Sundabar
Город-побратим Мирабара стоит в руинах. Орочья орда цничтожила этот когда-то мощный город-крепость во время Войны Серебряных Пределов, искоренив человеческое население, загнав дварфийское население глубоко од землю, убив дварфийского короля и, возможно, чоо хуже всего, нанеся смертельный удар давнему альянсу Сандабара с его человеческими и эльфийскими соседями.
Оставшиеся дварфы Сандабара отреклись от тех, кто не помог городу, когда помощь была нужна, или помог недостаточно. Они болше не считают себя частью Альянса Лордов. Дварфы теперь сфокусировали все свое внимание на восстановлении того, что возможно восстановить.
Теперь, хотя город на поверхности остается опустошенными руинами - его внешние стены в основном целы, но постройки в городе все еще лежат грудами развалин - подземные кузницы и литейные снова заработали. Сейчас гороб закрыт для входа любых не дварфов.
Sundabar This double-walled, circular fortress city is famous for its miners, master smiths, and woodcarvers. It's a harsh, treeless place, characterized by one visitor as "all stone and suspicion." A heavily guarded volcanic rift beneath Sundabar, the Everfire, is the source of many magic weapons. Sundabar (large city): Conventional; AL LN; 40,000 gp limit; Assets 28,518,000 gp; Population 14,259; Integrated (humans 54%, dwarves (all types) 33%, rock gnomes 8%, lightfoot halflings 3%, half-elves 1%, others 1%). Authority Figure: Helm Dwarf-Friend, NG male human Ftr10/Rgr5 of Mielikki (Master of Sundabar). Important Characters: Guldrim Hoaraxe, LN male shield dwarf Ftr8/Def6 (Bright Axe of the Vigilant Warblade Ilbrim Sarkro, LN male human Ftr9; Watchblade Brionn Haskur, LN male human Ftr8; Master Moneylender Homilar Drace, NE male human Rog8 (sponsor or owner of many businesses Old Ornar Myntuk, LG male human Exp10 (proprietor of Old Ornar's Beds and Tables and greatest of Sundabar's master woodworkers Gaurlar Darym, NG male human Ftr3 (proprietor of The Trumpet Inn Uldro Baldiver, NG male human War4 (proprietor of Baldiver's Inn). The Shieldsar -- Ftr14, Ftr13, Rgr12, War12, Clr11, Ftr11 (2), Pal11, War11 (2), Bbn10, Ftr10, War10, Clr9, Ftr9, Pal9, War9 (2), Bbn8, Clr8 (2), Ftr8 (2), War8 (2), Clr7, Ftr7 (2), Pal7, Rgr7, War7 (4), Bbn6, Clr6 (3), Ftr6 (2), Pal6, War6 (7), Clr5 (4), Ftr5 (5), Pal5 (2), War5 (10), Bbn4 (2), Clr4 (6), Ftr4 (6), Pal4, Rgr4 (2), War4 (22), Bbn3 (2), Clr3 (5), Ftr3 (12), War3 (81), Clr2 (12), Ftr2 (24), Pal2 (2), Rgr2, War2 (288), Clr1 (25), Ftr1 (49), War1 (823). Stone Shields -- Ftr6, Clr5, War5, Clr4, War4 (3), Clr3 (2), War3 (9), Clr2 (4), War2 (14), Clr1 (5), War1 (42). The Watchful -- Rog9, Rog8, Wiz8, Brd7, Rog7, Wiz7, Exp6, Rog6 (2), Exp5 (2), Rog5 (2), Wiz5, Brd4, Exp4 (2), Rog4 (4), Wiz4, Com3 (2), Exp3 (4), Rog3 (3), Com2 (8). The Argent Legion -- Ftr6, Ftr5, War5 (2), Clr4, Ftr4, War4 (5), Ftr3 (3), War3 (11), Ftr2 (4), War2 (30), Clr1(2), Ftr1 (6), War1 (133). The other citizens of Sundabar are too numerous and diverse to enumerate here. Notable Imports: Food (especially grain, livestock, and fruit, which is highly prized), lumber, and textiles. Notable Exports: Armor, clay wares (mostly pipes and tiles), copper, furniture, gold, lumber, pelts, silver, tools, weapons. One of Faerûn's wealthiest and most warlike cities, Sundabar is a former dwarf citadel that has grown into a frowning fortress. Famed for wood and metal exports, it serves as the military bulwark of civilization in the North. Sundabar boasts many defenses against the orc hordes that plague the North, and has broken the onslaught of several major invasions. First are its two ring-walls, bolstered by an icy moat between them reputedly roamed by man-eating eels. Next are the city's capable and well-armed defenders, the Shieldsar, a standing army two thousand strong. Beyond the Shieldsar stand the city's numerous dwarf allies, stout warriors from the Fardrimm beneath the Everfire. Finally, Sundabar's deep coffers are frequently used to hire mercenaries and adventurers whenever necessary. Sundabar is well provisioned against a siege of many months, as vast granary caverns lie near the Everfire, and deep city wells tap the clear, fresh subterranean lake Anfarra. Vigilance is the watchword of Sundabarian life. Outsiders are watched and viewed with suspicion. Those who seem too inquisitive or travel about the city too energetically are questioned by the Stone Shields, the city watch. The Stone Shields police the city under the command of the Watchblade, which also oversees a shadowy network of spies known to citizens as the Watchful. The Stone Shields won't hesitate to forcibly escort suspicious persons to the city's two large temples, where clerics of Helm or Tyr assist in the questioning with spells such as discern lies or zone of truth. Stone Shields and Watchful who grow careless, overzealous, or too friendly with shadier citizens are transferred to the Shieldsar. In turn, the army's "problem" members are often transferred to the Watchblade's forces. The Shieldsar, commanded by the Warblade, sees to wall defenses and patrols throughout the Sundabar Vale. A Shieldsar patrol rides the wilderlands in full armor, armed with longspears, swords, daggers, battleaxes, and shortbows. They get to know their patrol areas very well, scouring every cave and hill-hollow. Shieldsar leaders are always wary of being outflanked or ambushed, setting scouts on all sides as they patrol.
Sundabar Aliases Citadel Sundbarr Region Sundabar Vale, Silver Marches Size Large city Society[1] Races Humans 54% Dwarves 33% Gnomes 8% Halflings 8% Half-elves 1% Others 1% Religions Tyr, Torm, Helm Alignments LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE Commerce[1] Imports Grain, livestock, fruit, lumber, textiles Exports Armor, clay wares, copper, furniture, gold, lumber, pelts, silver, tools, weapons Politics Ruler Ruling Master Helm Dwarf-Friend History[1] Population 14,259[1] in 1372 DR 25,000[2] in 1484 DR Sundabar, previously known as Citadel Sundbarr,[3] 'was one of the wealthiest and most militaristic cities within the nation of Luruar, or all of Faerûn for that matter.[1] While it was originally a dwarven citadel, it evolved as its demographics, exports and overall culture changed.[3] One thing remained however, Sundabar continued to serve as the rampart of the north, keeping the realm's dangers beyond civilized lands.[1]
Once a dwarven city, this fortress is now home to 36,000 humans. Most of these humans descended from refugees of Ascalhorn (now Hellgate Keep). Sundabar is the northeastern- most defensible post of civilization in the North. Thus, it serves as a base for many bold explorers, adventurers, and prospectors operating in the per¬ilous wilderlands around the Fork. The Lords’ Alliance and temples of Helm across the North sponsor the Sundabarian army of 2,000 well¬armed, veteran soldiers. This army seems to alternate between fighting orc hordes and fighting raiding par¬ties from Hellgate Keep. Sundabar is also home to the famous Bloodaxe Mercenary Company. One member of this company has risen to become Master of Sundabar. Helm Dwarf- Friend8 rules the city wisely and well, keeping it in the Lords’ Alliance. He also allocates the money taken in by the city to patrol the roads often, and to keep the city ready for war. This is no small issue. The city’s coffers are deep enough that they once hired the Flaming Fist mercenaries from Bal- dur’s Gate to slaughter an orc horde. “The Master’s Take” is a flat 5% tax on the sale of all goods in the city. This tax is willingly paid by local mer-chants, who see it used directly for their benefit. Sundabar has huge, guarded gra¬nary caverns below the city, and it also has deep wells. This prevents the town from being starved out by a siege. Sundabar trades with Citadel Adbar, Everlund, and Silverymoon. The city also trades below the surface, with dwarves from that part of the Underdark known as the Fardrimm. Sundabarian merchants are the exclusive dealers in the surface world for many dwarven products. Sundabar also has its own reputation for excellent artisans. The woodworkers of Sundabar make wonderful carved furniture, musical instruments, and handsome and durable travel chests. Sundabar also exports long clay pipes and caltrops that find their ways across Faerun in trade. Dwarves come from all over the North to a certain rift deep beneath Sundabar. This geologic site is known as the Everfire. Here, the dwarves forge the finest blades known in Faerun—blades that readily take enchantments, and outlast the people who wield them. The Everfire is guarded by a dedicated band of dwarves fed, armed, and healed by Sundabarians. This band, known as the Vigilant, must often fight off drow, duergar, and greedy humans seeking to gain control of the molten-rock rift. The Vigilant report that evil is rising in the ruins of Ascore to the east, as well as in Hellgate Keep, and mon sters have been coming through the Underdark from that direction in increasing numbers. The Fardrimm is not a wealthy region; its lodes have been largely worked out. Dwarves say that much metal lies northward, however, under the Coldwood and the Ice Mountains, and atop the nearest peak east of Sundabar. That would be the west¬ernmost fang of the Nether Moun¬tains, known as Dalagar’s Dagger. There, for some unknown reason, many aged and ailing dragons go to die—wyrms of the black, blue, and green species. They typically perish in a suicidal dive onto the sharp pinna¬cle. Their bones litter the upmost slopes. Among their skeletal remains wink the treasures they bore: rings, pendants, and even loose gems and coins that were once glued to dragon bellies by means of ancient drag- onhide oils and ointments. The Dag¬ger’s almost vertical lower faces are treacherous and crumbling, and the mountain is almost impossible to climb, so most of the treasure remains unclaimed. An unknown entity guards the peak against aerial forays from Hellgate Keep. Some say it’s a faerie dragon, others a ki-rin.
