Forgotten Realms Campaign
Primer - Winter, DR1372, Year of Wild Magic
You grew up in the grim and smoky (small) city of Melvaunt, also known as the city of swords, a busy, foggy port on the north shore of the Moonsea. While the Time of Troubles took place while you were but children, life in Melvaunt hasn’t changed in much longer. The Council of Lords rules the city (basically ensuring their own wealth), guilds control much of the commerce and production, and the lands outside the city’s walls are dangerous. A frontier mentality persists where each and every person does the best they can for themselves and their family. Those that do well, prosper; those that fail, die penniless in a harsh, cold and unforgiving climate.
You grew up with dreams of adventure, but if you are unable to make it, careers in the family forge or the city market will probably do. With success in adventuring comes wealth, with wealth comes power. In Melvaunt, those with both money and power run the city and live very well. Perhaps you aspire to becoming a ruling lord in time.
Banditry is common along the roads of the area, as is piracy if ships are silly enough to travel the coast unguarded. Orcs and ogres are familiar enough that you know they are not merely the things of fairytales. In fact, a large orc kingdom, led by the legendary orc king Vorbyx, once spanned the “great grey land” of Thar to the north of the city. Today, it is a barren and marshy waste that is avoided by all, except those caravans that wish to travel to Glister for its gems and ores.
Being a decent sized city and port, money will get you just about anything you like. As locals, you know this sometimes include slaves.
Familiar Locations
The marketplace - anything mundane can be bought and sold here. Guards can be easily found in this area, though pickpockets aren’t rare. The Livestock Pen to the market’s east is where slave trading takes place.
The shipyards and docks - passage to and from other parts of the Moonsea can be bought here. Guards are found at all times patrolling the docks, yet crime and criminals can also be found quite easily. The Finger of the Gods is the local name for the 120-ft tall cast iron lighthouse.
The Floating Fighter is an up and coming inn that caters to ships’ captains and other upscale clientele. Other dockworkers and sailors stay in seedy bunkhouses and carouse in the many taverns in this area, such as the very seedy Devil’s Fire Tavern.
The Breakwater used to be the grand inn of the city, but business has slipped to the newer Floating Fighter. It still boasts excellent service and rumours exist that its owner may be in need of some persuasive helpers. Immediately next door to the Breakwater is the Trader’s Hideaway, a warm tavern frequented by market workers and traders from all over the region. The “Hideaway” is your home pub.
There are three temples in Melvaunt (Gond, Lliira, and Loviatar) as well as two shrines (Tempus and Tymora) and a festhall dedicated to Sharess. Religion is important, but due to the diversity of religious affiliation, organized temples and shrines only represent the most popular deities in the city. Perhaps contructing a shrine to your patron should be a top priority. Perhaps moving out of your parents’ homes should also be a priority.
Shops that are best known to you
Hermuk’s Allgoods is able to obtain just about anything at a decent price, but is better known for Hermuk’s connections to the underworld. You can sell just about anything here, despite any questionable origins, and you can order anything provided you are willing to wait - and pay for the discretion required.
Blackalbuck’s Swap Shop is a well appointed adventurers’ shop, but it is best known for the mini-market in front of the shop. Adventurers and others can lay out special items and exotic weapons for sell or trade here. Ulblyn Blackalbuck is a halfling also known to trade in information, as well as adventuring gear. By reputation, he’d be the person to connect you with legitimate business people and experts that are outside your sphere of influence.
Thoros Darkeyes, aka Thoros the Many-Daggers, is a local wizard and follower of Mystra. He is a non-adventuring wizard who trains up to 4 new wizards a year in exchange for a season’s servitude. He operates a small study and potion shop near the market. His current student and wife typically run the shop while he conducts his research in the back room. He is happy to do research or craft some minor items (potions, scrolls). Good place to shop for spell components and spellbooks.
Neroth the Fletcher, aka Neroth Seldarth, is a semi-retired, human ranger who runs a small shop in Melvaunt that caters to the discerning ranger or outdoorsy type. Originally from the Hillsfar area, he seems particularly sympathetic and welcoming to non-humans contrary to that area’s reputation. Currently, he has a lovely stock of arrows, bows of fine-craftmanship, and a few interesting cloaks, including a cloak of elvenkind.
Guilds
Guilds operate within Melvaunt and keep control of many different professions and industries. There is no formal adventurers guild, though any group operating against the interests of an established guild should expect resistance. Some guilds exist only as fronts for illegal activities. Clerics will have to deal with their respective churches and sometimes the churches of their divine rivals. Magic-users need only find masters under which to study. Rogues should expect to be contacted if they operate outside the law within the town. Fighters should expect to register as a sell-sword within the guild, as would any others who live by the blade or bow for hire.
