Twilitespace: Greywolf part 2

Notable Noble Houses: 
	Listed below are the larger noble houses of Greywolf.  There are dozens
of other houses in the Dandrik valley, but most are minor landholders
with little real political power.

House Hawksguard:  The Hawksguard family was virtually unknown until Aba
took power.  When he took over, his children have become nobility, and
are now common sights in the city.  Hawksguard has four children birthed
by past lovers, but no wife.  His half-sister, Wildera Hawksguard, and
his cousin Phatis Hawksguard (NG hm R7) have relocated to the city to
take advantage of Aba's rule.  

House Winterfang: Long wealthy landowners, the Winterfangs own most of
the land south of the city for twenty miles.  They have a large family
estate in the town of Riverbend, which marks the southern limits of
their land claims.  The Winterfangs are influential in the shipping
industry, owning several inns and taverns along the river banks.  They
have only a few guards, preferring instead to invest in business rather
than troops.

House Howlings: The oldest of the surviving noble houses of the Dandrik
valley, the Howlings have a widely scattered land holdings throughout
the whole valley.  Their family estate is located on the west bank of
the Dandrik, thirty miles north of Greywolf.  The farmland owned by the
family is leased out to hundreds of serfs, who produce wheat,
vegetables, and corn.  The town of Pitchfork is the center of their
power.  House Howlings keep about two hundred soldiers on hand.

House Wolfstar: Founded centuries ago by the famous Lady of Trade and
Merchants Elisabeth Wolfstar, the house is significant land owners along
the north banks of the Dandrik River.  Of particular importance is their
control of the inlet of Dandrik, where barges enter and leave the
Dragonbreath Lake from the Dandrik.  The town of Eastford is the site of
their family estate, and is of particular importance since it is the
most northern town along the Dandrik River.

House Mourningstar: A powerful family in the Plains of Vanja, this
family was largely responsible for the withdrawal of the elves of Ithal
from that land.  They are violently independent and only supported
Hawksguard's liberation of Greywolf to create a new power that would
keep the elves of Ithil at bay.  When they discovered Aba's half-elven
lovechild, they withdrew their support.  The house is entirely
half-elven, and retain one of the largest private armies in the valley.

House Griffin: Fairly rich landowners north of Greywolf, House Griffin
has large wheat and corn farms.  They employ numerous serfs to work
their lands and maintain a pair of estates.  The house has recently
began lumber operation in Northwood, working with local elves to fell
select trees for lumber purposes.  They keep several dozen guards for
each of their estates.

Equipment Shops: 
	The shops listed below are the most famous and prosperous business in
Greywolf that caters to adventurers.  There are other businesses, but
they are not nearly as large or wealthy.
· Grimbeard's Armorer: The best place to secure metal armor is
Grimbeard, a retired dwarvish warrior from the north.  He has four
apprentices and helpers, and can make chain, plate, shields, and banded
armor.  His prices are reasonable, and his work is of good or better
quality.
· The Shattered Shield: A large and well funded weapons dealer, the
Shield is an excellent place to pick up weapons.  The Shield deals with
all kinds of weapons, especially swords, polearms, maces, warhammers,
and flails.  Weapons are made on site by Lathrin Strongbow, a seventh
generation weaponsmith.  
· Hardsaddle Ranch: Located just outside of the city, Hardsaddle Ranch
deals exclusively in warhorses.  It has at least forty warhorses of all
types on hand, but has extensive ranches to the west of the city for
raising new animals.  The animals are of good quality but tend to be
expensive.  The place is run by Marice Broncbuster, a horse trainer who
is an excellent judge of horses and a fine businesswoman.  Her left arm
is slightly deformed, the result of numerous falls from braking wild
animals.  

