Sulsàdter

The Southswall

  • Ruler(s):
    • King Adállar the Strong
    • High Análov II
    • Pirétt Cansàda
    • Lord Hērèd Dacard
    • King Talás d’Adkul
    • Master Nashèm Delèctar
    • Fral Dēmur
    • King Hordun the Mad
    • Lord Jaccan
    • Warmaster Serrèd Kerrèdze
    • Kiriz One-Eye
    • Nādàs Kluman
    • Kon Jækor Kòrjon
    • Lord Borm Ordol
    • Palar of Nevern
    • Lady Pallàd Palor
    • Dæmárōs Potter
    • Crūl Rìttenrètor
    • Oshlèp Rundèryrn
    • Lord Tardmer
    • Queen Tenàva
    • Keldàr Ðallàsmar
    • Queen Tirrep
    • Hermàst Trū
    • Vānam the Seer
    • Wandal the First
    • Elzwàr Yang
    • Fōél Zâd the Black
  • Notables: Felred the Blind, Feldèn Karsas

The area to the south of the City of Oð is without doubt the most turbulent and dangerous in the region. Laying in the shadows of the City and its towering walls, the Southswall has existed for centuries, a seething cauldron of poor, disgruntled, hopeless people struggling against one another for survival. The Southswall is bordered to the north by the City’s south wall and its mysterious guardians. It is bordered to the south by the Ghûlwood, the inhospitable Morén Nōdrul, and the nigh impassable Tor’n Evalshat. The Southswall is bordered to the west by the dark and dismal Inùnda Dul and the Standing Militia; the longest standing army of the region’s history. To the east the notorious Dagger Peninsula, and the Mar Dèkali complete the envelope. It is accepted that those born within, never leave but by dying.

The region is divided into twenty-nine small holdings called nurōm. In one form or another, these independent fiefdoms have existed since the fall of the Empire. Loyalties to the nurōma are fierce, and the resulting skirmishes often determine who eats and who doesn’t. Conflicts between the nurōma determine land ownership, resources, and food. Each nurōm is ruled by a warlord, ruler, or council. Few maintain a standing army, though most can muster a small fighting force with a horn’s blow.

The people of the Southswall are very poor. People’s lives are lived without a single silver passing through their hands. This abject poverty is the stimulus for all that happens in the region. The land is unsuitable for mass cultivation and the water supply (except along the Run Dul) is filthy and diseased.

Moving through the region requires an in-depth and up-to-date knowledge of its underhanded politics and dynamics. Though some alliances have withstood time’s test, others rise and fall with changing needs. Most recently, Karsas-nurōm was invaded, destroyed, and divided between Brennad, Shekkled, and Sulurd. The leader, Feldèn Karsas, somehow escaped the conflict and is believed to be harbored by allies in Shūl-Deð-nurōm. As of 3 Eren 652 DR, a price of 20 Oðári talas was been placed on his head to tempt his protectors to kill him. It is assumed that his Shūl-Deð allies would gladly offer him up, if they thought the reward would be paid.