nce a dwarven city, this fortress houses 36,000 humans, most descended from refugees of Ascalhorn. Sundabar is the northeastern-most post of civilization, serving as a base for explorers, adventurers, and prospectors around the Fork. The Lords' Alliance and temples of Helm sponsor the 2,000-man veteran army. Sundabar is home to the Bloodaxe Mercenary Company. One member has risen to become Master of Sundabar. Helm Dwarf-Friend (NG hm F14) rules wisely and well, keeping it in the Lords' Alliance. He allocates the money taken in by the city to patrol the roads and to ready for war. This is no small issue; the coffers are so deep that the city hired the Flaming Fist Mercenary Company to slaughter an orc horde. The Master's take is a 5% sales tax paid by local merchants, who see it used to their benefit. Sundabar has huge, guarded granary caverns and deep wells below the city. Sundabar trades with Adbar, Everlund, and Silverymoon. The city also trades below the surface, with dwarves from a part of the Underdark called Fardrimm. Sundabarian merchants are the exclusive dealers in the surface world for many dwarven products. Sundabar has a reputation for excellent artisans. The woodworkers of Sundabar make carved furniture, musical instruments, and handsome and durable travel chests. Sundabar also exports long clay pipes and caltrops. Sundabar is a city of stone, a frowning fortress with little to delight the eye and less welcome for the sightseer. Slick ways and excessive curiosity are looked upon with disfavor. Strangers who poke about are apt to be questioned by the city soldiers. They take suspicious people to the Hall of Vigilance or the Hall of Everlasting Justice. There, priests use detect He spells during questioning. The city is circular, with double walls. There's a moat between them, rumored to be stocked with man-eating eels. Most of Sundabar's famous woodcrafters are located in the city's central Circle, a huge open space surrounding the Master's Hall. Caravans form in it, and it's kept clear to give shepherds a place to drive stock in the event of attack. The Hall bristles with catapults and heavy crossbow guns. If the outer parts of the city are invaded, survivors retreat to the Hall and slaughter attackers crossing the open space of the Circle.
Sundabar has huge, guarded gra¬nary caverns below the city, and it also has deep wells. This prevents the town from being starved out by a siege. Sundabar trades with Citadel Adbar, Everlund, and Silverymoon. The city also trades below the surface, with dwarves from that part of the Underdark known as the Fardrimm. Sundabarian merchants are the exclusive dealers in the surface world for many dwarven products. Sundabar also has its own reputation for excellent artisans. The woodworkers of Sundabar make wonderful carved furniture, musical instruments, and handsome and durable travel chests. Sundabar also exports long clay pipes and caltrops that find their ways across Faerun in trade. Dwarves come from all over the North to a certain rift deep beneath Sundabar. This geologic site is known as the Everfire. Here, the dwarves forge the finest blades known in Faerun—blades that readily take enchantments, and outlast the people who wield them. The Everfire is guarded by a dedicated band of dwarves fed, armed, and healed by Sundabarians. This band, known as the Vigilant, must often fight off drow, duergar, and greedy humans seeking to gain control of the molten-rock rift. The Vigilant report that evil is rising in the ruins of Ascore to the east, as well as in Hellgate Keep, and mon- sters have been coming through the Underdark from that direction in increasing numbers. The Fardrimm is not a wealthy region; its lodes have been largely worked out. Dwarves say that much metal lies northward, however, under the Coldwood and the Ice Mountains, and atop the nearest peak east of Sundabar. That would be the west-ernmost fang of the Nether Moun¬tains, known as Dalagar's Dagger. There, for some unknown reason, many aged and ailing dragons go to die—wyrms of the black, blue, and green species. They typically perish in a suicidal dive onto the sharp pinna¬cle. Their bones litter the upmost slopes. Among their skeletal remains wink the treasures they bore: rings, pendants, and even loose gems and coins that were once glued to dragon bellies by means of ancient drag¬onhide oils and ointments. The Dag-ger's almost vertical lower faces are treacherous and crumbling, and the mountain is almost impossible to climb, so most of the treasure remains unclaimed. An unknown entity guards the peak against aerial forays from Hellgate Keep. Some say it's a faerie dragon, others a ki-rin. Landmarks Like Mirabar, Sundabar is a city of stone, a frowning, no-nonsense fortress with little to delight the eye, and little welcome for the ambling sightseer. This is a place of work. Indolence and slick ways are not looked upon with favor. Excessive curiosity is also frowned on. This is another city whose fear of spies from Hellgate Keep (and also barabrian scouts, Zhentarim, and humans hired by orcs) has made maps of the city illegal. Strangers who poke about are apt to be questioned by the watchful city soldiers. They take suspicious people to the Hall of Vigilance (the local temple of Helm) or the Hall of Everlasting Justice (the local temple of Tyr). There, priests detect lies while questioning is going on. Accordingly, no map of Sundabar appears here. I can tell you that the city is circular, with double walls. There's a moat in between them, rumored to be stocked with man-eat¬ing eels (I doubt they'd last, being frozen each winter). The city stands on the east bank of the Rauvin, and has three gates: Rivergate in the west, Eastgate in the east, and Turnstone Gate in the southeast, facing Turn¬stone Pass and Hellgate Keep, its evil uncomfortably close. Harsh winters and summer storms make outdoor markets, and even shopfront awnings, unknown in Sundabar. Everything is indoors, so look carefully for signboards. Most of Sundabar's famous and skilled woodcrafters are located around the city's central cobbled Circle. The Circle is the huge, open space surrounding the tall castle of the Master's Hall. Caravans form up in it, and it's kept clear to give shepherds a place to drive their stock into in the event of orc attacks, and as part of the city's defenses. The Master's Hall bris¬tles with catapults and heavy crossbow guns. If the outer parts of the city are invaded, survivors could retreat to the Hall and slaughter attackers trying to cross the open space of the Circle. All in all, the city is a safe refuge, but not a very attractive place to visit. Places of InTeresT in Sundabar Shops All the largest shops face onto the Circle. Sundabar's carpenters and woodcarvers are justly famous; about a dozen vie for the title of best. Visi¬tors interested in these crafters can just ask the way to their shops. Not only do all locals know where they are, but they make a game of trading shops, so from season to season, they move around and around the central, cobbled Circle. All of Sundabar's woodworkers are very expensive (all are rated at 5 coins), but all do first-rate work. Many visiting merchants buy an extra chair or stool here for their own use. Blackraven Wagons, Doors, and Shutters Woodcrafter Hundarr Blackraven is one of the dozen or so best of Sundabar's justly famous carpenters and woodcarvers. He makes simple, large, and sturdy items of the three types he deals in with very strong joints (so they'll hold together when the work of another might not). Hundarr prides himself and his shop ‘prentices in working both very well and very quickly; a custom-order door might take only an afternoon. Feldar’s Wheels and Wagons Coach and Wagonmaker f $ f M & & Where Hundarr Blackraven works quickly, Ildar Feldar (another of Sundabar's best) is slow, painstaking, and fussy. If a piece of wood shows grain he doesn't like the appearance of—even after it's been finished, and is in place on a piece—he'll replace it. His creations often take months and are usually ornate and beautiful. Feldar specializes in making grand coaches and ornamental carvings for adding to existing wagons. Furjur’s Flying Carpet General Store This shop is owned by the famous Waterdhavian merchant Furjur the Flippant. He's actually an absentee owner—running the shop in his stead are six delightful girls. The shop does indeed have a dusty flying carpet for sale—for the paltry sum of 45,000 gold pieces! The place is also crowded with brass lamps, skimpy clothing, beaded curtains, and other items from the warm lands of the Shining South. It's the closest thing Sundabar has to a junk shop. This makes it vitally important to folk who need, say, a replacement window pane in a hurry, and know the nearest shop is in Silverymoon! The store is on Northwind Street, which bends and twists northeast from the Rivergate