Post by DM Leverage on Mar 8, 2013 22:29:51 GMT -5
Soubar
- Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast -
This small trail town is located on the Trade Way south of Boareskyr Bridge. Often raided by goblinkin and bugbears, it’s a summer tent town that shrinks to an armed outpost in winter. At its heart is the old stone ruin of a temple or abbey of Bane, known as the Black Abbey. Some folk believe it was once sacred to another god and was only seized by worshipers of Bane briefly. The ruins have yielded stones to build the rest of Soubar.
What remains of the ruins are home to a mysterious woman known only as Mag, who runs a tavern called the Winding Way in them. The word around the Coast is that Mag was once a priestess. Some say she abandoned her calling, others that she embraced another faith and others say she’s a mind flayer or other horrible creature (a beholder, perhaps, or even a neogi) who’s mastered magic enough to take human form for years at a time.
All that’s certain is that Mag answers no questions, has healed folk from time to time, wears a ring of misdirection that conceals her true allegiances and powers, and stores broken instruments of torture in the old abbey loft where she sometimes lets travelers sleep. Whether she used spells or potions for healing is a point of contention. Reports on this are confused. All of this makes many merchants uneasy. They camp west of Soubar, or press on past if the weather’s fair and the night apt to be moonlit, rather than stopping here.
Soubar is a lawless town. Visitors should bring their own swords— and be prepared to swing them.
There are several Coast lands fireside tales about brigands who buried loot here and were slain before they came back for it. Not all such tales are fanciful. The merchant Janthool of Athkatla, a fartraveled trader in sundries, dug a latrine pit just west of Soubar a spring or two ago and unearthed an ivory coffer crammed full of matched black pearls—each as large as the pommel nut of a stout broad sword! Be warned, however. Digging in certain spots in Soubar summons helmed horrors to the digger, due to an ancient guardian spell of unknown origin!
Folk not wanted in Triel or Boareskyr Bridge find their way here. This has made Soubar something of a hiring fair for brigands, evil mages, dopplegangers, wererats and other werefolk, mercenaries down on their luck, mind flayers, those bearing curses, and others not tolerated in most communities. Fences for stolen goods are plentiful here. Scurrilous “bounty hunters” who kill, maim, or capture specific beings to order are also plentiful, as are dealers in slaves, information, poisons, chains and cages, sleep venoms, and exotic pets. Kill-trained pets cost twice the usual prices. I’m not (ahem) familiar with any names or details, of course.
- Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast -
This small trail town is located on the Trade Way south of Boareskyr Bridge. Often raided by goblinkin and bugbears, it’s a summer tent town that shrinks to an armed outpost in winter. At its heart is the old stone ruin of a temple or abbey of Bane, known as the Black Abbey. Some folk believe it was once sacred to another god and was only seized by worshipers of Bane briefly. The ruins have yielded stones to build the rest of Soubar.
What remains of the ruins are home to a mysterious woman known only as Mag, who runs a tavern called the Winding Way in them. The word around the Coast is that Mag was once a priestess. Some say she abandoned her calling, others that she embraced another faith and others say she’s a mind flayer or other horrible creature (a beholder, perhaps, or even a neogi) who’s mastered magic enough to take human form for years at a time.
All that’s certain is that Mag answers no questions, has healed folk from time to time, wears a ring of misdirection that conceals her true allegiances and powers, and stores broken instruments of torture in the old abbey loft where she sometimes lets travelers sleep. Whether she used spells or potions for healing is a point of contention. Reports on this are confused. All of this makes many merchants uneasy. They camp west of Soubar, or press on past if the weather’s fair and the night apt to be moonlit, rather than stopping here.
Soubar is a lawless town. Visitors should bring their own swords— and be prepared to swing them.
There are several Coast lands fireside tales about brigands who buried loot here and were slain before they came back for it. Not all such tales are fanciful. The merchant Janthool of Athkatla, a fartraveled trader in sundries, dug a latrine pit just west of Soubar a spring or two ago and unearthed an ivory coffer crammed full of matched black pearls—each as large as the pommel nut of a stout broad sword! Be warned, however. Digging in certain spots in Soubar summons helmed horrors to the digger, due to an ancient guardian spell of unknown origin!
Folk not wanted in Triel or Boareskyr Bridge find their way here. This has made Soubar something of a hiring fair for brigands, evil mages, dopplegangers, wererats and other werefolk, mercenaries down on their luck, mind flayers, those bearing curses, and others not tolerated in most communities. Fences for stolen goods are plentiful here. Scurrilous “bounty hunters” who kill, maim, or capture specific beings to order are also plentiful, as are dealers in slaves, information, poisons, chains and cages, sleep venoms, and exotic pets. Kill-trained pets cost twice the usual prices. I’m not (ahem) familiar with any names or details, of course.
