Tethyr is a feudal kingdom nestled in the southern edge of the Sword Coast between the merchantile empire of Amn and the exotic realm of Calimshan.

Dominated on its Northern Border by the Forest of Tethir (since renamed by the locals as the Wealdath), the woods technically are within the boundaries of the kingdom but an ancient agreement with the elves within has them effectively as extranational territories. As is a common expression in Tethyr, the elves care not about the rule of man.

Its history is a long series of border tensions and strife with its neighbors. Corruption leaks up from the south and ambitious Amn is always looking to expand southward.




Major Events

1358 DR - The Time of Troubles where the god of gods, Ao, cast down all deities of the realm and forced them to walk as mortals (albeit incredibly powerful ones). This disruption caused clerics to lose all access to the divine, magic to go all awry and resulted in some huge shifts in power as ambitious mortals struck down the living gods to assume their protfolios.

1385 DR - The Spellplague - the ascended god Cyric slew Mystra, goddess of magic resulting in the very fabric of magic to unravel. This resulted in the spellplagues where storms of raw magical power devastated and reshaped the lands.

1468 DR - The Wise Queen Anais Rhinduan defeats her sister to maintain her control of the kingdom.

1469 DR - The Children's Massacre where all children of House Rhinduan were murdered in a single night, except for Queen Anais' niece, Yvonne

1482-1488 DR - The Second Sundering - starting with the long dead god of murder, Bhal, arose to retake his portfolio to the flying city of Netheril being crashed into Myth Drannor this time period was full of giant natural disasters, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, extreme rainfall or droughts as well as near constant war across the realms as old feuds were reignited in the chaos that followed.

1489 DR- The Current Year. The Wise Queen Anais Rhinduan dies peacefully in her sleep and her niece is crowned as Queen Ysabel Linden. Almost immediately a third of the nobility threaten to rise up against her claiming her mother was behind the Children's Massacre twenty years ago.

While civil war has not broken out yet with her reign already disputed it has put the new Queen in a precarious situation with Amn once again growing ambitious along their Northern border and some kind of turmoil among the elves of the Wealdath causing them to withdraw into their hidden cities and leave the vast bulk of the forests ungoverned.

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Notable NPCs

Queen Ysabel Linden - a woman in her mid-twenties who had been groomed since birth by two different teachers to be the heir, she should have had a much easier transition but several noble factions are rising up to challenge her based upon the crimes her mother committed during the last civil war.

Duke Nulledd Haedrek - Duke of the Crown Lands. Distant cousin to the Queen but very old. His elder sons are all vying with one another to take control once death has finally finished taking him.

Countess Evri Randuvrakt - Countess of Varyth. Relatively new to aristocracy, it is n open secret that her wealthy merchantile father bought his way into the nobility and then spent his coin to advance them further. She seems to be exactly like him and has been moving around their considerable wealth to garner more support among the other counts for a potential challenge to the Duchy's rulership.

Baron Jolder Spire - Baron of Spire Keep. A well-respected minor noble, he and his whole family were massacred a month ago by a wild orc band that snuck into the city and looted the castle.

Lord Barrist Saxton Acting Regent of Spire Keep. With the entire family dead and the line of succession broken, Baron Spire's Lord Marshall has taken over the reigns while the scholars search for a new heir.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:05, Sat 09 Mar 2019.

Ashford is a small hamlet of ~200 residents. The majority of them are farmers working the surrounding fields but Ashford itself is a small town nestled on the Eastern side of the Wealdath Forest near the head of the River of Sulduskoon.

Historically this area was a tiny sliver of land that was under the rule of the Baron Spire who served the Count of Varyth who in turn served the Duke of the Crown Lands that reported up to the Queen of Tethyr.

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Notable NPCs

• Mayor Osric - Cheesewright and baker, owner of the stables and the general store. Osric is in his early fifties, rotund, and fancies himself a captain of industry. He’d like to see Gravesford grow and to become famous for something noteworthy, and sometimes lets these ambitions carry him away. But he is a good man who, when times are hard, cares more for his neighbors than his reputation.
  