to the Circle. Gullaxe’s Stairs, Rails, Poles, Staves, and Handles Woodturner Ondabar Gullaxe is another of Sund- abar's best woodworkers. He special¬izes in smooth-turned wood, and makes handles for all tools and weapons, including polearms of the finest quality. His talent is for weeding out wood with inherent weaknesses and faults, and in balancing some¬thing perfectly at the first attempt after once hefting the pike head, axe blade, arrowhead, or other metal part that needs a handle attached to it. Hammerlar’s Fine Floors and Housework Carpenter Olen Hammerlar’s works, of all the fine Sundabarian woodcrafts, will be most familar to common folk: He’s a house carpenter, all whistles and chewing tobacco, whose speciality is the “one-day porch.” He has the knack for lightning-fast work, and can bring his own horse-driven sawmill to any¬place his wagon will go. He restricts his work to within six days’ travel from Sundabar. He promises to put up any cabin or palisade in a tenday or less (except in winter). Krystryn’s Shelves Woodcrafer and Cabinetmaker Krystryn Danard, another of Sund- abar’s finest woodworkers, is tall and thin, with floor-length, very straight brown hair. It hangs around her in a halo, and is usually full of wood chips and curled shavings. She works and lives alone, demanding complete pri¬vacy for her art, and makes shelves, strongchests, and wardrobes. Krys- tryn always gives her work a very smooth finish. Some of her rivals insist she uses magic to do it. Larautarn’s Chairs Woodworker Ommagol Larantarn is one of the excellent woodworkers of Sundabar, but looks more like a cook; he's a very fat, pompous man with two little, pointed mustaches and a pursed and plum-colored mouth. He's never with¬out an open wine bottle or three as he works, and sings loudy (and badly) as he toils, gleefully hurling finished legs and seats over his shoulder to crash into the far wall as each one is done at the lathe. The wall is hung with heavy tapestries, and more are wadded up on the floor below it—Ommagol has no wish to damage his work. Ommagol has such a keen eye that he can make a stool and then create another of exactly the same size and shape without referring to the first. The Lutery Instrumentmaker Jonstal Haerdrun is a grim, sharp- chinned giant of a man who makes all manner of wooden musical instru¬ments. He's an accomplished musi¬cian, but refuses to perform or to tutor, spending his free time in hunting for just the right trees deep in the north¬ern forests. He often hires guards on these long, perilous expedition—and on more than one such expedition has proven himself a deadly swordsman as he cut his way out of orc ambushes. He's something of a mystery man in Sundabar; some say he hails from Neverwinter, and others from Rashe- men or points east. He has very white skin, a slight build, and a long mane of unruly coal-black hair that he wears tied back in a long tail. Mith's Carved Whimsies and Woodcuts Woodcarver Mith Tlalant is a soft-voiced, child-like man who delights in playing with children and takes an almost inno- as 700 gp each, but collectors resell them for thousands in gold. Naeth's Nails, Pegs, Locks, and Other Woodfinery Fine Woodcarver Naeth Robilar is another of Sund- abar's fine woodcrafters. He is per¬haps the most skilled carver of them all, and whittles wooden locks, nested spheres, and similar exacting pieces. He can look at any lock mechanism that is missing part of its workings and draw, explain: or even whittle the missing parts (if those parts can be shaped in wood). The Old Anvil Smithy Blacksmith This noisy, sooty barn of a place stands just inside Turnstone Gate and is the abode and workshop of master smith Alabuth Helfyn. He makes armor, anvils, and caltrops—an export for which Sundabar is widely known. These spiky devices were invented in Sundabar (independently of other places in the Realms) to break deadly mounted barbarian charges in places where no wood large and long enough could be had to fashion rows of pointed stakes. cent delight in the world around him. His hand-sized wooden carvings of birds, monsters, and people find their way as far afield as fabled Kara-Tur, and even Maztica. They cost as much The Old Block Furnituremaker Faernden Laurauth and Basmel Torlthink they were among Sund- “best” anything—but the fine fur- they produce, especially easy and blanket chests, is ordered in star are the two bickering, pettish co¬owners and master craftsmen of this shop. To hear them fighting, you’d never abar’s niture chairs the hundreds by Waterdhavian nobles, rich families in Amn, and folk even far¬ther afield. Barges go up and down the Rauvin all the time with loads of their output. Owning Old Block furniture is a badge of wealth and good taste even in places as far off as the Tashalar and the city-states around the Lake of Steam. The Old Fireblower Pouch & Pipe Shop Tobacconist f I f f Talbut Minshar’s old, narrow, crammed, and strong-smelling shop stands on Lantbalar Street about mid¬way along its straight run from the Cirle to Turnstone Gate. He sells exotic tobaccoes from all over Faerun, makes a few himself (adding crushed moun- tam juniper essence and winterberries dissolved in winter wine to imported tobacco leaves, for instance), and is famous (ranked among Sundabar’s best) for his elegant carved pipes. He even makes a flute-like pipe that can be played as an instrument as one blows smoke out of it! Old Ornar’s Beds and Tables Furnitu remaker Ornar Myntul is the grand old man of Sundabar’s woodworkers—he trained many of the best. Now, in the twilight of his years (he’s seen 112 or more win¬ters!), he contents himself with whit¬tling walking sticks that have fearsome faces for amusement, while importing and selling fine, but plain, beds and tables to those who can’t afford the work of the other fineworkers. Most of Sundabar’s best charge 30 gp for even the smallest and most insignificant piece, and large canopied beds or the like can often run into the thousands of gold pieces. Ornar’s most expensive bed, by con¬trast, is 18 gp, and most of his stock is 8 gp or less. He is an expert at identi¬fying woods—even from charred fragments. Shyndle’s Lutes & Pipes Instrumentmaker Anar Shyndle is the only one of Sund- abar’s excellent woodworkers not to have his shop on the Circle. His abode and workshop stands just inside the Rivergate, and there he makes the musical instruments said to be the best in all the North (saving perhaps a few workers in Silverymoon). “Pipes so good, the satyrs play ‘em” is his motto, and it’s true that some satyrs once stole all the pipes in his shop. What use they put them to, none can say, so Anar made the logical assump¬tion. None of them has returned to correct him, he told me cheerfully. Shoppers should be aware that Anar and Jonstal Haerdrun of the Lutery are deadly foes. Thimm’s Shingles, Shakes, and Finefinish Tabletops Carpenter and Roofer & & & Olosk Thimm is a placid giant of a man who spends his days putting replacement legs and tops on dam¬aged furniture, except when he’s up on a roof, replacing it. He was once attacked by a bugbear patrol when splitting shingles alone in the forest and used his axe to slaughter the lot of them, bringing their heads back as proof. This was long ago, but folk still talk of Olosk calmly bowling the heads down one of Sundabar’s streets to frighten an aggressive neighbor who’d been pestering him over some incident or other. Needless to say, he was successful. Merchants beware: He doesn't seem like the sort one should anger. Taverns The city has many mediocre taverns. Both inns and taverns here serve food, generally of the boar-and-beans, ribsticking-but-simple, almost unsea¬soned variety. Halabar’s Horn of Spirits This filthy place sports broken furni¬ture and broken-down patrons to go with it. It stands—slumps, rather—on Lanthalar Street, although patrons often reel out onto the street with their tankards or roll out into it fight¬ing. A place to go if you want to break things.... Why not? Everyone else has been there before you, and done it already The Maiden at Midnight This tavern and festhall on the Circle is the only exception to the rather depressing tavern prospects of Sund- abar. It’s justly famous in the Interior. This delightful place can readily be found by its huge, gently glowing signboard. It depicts an elegant lady looking shocked, with one hand to her mouth and the other clutching at the front of her evening gown. Inside, the Maiden is dimly lit and hushed. The walls are thickly hung with carpets and tapestries. The staff of highly trained escorts includes lizard women, gnomes, halflings, and sprites, as well as human women. The famous Trapdoor Room, favored by adventurers, is in the cellar. There drinks are served down through the ceiling by means of small trapdoors over each table. Table dancers descend into the room and then rise back out