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

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Tarsakh. Second day of the second tenday.

Temple acolytes have emerged from the Vault of Restful Dead to begin their year-long journey to collect donations and create paintings of Cormyr’s soon-to-be-deceased.

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A representative of House Thawnfaer is approaching adventurers by night at Heldul’s Rest, a waystop in the vicinity of the Purple Dragon garrison of Stonewatch on the Way of the Manticore. At least two adventuring bands are known to have crossed the Way in the company of the representative and traveled southwest in the direction of Thawngard, the Thawnfaer family seat. That the representative has twice returned alone suggests doom awaits all who follow her.

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From Griffon Hill to Arabel, panic has taken hold of the populace over the appearance of no less than five identical keeps arranged in a line running southwest to northeast within sight of Gnoll Pass. Rumorfire burning across Arabel holds the garrison of Purple Dragons and war wizards occupying Castle Crag were caught entirely unawares.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Tarsakh. Third day of the second tenday.

Within the last tenday Jester’s Green was the site of much talk and a bidding war. House Indesm made available for sale five stallions and one mare of unusual burgundy color. An additional five stallions and one mare of azure hue were sold the following day. Talk among buyers holds the mounts were not ensorcelled or spell-created. Whatever the nature of their color, the buyers roundly agreed the mounts were bred and reared inside the high walls of Hawkhar Hall, the Indesm seat of power in Thunderstone.
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At the Golden Goblin, tavern dwellers overheard the adventurer Malarrla “Bloodcoins” Branthur describing the coins found in a bag attached to a severed hand that mysteriously appeared on the Promenade three tendays ago. According to Malarrla, the coins originated in the city of Imdolphyn, one of the fabled Windrise Ports located in the distant land of Laerakond beyond the Moonshaes. She described twenty identical gold coins, their centers pierced with strong wire of unusual make, the wire fastened with spring clasps that held the coins tightly in place. They were adorned on one side with four stamped circles representing “an endless shower of coins,” while the runes stamped on the other side meant “none the richer in wealth.” When asked how she gained access to the coins, Malarrla was heard to say, "It never pays to ignore a request from the Crown of Cormyr."

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Grey Falcon (aka Shastara), a Herald based in Tsurlagol, has confirmed the description of the banner atop the keep of Lothchas matches the banner originally fielded by the Bandit Lord of the Moonsea when he claimed all the lands east of the Vercy Wood as his, over a century ago.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Tarsakh. Fifth day of the second tenday.

The population of Bospir has doubled with the arrival of merchants based in Arabel and dwarves emerging from the oldest of the three wells in the center of town. The yearly trade moot saw the Stout Folk selling ingots of pure iron and copper, while the merchants brought all manner of foodstuffs (including fresh earthworms--a guilty pleasure for many a dwarf), drinkables, and dwarf-sized clothing. For the first time, trade between the two groups was not centered on the Drover’s Inn, but a brand new warehouse built of stone and ironwood in a field behind the inn.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Tarsakh. Second day of the third tenday.

According to merchants recently arrived in Eagle Peak, all of Yellow Snake Pass has been overrun by hobgoblins marching south from the vicinity of the Well of Dragons.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Mirtul. Eight day of the first tenday.

A phalanx of hobgoblins marching southwest through the Far Hills butchered a Zhentarim patrol riding out of Darkhold. According to the adventurer Ulsanthur of Saradush, who claims to have witnessed the battle from a distance, the hobgoblins wielded heavy crossbows that fired steel bolts, the latter traveling an exceptional distance to skewer Zhent riders and their mounts. The Zhent riders rallied to the attack, but the phalanx broke their charge with polearms. No riders were spared.

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In Arabel, the grim news of zombies laying siege to Castle Nacacia has left its residents to wonder what foul power has set its sights on Cormyr’s newest and mightiest fortresses. Hushed word among Purple Dragons claim the first wave of walking dead was five score in number. These were hastily destroyed, but another hundred zombies came lumbering down the southern slopes of the Desertsmouth Mountains to replace them. Eight more waves arrived, one per hour. Travelers report the sight of mounted Dragons emerging from the castle to crush the undead before they could overwhelm travelers on the Moonsea Ride. All agree on one fact: every zombie was a dwarf in life.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Mirtul. Ninth day of the first tenday.