  
• Ostler Hamm - A tall thin man who runs the stables for Osric. Is reluctant to sell or lend his horses to anyone he doesn’t know. Usually relies on Osric to make the call when strangers need a horse.
  
  
• Millicent and Belle - Two sisters in their early thirties who run the store for Osric. Millicent is married to a farmer in the country and is generally a fusspot who wants to make sure customers are well supplied with anything they might need and perhaps one or two things they don’t. Belle is happily unmarried and enjoys negotiating with the local carters to make sure the store is well stocked.
  
  
• Jago the Smith - His smithy is a popular hangout for the men of the town who’d like a spot of ale without having to listen to the farmers relaxing in the inn. Jago has long black hair and enjoys talking as he’s always telling a story about the most recent weirdos who passed through looking for someone to straighten a sword or pound out the dents in their armor.
  
  
• Morgouse the Carpenter - She was once Morgouse the Weaver until her husband died and she decided to take over the family business. Soft-spoken and industrious, she sees the wooden shops and houses as basically just another kind of fabric, and she can often be found on a roof, or step ladder, repairing water damage or rot without anyone having asked her or her asking payment.
  
  
• Giselle and Gowan - Owners of the Reluctant Pig. Gowan cooks, Giselle runs the bar, and their 13yr old daughter Brecca takes orders and serves drinks and food. Brecca spends her limited free time learning weaving from Morgouse and hopes to set up her own shop before she’s fifteen.
  
  
• Carroc - richest farmer in the area. Nicknamed "Duke Carroc" behind his back due to his naked ambition to be treated as royalty.
  
  
• Father Beledrone - a priest of Helm. He is a city man from Spire Keep, and it’s reflected in his rapid, matter-of-fact speech, but the villagers treat him as one of their own. While several priests tend to the church, Father Belderone is its only cleric.
  
  
• Pinna - a young woman of seventeen who lives in the village of Ashford, at the  edge of the Forest Rend. She is easily recognizable by her tall, pointed straw hat, curly red hair, and crystal necklace—her arcane focus. Pinna is a country hedge mage, well respected by the people of Ashford. She often entertains children at festivals and market days by conjuring motes of flame or bouquets of flowers, and she helps the adults in town by supplying them with sleeping tonics and preventatives.
  
  
• Ryon and Lenore - two of the town's guard stationed to watch over the Forest Rend for danger.

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Locations in Ashford

A1. Farmhouses
About two dozen farmhouses surround Ashford, each holding a family of five to ten people. Farmers, wives, husbands, children, grandparents, and parents-in-law all fill these houses, working the land as best they are able.

The largest farm in Ashford is owned by a crass man named Carroc, is occupied by his wife and five boys, and is tended to during the day by a group of four servants who live in town. Carroc enjoys acting like he’s the most important person in town, and he may indeed be the most wealthy, but he doesn’t live in town so the mayor and the rest of the town council tend to ignore him. He enjoys coming to the Pig for a drink once a week, but does not notice that the most important people in town all seem to be at the smith’s when he’s visiting.

Other farmers are more sympathetic than “Duke Carroc,” as folk might grumble while drinking at the tavern. One farmer in particular, a sun-baked and calloused grandmother named Helanna, is quite fond of adventurers and their stories of danger and distant lands. She doesn’t have the money or social power that Carroc’s family wields, but she is beloved by all the common folk in Ashford.

A2. Market Square
In the center of Ashford is a market square. Most of the week, the square is empty except perhaps for children running about with sticks, pretending to be knights. Once a fortnight on this day, the square is transformed into a wild scene of colors and scents. All the artisans, tradesmen and farmers in town set up shop in the market square and sell their wares. Just outside of the main market square is Tradesfolks’ Way, a small alley where local farmers trade goods to one another.