by means of drop bars. The Maiden is always crowded, but never seems so. It’s a fun place, broken up into seemingly private alcoves and corners by means of many tapestries. It has a ward that prevents all fires, including magical ones, from burning. This is to keep the tapestries from catching alight. Once they caught fire the place would burn down in a few breaths! Because of this problem, the kitchens and dining room are in a separate building next door. They may be easily reached via a tunnel. The ward also prevents smoking, so those who dislike the clouds of heavy smoke in most taverns enjoy coming here. The Sighing Sylph This tavern is a quiet neighborhood drinking spot. It stands on Northwind Street, and is unremarkable—except for its rather tasteless, life-size wooden door-statue of an immodest sylph. Pranksters often carry her off and perch her somewhere else in the city—someplace interesting, whimsi¬cal, or just embarrassing (such as in the chancel of a temple, or on the roof of a rich merchant’s home). Alterna¬tively, they paint her interesting hues, or cast cantrips on her to make her say rude things, glow in interesting places, or appeal to beckon passersby. Would that the tavern behind her were half as interesting. The Tabard & Tankard horrible tavern, just a dirty, tired, unre¬markable one. The walls are covered with shields, buntings, cloaks, and tunics emblazoned with arms and devices of those who drank here (or so the tavernmaster would have you think). I recognized several badges of noble families who’ve been extinct for much longer than the tavern’s been here, I’m afraid. Unshimble's Ugly Face This rowdy tavern is named for its signboard, a gigantic, carved, and lamp-lit screaming goblin head. This sign guides all but the blind to it, even though it’s tucked away on a little lane off Antar Street. It is the gather¬ing place of ‘prentices and laborers, who come here surly, aching, dog tired, and ready for a fight. Many nights, they get one—or two, or a score. Beware flying bottles: This is the sort of tavern your mother warned you about—er, if she did. Inns This overpriced tavern stands on Antar Street (which runs north from North¬wind Street just inside the Rivergate, along the inside of the inner city wall). Its name alludes to its haughty preten¬tions to serving scholars, heralds, titled nobles, senior clergy, and powerful wizards—some of whom may actually have enjoyed a drink here. If one doesn’t care about money, one can can enjoy relative privacy here (for the high prices make patronage scant). It’s not a Baldiver’s This old, quiet, elegant inn is deco- rated with dark wood paneling, leather hall railings, and old, faded portraits of local knights and heroes. It is for the older, quieter visitor; others are refused entry or ejected if they beome unruly. Many retired war¬riors stay here in the coldest months, abandoning their chilly homes in the rates (2 cp per room/night). Baldiver's looks like an old castle sprawling along Northwind Street for a fair dis¬tance, and local legend insists that it can be defended as one if the city is attacked, having concealed armories and the like at the ready. The Firestar Chariot MM Located on Undle Lane (which runs due south from the Circle), this estab¬lishment is named for its vividly painted signboard, bought from a carnival in Tethyr. The board depicts two fire giants riding into battle on a chariot of flames, drawn by a flaming winged horse, and trailing stars. Inside, the place is given over to loud music and even louder furnish¬ings. It is patronized by young folk looking for thrills, and is prowled by so many evening escorts that some folk of Sundabar consider it little bet¬ter than a festhall. Thankfully, the rooms are luxuriously furnished and sound-proofed. A complimentary bot¬tle of “firestar wine” (amber sherry, doctored with a little ruby cordial, but very good nonetheless) is included with every room each evening you stay. Rooms run 9 sp to 2 gp/night, depending on size and appointments. Malshym’s House This inn on Lanthalar Street caters to merchants, goodfolk, and other is basic, unpretentious, and unexciting, but safe and clean. Would that more inns could make that boast in truth.
Sundabar (large city) in 1372 DR: Conventional; AL LN; 40,000 gp limit; Assets 28 518 000 gp; Population 14,259; Integrated (humans 54%, dwarves (all types) 33%, rock gnomes 8%, lightfoot halflings 3%, half-elves 1%, others 1%).Как Мирабар, Сандабар был дварфийским поселением, над которым люди построили свой город. Недавнее падение Сандабара должно послужить для моих собратьев дварфов примером того, что происходит, когда баланс сил смещается в сторону поверхности и в пользу людей. Город произошел от цитадели Сандбарр крепости Делзун, построенной две тысячи лет назад вокруг странного вулканического разлома, который впоследствии стал известен как Вечный Огонь - таинственный источник неиссякаемого жара для го-родских кузниц и литейных, который позволял Сандабару производить работы уникального качества. Сандбарром руководил Мастер Наковальни, кузнец, наиболее искусный в работе с Вечным Огнем. Когда один Мастер Наковальни умирал или, когда его по мастерству превосходил другой кузнец, руководство городом переходило из рук в руки. Так было до того момента, когда остатки Аскалхорна, преследуемые врагами, не прибыли к порогу цитадели. Тогда Мастер Наковальни Сандбарра помог людям отбиться от демонов и прочих монстров, которые их преследовали. В знак признательности человеку, спасшему его жизнь во время битвы, Мастер Наковальни позволил беженцам поселиться на поверхности вместо того, чтобы отправить их восво-яси по окончании сражения. Партнерство, в резуль¬тате выросшее между дварфами и людьми, стало известно на весь Север, и поверхностная часть Сандабара выросла в мощную торговую крепость. Тем не менее, в то время, как люди на поверхноcти процветали, популяция дварфов сокращалась, и в какой-то момент Правящий Мастер Сандабара, говорящий от имени человеческих гильдий и торговцев поверхностной части города, превзошел в престиже Мастера Наковальни. Один такой Правящий Мастер, Хелм Друг-Дварфов, был так любим и уважаем, что его потомкам удалось короноваться, чего не осмеливался сделать ни один дварф Сандабара ни до, ни после. Король Фаерхелм, внук Хелма, был королем Сандабара, когда город пал под нашествием орды орков. Сам король не выжил. Помимо этой трагедии, недавняя война нанесла ужасающий урон Сандабару и людям на поверхности. Дракон скидывал огромные камни на многие здания в городе, и значительная часть внешней стены города была разрушена. Большая часть военного руководства Сандабара погибла, когда здание, в котором они держали совет, было раздавлено каменной глыбой. Несмотря на все усилия Алейны Брайтлэнс из сильверимунских Рыцарей в Серебре и доблесть гарнизона Сандабара, орки устремились в город, уничтожив человеческое население на поверхности и загнав немногих выживших защитников в пещеры, из которых многие бежали в Подземье. Дварфы подземного города забаррикадировались в пещерах Вечного Огня и стали ждать. Когда орочий вождь Хартуск ушел, оставив в городе лишь небольшой гарнизон, чтобы замедлить возможных преследователей, дварфы вышли наружу и уничтожили всех до единого орков и гоблинов в Сандабаре. Сейчас Сандабар - полностью дварфийский город; человеческое население исчезло. Работа по расчистке завалов и руин идет медленно, так как большинство дварфов остается в подземной части города, а те, кто несет службу наверху, заняли здания с наименьшими повреждениями, перетащив камни из полностью разрушенных построек, чтобы усилить те, которые еще можно спасти.. До войны улицы на поверхности Сандабара представляли собой гладкую мостовую, но многие из дорог были уничтожены падающими глыбами, разобраны на снаряды или на ремонт стен или просто испортились от времени и отсутствия ухода. Сегодня поверхностная часть города - это пустые руины. Некоторые полагают, что верхнему городу будет позволено увянуть и впасть в забвение, за исключением прочной двойной стены, которая его окружает (и которую дварфы уже починили). Храмы человеческих божеств стоят заброшенными. Стены патрулируются несколькими зоркими стражами, чей долг - сообщать обо всем, что они видят, и отправ¬лять восвояси нежелательных посетителей. В центре верхнего города вокруг Зала Мастера все еще существует Круг, готовый принять караваны, стада скота, торговцев. Тем не менее, немногие такие посетители приходят сюда в наши дни, и еще меньше их пропускают в город, так как Сандабар теперь предпочитает торговать только с другими дварфийскими городами через Подземье. Будь на то воля Мастера Наковальни, он бы распорядился осуществлять абсолютно все движение в и из города через подземные туннели, чтобы большинство путей на поверхности были полностью заброшены. Уровень доверия сандабарцев к чужакам низок, а их мнение о людях еще ниже. Из всех человеческих городов во время войны