Lord Staglan Wintercoats has departed Suzail on a promenade of hunts meant to last for the remainder of springtime. The presence of Laraskalar's Lions (a band of Sembian adventurers known for their brutality) in the company of Lord Wintercoats alongside his own personal guard has left little doubt the nobleman has any interest in being caught unawares by whomever, or whatever, he has angered.

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The sage Falrthast, resident of Dragonhaven, has claimed the keeps amassed near Gnoll Pass are remnants of the Empire of Shade pushed south by the unstoppable sands of Anauroch. He warns adventurers to avoid the structures, which he believes to be uncontrolled mimics of immense size. (edited)

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Mirtul. First day of the second tenday.

Collectors of body adornments are traveling to Wheloon to receive small, stylized tattoos that glow in amethyst hues and appear to float just above the skin in utter darkness. A single thumbnail sized rendering costs upwards of 50 golden lions. Lady Noenel Kallowsar is credited with igniting the fire of interest in these adornments; she sports twin lines of amethyst birds that run from shoulder to buttocks, the birds appearing to flap their wings as she disrobes.

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Over the last tenday, riders wearing the dragon head and blood teardrops badge of House Haldoneir have been seen on Elclantar’s Ride, not a few of which have politely (but firmly) stopped folk for questioning on the winding dirt road linking the Blisterfoot Inn with the sprawling Haldoneir family holdings at Wymrdown.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Mirtul. Third day of the second tenday.

Crown officials in Arabel have confirmed the decayed corpse discovered inside a walled off section of Tharmarklor’s Doors is the body of Askarl Garthen, founder of Garthen’s Hammer. For over one hundred and thirty years, the Hammer (as it is known locally) has supplied ironmongery by the cartload to Suzail. For nearly the same length of time, Askarl’s descendants have waged a quiet feud with the scions of Handren Tharmarklor, a property owner and onetime business partner of Askarl’s during the reign of Azoun IV, ever since the ironmonger’s sudden disappearance. Prior to this announcement, the Queen’s Lord of Arabel dispatched a full ride of mounted Purple Dragons to stand watch on the street separating the Hammer from the Doors, just inside High Horn Gate.

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In Arabel, the Company of the Sleeping Wyvern are freely spending their newfound wealth after a successful exploration of a “sprawling labyrinth of catacombs and caverns beneath the High Moors” found with the help of a map recovered by the Company three seasons ago within the Cliffs of Karthaut.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Mirtul. Fourth day of the second tenday.

A goodwife retrieving garments left to wash in the Starglimmer Stream discovered a skull sporting a crown of rank half buried in sand. Purple Dragons sent to investigate by Eveningstar’s local lord found the skull, but could find no sign of a skeleton or any other corpses along the water’s edge. However, when they retrieved the skull from under the water, a great gout of what appeared to be blood, clothes, and bones burst from the sand beneath the skull and spread out into the stream. The Dragons hooked by means of their polearms what few bones and clothes they could reach, but did not remove them from the water. War Wizards have since been dispatched to investigate.

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Purple Dragon patrols have doubled in size and frequency on the High Road between Greatgaunt and High Horn. Travelers on that road carry more news of sightings of hobgoblins in the vicinity of Darkhold and The Far Hills.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Mirtul. Tenth day of the second tenday.

News of an entire ship’s crew fainting has spread from Suzails docks as far as the Windmarket. There, a trio of porters resting with their carts in the lee of a building were overheard to share news that Purple Dragons had boarded a ship called the Gravechant and discovered every last crewman was shaven headed, unconscious, and unresponsive.

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Rumors of the discovery of a treasure map found inside the Cliffs of Karthaut have spurred adventuring parties to sail for the Skeleton Shore (consisting of the coastal lands running from Teziir to Westgate); The Six Bold Bards reportedly set sail from Marsember in a rented cog, while the Scarlet Knights of Halfhap were last seen boarding a fast-sail caravel running goods between Suzail and Teziir.

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Hushed talk of murder has become more frequent at the Blisterfoot Inn, where local crofters are sharing the latest rumors of nearby Wyrmdown with traveling merchants in exchange for clack from Arabel, Immersea, and Suzail. Just who has been killed is not yet known, but all agree someone was thrown from the top lookout of the swept-spired tower fronting Wyrmdown’s gates, the body most likely chopped up and buried all over the two hundred plus acres held by House Haldoneir.