Work for Adventurers
Regular work for beginning adventurer types is available escorting caravans to Glister. These leave at least once a month. Others leave regularly for Phlan, but most traffic is by ship to other ports. The pay isn’t much, but the opportunity for gaining experience and buying some cheap gems is often worth the risk. Kev Carter runs the Pegasus Shipping business to Glister.
Local Politics
On the local scale, the city is run by three powerful families: the Nanthers, the Bruils, and the Leiyraghons. They, through family members and alliances, control the majority of the seats of the Council of Lords. They don’t always work together though, so conflicts and impasses arise from time to time.
The Nanthers are currently recovering from the death of their patriarch, Dundeld, and former Lord Envoy of the council. In addition to the death of Dundern, the family also is dealing with the disappearance of their heir apparent, Killian. The family lives in Nanther Keep, a large castle on Melvaunt’s northeastern wall. The sudden loss of power means the family is scrambling to keep things together and appoint a suitable member to the council. The Nanthers control the Jewelers Guild and Council of Silversmiths.
The Leiyraghons hold the position of Lord Chancellor on the council. Previously, they quietly supported the Nanthers on the council, but now seek to exert their own influence. The family lives in Leiyraghon Manor, an ostentatious castle on the southeastern wall of the city. The family controls the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Shipwrights. The Leiyraghons are known for sponsoring wild parties at the temple of Lliira and are patrons of the Lliiran clergy.
The Bruil family currently holds the Lord of Keys position and thus they control the city’s 5,000 strong military. The family lives is a modest looking, ivy-covered, brick mansion at the west end of the city. The Bruils rule the Metalworkers Guild.
Recent intrigue involves a group of noble lords and ladies of the younger generation (in their 20s) teaming up to go exploring in Thar. Well equipped and supported, this group was seen to be preparing to leave for an orc fortification in early Alturiak (second month of the year).
Regional Politics and Power Groups
On the regional scale, there are a few groups that everyone in Melvaunt would be aware of to some extent. It is up to you to learn more about these groups if you think they might be relevant to your adventuring.
The Zhentarim, also known as the Black Network, is an evil organization bent on controlling lands from the Moonsea to Waterdeep. They are a network of merchants, spies, thugs and thieves that are centred in Zhentil Keep at the far western shore of the Moonsea. Citizens of Melvaunt don’t talk much about the Zhentarim, for they fear that many fellow Melvauntians are members, and most merchants in Melvaunt do in fact trade with them, however begrudgingly. Most Melvauntians still remember that the Zhentarim betrayed them and the citizens of the other independent cities of the region (Mulmaster, Thentia, Hillsfar, Yulash) when the Zhentarim took control of the citadel of the raven in 1355DR, killing or forcing out the other cities’ soldiers. While caravans of this group fly their black flag openly, most citizens fear that one day they will see an army with that flag approaching their city.
The Harpers stand in direct contrast with the Zhentarim. Secretive as individuals, yet well known enough that most citizens could name a few prominent Harpers or Harper supporters (Elminister, for one), they often work as individuals or in small groups, especially in areas like the Dalelands, Waterdeep, and the Western Heartlands. Most citizens suspect that a few watchful Harpers operate in Melvaunt, keeping tabs on the Zhentarim, and a few other nasty groups. Since the Harpers stand for good and the power of the individual, most slave merchants are wary of them, fearing that they will simply upset what is still a good trade in Melvaunt. Recent events bare this suspicion out as Harper agents have apparently made efforts to make slaving more difficult and costly.
The Cult of the Dragon is a group that adventurers hear about in taverns and alehouses around Melvaunt, but rarely anywhere else. If such a group exists, the common folk would simply be too scared to acknowledge it. Rumour has it that there are groups of cultists around Faerun that worship dragons like gods, caring for them, bringing them gold and treasure, and protecting them, not to seek their favour, but to turn them into powerful undead dracoliches. This evil group defies rational explanation and is made up primarily of wizards.
The Red Wizards of Thay are not well known in Melvaunt, but many have heard of them anyway. These wizard-foreigners from the east travel in their distinctive red robes and are sometimes spotted in Melvaunt purchasing large groups of slaves which are promptly packed up on ships that sail to the east. Merchants who have travelled to Hillsfar (across the Moonsea to the south) report that the Red Wizards set up enclaves, private estates from which they sell magical potions and items. Rumours of nasty creatures and experiments gone wrong emanate from these enclaves, but once a Red Wizard group is established, local governments have a hard time removing them. Most appear to be tolerated, but the obvious suspicion is that these enclaves are part of a more sinister infiltration plot.