только Сильверимун сделал какую-то попытку помочь Сандабару, и эта помощь (по мнению дварфов) была слишком маленькой и слишком запоздалой. В результате после роспуска Серебряных Пределов Сандабар недолго думая вышел и из Альянса Лордов, официально разорвав все отношения с человеческими городами Севера за исключением тех, которые все еще жизненно важны с точки зрения торговли. Учитывая, что такая торговля теперь очень редка, большинство человеческих королевств видят Сандабар как жадно оберегающий свое богатство город, трусливо прячущийся под поверхностью, пока остальная часть региона де¬лает все, что может, пытаясь восстановиться после недавних конфликтов. Потери Сандабара в зданиях и населении никак не уменьшили содержимое его ломящихся от драгоценностей сундуков, и несмотря на свое нынешнее состояние, город остается одним из самых богатых на Севере, хотя все эти драгоценности теперь редко покидают пределы города. В нижнем городе вновь возникли разговоры о монархе, но Мастер Наковальни отверг эту идею. Дварфам, конечно, нужно заботиться о себе и самостоятельно принимать решения, и в Сандабаре не будет короля. Уж я не знаю, чем является упрямство Флэймстокера - ложной скромностью или истинной мудростью, возможно он ждет, когда поя¬вится король-воин, который присоединит Сандабар и сделает его частью большего королевства.. Город-побратим Мирабара стоит в руинах. Орочья орда уничтожила этот когда-то мощный город-крепость во время Войны Серебряных Пределов, искоренив человеческое население, загнав дварфийское население глубоко од землю, убив дварфийского короля и, возможно, что хуже всего, нанеся смертельный удар давнему альянсу Сандабара с его человеческими и эльфийскими соседями. Оставшиеся дварфы Сандабара отреклись от тех, кто не помог городу, когда помощь была нужна, или помог недостаточно. Они болше не считают себя частью Альянса Лордов. Дварфы теперь сфокусировали все свое внимание на восстановлении того, что возможно восстановить. Теперь, хотя город на поверхности остается опустошенными руинами - его внешние стены в основном целы, но постройки в городе все еще лежат грудами развалин - подземные кузницы и литейные снова заработали. Сейчас гороб закрыт для входа любых не дварфов. Mirabar’s sister-city is a shattered ruin. An ore horde destroyed this once-mighty fortress city during the War of the Silver Marches, wiped out its human population, drove the dwarven population deep underground, slew the city’s dwarf king, and, perhaps worst of all, dealt a fatal blow to Sundabar’s longstanding alliance with its human and elf neighbors. The remaining dwarves of Sundabar have turned their backs on those who offered little or no aid in the city’s time of need. They no longer consider themselves part of the Lords’ Alliance. The dwarves have turned their attention to rebuilding what they can. Now, al¬though the surface city remains a hollowed-out ruin, its outer walls mostly intact but its inner buildings reduced to piles of debris, the underground smithies and found¬ries are operational once more. The city is currently off limits to non-dwarves. Как Мирабар, Сандабар был дварфийским посе-лением, над которым люди построили свой город. Недавнее падение Сандабара должно послужить для моих собратьев дварфов примером того, что происходит, когда баланс сил смещается в сторону поверхности и в пользу людей. Город произошел от цитадели Сандбарр кре¬пости Делзун, построенной две тысячи лет назад вокруг странного вулканического разлома, который впоследствии стал известен как Вечный Огонь - таинственный источник неиссякаемого жара для го-родских кузниц и литейных, который позволял Сан- дабару производить работы уникального качества. Сандбарром руководил Мастер Наковальни, кузнец, ^наиболее искусный в работе с Вечным Огнем. Когда один Мастер Наковальни умирал или, когда его по мастерству превосходил другой кузнец, руководство городом переходило из рук в руки. Так было до того момента, когда остатки Аскал- хорна, преследуемые врагами, не прибыли к порогу цитадели. Тогда Мастер Наковальни Сандбарра по¬мог людям отбиться от демонов и прочих монстров, которые их преследовали. В знак признательности человеку, спасшему его жизнь во время битвы, Ма¬стер Наковальни позволил беженцам поселиться на поверхности вместо того, чтобы отправить их восво-яси по окончании сражения. Партнерство, в резуль¬тате выросшее между дварфами и людьми, стало известно на весь Север, и поверхностная часть Сандабара выросла в мощную торговую крепость. Тем не менее, в то время, как люди на поверхно¬сти процветали, популяция дварфов сокращалась, и в какой-то момент Правящий Мастер Сандаба¬ра, говорящий от имени человеческих гильдий и торговцев поверхностной части города, превзошел в престиже Мастера Наковальни. Один такой Правя¬щий Мастер, Хелм Друг-Дварфов, был так любим и уважаем, что его потомкам удалось короноваться, чего не осмеливался сделать ни один дварф Санда¬бара ни до, ни после. Король Фаерхелм, внук Хелма, был королем Санда-бара, когда город пал под нашествием орды орков. Сам король не выжил. Помимо этой трагедии, не¬давняя война нанесла ужасающий урон Сандабару и людям на поверхности. Дракон скидывал огромные камни на многие здания в городе, и значительная часть внешней стены города была разрушена. Боль¬шая часть военного руководства Сандабара погибла, когда здание, в котором они держали совет, было раздавлено каменной глыбой. Несмотря на все усилия Алейны Брайтлэнс из сильверимунских Рыцарей в Серебре и доблесть гарнизона Сандабара, орки устремились в город, уничтожив человеческое население на поверхности и загнав немногих выживших защитников в пеще¬ры, из которых многие бежали в Подземье. Дварфы подземного города забаррикадировались в пещерах Вечного Огня и стали ждать. Когда орочий вождь Хартуск ушел, оставив в городе лишь небольшой гарнизон, чтобы замедлить возможных преследова-телей, дварфы вышли наружу и уничтожили всех до единого орков и гоблинов в Сандабаре. Сейчас Сандабар - полностью дварфийский город; человеческое население исчезло. Работа по расчист¬ке завалов и руин идет медленно, так как большин¬ство дварфов остается в подземной части города, а те, кто несет службу наверху, заняли здания с наименьшими повреждениями, перетащив камни из полностью разрушенных построек, чтобы усилить те, которые еще можно спасти.. До войны улицы на поверхности Сандабара представляли собой гладкую мостовую, но многие из дорог были уничтожены падающими глыбами, разобраны на снаряды или на ремонт стен или просто испортились от времени и отсутствия ухода. Сегодня поверхностная часть города - это пустые руины. Некоторые полагают, что верхнему городу будет позволено увянуть и впасть в забвение, за исключением прочной двойной стены, которая его окружает (и которую дварфы уже починили). Храмы человеческих божеств стоят заброшенными. Стены патрулируются несколькими зоркими стражами, чей долг - сообщать обо всем, что они видят, и отправ¬лять восвояси нежелательных посетителей. В центре верхнего города вокруг Зала Мастера все еще существует Круг, готовый принять караваны, стада скота, торговцев. Тем не менее, немногие та¬кие посетители приходят сюда в наши дни, и еще меньше их пропускают в город, так как Сандабар теперь предпочитает торговать только с другими дварфийскими городами через Подземье. Будь на то воля Мастера Наковальни, он бы распорядился осу-ществлять абсолютно все движение в и из города через подземные туннели, чтобы большинство путей на поверхности были полностью заброшены. Уровень доверия сандабарцев к чужакам низок, а их мнение о людях еще ниже. Из всех человеческих городов во время войны только Сильверимун сделал какую-то попытку помочь Сандабару, и эта помощь (по мнению дварфов) была слишком маленькой и слишком запоздалой. В результате после роспуска Серебряных Пределов Сандабар недолго думая вышел и из Альянса Лордов, официально разорвав все отношения с человеческими городами Севера за исключением тех, которые все еще жизненно важ¬ны с точки зрения торговли. Учитывая, что такая торговля теперь очень редка, большинство человече¬ских королевств видят Сандабар как жадно обере¬гающий свое богатство город, трусливо прячущийся под поверхностью, пока остальная часть региона де¬лает все, что может, пытаясь восстановиться после недавних конфликтов. Потери Сандабара в зданиях и населении никак не уменьшили содержимое его ломящихся от драго-ценностей сундуков, и несмотря на свое нынешнее состояние, город остается одним из самых богатых на Севере, хотя все эти драгоценности теперь редко покидают пределы города. В нижнем городе вновь возникли разговоры о монархе, но Мастер Наковальни отверг эту идею. Дварфам, конечно, нужно заботиться о себе и самостоятельно принимать решения, и в Сандаба- ре не будет короля. Уж я не знаю, чем является упрямство Флэймстокера - ложной скромностью или истинной мудростью, возможно он ждет, когда поя¬вится король-воин, который присоединит Сандабар и сделает его частью большего королевства..