Adventurer's Quarters:
· The Wolves' Den, an inn and tavern popular with adventurers.  It is
known for it's dark corners, excellent drinks, and good food.  It is now
run by a free-spirited dwarf with a good eye for business. 
(good/moderate).
· Dragon Blood Inn, a large and well-run place, favored by travelers and
adventurers for its good food and rock-bottom prices.  (good/cheap).
· Falcon's Pride is considered the most extravagant tavern in town.  It
is frequented by nobles and rich merchants, and is rift with social
snobbery and posturing.  Adventurers and commoners are not welcomed, and
rarely get served.  (excellent/expensive).
· The Green Dragon Tavern is well-known to adventurers, for it is a
rowdy place with a fight ring, plentiful alcohol, friendly servers, and
good meals.  The place does good business as it caters to adventurers
and the crews of barges and spelljammers.  (good/moderate)
· The Black Dragon Inn is one of the cheapest places in town, providing
only a bed and nightstand in their small rooms.  It is infested by rats,
and some parts of the inn have been shut down because the owner does not
put the money into repairing it.  It is favored by the poorest of
sailors and adventurers.  (poor/cheap).

Local History 
	The upper Dandrik River valley was probably settled by the Raer Empire
thousands of years ago.  It is not know how long that Empire held the
moons of Artimis before it fell, but apparently its fall was quick and
unexpected.  The withdrawal of Raer troops left a power vacuum that many
petty warlords rushed to fill.  One disaster followed another, and tens
of thousands of people were killed in the first few years alone.  Mages,
once considered the agents of law in the Empire, were banded sorcerers
and hunted to near extinction.  The mages were an easy target for
hatred, as many used them as scapegoats for the lawlessness that was
spreading across the land.  The rich and influential were also targets
of attacks.  Many stores and wealthy estates were torched by angry mobs
who vented their frustrations at nobles and artisans who no longer held
the populous at bay with Raer law.  A dark age spread across all of the
moons, and human nations became no more than simple tribes and
villages.  Travel was made impossible by bandits and monsters, isolating
individual villages.  All that remained of the once glorious days of the
Raer was stories and fables.
	The settlements on the Dandrik were somewhat fortunate during these
dark centuries.  The river was an easy means of transport between
individual settlements.  The valley was not heavily populated by
monsters, thanks to the vigilant watch of the elves of Ithil. 
Unfortunately, the valley was plagued by a succession of warlords who
brutally reigned over the human villages, and many were ruined by
vicious rulers.  The settlements on the river were only slightly better
off than villages elsewhere on the moons.
	When the Kingdom of Five Worlds rose to power about nine centuries ago,
it was a welcomed relief from the anarchy dominating the land.  The
Dandrik valley was taken roughly eight and half centuries ago as King
Balen II saw great potential in it as a major trade route.  When law
returned to the land, the valley became increasingly civilized. 
Villages rapidly grew into towns, and a few even grew into cities.  Of
these new cities, Greywolf was an important link in trade but was not
the largest nor the most important city on the Dandrik.
	The city was ruled by a lord mayor and his will was enforced by
Imperial soldiers.  The first mayor was Sarken the Slayer, a retired
captain in the Imperial army.  He took power when he personally slew the
previous ruler, the brutal warlord Blacark, when the Imperial army
invaded the city.  When Blacark fell, his bandit followers fled,
allowing imperial forces to take the town.  At first, many feared the
newcomers were a new wave of brutal rule.  However, Captain Sarken's
orders was to enforce law and order in the town and to encourage the
growth of businesses and trade.  To help him with this arduous task,
Captain Sarken employed the aide of Quar, a successful merchant from the
imperial heart lands.  Lord Sarken kept the city peaceful, but Quar was
the real power in the city.  Sarken's main contribution to Greywolf was
that he kept the peace back then and created its system of government.
	During Quar's first term as Lord of Trade and Merchants, he instituted
many of the programs that were successful back home.  The imperial
monetary system was adopted, replacing the older barter system.  Taxes
were regularly collected and used to improve the city.  Dirt roads were
replaced by cobbled ones, and open sewers were buried after a system of
underground sewers was built.  Many wooden buildings were replaced by
those of stone after a fire nearly destroyed half the city.  Sturdy
docks and large warehouses were built for merchants and encourage
trade.  After his second re-election, Quar created a banking system that
lent money to entrepreneurs seeking to build their own businesses.  Laws
were put into place to protect new businesses and encourage their
growth.
	Lord mayor Sarken was replaced by his captain of arms after twenty-five
years of ruling.  The new lord mayor was Valk the Mighty, a bully of a
man with no political power.  He became nothing more than a puppet for
the Council of Lords, a mere tool to keep the peace.  Lord Quar was the
real power during this time, but his advancing age limited his power. 
Realizing that he was growing too old to effectively rule, Lord Quar
retired in favor of Elisabeth Wolfstar, a cagey businesswoman who was a
major landholder and controlled a third of the barges plying the
Dandrik.  Lady Elisabeth was a brilliant politician who created policies
that were popular with the common people.  Under her long reign, the
city grew in population by 50% and the countryside became increasingly
settled.  The wilderness was beaten back to make room for new farms and
grazing lands.  Large families were encouraged, with a silver star per
birth payoff for families.  Though there were many cases of fraud, the
policy paid off in a population boom in the region as a whole.
	Lady Elisabeth was replaced on her deathbed by Lord Leroy, a wealthy
moneylender.  Not a popular individual, Lord Leroy repealed many laws
while putting into place his own pet system of laws and regulations. 
Most of these new laws encouraged corruption and bribery at the highest
levels of government, and for the first time in almost a century,
traders began avoiding the city and the economy started to suffer.  Lord
Leroy's term was unfortunately long, as he replaced Lord mayor Valk with
the buffoon Lord Shorin, the eldest son of a wealthy landowner who has
spoiled his son.  Lord mayor Shorin was a pampered brat, caring little
for the people and cared only his own pocketbook.  He did not have the
respect of the military which resulted in the desertion of at least half
of the troops.  Replacement troops were largely incompetent and easily
bribed.  Crime was out of control, and new thieves guilds warred in the
streets for control of the city.
	The situation was allowed to continue for almost fifty years before the
Kingdom decided to act.  The complaints of merchants were finally being