Cities, Towns, and Villages

Landmarks

Nurōma

  • Adkul. King Talas d’Adkul, Son of Felred the Blind. Adkul was once part of Caleð, before the Civil War that split that nurōm in 580 DR. Adkul is now one of the more prosperous nurōma (second to Velorn), situated along the South Gate road. Adkùli bandits are expert ambushers, able to attack and subdue small caravans quickly. Often, Adkùlyr find themselves skirmishing with Velorn raiding parties for the same rolling resources.
  • Baraz. Elzwàr Yang. The people of Baraz are quite poor, having no source of income and no real resources. In the autumn of every year, a small army is raised to plunder neighboring Nevern and sometimes foray into the hills of Dūvell. In ages past, an heiress to the Baraz “throne” was kidnapped by the Nevern, imprisoned, enslaved, and killed. Since that time the Barázyr have sought the destruction of the Nevern. The nurōma however, are too evenly matched to ensure a decisive victory for either. A battle would only result in the victor being so weakened that neighboring nurōma would sweep in and claim them both.
  • Bûne. Kiriz One-Eye. Formed during the division of Barrock in 596 DR, the nurōm of Bûne has remained a warlike community since that time, picking conflicts with Karelt, Sulurd, and Kulm. The Kulmyr are too well defended to be defeated, the people of Karelt deal in poisons, but the Sulurd may fall beneath the next onslaught from Bûne. Kiriz has learned of Adállar the Strong’s (see Fulgrom) push to unite the nurōma, but would only concede if he were appointed leader of the combined armies, a doubtful outcome that could draw Fulgrom and Bûne into war should Kulm adhere itself to the war-engine of Fulgrom.
  • Calánar. Oshlèp Rundèryrn. Many contest whether Calánar is a part of the Southswall or rather a separate entity. The semi-wooded nurōm does not suffer the same effects as most other nurōma. Its people, though not wealthy, rarely are hungry and only seem desperate in their dealings with other nurōma. The Calánaryr are friendly with the people of Skurn and Warlen, and often trade with both. Calánaryr are decent navigators of the Inùnda Dul and often act as intermediaries for the people of Qōluð.
  • Caleð. Queen Tirrep. Kry Caleð is one of the most impressive structures within all of the Southswall. A fortified manor of ancient construction, the House of Caleð has remained in the same ruling family for over 500 years, making its lineage older than the line of Rott. During the Succession Wars of 580 DR (Adkul) and 625 DR (Jaccànar), the keep has never fallen to enemy forces. Caleð is valuable land in the Southswall as its ancient wells still produce clean water which is sold to neighboring nurōma for five silver a bucket. The Caléðari guard are among the most elite of the Southswall’s standing armies. Though their numbers are not large, they are well-equipped and fed.
  • Cêderess. Keldàr Ðallàsmar. The people of Cêderess are known for their strange stares and hairless bodies. For countless years they have made a practice of the ritually shaving their bodies, while nurōm men engage in intricate tattooing. Many of Cêderess are trained in the ways of the Chaos, though very few to any potent degree. Most males and some women are adept at crafting cantrips. Cêderess, though ruled by Keldar, makes most decisions by a Council of Elders.
  • Culpæth. King Hordun the Mad. One of the largest nurōma, Culpæth exists on the rocky hillsides that eventually become the Morén Nōdrul in the southern Southswall. Though not very arable land, the people of Culpæth are farmers. The land supports a small amount of crops and families due to hidden underground springs near every house cluster dotting the hillsides. King Hordun lives in a clay and stone house that is covered in black ivy. The ivy blossoms with light blue flowers every spring and fall, filling the air surrounding his home with a fine blue pollen dust. The dust has a bizarre effect on the King, sending him dancing and singing across the countryside. During such times, the people of Culpæth often have to track down their King and bring him home. Hordun has ventured as far as Lunren in his mad dance, before being captured and returned.