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Город великолепно защищен и неоднократно доказал свою силу, остано¬вив несколько крупных набегов орочьей орды. Защит¬ные укрепления состоят из двойных стен и ледяного рва, окружающих город по кругу. В городе постоянно находится двухтысячная армия отлично вооруженных защитников в лице воинов Шилдсарцев. Помимо это¬го, в случае необходимости на помощь Шилдсарцам в любой момент могут прийти многочисленные от¬ряды дварфов, крепких и умелых воинов, живущих в недрах Фардримма, немного ниже Вечного Пламени. Наконец, всякий раз, когда это необходимо, богатая городская казна позволяет использовать наемников и авантюристов. Сандабар прекрасно приспособлен для длительной осады, поскольку обширные подзем¬ные пещеры-амбары позволяют хранить большие за¬пасы провизии недалеко от Вечного Пламени, а глу¬бокие городские колодцы идут до подземного озера Анфарр, которое всегда обеспечит пресной водой.
Главным девизом жителей Сандабара является бди-тельность. Посторонние вызывают подозрение и по-вышенное внимание. Если кто-то начинает чересчур активно изучать достопримечательности и проявляет излишнюю любознательность, то рано или поздно он обязательно привлечет внимание Каменных Щи¬тов Сандабара. Эго организация выполняет функции милиции города и возглавляется Смотровыми Клин-ками, которые также руководят сетью тайных шпи¬онов, известной жителям под именем Пристальных. Воины Каменных Щитов не слишком церемонятся с подозрительными личностями и не загустят возмож-ности сопроводить последних в один из двух храмов города, где жрецы Хельма или Тира охотно посодейств}тот в допросе, используя для этого закли-нания, вроде распознать ложь или зона правды.
Те члены Каменных Щитов или Пристальных, ко-торые начинают относиться к своим обязанностям небрежно или, наоборот, слишком фанатично, пере-водятся на службу в Шилдсар. В свою очередь, «про-блемные» члены армии переводятся в отряды Смо-тровых Клинков. Шилдсарцы, командуемые Смо-тровыми Клинками, распологаются на защите стен и патрулировании в Сандабарской Долине.
Отряды Шилдсарцев патрулируют окрестности Сандобара в полных доспехах, вооруженные длин¬ными копьями, мечами, кинжа¬лами, боевыми топорами и ко-роткими лука¬ми. Они отлично знают маршрут и всегда внима¬тельно исследуют каждую пещеру или овраг, распо¬ложенный в зоне патрулирования. Лидеры отрядов всегда опасаются того, что их за¬станут врасплох или обойдут с флангов, и по¬этому во время патрулирования они обязательно высылают разведчиков по всем направлениям.
Важные Места
Сандабар представляет собой город мощеных улиц и крыш, покрытых сланцем, трехэтажные каменные здания имеют узкие высокие окна, толстые стены и крепкие обитые железом двери. Среди этих ми-ниатюрных крепостей большинство представ¬ляют собой частные дома, и только одно раз¬мещает в себе гостиницу («У Балдивера»), ко¬торая в случае вторжения прекрас¬но подойдет в качестве основного опорного пункта для защитников. Деревья единичны, несколько застекленных садов, пожалуй, единственная вещь в городе, на которой отображается течение времени. Зимой дома жите¬лей становятся холодными и влажными. Высокие сугробы, загро¬мождающие улицы, постепенно тают под солнцем и просачиваются между камня¬ми вниз под землю. Большинство домов обо¬рудованы вместительными подвалами, в кото¬рых хранятся зерновые запасы, выращиваются грибы и заготавливается дополнительная про¬визия на случай голодной зимней поры; ста¬рые Сандабрцы хорошо помнят такие зимы. Лесопилки и загоны расположены вне стен города, однако караваны, уходящие и прихо¬дящие в город, никогда не остаются без защи¬ты. В самое сердце города ведут три центральные дороги от Речных Ворот на западе, Восточ¬ных Ворот на востоке и Ворот Осыпающих¬ся Камней на юго-востоке. В центре или, как его еще называют жители, «Круге» запрещено размещать рынки и вести торговлю. Посреди боль¬шой открытой площади расположен Зал Правящего Мастера Сандабара. В случае атаки орков, караваны могут найти защиту, собравшись в Круге, а местные пастухи будут иметь возможность загнать туда свои стада, тем самым, обеспечив город продовольствием на случай длительной осады.ЗАЛ ПРАВЯЩЕГО МАСТЕРА САНДАБАРА
Зал Правящего Мастера представляет собой скопление огромных круглых каменных башен и зубчатых стен, ощетинившихся тяжелыми катапультами и баллистами. Сандабар ожидает нападения и всегда готов к нему. Как говорил ныне покойный Мастер Тулнтарн: «Сандабар - это скала, крушащая черепа орков подобно драконьим челюстям». Внутри постоянно несут службу две сотни элитных воинов Шилдсара. Офисы многих различных правлений, гильдий и советов переполняют здание. В то время, как Хельм направляет свои усилия для того, чтобы упростить запутанные законодатель¬ные, таможенные и пошлинные схемы, он постоян¬но сталкивается с нежеланием и коварством мелких владельцев гильдий, стремящихся изменить закон в пользу своих личных интересов.Нижний ГОРОД И ВЕЧНОЕ ПЛАМЯ
Вечное Пламя представляет собой огромную вулка-ническую трещину, расположенную под городом. Когда-то Вечное Пламя было окружено могучими литейными заводами, и работа кипела здесь день и ночь, однако теперь большая часть великих кузней лежит в руинах и вряд ли когда-либо будет восстановлена. В настоящий момент дварфы стараются не размещать непосредственно поблизости от трещины какие-либо постоянные мастерские или цеха. Та часть Вечного Пламени, которая остается безопасной для работы, постоянно охраняется небольшим отрядом элитных воинов дварфов, которых называют Бдительными. Основное население нижнего города составляют дварфы. Это целые кланы мастеров литейщи¬ков, кузнецов и оружейников. В про¬шлом отношения между людьми и дварфами были достаточно напря¬женными, однако сейчас, когда к вла-сти пришел Хельм, которому слепо доверяют все, дела, похоже, идут на лад.ИЗВЕСТНЫЕ ВИДЫ КОММЕРЧЕСКОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ
В окрестностях Круга каждый по¬сетитель найдет более чем дюжину превосходных резчиков и обработчиков дерева и плотницких магазинов. Сандабар издавна славится своими плотниками и кузнецами. Местные таверны отлича¬ются простым грубоватым интерьером и небольшой вместимостью. Исключения составляет лишь несколько, а именно гостини¬ца «У Балдивера» (в этой оборудованной сродни кре¬пости гостинице радушно принимают пожилых воинов и предпочитают тихих, не буянящих гостей), «Колесница Пы¬лающая Звезда» (шумное место, в котором каждый вечер кутит и веселится множество народа), «Дом Малшима» (тихое, чистое место, популярное среди знати и богатых торговцев) и Труба (роскошное ме¬сто, где гости могут отдыхать в уединении, никем не побеспокоенные, популярна среди искателей при-ключений).ГЛАВНЫЕ ХРАМЫ
Как можно ожидать, наиболее популярными в Сандабаре прежде всего являются боги войны, за¬кона, силы и чести. Храмы, посвященные пантео¬нам дварфских богов, в частности Морадину, можно встретить в скрытых залах нижнего города. Зад Неизменной Справделивости: Этот храм, посвященный богам Тиру и Торму, представляет собой похожее на крепость, высокое здание, рас¬положенное в Круге, как раз напротив Зала Мастера Сандабара. Жрецы храмов служат вместе с воинами Шилдсара, обеспечивая их лечением и боевыми за¬клинаниями. Во главе храма стоит Защитник Право¬судия Латкиера Морланд (ЗД человек женщина Жр Тира 9). За свою холодную, ожесточенную манеру общения Морланд прозвали «Каменной Деди». Зал Бдительности: Местный дом Хельма, это зда-ние выглядит одновременно строгим и внушитель¬ным. Присматривает здесь за всем Синьор Зимний Лорд Мраскин Тоелаунт Стальной Глаз (ЗН человек мужчина Жр 10). Как и его соратник из храма Тира, он тоже имеет прозвище - «Старый Беспощадный Кулак». Он всей душой ненавидит орков и готов пре¬доставить любую помощь тем авантюристам, кото¬рые решат устроить поход в логово орков.Sundabar This double-walled, circular fortress city is famous for its miners, master smiths, and woodcarvers. It's a harsh, treeless place, characterized by one visitor as "all stone and suspicion." A heavily guarded volcanic rift beneath Sundabar, the Everfire, is the source of many magic weapons. Sundabar (large city): Conventional; AL LN; 40,000 gp limit; Assets 28,518,000 gp; Population 14,259; Integrated (humans 54%, dwarves (all types) 33%, rock gnomes 8%, lightfoot halflings 3%, half-elves 1%, others 1%). Authority Figure: Helm Dwarf-Friend, NG male human Ftr10/Rgr5 of Mielikki (Master of Sundabar). Important Characters: Guldrim Hoaraxe, LN male shield dwarf Ftr8/Def6 (Bright Axe of the Vigilant Warblade Ilbrim Sarkro, LN male human Ftr9; Watchblade Brionn Haskur, LN male human Ftr8; Master Moneylender Homilar Drace, NE male human Rog8 (sponsor or owner of many businesses Old Ornar Myntuk, LG male human Exp10 (proprietor of Old Ornar's Beds and Tables and greatest of Sundabar's master woodworkers