Geography
Melvaunt is located on the north coast of the Moonsea, a region in central, northern Faerun. It has a cold climate, temperate summer, and conifers predominate the forests in this area.
Glister is but a small mining village in the mountains, five days to the northeast. Getting to Glister is a challenge for the average person as one must cross Thar to get there. It is an excellent source of ore for Melvaunt’s forges and a good source of gems as well.
Thar is a high plateau of marshes, rocky barrens, and desolate land known as the great gray waste. Once the site of a powerful orc kingdom, the land is still dominated by orcs, ogres, and many wild and magical creatures. The area is dotted by ruins, old fortresses, and caves - some plundered, many untouched. The people of Melvaunt fear that orcs may emerge from the Underdark in Thar and threaten the city in an organized fashion as happened in the Silver Marches two years ago.
Phlan is the nearest port to the west, also on the northern shore of the moonsea. It is an old city that has suffered many devastations over the 1000 years or so. This has resulted in the town having two separate areas, both surrounded by high walls. New Phlan is a burgeoning port city, establishing good trade relations with the other Moonsea cities while dealing with the Zhentarim influence from nearby Zhentil Keep. The old city is a walled in site of ruins which draws many adventurers and is home to the fabled Pool of Radiance.
Thentia is a rough overland trip but a quick sail to the east of Melvaunt. Much of Thentia is rough and crude but the city is noted for its powerful mage guild as well as its huge white marble temple of Selune.
Hillsfar is a few days’ sail to the south of Melvaunt. This city-state is led by a powerful mage. A high-walled city on a hill, it is a gateway to the Dalelands to the south, but is a strange place on its own. Non-humans are forbidden in the city as is anything that will interfere with trade. The First Lord Maalthiir uses the mercenaries, the Red Plumes, to control the city and keep order, even though they are often the main source of disruption and corruption in the city. Hillsfar also uses the Red Plumes to keep the area around the city clear of monsters and to harass the Zhentarim passing through the region.
Zhentil Keep, located on the western edge of the Moonsea, was once the centre of the Zhentarim and the most powerful trading city in the region. In recent years, the city has fallen in stature. Fervent followers of Bane, Zhentil Keep was taken over and subsequently purged by followers of Cyric in the years after the Time of Troubles (during which Bane was killed). That is, until four years ago when the city was ravaged by white dragons and frost giants, leaving 75% of the city in ruins. The remaining 16,000 inhabitants are dedicated to rebuilding the city’s former glory. The Zhentarim now operate primarily from the Citadel of the Raven.
The Citadel of the Raven is located inland from the Zhentil Keep, to the northwest in the Dragonspine Mountains. The citadel is the home of the Zhentarim and is also but one part of a vast stronghold of interconnected fortresses that were used to protect the cities of the Moonsea from threats from the north. A small community of refugees from Zhentil Keep has sprung up around the citadel.
Mulmaster is a relatively isolated city on the eastern end of the Moonsea. Recently, it has joined the Zhentarim and is a den of crime and corruption. It is about 50% larger than Melvaunt and no right-minded citizen would want to travel there. Merchants still see it as a lucrative trading partner, especially for ship-building, and as a final port of call on the Moonsea before sailing south on the river Lis, to the Dragon Reach and the Sea of Fallen Stars.
Smaller cities and towns in the region include Hulburg and Elmwood.
People of Melvaunt and the Region
NiDel the Ranger (Rob’s PC) grew up as a hunter is the region around Melvaunt. He survived a traumatic encounter with orcs as a boy and now treats them as his sworn enemies. To date, he’s worked briefly as a caravan guard, a dire wolf hunter, and tackled bandits on behalf of the Gerrards of Phlan. He is currently looking for the tomb of Vorbyx, the legendary king of Thar.
Kathryn Faithblade is a regular adventurer (Cleric NPC) with the group. She is one of the Martyr’s Progeny, the children of Tantras that were spared when Torm battled Bane in Tantras during the Time of Troubles. All of the adults sacrificed themselves giving Torm enough power to destroy Bane. She was sent to Melvaunt to be raised by distant relatives. Her goal is to build a temple to Torm as he is not well-known in the Moonsea region.