A3. Church of St. Gaed the Confessor
The Church of St. Gaed the Confessor is one of the oldest buildings in Ashford—after the Reluctant Pig, of course. Its wooden beams need repair, but it is still the cultural center of the village, and Ashford gathers here for all sorts of occasions, not just on holy days. The stained glass window depicting Saint Gaed in black armor smiting the traitor, Hylae the Corrupt, is the most astonishing piece of art anyone in town has ever seen. When the sun hits it, it’s like a laser light show. The church is run by Father Belderone.

St. Gaed is an ascended champion of Helm that gave his own life to expose treachery and heresy. Worshippers of St. Gaed actually are devotees of Helm however as Gaed was a local from Ashford they have devoted themselves to his name in Helm's stead.

A4. The Reluctant Pig
The oldest building in Ashford is the Reluctant Pig, a two-story inn with a moss-covered roof constructed from the same stone as the Ashford Bridge. The sign outside depicts a young pig straining against a leash held by someone we cannot see. The sign has no text, as most people in town and most carters and journeymen cannot read.

The Pig is owned by Giselle and Gowan and their daughter Brecca. Though the family divides the labor, Giselle is the one who runs the business and attends the meetings of the town council. She tolerates no violence in her bar, keeping a mace by the taps in case of trouble.


A5. Ashford Bridge
The Ashford Bridge is a small stone bridge over the Skulduskoon river at the edge of town. It is old and moss-covered, but sturdy. Two guards stand at the far end of the bridge; they are well equipped for country folk.


A6. Pinna’s Shop
The spicy-sweet scent of boiled licorice and anise seed billows from the smokestack of Pinna’s dome-roofed hut. Other medicinal herbs hang by the doorway, like long garlic ropes and branches of flowering barberry. Inside, she keeps a brass cauldron boiling at all times in the center of the room. Unkempt bookshelves overfilled with tomes, scrolls, and bottles line the walls, and both chairs in the house sag under the weight of unwashed clothing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:16, Tue 18 June 2019.

The two major pieces of geography that shapes Ashford is the Forest Wealdath and the River Sulduskoon. While the river is quite small here and isn't used very much for commerce it provides a simple yet effective barrier against the wild things that occupy the elven forest of Wealdath.

In this area the Wealdath has been shortened and bastardized to just the name Rend. Originally known as the Wealdath End it was shortened and slurred over hundreds of years to just be called Rend. Nowadays the locals tell one another apocryphal stories about how the forest got its name, often plagiarizing foreign tales heard by bards long past to give the forest a new tale.


The Forest Rend is home to all manner of beasts and monsters. Presumably guarded by the elves, in truth they leave large swathes of the forests to go wild without telling the human settlements around them. Everything from goblins to ettercaps to even dragons have been found to lair inside.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:24, Sat 09 Mar 2019.

The Barony of Spire Keep is a city on the rise. In fact for decades the importance of the city has grown where it should be looked as a county seat, possibly even a duchy given its size compared to the other cities in Tethyr.

Over a hundred thousand people call Spire Keep their home while a hundred years ago that number was barely above fifty thousand. With the disasters and wars plaguing the rest of Tethyr, Spire Keep was a bastion of safety and stability welcoming in refugees from Tethyr and beyond.

The titular Spire Keep sits on the effect end of the Sulduskoon River and is a vital transfer point of supplies brought in from the coast to inland regions. Merchants can spend weeks traveling the roads or days traveling the river and Spire Keep is the end of the line. While the Sulduskoon river and its branches continue past Spire Keep, beyond this location the river gets narrow and shallow making further transportation impractical.

Baron Jolder Spire was savvy and popular ruler who recognized the strategic importance of his position and for two decades he strengthened Spire Keep transforming it into the bustling trade port it is today. To facilitate this rapid development he empowered several of the local guilds to represent the people and alongside the nobility they rapidly developed the growing barony.