Gaurlar Darym, NG male human Ftr3 (proprietor of The Trumpet Inn Uldro Baldiver, NG male human War4 (proprietor of Baldiver's Inn). The Shieldsar -- Ftr14, Ftr13, Rgr12, War12, Clr11, Ftr11 (2), Pal11, War11 (2), Bbn10, Ftr10, War10, Clr9, Ftr9, Pal9, War9 (2), Bbn8, Clr8 (2), Ftr8 (2), War8 (2), Clr7, Ftr7 (2), Pal7, Rgr7, War7 (4), Bbn6, Clr6 (3), Ftr6 (2), Pal6, War6 (7), Clr5 (4), Ftr5 (5), Pal5 (2), War5 (10), Bbn4 (2), Clr4 (6), Ftr4 (6), Pal4, Rgr4 (2), War4 (22), Bbn3 (2), Clr3 (5), Ftr3 (12), War3 (81), Clr2 (12), Ftr2 (24), Pal2 (2), Rgr2, War2 (288), Clr1 (25), Ftr1 (49), War1 (823). Stone Shields -- Ftr6, Clr5, War5, Clr4, War4 (3), Clr3 (2), War3 (9), Clr2 (4), War2 (14), Clr1 (5), War1 (42). The Watchful -- Rog9, Rog8, Wiz8, Brd7, Rog7, Wiz7, Exp6, Rog6 (2), Exp5 (2), Rog5 (2), Wiz5, Brd4, Exp4 (2), Rog4 (4), Wiz4, Com3 (2), Exp3 (4), Rog3 (3), Com2 (8). The Argent Legion -- Ftr6, Ftr5, War5 (2), Clr4, Ftr4, War4 (5), Ftr3 (3), War3 (11), Ftr2 (4), War2 (30), Clr1(2), Ftr1 (6), War1 (133). The other citizens of Sundabar are too numerous and diverse to enumerate here. Notable Imports: Food (especially grain, livestock, and fruit, which is highly prized), lumber, and textiles. Notable Exports: Armor, clay wares (mostly pipes and tiles), copper, furniture, gold, lumber, pelts, silver, tools, weapons. One of Faerûn's wealthiest and most warlike cities, Sundabar is a former dwarf citadel that has grown into a frowning fortress. Famed for wood and metal exports, it serves as the military bulwark of civilization in the North. Sundabar boasts many defenses against the orc hordes that plague the North, and has broken the onslaught of several major invasions. First are its two ring-walls, bolstered by an icy moat between them reputedly roamed by man-eating eels. Next are the city's capable and well-armed defenders, the Shieldsar, a standing army two thousand strong. Beyond the Shieldsar stand the city's numerous dwarf allies, stout warriors from the Fardrimm beneath the Everfire. Finally, Sundabar's deep coffers are frequently used to hire mercenaries and adventurers whenever necessary. Sundabar is well provisioned against a siege of many months, as vast granary caverns lie near the Everfire, and deep city wells tap the clear, fresh subterranean lake Anfarra. Vigilance is the watchword of Sundabarian life. Outsiders are watched and viewed with suspicion. Those who seem too inquisitive or travel about the city too energetically are questioned by the Stone Shields, the city watch. The Stone Shields police the city under the command of the Watchblade, which also oversees a shadowy network of spies known to citizens as the Watchful. The Stone Shields won't hesitate to forcibly escort suspicious persons to the city's two large temples, where clerics of Helm or Tyr assist in the questioning with spells such as discern lies or zone of truth. Stone Shields and Watchful who grow careless, overzealous, or too friendly with shadier citizens are transferred to the Shieldsar. In turn, the army's "problem" members are often transferred to the Watchblade's forces. The Shieldsar, commanded by the Warblade, sees to wall defenses and patrols throughout the Sundabar Vale. A Shieldsar patrol rides the wilderlands in full armor, armed with longspears, swords, daggers, battleaxes, and shortbows. They get to know their patrol areas very well, scouring every cave and hill-hollow. Shieldsar leaders are always wary of being outflanked or ambushed, setting scouts on all sides as they patrol.
Brief History
In the days of the dwarf kingdom of Delzoun, Sundabar was a mighty dwarf citadel. The dwarves of Delzoun built a great underground city here sometime around -500 DR to take advantage of the Everfire, a volcanic rift in the Underdark. Citadel Sundbarr, like Adbar to the north, was mostly subterranean, with only a few structures on the surface. The heart of the dwarfhold lay in the immense foundries around the fiery rift, a source of heat so large and intense that works of the most massive scale and most difficult alloys could be accomplished here. Sundbarr survived the fall of Delzoun's vast Underdark realm in the Year of the Black Unicorn by turning the awesome power of the Everfire to the city's defense. Safe behind walls of molten metal, the master founders isolated themselves from the lands about. Over time, Sundbarr's strength dwindled as its folk became less numerous and the mighty lore of old was forgotten. Marauding orcs and monsters plundered the surface portions of the city time and time again during the centuries between 329 DR, the year in which Hlondath fell, and 882 DR, the year in which Ascalhorn, Ammarindar, and Eaerlann succumbed to an army of demons. Orc hordes driven from their homes by the demons bypassed Citadel Sundbarr, since nothing worth destroying stood on the surface and the underground foundries were still guarded by the Everfire, impregnable to orc assault. In the aftermath of Ascalhorn's fall, Prince Simberuel Astalmó, one of the high captains of that city, gathered up a small number of the survivors and led them to safety. Threatened on all sides by demons pillaging the Delimbiyr Vale, Astalmé turned north and brought his people over Turnstone Pass, closely pursued by a flock of vrocks intent on finishing off the refugees. Near the buried dwarf citadel, Astalmé and his men were brought to bay by the pursuing fiends. Doom seemed certain, but then an unexpected ally appeared -- the Forgemaster of Sundbarr. Determined not to break his hold's isolation of centuries, the ruler of Sundbarr discovered he could not ignore the plight of the hopelessly outnumbered humans on his doorstep. Dwarf and human joined together to drive off the demons. During the battle, Prince Astalmé gave his own life to save the Forgemaster, and in gratitude the Forgemaster offered the humans a home in the abandoned surface portions of the citadel. In the five centuries since that day, human and dwarf have flourished together. The humans rebuilt the surface keeps and strongholds, and went on to raise mighty walls around their city. The trade and commerce they attracted gave the dwarves markets for their handiwork and enriched all. Citadel Sundbarr, the insular dwarfhold, became the city of Sundabar, a bulwark of military strength and trade in the North. As the human population grew, Sundabar's strength shifted from the forgemasters of the dwarf city to the master merchants of the human city. A Ruling Master of the guilds and merchants came to wield more power than the Forgemaster. Today, the Forgemaster is the leader of the dwarf community in Sundabar and an important advisor to the Ruling Master, but the Ruling Master guides the city for good or ill. Beneath the Ruling Master, wealthy guilds of craftsfolk, miners, and merchants feud and squabble for advantage and more wealth. Helm Dwarf-friend became the sixth Ruling Master of the city in 1355 DR, after his predecessor died fighting against orcs assailing the city's defenses. He has done much to curb the infighting of the city's guildmasters and clear away the corruption of previous reigns.Important Sites
Sundabar is a city of cobbled streets and slate-roofed, three-story stone houses that have tall, narrow shuttered windows, thick walls, and stout, ironbound doors that can be barred as well as bolted. Out of these miniature fortresses rise some residences and at least one inn (Baldiver's) that can function as keeps if the city is ever invaded. Trees are few, windowbox herb-gardens being the only visible growing things. In winter, Sundabarian houses are cold and damp. Snow heaped high in the streets melts in the sun and seeps into the stones and the earth beneath. Most house cellars hold mushroom crops and are crammed with rodent-proof food casks; older Sundabarians remember hungry winters all too well. Sawmills and paddocks lie outside the walls, but caravans need not form up or disperse unprotected: Roads lead straight in from Rivergate (west), Eastgate (east), and Turnstone Gate (southeast) to a central location in the heart of the city known simply as the Circle. No market stalls are allowed to encroach into this great open space surrounding the Master's Hall. Caravans assemble in the Circle, and if an orc horde should attack, local shepherds can drive their herds into the Circle, so the city will have food enough to withstand a siege.The Master's Hall