Bernard “The Tank” Silverstrike is also a regular adventurer (Fighter NPC) with the group. He trained briefly with the town militia, then worked a few months as a caravan guard for Kev Carter. A bit brash and a bit impulsive, he is slowly learning the discipline necessary to be an effective power in a fight. Thus far, he is thrilled to be adventuring and being able to upgrade his gear so quickly.
Udolalann “Alan” Tarmikos (also an NPC) is an odd sort for Melvaunt. A half-elf who’s not really the thieving type, he is a talented and skilled individual who seems adept at many different tasks. Light on his feet and very alert, he figures that adventuring is his only ticket out of Melvaunt and the cold North.
Gumbar W., a dwarven cleric of Clangeddin Silverbeard and twin brother of Bargum W., joined the party in early Alturiak, replacing his fallen twin.
Ras Cahl (Tom’s PC) is a sometimes member of the party and wizard who studied under Thoros Darkeyes. His studies continue, but he occasionally replaces Alan or Bernard on outings. To date, he’s done one trip to Glister to procure gems for Thoros and hired himself out clearing rats in warehouses and basements.
Thoros Darkeyes, aka Thoros Many-Daggers, runs a potion and scroll shop near the market. He trains apprentices in exchange for a season’s servitude working in his shop. His former students carry a trademark dagger. Will often hire adventures to procure gems from Glister for him.
Ulblyn Blackalbuck runs Blackalbuck’s Swap Shop. He seems to be a good source of contacts and information, especially for the history of the region. He’s also able to get his hands on a decent amount of expensive goods, if the PCs have the coin to spend.
Hermuk of Hermuk’s Allgoods equipment shop also can get anything the PCs need, or need to get rid of. He is well connected to the underground and is rumoured to trade in illegal items like poison.
Kev Carter is the coster for Melvaunt’s primary caravan company, Pegasus Shipping. He conducts a monthly run to Glister for gems and ores, and weekly trips to Phlan for other commodities and passengers. He regularly hires adventures to work as caravan guards.
Agememnon Stowfield and his son run a sheep farm at the edge of Thar on the Glister Road. NiDel the Ranger has befriended Stowfield and is welcome at any time. Stowfield’s simply a poor farmer who is too tied to the land and his flock to manage to do any better.
Aluora the Druid lives in the forests to the west and northwest of Melvaunt. When last seen, she had rescued a number of young dire wolves from a Orc outpost in Thar. Suffering a bit from the life of isolation, she could be a valuable ally at some point.
Corkin Markov is a well known and somewhat flamboyant blacksmith in Melvaunt. He is well connected and services many important clients. Likely a good source of information and an expert smith for anyone looking for masterwork items.
Neroth Seldarth, a semi-retired retired adventurer operates a fletcher’s and ranger outfitters shop near the Melvaunt market. He moved to Melvaunt after growing tired of Hillsfar’s poor attitude toward non-humans and elves in particular.
Mr and Mrs Gerrard are an older couple that recently moved from Melvaunt to a large estate in New Phlan. NiDel the Ranger and his friends helped them after they were beset by bandits on their trip to Phlan.
Hall of Heroes
Bargum W., was a clever dwarven cleric of Clangeddin Silverbeard, who found the party while travelling through Thar. He played an instrumental role in the battle with a troll skeleton at Vorbyx’ false tomb, being the one to fell the beast. He was also responsible for saving Kathryn and Bernard when healing was much needed. Alas, when the party met a living troll in a driving sleet storm on the way back to Melvaunt, he was torn in two in a most violent fashion.
Monstrous Notes
“Large zombies, such as those made from the corpses of ogres, are hard to destroy, but they can still be turned. Their hides resist arrows and crossbow bolts, but seem to be easy enough to tackle using slashing weapons.” - Kathryn Faithblade
“Large skeletons, like that beastly troll we found in Vorbyx’s false tomb, don’t turn particularly well, at least not for me. They also seem impervious to arrows, bolts, and sharp weapons. A good club just might be the thing for their bony remains.” - Kathryn Faithblade
“My fancy armour is no match for swarms of tiny insects. They seem to find places to bite where no sword would ever go. Nor does my blade do any good. It’s like striking air. A good torch does the trick, but persistence is needed.” - Bernard Silverstrike
“Trolls. Again with the trolls. Easy enough to take down in a straight up fight, but why don’t we ever carry oil for burning the remains? I fear we will see more of these creatures (or more of the same troll over and over again) if we aren’t sure we’ve destroyed the remains each and every time.” - Nidel the Ranger