heard, and King Balen V decided the best way to deal with the situation
was to put the entire Dandrik valley under the authority of the Lord of
Ironbridge, the largest city in the valley.  The Lord of Ironbridge at
that time was one Hthak the Bold, a career military man who preferred
strong arm tactics.  He sent his own candidates to replace the now
corrupt Council of Lords, accompanied by a rather sizable army to
enforce their law.  Lord Shorin ordered his own army onto the field to
fight the Ironbridge forces, but Lord Leroy was more prudent, choosing
to flee instead, taking with him a vast fortune stolen from the treasury
of the city.  As was expected, the Ironbridge army easily crushed the
army of Greywolf, and the city was once again occupied by foreign
troops.  
	The new Council was comprised of natives of Ironbridge, which caused
resentment among the people of Greywolf.  The thieves guilds fought back
against the Ironbridge troops, but were swiftly crushed by a policy of
zero-tolerance for crime and corruption.  Lord Leroy was hunted, but his
body was never found, nor was the fortune he stole recovered.  Taxes
were raised to replace the money he stole, again inciting the people
against the occupying force.  However, after seven years of occupation
and rebuilding, the riots came to an end and the people settled into a
long reign of occupation.
	The next century and a half saw a succession of foreign Lords who ruled
the city, but with the benefit of Ironbridge always in mind.  The city
became little more than a supply point for Ironbridge traders as traders
and merchants moved their headquarters to that northern city.  Greywolf
did see much growth and prosperity during that time, but its growth did
not keep pace with that of its northern neighbor.  Ironbridge
outstripped Greywolf in almost all things, including population,
military might, and wealth.  Greywolf became the poor sister to
Ironbridge.
	The Time of Foreign Lords came to an end about five and half centuries
ago, when the city of Ironbridge was destroyed by a horrible magical
plague.  Those that contracted the disease died within days, but the
particulars of the plague caused their bodies to burst into spontaneous
combustion at their death.  The city was swept by a firestorm that
caused a chain reaction as people died and burst into flames.  The city
was destroyed in a single day, never to be rebuilt.  Even today, its
ruins remain uninhabited, as does the land around it for ten miles.
	With Ironbridge destroyed, Greywolf became the dominant city on the
Dandrik.  The whole of the Dandrik valley was put under Greywolf
control.  The first action of the people was to replace the Foreign
Lords with local ones, and the power of the Council of Lords was
reduced.  The people rallied behind the new Lord mayor Zeven, a popular
war hero from the North March Wars fought a decade earlier.  Despite
being a strong leader, his reign came at an inopportune time.  The
Kingdom of Five Worlds was crumbling into decadence and corruption.  The
last ruler was King Cronis IX, an impotent sorcerer who could not father
a son.  In desperation, he gave his wife to the fiendish hands of
Balakur, a horrible demon from the Abyss.  Unfortunately, the birthing
of the demonic heir broke King Cronis' mind, and he underwent the
process to become a lich.  Now undead, his court fled in terror and his
capital was abandoned.  
	With the last vestige of Imperial authority broken by King Cronis'
failing mental health, chaos again gripped all five moons.  The two
inner moons, neither heavily populated, were abandoned while refugees
flooded the Dandrik valley.  Greywolf's resources had already been
heavily taxed as they tried to rebuild the industries ruined by
Ironbridge's destruction, and the influx of refugees only complicated
matters.  Bandits and robbers became commonplace, slowly bleeding off
Greywolf's resources even more.
	Such was the problems that the elves of Ithil, fearing a migration of
humans into the heart of their valley, invaded.  They attacked the
Plains of Vanja, conquering it within a week.  Though there was some
resistance, Greywolf's overextended army could not prevent the fall of
Vanja.  Lord mayor Zeven was forced to concede the land lost, and
withdrew troops from the area.  The elves that ruled Vanja were some of
the worst of their kind, and brutalized the people.  Over half of the
men were killed during the first few weeks of their reign to discourage
rebellion, and the surviving women were forced into prostitution to feed
their families.  The elves would occupy the region for three centuries,
resulting in creating the second largest half elf enclave in
Twilitespace, after Lefton on Ethwold.
	Sometime during these years of crisis the power of the Lord mayor was
reduced and new government was put into place.  The new power was the
Council of Guilds, which were becoming powerful during the turbulent
times.  The Council of Guilds seized almost complete power about two
centuries ago as they quietly replaced the Lords with men that were
their puppets.  The Lord mayor was assassinated, but the position was
left vacant as the guilds debated who to put into power.  As time
passed, the arguments between the guilds over who was to be next Lord
mayor became more heated and fierce.  Eventually, the guilds began open
fighting in the streets of the city, leaving dozens dead.  Law in the
city was enforced by a dozen or so factions, each supportive of a
different guild.  Greywolf's control over the countryside effectively
collapsed, allowing local lords to take control.  Unlike the feuding
guilds, the nobles largely respected each other's rights and lands, but
were unable to unify enough to defeat the guilds holding Greywolf.  A
low intensity war raged in the streets of Greywolf for nearly two
centuries.
	About fifteen years ago, Aba Hawksguard and his fellow adventurers paid
the city a visit.  They became embroiled in the complex politics of the
city as the most powerful guild tried to use them to eliminate the
second ranking guild.  Instead, they destroyed both guilds but were
driven from the city by the combined forces of the remaining guilds. 
Another round of bloodshed hit the city, but was abruptly ended when
Hawksguard returned with the combined forces of the lords.  He managed
to convince them that a stable and peaceful Greywolf was in their best
interests, and they rallied behind him.  The guilds were crushed, and
the old system of government was reinstated.  Though Hawksguard did not
wish it, he was elected Lord mayor by an overwhelming majority.  With
little choice, he took over the reigns of power.
	With a stable government back in place, the power of Greywolf has again
grown.  The city has managed to regain control over the upper Dandrik
river, and is making great strides towards retaking the lower reaches of
the river.  Prosperity is slowly coming to the land, and aggressive new
businessmen and merchants are taking advantage of the peace to earn hard
coin.  The wilderness is again being pushed back, and ruins are being
uncovered on a daily basis.  The ruins of at least two magnificent
civilizations litter the Dandrik valley, waiting to be discovered. 
Adventurers are needed more than ever to explore these ruins and deal
with the evils that dwell within.