The local nobility were not too keen on sharing their influence and other rivals outside of the Barony eyed the rapid ascent of Spire Keep with envy. When Spire Keep was raided by an orc tribe and the Spire family murdered in their beds many wondered how orc raiders could infiltrate a city like Spire Keep so easily. Many rumors flew that the orcs were aided by one group or another.

A culprit was never found and until the higher courts decide on what to do, Lord Barrist Saxton has stepped in as acting regent although his grip on the city is tenuous at best.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:30, Sun 27 Sept 2020.

Major Factions of Spire Keep

Council of Seven
The city council is the group that establishes laws and norms both within Spire Keep and Spire Barony (which includes Ashford).

Originally just an advisory group of nobles that would influence the ruling Baron, since the destruction of the Spire family this group has taken over the burdens of rulership under the leadership of Lord Saxton. The council was originally just the four major noble families and the Baron but has since been expanded with the ascension of three guild leaders creating the Council of Seven.


Noble Families:

• House Saxton - "Laws Bind Us All"
  House Saxton is the oldest and most powerful noble family with strong ties to the region that predates even the Spire family. They are often associated strongly with authority and law and for generations members of their house also held high positions within the church of Helm. The Saxton's have long been viewed as the right hand and iron fist of the Spires and thus nobody objected when house head Lord Barrist assumed regency of the Barony. While Barrist's father was a high priest of Helm, Barrist has focused entirely on secular statecraft.
  
  
• House Norick - "From The Waters"
  House Norick is closely associated with the navy of Spire. While an inland Barony might not typically be thought of as having a strong naval presence as part of the Baron's reforms the Dusk Armada as it became known patrols all along the Sulduskoon river protecting the vital trade flowing in from the Shining Sea. House Norick traditionally had control over a significant amount of craftsmen in the city, after building and expanding upon the Duck Armada the current head of the house, Lord Herstal Norick, was granted command over naval operations for the city. Although much of their power and influence lies hundreds of miles down river they have been instrumental in the dramatic rise and growth of Spire Keep. Lord Herstal is often commanding the city's flagship, the Twilight Dragon, his daughter Lady Adelizia Norick often represents their house on the council.
  
  
• House Manth - "Blessed By Sun"
  House Manth ended up with control over vast amounts of farms and fields throughout the Barony of Spire and their production of foodstuffs not only has kept the Barony well fed while the rest of Tethyr starves from war and disaster but in recent years they have delivered vast surpluses through the riverways bringing in huge fortunes for the house. Now they are a noble house on the rise and with the young Lord Calcin Manth at the helm they are making bold strides to expand their influence within the city, much to the consternation of the other noble houses and guilds. It is the influence of House Manth that is keeping Lord Saxton in check from assuming complete control and it is the occasional alliance between House Manth and the guilds that has kept the noble houses on the defensive since Baron Spire's death.
  
  
• House Achard - "Nothing Built On Sand Lasts"
  House Achard traditionally handled many of the day-to-day operations that, while not glamorous, were vital for a functioning and healthy city. Sanitation, maintenance, city planning, disposal of the dead etc. While not glamorous or particularly profitable the wily Achard's were able to work their way into very vital sector and while on the surface it seemed like they were the weakest of the noble houses all it took was for them to stop servicing a rival's businesses and their real power was shown. Nobody shopped at businesses that had piles of refuse in front of their doors and the threat of disease from undisposed bodies meant that their threats were taken very seriously. To their credit House Achard had a long history of putting the needs of the city above and beyond personal wealth and glory and while other houses were more powerful, they held the highest trust by both the commonfolk, fellow nobility and the Baron.
  
  This all changed one year ago when Lady Quinta Achard experienced a great tragedy. Long whispered to be barren it looked like the main Achard line would die out when she was blessed with twins. The twins born, however, were very sickly and despite the best efforts of doctors and priests both of them passed just weeks after being born. Both the Lord and Lady Achard were despondent and in her madness Lady Quinta attempted some kind of ritual to bring her dead children back to life. Nobody knows what happened but one night there was a horrible flash of sickly green light and everyone in the Blackwater district disappeared. In their place were naked pale humanoid things with dead white eyes. At first the locals thought they were some kind of undead but these Husks as they became known suffered no harm when clerics of Helm tried to turn them nor did they detect as evil or...anything at all. Lord Calren Achard disappeared as well and Lady Quinta does not talk about it, or much of anything at all.
  