  • Dednenn. Master Nashèm Delèctar. If Dednenn has ever had military problems, no one remembers them. There is nothing in Dednenn that is desirable. A stream used to flow here from the Morén Nōdrul but has since been dammed (circa 410 DR) by the farmers of Dūvell and shunted by the irrigation canals of surrounding Warlen. Dednenn is a dry place with few plants or inhabitants. A few residents live in caves along the south Dūvell border. The cavers harvest mushrooms and retrieve precious water deep within their holes. A mineral in the cave water is unhealthy however, so few Dednènnyr live past twenty-five years of age, and most of them die blind.
  • Dūvell. Queen Tenàva. Dūvell is a rocky land with a few irrigated farms along its southern border with Warlen. Some inhabitants have established their homes in the Morén Nōdrul to the south and west. Dūvell is a land of caves, most of which are connected by deep passageways and natural chambers. The caves of Dūvell do not naturally open to the surface, but rather are accessed by old mine tunnels scattered throughout the nurōm. The Dūvèllyr suffer the same ill-effects of tainted water as do the people of Dednenn; though no passable connections between the two cavern systems has been found.
  • Fērd. Lord Hērèd Dacard. The people of Fērd are notorious for their appetite for battle. Their homes are built of stone hauled from the Morén Nōdrul, and their walls are kept on constant alert. The towers of Fērd, though not tall by Oðári standards, are distinguishable from the Southswall “skyline” from the City Walls. Military training is an important aspect of life in the nurōm of Fērd, with all adults trained with a weapon.
  • Fulgrom. King Adállar the Strong. Fulgrom was a simple community until 640 DR when Adállar stole the “throne” from his father, Bellàrad the Deposed. Adállar’s goal was straightforward and won him much support in nurōma outside Fulgrom. His goal is to unite the nurōma of Southswall and to overtake the surrounding towns of Genter, Warlen, Skurn, and Erhet. From Erhet he hopes to launch an invasion of the western fertile lands. Adállar would not be the first to do this, nor will he be the last to try. Under his rule, Fulgrom has acquired the western nurōm of Kall and seems to welcome Kulm and Irswal into the fold, by force if necessary. Adállar is getting old (almost 30) and knows his time is running out if he wants to launch an invasion into the western lands. People who offered their support for the cause years ago are beginning to suspect he won’t follow through with his plans. Other than the high hopes of its leader and the people of Fulgrom, the nurōm is as poor as the others surrounding it.
  • Irik. Lord Tardmer. Irik is an unremarkable nurōm except for its lack of conflict. The area is thought be many to be owned by either Kulm or possibly Bûne and is not known to be independent, which is how it has existed for nearly sixty years. During the 596 DR division of Barrock, three nurōma were formed; Bûne, Irik and Karelt. Each of these new nurōma were claimed by an heir of the dead Barrock leader. The Iríkyr are suspicious of their western neighbors (the Qōluðyr) but trade (when they have something to trade) with Karelt and Kulm.
  • Irswal. Fōél Zâd the Black. Irswal is a land of starving and diseased persons. The last few years have caused more death and despair than usual in the nurōm, leading its lord Fōél Zâd the Black into considering Adállar the Strong’s offer to become part of a larger state. His people are desperate for some kind of help though it could mean the end of his family’s almost 230 year rule of the nurōm. Over the last few years, Fōél Zâd has constructed a sizable shrine to the dark god Evìssor, pleading with the deity to relieve the hunger and suffering of his people. Rumors have circulated that on moonless nights, Foel’s servants have brought him children from neighboring nurōma to sacrifice on the bone altar of Evìssor.
  • Jaccànar. Lord Jaccan, son of Jaccànar the Disobedient. A splinter nurōm of ancient Caleð, Jaccànar sits in the dark shadow of the City Wall. Lord Jaccan’s hires out his soldiers, well-trained descendants of the Caleðári guards, to other nurōma. Jaccan has recently been trying to shore up alliances with Fulgrom and Cêderess against the Palóryr to the south. Until this time, Jaccànar has been on good terms with Palor, but feels (as do others) that the Palóryr charge too much for the crops that they grow.
  • Karelt. Crūl Rìttenrètor. Karelt is a well-to-do area with permanent structures surrounded by some clinging poverty. Fishing can be productive along the shores of the Inùnda Dul. The flowers are processed secretly to produce some the deadliest poisons in Oð. Karelt’s most widely sought poison is Whitekiss.
