M u s k r a d
Muskrad (Small City): Conventional, nonstandard; AL LN, NG; 15,000 gp limit; Assets 6,300,000 gp; Population 8,400; Mixed (81% human, 8% Halfling, 5% dwarf, 3% half-orc, 2% gnome, 1% elf).
The Pantheon
Muskrad hosts many small religious secs, here is the break down (80% St. Cuthbert, 14% Pelor, 4% Kord, 1% other)
St. Cuthbert: The no-nonsense order of St. Cuthbert does not suffer fools gladly or abide evil in a any way. His clerics concern themselves with the needs of the common people over nobles or the well educated. They are zealous in their desire to convert others to their faith and quick to destroy their opponents. There is one large temple, located in the center of town, but also, throughout the town are small shrines that the common poeple gather on a daily basis.
Pelor: The clerics of the Shining One work to aid the poor and sick, and thus most common folk look upon them with great favor. Pelor's temples are sanctuaries for the impoverished and diseased, and his yellow-robed clerics are usually kind, quiet folk, roused only in their opposition against evil. These clerics do not have a temple, but rather meet every Godsday, at new locations throughout the city.
Others: There are other pantheons in town that few follow, but are very few and are not known to most citizens.
Authority Figures: Lord Kerden Jarmaath (NG human Fighter), Lord of Muskrad; Lady Verrasa Kaal, leader of the mercantile House of Kaal.
Important Characters: Captain Lars Ulverth (LG male human fighter), leader of the Lion Guard; Immerstal the Red (CG male human wizard), foremost wizard of the town; Tredora Goldenbrow (LG female aasimar cleric of St. Cuthbert), most prominent cleric in town.
The Lion Guard: The Lion Guard is Lord Jarmaath’s army. They keep order in the town, garrison the keep, and patrol the lands nearby.
The Lions of Muskrad: The most skilled and experienced members of the Lion Guard are rewarded with the title “Lion of Muskrad.”
Key
1. City Gates: Muskrad’s gates serve a dual purpose. They control foot traffic into the city and they serve as garrisons for many of the city’s guards. Visitors to the city can enter without playing taxes, but merchants and obvious adventuring parties must pay a gate tax of 1 sp per person to enter the city.
2. The Stone Wyvern: The Stone Wyvern gets its name from the petrified wyvern that dominates the inn’s common room. This looming statue takes up half of the room and is mounted on a large up thrust rock that protrudes through the building’s floor from the ground below. The wyvern was petrified more than a century ago by a group of adventurers who were defending local farmers. An enterprising gnome named Yabaling bought the plot and built a building around the wyvern, figuring the statue would make an excellent conversation piece. He was right, today; the Stone Wyvern is one of Muskra’s most successful inns. Yabaling’s son, Trabalard Yab, runs the inn now. He has developed a healthy fear that some troublemaker might come along and unpetrify the wyvern, but he also worries that getting rid of the statue will hurt his business. As a result, he spends much of his time worrying.
3. The Foothill Watchmen: This large building is owned by a human named Lord Valkum Gratz a veteran fighter and merchant. He keeps a small contingent of fighters and warriors on staff, hiring them out as guards for merchants. He also serves as a point of contact between various adventurers and keeps tabs on who’s in town and looking for a job, as well as who’s offering jobs. Adventurers seeking work could do far worse than to consult Eldremma.
4. Shank’s Shivs: The proprietor of this weapon shop is an ex-bandit who served a ten-year sentence in the dungeons below Muskrad Keep, then spent the next twenty years establishing himself as a respectable businessman. Today, Shank’s Shivs is widely regarded as the best place to get weapons in all of Muskrad. Shank employs a half-dozen artisan smiths and holds a standing contract to provide the Lions of Muskrad with the weapons they need. Add an x140% markup to the prices in the PHB.
5. Muskrad Market: This large open-air market is where traveling merchants; performance troupes, con artist, street corner prophets, local farmers, and the like come to sell their services and wares. The market is normally quite busy, making travel through the area a vexing prospect. Add an x105% markup to the prices in the PHB.
