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    Mowbrenn at a Glance
    Posted on Sun, May 16, 2004 by Farcluun
    wavescrest writes "Supplemental to the Postfest Place of Mystery this is a writeup on Mowbrenn, as appeared in the Crimson Ascendant campaign (the first few logs of which are available on this website also).

    Unlike the Places of Mystery Writeup this is set in 585 CY, when Blackmar is still Count, but a lot of the events (Blood Cult, rat-fiend etc.) are still going on. It does however give the truth of Mowbrenn's Flan history - which lies somewhere between Marquel and Sekkar's skewed histories.

    Mowbrenn at a Glance
    By: wavescrest
    Used with Permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission from the author.

    Mowbrenn at a Glance

    Authority Figures: Count Blackmar Huldane human male (Count of the Black Mark); Sir Quaralanth human male (Seneschal of Mowbrenn);

    Important Figures: Jerrus Malstronn, human male (Captain of the Blackguard), Radmac Laddeman, human male (owner of the Teller of Tidings), Laszoralh Entarath (Darornstae magus).

    Religious Figures: Agrin Forastar (Glaive Virtuous of Heironeous), Duvend Newrak (High Acquirer of Zilchus) Faric Luthinson (Shining Paragon of Pholtus), Barrishae Hunrand (Proclaimer of Nerull), Cirimyre (Epoch of Labelas Enoreth, owner of the Grey Bow Inn), Brenderris (Racondite of Boccob).

    OVERVIEW
    Mowbrenn is a walled city of 19,000 people located on the main trade route, north of Rel Mord. It consists of the main town, built on what is called the Greater Mound, actually an unusually large hill, divided by a second wall into the classic Oeridian architecture of the Old Town and the New Town, where taxation and oppression have put tempers on a knife-edge.
    The second mound, the Lesser Mound, is home to a small community of the poor, destitute and displaced makes a dingy shantytown upon the second hill.
    Count Blackmar Huldane is a harsh, repressive ruler who extracts every copper owed to him from his cowed subjects, who live in fear of his brutish militia troops. Huldane, a war hero of the Almorian campaigns, was never so cruel and tyrannical before the wars; but then, he is not the man he used to be.
    The power behind Huldane's throne is the sinister adviser, Sir Quarlanth who gained a high reputation for himself as a tactical adviser to Huldane in wartime. This disguised priest of Hextor often knew exactly what the enemy would be doing, from information given by fiendish sources.
    Mowbrenn has become a city infested with dark cults in its secret places and undercity, and victims disappear into the night shadows never to be seen again.
    Archbold does not examine the rumors of this city too closely, since demanded monies are paid and the king himself has seen Blackmar slay fiend and foe in battle. How could he now be cruel and unjust?

    HISTORY
    Where the fortress city of Mowbrenn stands this day, upon the two hills known as the Mounds once stood the Flan city of Brennreth Lal, or the Sleeping Earth. Mowbrenn is in fact an Oeridian corruption of Moundbrenn, in turn a corruption of Brennreth Lal. The fateful history of that city is known only to a few, such as Sir Quaralanth, and a few rare members of the Sagacious Society, and Cirimyre of the Grey Bow, who once walked within the spires of Brennreth Lal before it sank beneath the earth of the Greater Mound.
    Olves and Flan once lived in harmony in the city of Brennreth Lal until an Ur mystic came from the Lands of the Eastern Shores, and did win the confidence of the Lord of Brennreth Lal, whispering in his ear promises of untold powers and slowly corrupting him.
    Seeing the shadow fall upon his father, the Warden of the Northern Marches sent emissaries to Brennreth Lal from his northern keep, for he was a follower of the Mask of Serenity. When the emissaries’ heads were returned to the Keep, the Spiral of Madness enruned upon its skull, the Warden did see that he must take up arms and prevent the degeneration of his people.
    Marching at the head of his host upon Brennreth Lal, the Warden was beset by sorcerery, for the Ur’s enchantments had wormed their way into the mind of either side of the battle, sending them into a beserk fury, a state of madness, that they tore at each others throats, slaying kinsman and friends alike. The streets of Brennreth Lal became a madhouse, and only the Warden and the cackling Ur, whose evil laughter resonated through the alleys and undercity of Brennreth Lal remained in control.
    In the confusion the Warden gained the Citadel. There, hoping to reason with his father he was forced to slay him. Taking his father’s body he travelled the ancestral catacombs and interred the Lord within the centre of Brennreth Lal’s undercity. As the Warden neared the conclusion of the internment ceremony to the Oerth Mother, the Dark Robed One’s impaled the Warden upon a black obsidian spear and entered the sanctified shrine to Beory to defile the Lord – that he may walk again under shadow – the city of Brennreth Lal sank into the very earth. This was the last act of the Warden, a puissant priest of the Oerth Mother, a desperate and powerful prayer to his mistress as his lifeblood ebbed out onto the cavern floor.
    Shunned by the surviving Flan, this monument became home to a keep built upon by invading Oeridians, little knowing what lurked beneath their fortifications and the city that later came, or the festering undercity of Brennreth Lal.
    As for the Warden’s keep – nature requires balance – and as the mound had been borne of Beory’s bounty the Warden’s lands became harsh and barren. When the Aerdi conquests swept into Nyrond the Mounds were awarded to the House of Huldane. The defeated Flan called the Lord of Mowbrenn the Lords of the Black Mark out of superstition, and the Warden’s keep upon the borders of the ancient principality became known as Barren Keep.