  • Kulm. Warmaster Serrèd Kerrèdze. Kulm remains as it was left several centuries ago following a great and terrible war. A good-sized town once stood here and its stone walls and streets remain in ruins. The town is rebuilt with wood scraps and weed thatching. The people of Kulm are adept at night raids on neighboring nurōma. Recently, Adállar of Fulgrom has offered to “join” forces with Kulm to unite the people of Southswall. Kerrèdze is not fully supportive of this idea, nor are his people who are much more adept at taking produce from others than growing and making it themselves. The promise of moving into the western lands offers some promise to Kerredze, who has heard tales that the lands are bountiful and without end. Such are the legends of Southswall. Kerrèdze might also welcome Adállar’s proposals if it were agreed that Kulm’s bothersome neighbor Bûne, would be destroyed as a test of the combined army’s power.
  • Lāvek. Wandal the First. This small community creates small wooden crafts to sell along the road from Warlen to Genter. They do not get much business (most merchants are afraid of bandits) but the wood-crafts are very intricate and beautiful. Small dolls, statuettes, gaming pieces, and utensils all show excellent workmanship. All items are carved from the woody Etùcū bushes which grow abundantly along all the hillsides of Lāvek. The bushes produce small inedible berries.
  • Lunren. Hermàst Trū. Lunren consists of three hills which are usually dotted with a few sheep and shepherds. The shepherds of Lunren, as might be expected, carry spears and knives. Between the hills are clustered some small huts and shanties in the midst of which rises a large tent. All the huts and shanties are connected by tarps creating a large spidering structure with dozens of winding warrens.
  • Nevern. Palar of Nevern. A poor nurōm who not only fights starvation and disease, but has been engaged in endless feuding with Baraz for several decades. The feud began when the leader of Nevern commanded the kidnapping of the daughter of the leader of Biraz. The kidnapping was successful and the woman was brought to the Hole of Nevern where she was imprisoned until her death. As a prisoner, she was used to bear five children, the progenitors to the current line of rules in Nevern. Following her death, Baraz insisted that her bones be returned, but the children could not allow the bones of their mother to leave their “homeland”. The Hole of Nevern is a large well that has been dug over the years. None of the caves of Dūvell seem to cross into Nevern, and all buildings built above-ground in Nevern are razed by the Barázyr.
  • Ordol. Lord Borm Ordol. Ordol is one of the more prosperous internal nurōma of the Southswall. The borders of Ordol change every few years with neighbors attempting to claim some of Ordol’s fertile land as their own. Historically, this rarely lasts long as the Ordolin soldiers often reclaim their lands quickly, and re-draw nurōm borders to their own advantage. Ordol has no standing army, and “mints” its own currency of red iron coins. Ordòli coins have been honored within Oð’s city walls where they are often traded at face value. Ordol claims to have a small reserve of gold, silver, and treasures to back their red coins. The coins are created by some secret means which gives them a red cast, though when wet they temporarily revert to black. As usual, counterfeiters are sought by the Merchants’ Guild (one of the few times the Guild ever interferes with Southswall affairs) and killed. Weapons fashioned with the “red iron” are thought to be stronger than those forged regularly.
  • Palor. Lady Pallàd Palor. The Palóryr are renowned throughout the Southswall as owning and defending some of the richest farmland of the region (second only to Ordol and possibly Varnt). Many feel the Palóryr charge too much for the produce they sell.
  • Qōluð. Kon Jækor Kòrjon. The Qōlùðyr are a strange people with darker skin than most of the pale and sickly inhabitants of the Southswall. Their language is obscure and few learn Oðic or its derivatives (such as Swallish). Many believe the people are cursed to speak nonsense, and do not know any better. Neighboring Calánar knows better, trading often with the excellent boaters, who know how to find mushrooms, flowers and animals in the Inùnda Dul with great expertise, and few fatalities. It is not uncommon to meet Qōlùði canoe expeditions throughout the Inùnda Dul, except in the most dangerous areas of the swamp. The Qōlùðyr have lived here as long as anyone can remember.
