue that slowly and clearly declaimed: “There is one sleeper yet, should a ghazneth return.” This statue has been said to speak before, years ago when it was first erected, but War Wizards summoned to examine the statue found no dweomer upon it, and the two witnesses say they saw no magic mouth appear—and the guard looked swiftly in all directions, but saw no one standing near who might have been a spellcaster. There’s gossip in the Royal Court that this might have been the doing of a War Wizard working mischief, from an office in the building, but this has been dismissed as speculation, and nothing more. A guard has been posted, with a scribe, day and night since the utterance, but nothing more has been heard. Most of the talk across the city has concerned the identity and whereabouts of the sleeper, followed by conjecture about which ghazneth would return, how, and why. The Crown remains officially silent on the matter, but someone at the Royal Court went around the taverns leaking this much: the War Wizards summoned to the statue are “certain” that neither the guard nor the clerk (neither of whom have been officially identified) had been drinking.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Every character comes from somewhere. Here'a a handy set of tables I created so you can figure out where your Cormyrean character hails from.​

​

Cormyr - Region of Origin​

d8	Region
1	The Coast
2	The East Reaches
3	The Hermit’s Woods
4	The King’s Forest
5	The North Reaches
6	The Three Cities
7	The West Reaches
8	The Wyvernwater

Coast Settlements​

d100	Region	Type
1-9	Azoun’s Hold	Castle
10-18	Battlerise	Village
19-27	Dawngleam	Town
28-36	Dreamer’s Rock	Village
37-45	Gorthin	Village
46-54	Jester’s Green	Village
55-63	Kirinwood	Town
64-72	Monksblade	Town
73-81	Smuggler’s Stone	Village
82-90	Valkur’s Roar	Village
91-100	Wormtower	Village

East Reaches Settlements​

d4	Region	Type
1	Besert	Village
2	Gars	Town
3	Immerford	Village
4	Thunderstone	Town

Hermit’s Woods Settlements​

d6	Region	Type
1	Blustich	Village
2	Bogbrook	Town
3	Moonever	Town
4	Nesmyth	Village
5	Ongul’s Water	Town
6	Wheloon	Town

The Three Cities​

d3	Region	Type
1	Arabel	City
2	Marsember	City
3	Suzail	City

The King’s Forest Settlements​

d8	Region	Type
1	Collinwood	Village
2	Dhedluk	Village
3	Espar	Village
4	Gray Oaks	Village
5	Knightswood	Village
6	Minroe	VIllage
7	Mouth O’ Gargoyles	Village
8	Waymoot	Town

North Reaches Settlements​

d100	Region	Type
1-11	Castle Nacacia	Castle
12-22	Castle Crag	Castle
23-33	Eveningstar	Village
34-44	Gryphon Hill	Village
45-55	Halfhap	Town
56-66	Hillmarch	VIllage
67-77	Redspring	Village
78-88	Slingdyke	Village
89-100	Tyrluk	Village

The West Reaches Settlements​

d8	Region	Type
1	Eagle Peak	Town
2	Greatgaunt	Town
3	High Horn	Castle
4	Hornshield	Castle
5	Huthduth	Village
6	Old Axe	VIllage
7	Skull Crag	Town
8	Wyvernhunt	Village

Wyvernwater Settlements​

d10	Region	Type
1	Aunkspear	Village
2	Bospir	Village
3	Gladehap	Town
4	Hilp	Village
5	Hultail	Village
6	Immersea	VIllage
7	Juniril	Village
8	Kallamarn	Village
9	Sunset Hill	Town
10	Yeoman Bridge	Village

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

(Here is the final clack reply from Ed to me. Enjoy!)

Ches. Tenth day of the first tenday.

Renovators in the Palace (due to water seepage caused by a roof leak) replaced a doorframe and some paneling near the Westwyvern Chamber, and uncovered a torn corner of heavy parchment that bore handwriting that read: “My daughter was sired by Vangerdahast. The gods know this to be truth, no matter what he may say. She has the Gift.” The parchment came from a squared sheet, and is of a weight and quality used for official documents, royal correspondence, and the oldest, wealthiest noble houses. Suggesting the writer (most scribes judge it to be a feminine hand) is noble, being as it doesn’t match any recent known royal “fist” (all of which the Royal Court has samples of).

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Ches. Second day of the second tenday.

In Sembia, a writ of arrest has been issued for Taumpras Irorlar. The writ includes a reward of 500 gold pieces for his safe return to Saerloon to face charges of theft. Interested parties (be they pouncehawks, mercenaries, or adventurers) may purchase a non-refundable writ of retainer for 1/10th the reward promised, at government offices in Saerloon. The retainer is recognized in most cities within the Heartlands as granting the holder the legal right to capture and detain an individual without interference from local authorities.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Ches. Eighth day of the second tenday.

Marsembans lacking coin sufficient to purchase a plot of land beyond the city walls large enough to be buried in have long reconciled themselves to being cremated by barge. Such “dead barge cremations” (i.e. piling the dead onto barges that are floated out onto the water and set aflame) have been the means by which city authorities have disposed of unclaimed corpses for years. Even so, a recent offer by the necromancer Alashendal to purchase these unclaimed dead for use in teaching her apprentices has been rebuffed by the Queen’s Lord of Marsember.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Ches. Fifth day of the third tenday.

In Arabel, talk has centered on the lost hold of Lothchas the Bandit Lord, which far-traveled rumor claims has been discovered in the wild lands bordering the eastern edge of the Vercy Wood, northeast of the village of Ilinver. Merchants traveling southwest from that otherwise desolate part of the Moonsea claim a whole portion of the Vercy has simply disappeared. Where the trees once stood, a keep of black stone now stands, its highest tower sporting a fanged red wolf’s head banner on a field of black.