6. The Thirsty Zombie: The sign above this tavern’s entrance depicts a wall-eyed zombie drinking from a cracked tankard. The ale in the tankard pours out of various holes in his neck and torso to pool at his feet, where six drunken rats cavort. The sign is fair warning that this watering holes isn’t for the cultured and quiet, which a glance at the tavern’s patrons will confirm. The Thirsty Zombie’s clientele is universally coarse, foul-mouthed, and loud, none more so than Torgin Kuraki, the corpulent half-orc who runs the place. He doesn’t keep (or need) bouncers, preferring to handle any customer-thrashing himself, often to the delighted whoops of his other patrons. The taste of Torgin’s whip is usually enough to curb a drunkard’s unwelcome revelry. Add an x110% markup to the prices in the PHB.
7. Red Magic and Sundries: This tall, thin, multistory building, one of the few completely stone structures in Muskrad, is the shop and home of Immerstal the Red, Muskrad’s most prominent wizard. Immerstal lives with his longtime companion, Alandri, in a well-apportioned apartment on the upper floor. The second floor is set aside for his research, while the ground floor is cluttered but well stocked magic shop. Alandri runs the shop while Immerstal busies himself in his library/workshop; she is fully capable of defending the place from thieves and scoundrels. Prices here are fair, and Alandri detest haggling, anyone how tries to haggle with her prices is shown the door. Alandri also enjoys clever wordplay, and those who amuse her with riddle-craft receive preferential treatment. Add an x110% markup to the prices in the PHB.
8. Shrine of Yondalla: This modest building, a refurbished guild house from Rhestan days, is now a religious center catering to the local Halfling population. Since the clergy of the shrine spend much of their time aiding Muskrad’s indigents and poor, the human citizens of town view the place as a welcome addition. The benevolent presence of these kindly Halflings, led by a soft-spoken cleric named Natalie Nettlemead, has done much to remove the stereotype of the sneaky Halfling scoundrel from the mind Muskrad’s populace. PC’s who seek healing from this shrine are expected to pay what they can afford, but no non-evil supplicant is turned away.
9. The Craven Raven: The proprietor of this high-class tavern prides himself on providing a clean, sophisticated venue for Muskrad’s populace to seek entertainment and drink. A slim, elegant male human, Andraki Lenn won the deed to this once notorious tavern from a scoundrel of a gnome named Fishlip Fergus in a game of three-dragon ante. The townsfolk of Muskrad were pleased to see Fergus go, and Andraki kept the tavern’s name (and the attendant sign that depicts a scruffy raven clutching a gold coin in its talons) the same but upgraded everything else. Today the tavern is a favorite among the nobility of Muskrad, and after performances at Velorain’s (see area 10) the taproom is always crowded. Adventurers aren’t welcome here unless they are cultured, dress well, and keep their language clean. As a result, most adventurers seek out other places to drink, such as the Thirsty Zombie (area 6) or the Laughing Manticore (area 12).
10. Velorian’s: This large building is Muskrad’s playhouse, although plays aren’t the only entertainments offered here. Concerts, dances, magic demonstrations, and scholastic debates are often hosted here as well. The owner is a beautiful female half-elf named Velorian, a retired adventurer who saw an opportunity to make money in the comfort of the city when she learned that Muskrad didn’t have a proper playhouse.
11. Muskrad’s Academy: This two-story building is perhaps the most prestigious place of learning in the entire region. Founded and financed by a huge grant given by a revered wizard named Lessiter Kayne (now deceased), the academy offers courses in history, magical theory, geography, alchemy, engineering, and culture. The academy has on-site accommodations for faculty, while students live in one of three nearby dormitories. Most of the courses are for adults, but half of the ground floor is dedicated to finishing school known throughout the region for producing cultured and well-mannered aristocrats. The headmaster of the academy is a no-nonsense matron named Damynda Rainthair.
12. The Laughing Manticore: This building is a combination tavern and brewery. The taproom caters to rich but wild patrons, making it a place where most adventurers feel right at home. The Laughing Manticore’s most well-known product is its manticore mead, a pale red drink of honey, and spices served in a hollowed-out manticore tail spike that allows the cup to be stabled into wood with a satisfying chonk! Once the drink is done. The owner of the Laughing Manticore is a dapper male human named Rillor Paln.