  • Sudwol. Pirétt Cansàda. The nurōm of Sudwol consists of a small cluster of ramshackle stone and sod buildings. The place is a haven for thieves and hideout for bandits and other criminals. To this end, it is “illegal” to light candles in Sudwol or lift the hoods and masks of inhabitants that one finds there. Identity is private, and respected above all else. The area of Sudwol, like that of Takað and Ūnnùs Mīkeð are hilly, with deep clay reserves. Sudwol has been overtaken twice since its founding. The first time, the nurōm of Fērd invaded and completely overtook the nurōm in 395 DR. Lord Teeder of Fērd was found dead that night in his house, and Sudwol was shortly thereafter abandoned. In 436 DR, a family of shapers from Ūnnùs Mīkeð moved into the land, settling at the base of a southerly hill. In the morning all were found spiked into the clay soil, and ritually bled to death. The lesson was eventually learned, that some of the nurōm were best left alone.
  • Takað. Vānam the Seer. Takað is a nurōm of fishermen. Old sailors have been known to settle in Takað and along the inlet south of Dagger Peninsula. Takað does much business with the people fo Genter and the Peninsula. They are renown for shellfish fishing, the old shells of which line their streets and alleys. Vanam the Seer is an old woman who has been the leader of Takað for over thirty years, so very very few can remember a time when she was not their leader. In 485 DR, a Vānam the Seer foretold and helped repel an “invasion” from Ūnnùs Mīkeð, but it is believed that each successive leader assumes the old name.
  • Ūnnùs Mīkeð. Dæmárōs Potter. Dæmárōs is a ceramic craftsman and a priest of Roð. Ūnnùs Mīkeð boasts the best clay in the region for pottery and ceramics. Not much grows in the soil, so the area was never been ripe for invasion. The people of Ūnnùs Mīkeð are not warriors. Most live in clay brick houses and are proficient crafters. As a Pryn Roð, Dæmárōs sometimes ventures to Kyrm Oryroð to report on the state of affairs throughout the Southswall. It is believed that he is compensated for this information.
  • Varássa. Nādàs Kluman. Varássa is a small nurōm of farmers. Their leader, Nadas, is an unordained Pryn Kændlan though not friendly with Análov of Varnt. Varássa was once a much larger nurōm, but has lost borderlands to Ordol, Fulgrom, and Irswal over the centuries.
  • Varnt. High Análov II. Varnt is believed to be the most fertile land in the Southswall, though the Varntyr do not export their produce. The nurōm is traditionally ruled by an unordained Pryn Kændlan and is irrigated by the Run Dul to the north. These irrigation lanes are guarded by Varntàri soldiers who have learned their lessons in years passed.
  • Velorn. Fral Dēmur. Despite lying almost entirely in the shadow of the City Wall, Velorn is probably the wealthiest of the nurōma. The nurōm preys upon the gates of South Gate and Highgate, ambushing caravans and merchant trains with speedy efficiency (matched only be those of Adkul). It is due to the Velorn that South Gate is now used so infrequently. Merchants and traders that wish to venture to Genter or distant Ōddon, hire guards and armed entourages to ward off the bandits of Velorn. The Velórnyr do not engage these, waiting instead for the inevitable kudom-pinching merchant, who believes that he can make it through with fast fresh horses and few guards. It is not believed that Fral Dēmur actually lives in Velorn, though he has been seen there occasionally.
  • Wūdun. None. Perhaps the most bleak of the Southswall nurōm, Wūdun consists of a few scattered tents and huts erected across a barren area. Wūdun is a place where outcasts from the outcasts of Southswall came to die, but many just lingered instead. It is told that in ages past, a man from the place that would become Wūdun ventured very far into the world and returned with a chip from a Wōd holy place that he’d stolen from the protectors of that place. He brought it home in the hopes that it would revive the life of the place, and buried it deep within the dry soil. In the months to follow a blight settled over the region and all the animals, people and plants of what is now Wūdun (meaning “Wōd damned”) soon perished, leaving a dry and lifeless skeleton of a landscape. During this time, the man dug holes in the dirt and rock to retrieve and return the chip of stone he’d buried but he never found it. To this day, the area seems damned, and covered with small timeless craters, evidence of the man’s fruitless labors.