  While this was a very unnerving set of events the Husks continued to perform the drudgery day-to-day operations that the people from Blackwater had before the flash and while there are still a lot of questions and fears that remain unanswered even the Baron when he was alive was unsure what to do about the Achards and now with the Spire family destroyed Regent Lord Saxton is in no position to make a move against another noble house so with a lot of reluctance the city has decided to just continue on with business as usual and try to ignore the soulless, mindless husks that clean up the streets and cart away the dead.

Notable Guilds:

• The Guild of Couriers and Laborers (aka the Rough Hands)
  Oddly enough the most powerful guild in the city is a union of dockworkers, teamsters, couriers and day laborers. Called locally "Rough hands" from hauling crates and barrels around over centuries within the city they slowly unified and recognized the power they had by controlling whether or not goods actually made it off and on to ships. In order to create a monopoly on the movement of goods they had to use some rather brutal methods more akin to a criminal organization and the nickname "rough hands" took a much darker meaning. Now their control is accepted not even the cheapest merchant would think about trying to move goods without using a Rough Hand to do so. Baron Spire made a deal with the Ruffans to bring them onto the council to avoid any strikes or slowdowns during the growth of Spire Keep and while the other nobles absolutely detest the half-orc Gar "One-Eye" sitting among them, Gar has proven just as shrewd at politicking as any noble patriarch. The largest guild by far, the Rough Hands count thousands within the city as their members and in practice the Rough Hands are not unified at all but a collection of smaller unions and street gangs that despite their constant infighting are quick to defend even their bitterest rivals when threatened by the nobles or outside guilds. The nobility often deride them, calling them "Ruffians" instead of their proper name.
  
  
• The Lumber Guild (aka The Sawteeth)
  With close access to both a major river and a vast forest, lumber has been the chief export of Spire Keep since its inception. What has made the Sawteeth so profitable compared to other regions is that they maintain a small private army comprised of mercenaries and adventurers that they deploy when the elves, fey, or other monsters of the forest give them trouble. As their profits have grown so to has their army and throughout Spire Keep's history several key battles have been won thanks to the keen forest fighters of the Sawteeth. The current guildmaster, Syr Farris, is keenly focused on keeping the lumber flowing unimpeded. This predictability is both a strength and weakness for the Sawteeth as it makes it very clear what the rest of the council needs to offer up in order to swing the guild but also makes it very easy to use them as pawns. Syr is an intelligent woman but doesn't seem very gifted in statecraft and despite his popularity among the rank and file (she started out as a cutter and rose diligently through the ranks to get to the top) the leadership among the Sawteeth are wondering if the needs of the guild might not be better suited with a more politically minded guildmaster.
  
  
• The Honorable Guild of Merchants and Peddlers (aka the Beams)
  While there has always been a merchant's guild, up until recent times trade wasn't a vital part of the city so the Beams were just another guild with very minor influence. When Lord Spire set forth on his grand plan to grow and expand Spire Keep he bypassed many other more powerful guilds to elevate the Beams to help materialize his vision of turning Spire Keep into a trade hub for the entire region. While traditionally the noble house of the Saxtons were the Spire family's closest allies, it is said that Lord Spire found his closest friend in the guildmaster Praks Millsner. Praks is known throughout the city as the friendliest and most approachable man on the council and nobody else has worked half as hard as he has to bring about Spire Keep's transformation. In the process of becoming a trading hub suddenly the Beams found themselves with incredible amount of gold and influence and many jokes are made that Praks doesn't have the slightest clue what to do with it all now.

This message was last edited by the GM at 01:09, Mon 28 Sept 2020.