Important Locations 
Castle Hawkspear: The largest single structure in the city is the castle
Hawkspear, built about nine hundred years ago.  The castle took well
over a century to complete, and its construction included many magical
defenses.  It was originally named Castle Grimspike, after a prominent
general in the Kingdom of Five World's Army, but was later renamed when
a magical artifact, the Hawk's Spear, was stored there under heavy
guard.  The Spear was lost six hundred years ago, and has never been
found.
	The castle is a large structure, with a large round keep with six
connected towers, a 60' high curtain wall with eight towers, each 120'
tall, and eight additional towers connected to the wall-towers via
flying buttresses and stone arches.  The outer towers, while appearing
to be vulnerable to assault, are actually heavily protected by magic. 
With the wave of a magical scepter, the moat that surrounds the castle
and outer towers bursts upwards and magically solidifies into a thick
wall of solid granite.  The sudden manifestation of the wall is a good
way to destroy approaching screws and ladders, as well as cutting
attacking troops from reinforcements.  It also creates a killing ground
as castle archers slaughter those trapped between the walls. 
Unfortunately, the scepter controlling the magical moat was lost years
ago and has not been recovered.
	The castle is capable of supporting roughly twelve hundred soldiers,
but currently has a skeleton defense of 65 men.  The barracks for the
Watch are located here, as are stables and storehouses for their horses
and gear.  If the city is attacked, the Watch will fall back to the
castle and prepare defenses.