13. Kaal Manor: This richly furnished mansion commands an impressive view of the countryside to the east of Muskrad. With its own stables, garden, and archery range, Kaal Manor might well be the greatest and most tasteful display of wealth in the city. And with good cause: Its primary inhabitant is Lady Verrasa Kaal, a shrewd and gifted merchant who owns more businesses and holds more outstanding markers than anyone else in Muskrad (or else indeed the entire region).
14. Teskerwill Manor: One of the founding families of Muskrad dating back to the Rhestan days, the Teskerwills lives in this sizable mansion. Their primary interest is horse breeding, and a sizable walled field to the southwest of this mansion houses the best of their stock.
15. Discreet Departures: This two-story wooden building looms over the surrounding structures. Once a shrine dedicated to Wee Jas, the building fell to the care of a cadaverous coffin maker named Worren Lasterman when the church completed construction of a larger temple to the south. Today, Discreet Departures handles the majority of the coffin building for Muskrad’s dead.
16. Cathedral Square: This large open square is used for public ceremonies and festivals. It’s also where the governing bodies announce edicts and proclamations and hold the occasional hangings.
17. Cathedral of St. Cuthbert: The most distinctive building in Muskrad is the Cathedral of St. Cuthbert. A massive structure with towers rising well over 100 feet in height, supported by flying buttresses and intricately carved pillars, the cathedral is an impressive display of the religion’s dominance of the city. The angle of the church is such that as the sun rises, its rays shine through a massive stained glass window in the cathedral’s eastern face and out through a matching window to the west, to wash Cathedral Square with a riot of early morning color. The cathedral has a host of nearly two dozen clerics, led by Tedora Goldenbrow, Muskrad’s most powerful cleric.
18. Muskrad Keep: The city’s second most recognizable land mark is the squat, four-towered keep perched atop the central hill. Although this place has traditionally been the home of the city’s ruler, for many years the ruling lord instead dwelt in one of the newer, more luxurious mansions lower down on the hill, letting the old deep serve only as a garrison, town hall, and prison. With the start of Lord Jarmaath’s rule, the old tradition has been restored; Jarmaath and his servants now dwell in the keep. The old-timers of Muskrad welcomed this return to tradition with open arms, and the younger residents are just happy that someone relatively young is in charge of the city for a change. Lord Jarmaath is one of the best, and best loved, leaders in Muskrad has ever had.
19. Haskinare Mansion: The Haskinars are Muskrad’s least pretentious noble family. While they can’t quite trace their lineage all the way back to Muskrad’s foundation as the Kaals and the Teskerwills can, they come close. The populous Haskinar clan’s claim to fame is near-domination of the farming trade; family matriarch Rhola Haskinar either owns, finances, or has alliances with virtually all the farmers that surround the city. A long standing feud between the Kaals (“Elitist plotters!”) and the Haskinars (“Mud-fingered dirt-eaters”) shows no sign of diminishing any time soon.
20. Muskrad Cemetery: This large compound is surrounded by a low stone wall. As Muskrad has grown, the clergy of Wee Jas have had to move many of the bones buried into an extensive ossuary below their temple. Several vaults near the cemetery’s center are traditionally reserved for the city’s nobility. The clerics of Wee Jas are quite accomplished at keeping the periodic infestations of ghouls here under control, and as a result the cemetery is relatively free of undead.
21. Temple of Wee Jas: This modest-sized structure is breathtaking to behold, the clerics of Wee Jas spared no expense in the construction of this new temple, as befits their goddess’s vanity. No one is town is quite sure where the temple’s high priestess, High Mourner Mhiram, go the building funds, and much speculation has arisen over their source. Despite the gossip, Wee Ja’s clergy are seen as performing a valuable public service; in the century since they built their first shrine here, they have never done ill by the people of Muskrad, and their efforts to keep the presence of undead from within the city’s walls cannot be denied. A friendly rivalry exists between this temple and the faithful of St. Cuthbert, an d the two churches are constantly trying to win coverts from the other rather than seeking new converts from outside their respective religions.
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