    LOCALES OF NOTE
    At the highest point of the Mound, known as Sharphill, lies Castle Blackmar, and within are also the verdant grasslands of the Gardens. A neglected shrine to Ehlonna lies here, once tended by Cunal Blackmar, but now shattered by the rages of a Count who has disowned his son. Beyond the Castle lies the Temple of Pholtus, lit by divinely charged light globes. The Count is known to favour Pholtus.
    A small fortress in the western district of town serves as the Temple of Heironeous. It is well known the Glaive Virtuous Agrin strongly disapproves of the actions of the Count, but is bound by age-old oaths of loyalty to House Huldane.
    The largest inn within Mowbrenn is the Teller of Tidings, owned by one Radmac Laddeman. Conversely the least frequented tavern is one called the Grey Bow Inn, owned by Cirimyre of Labelas – though only a select few know this. A safe haven for the Olves seeking the Leaving very few of the rooms of this place are open to non-Olves. The Moonbow of Sehanine is long upon Cirimyre and soon he too must journey eastwards to meet his destiny.
    The Undercity, the almost unrecognizable remnants of Brennreth Lal, was used as a secret tunnel by agents of the Mowbrenn Crimelord, until something else took root within the Undercity and began eating his men. Now only the most desperate or insane will travel the secret paths between Lesser Mound and Greater Mound by this route.

    PLOTS AFOOT
    The militia within Mowbrenn has degenerated into a merciless group of thugs. Called the Blackguard, these men have traditionally worn black tinted mail and helms to symbolize their loyalty to the Count of the Black Mark. Now the black mail has become a symbol of fear as they exact the King’s harsh taxes from the populace.
    A blood cult operates out of the Undercity of Mowbrenn, including such luminaries as Jerrus and Redmac, with the full blessing and knowledge of Sir Quaralanth. Desperate and starving peasants are encouraged to bleed themselves over a small shrine to the Lord of Slaughter, in return for which they receive money and the protection of the Cult. The leader is one known as the Blooded One, called because his mail is stained with the blood of the innocents. What the blood is being used for is unknown.
    A half-rat hybrid Tanar’ri keeps the cult’s activities in the Undercity safe from the prying eyes of Mowbrenn’s once-thriving thieves’ guild. This foul and unholy construct of rat-flesh is a gift from Quaralanth’s fiendish master, Szeffrin. It has begun to prey on the drunk and homeless out of neglect by its master.
    Cunal Huldane, the Count’s estranged son has been disinherited and outlawed by the Count. He denounced the barbarism of the Blackguard in exacting money from the peasantry and was rewarded by being ostracized from his father’s circle of advisors.

    Places of Interest

    1. Castle Blackmar and Gardens
    2. Temple of Pholtus
    3. Temple of Heironeous
    4. Temple of Zilchus
    5. Temple of Pelor
    6. Temple of Rao
    7. Temple of Boccob
    8. Temple of Nerull
    9. The Grey Bow Inn
    10. The Teller of Tidings Tavern
    11. The Traveller’s Shrine (Fharlanghn)

     

    POSTFEST: Two From the Marklands

    "
     
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    Glad To See This Article (Score: 1)
    by Greyson on Tue, May 18, 2004
    (User Info | Send a Message) http://www.donkbrown.com
    Cool, I am glad to see this article, companion to Two from the Marklands, posted. I enjoyed the first half of Two from the Marklands a lot and I am excited to learn more of Wavecrest's take on this central Nyrondese city. Is there is city map of Mowbrenn available? A map to accompany these two good articles will be a nice "finishing touch."

    Also, do you have statistics, in v.3.5, of the personalities in these two articles?

    I think you have developed a very interesting and plausible history and contemporaty status (at least to 585 CY) of Mowbrenn. Good job. Keep us posted on further developments as you see them in this area of Nyrond.



    Re: Glad To See This Article (Score: 1)
    by WavesCrest on Mon, May 24, 2004
    (User Info | Send a Message) http://www11.brinkster.com/greyhawk
    There's a map somewhere on my hard drive IIRC.


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