Hill of Sorcery: One of the nine hills of Greywolf, the Hill of Sorcery
is the second largest; only the hill upon which Hawkspear Castle is
built upon is bigger.  The Hill is largely a park-like area about 400
acres in size.  The top of the Hill is the site for the Hall of the
Blazing Cowls, where that magical society meets regularly.  Their hall
is a magical structure, built to appear as a great, spiraling flame
reaching for the sky.  The hall is a single tower of black obsidian that
rises to a height of 200'.  The rest of the Hill is devoted to the
private residences of the more powerful mages of the city, most of which
are impressive towers.  There are two dozen towers and private
residences built upon the hill, as well as the shrine of Llwar.  The
Watch does not patrol this area of the city, for the wizards are more
than capable of protecting themselves.  They have their own protections,
including (it is rumored) magical servants of fire and light that patrol
the Hill, coming to the aide of any mage that summons them to deal with
thieves and intruders.

Market Hill: The lowest hill in the city is Market Hill.  It was once
higher and bigger, but was leveled years ago to make room for a market. 
The market is a bustling place lined by several businesses, including
taverns, clothing stores, food stands, and other small businesses.  At
the center of the market is the Warrior's Fountain, which sports a
statue of Sarken upon a rearing horse, blade drawn.  The Fountain is a
favorite spot for romantic encounters between lovers.

The Arena: Built many centuries ago, the arena is one of the chief
centers of entertainment for the city.  In the past, it served for
gladiatorial combats, plays, and even athletic contests.  Over the
centuries, bloody and deadly gladiatorial combats have fallen out of
favor, and replaced by a faker version, with charmed monsters,
pretty-boy gladiators, and wild rivalries.  Plays are just as popular as
ever, as are athletic contests.  Sports are popular, particularly rugby
and the occasional joust.

-- 
Night Druid