The Master's Hall is a crowded cluster of huge round stone towers, their battlements bristling with heavy catapults and ballistae. Sundabar expects attacks and stands ready for them, and calls itself "the rock that shatters orc skulls and dragon jaws alike" (as the now-dead Master Thulntarn once put it). An elite company of two hundred Shieldsar known as the Master's Guard mans the Master's Hall. Offices of many different boards, guilds, and councils crowd the building. While Helm has taken many steps toward simplifying Sundabar's confusing scheme of customs, regulations, and duties, he still must contend with hundreds of scheming guildsfolk who hope to legislate some small advantage for their craft or trade through his offices.The Everfire and the Undercity
Steep, winding passages lead down and down to the Everfire, a volcanic rift beneath the city. Once surrounded by mighty foundries, the Everfire burns unchained now -- many of the great forges that harnessed the rift's might were destroyed more than a hundred years ago by a sudden surge of the buried fires, and most of these have not been rebuilt. The dwarves of Sundabar give the Everfire plenty of room now, and raise no permanent workshops or foundries too close to the rift. A small company of elite dwarf warriors known as the Vigilant guards access to the Everfire at all times, aided by traps that harness that portion of the rift's power that is safe to use. In strong halls beneath the city, clans of master forgers, smelters, smiths, and armorers make up most of Sundabar's dwarf population. In the past, there have been times when dwarf-human relations were strained in Sundabar, but the dwarves trust Helm implicitly.Notable Businesses
Visitors will find over a dozen superb woodcarvers and carpentry shops around the Circle. Sundabar boasts dozens of workers in wood and as many smiths who are capable of masterwork. Its taverns tend to be rough or rundown. Inns tend to be spartan; the exceptions here are Baldiver's (a sprawling castle where old warriors are welcomed, and quiet guests preferred), The Firestar Chariot (a place of loud revelry every night), Malshym's House (a quiet, clean, place popular with visiting merchants), and The Trumpet (a luxurious place where guests requesting privacy are left alone, popular with adventurers).Major Temples
As one might expect, the worship of militant deities and those deities who stand for law, strength, and duty is popular in Sundabar. Temples to most deities in the dwarven pantheon, particularly Moradin, can be found in the hidden halls of the undercity. The Hall of Everlasting Justice: Sundabar's temple to Tyr and Torm is a fortress-like building facing on the Circle, across from the Master's Hall. The clerics serve with the Shieldsar, providing healing and battle-magic for the soldiers of Sundabar. Defender of Justice Lathkiera Morlund (LG female human Clr9 of Tyr) leads the temple. She recently succeeded Triandial Truthammer as Defender, after her predecessor vanished while engaged in a perilous adventure. Morlund is known as "Lady Stone" locally for her cold, bitter manner. The Hall of Vigilance: The local house of Helm, this building is both austere and imposing. It is overseen by Winterlord Senior Steeleye Mraskin Thoelaunth (LN male human Clr10), who like Morlund of Tyr's temple recently rose to his post after his predecessor left. Like his counterpart in the Temple of Tyr, the Winterlord has a nickname too -- "Old Grimfist." He harbors a special hatred for orcs, and does everything in his power to support adventurers willing to rout out orc lairs.Sundabar Aliases Citadel Sundbarr Region Sundabar Vale, Silver Marches Size Large city Society[1] Races Humans 54% Dwarves 33% Gnomes 8% Halflings 8% Half-elves 1% Others 1% Religions Tyr, Torm, Helm Alignments LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE Commerce[1] Imports Grain, livestock, fruit, lumber, textiles Exports Armor, clay wares, copper, furniture, gold, lumber, pelts, silver, tools, weapons Politics Ruler Ruling Master Helm Dwarf-Friend History[1] Population 14,259[1] in 1372 DR 25,000[2] in 1484 DR Sundabar, previously known as Citadel Sundbarr,[3] 'was one of the wealthiest and most militaristic cities within the nation of Luruar, or all of Faerûn for that matter.[1] While it was originally a dwarven citadel, it evolved as its demographics, exports and overall culture changed.[3] One thing remained however, Sundabar continued to serve as the rampart of the north, keeping the realm's dangers beyond civilized lands.[1]
DescriptionEdit
The Sundabarans were a vigilant, wary, people, as life in the north demanded. Outsiders, enthusiastic passers-by and people who simply asked too many questions were looked at with suspicion and apprehension within the city.[1]Layout
Sundabar was a fortress.[3] Its harsh and treeless[4] surface was surrounded by two ringed walls, surrounded by Tarnar's Moat, a water-filled trench that was rumored to be filled with man-eating eels.[1] Within its walls, Sundabar's massive stone buildings were encircled by cobblestone streets, with no flora to be found save for the sparse window-box garden of fragrant herbs.[3] Four gates and bridges led into the city: Swordsgate in the north, Eastgate in the northeast, Turnstone Gate in the southeast and Rivergate in the west.[5] Beneath Sundabar was a volcano rift known as the Everfire.[6]. Connected to the surface by a steep passage, the Undercity was home to most of the dwarven population.[7]Government
The Ruling Master served as the ultimate leader of the city. However, the Forgemaster served as the leader of the dwarven community and was an important adviser to the Ruling Master.[3]Adventuring charters
The government office of Sundabar maintained a standing list of jobs they needed to have completed and would hire adventuring companies to this end. The adventurers were granted a city charter, which granted them limited authority to complete their specified task. This charter was to be made available to any city official upon demand.[8] Pay for these jobs varied, depending on what was needed, the time of year and whether the task involved a significant threat to the city. Fewer adventurers and increasingly dangerous weather in the winter led to more gold for the hired swords. However, the charters came with a provision that 10% of the value of any loot or valuables gathered by adventurers during their contract, be contributed to Sundabar as a fee for being granted a contract.[8]Economy
The city was a trading hub for ore from Citadel Adbar and the dwarves of Fardrimm.[9] It was also the source of magical weapons enchanted by the Everfire volcano.[6]. Due to the access of such unique resources, Sundabar's coffers were often quite full, and allowed them to be more indulgent when it came to defense or other needs.[1] Furthermore, the city was well-stocked, with larders that could feed the city for months, and had a protected source of fresh well water from the subterranean Lake Anfarra.[1]Defense
In addition to their structural defenses the city was protected by a number of groups and organizations: Stone Shields: Sundabar's city watch; led by the Watchblade, who often received magical assistance from the local clerics of Helm or Tyr. Watchful: A network of spies also under command of the Watchblade.[1] Shieldsar: Sundabar's main defense were the ~2000-strong riders, infantry and archers who patrolled the Sundabar Vale in defense of their city.[1] Vigilant: An elite group of dwarven warriors that constantly stood guard at the Everfire. Under the reign of Helm Dwarf-Friend, taxes from the Sundabarans were used the proceeds to shore up Sundabar's defenses against orc attacks, which had become a regular occurrence during those years. The deep treasury of the city helped keep both adventuring companies, as well as hardened mercenaries on retainer. This latter group, who also just happened to be old friends of one Helm Dwarf-Friend, were known as the Bloodaxe Mercenary Company.[9] Sundabar could also count on allies from the region of the Underdark located under the lands between the North and the Anauroch desert known as the Fardrimm.[1]Geography
Sundabar was located in Sundabar Vale on the eastern side of Silverymoon Pass, with the Nether Mountains making up the southern border of the valley.[10] The Rauvin Mountains and Citadel Felbarr were upriver on the River Redrun, Rauvincross downriver, Baraskur to the east, and Auvandell in the western slopes of the Nether Mountains. Sundabar was directly connected to Citadel Adbar by the Dead Orc Pass, but only the most daring (or foolish) of travelers took that route. Sundabar was connected to Silverymoon via the road that ran through Silverymoon Pass. The road was well patrolled, but it was often impassable in winter due to avalanches. The Hawk's Nest watchtower at the top of the pass was manned by a dozen Knights in Silver and provided a place for travelers to rest in safety. The entire journey took between one and two tendays, with the distance making up nearly 150 miles.Notable locationsEdit
Sundabar map Map of Sundabar, circa 1372 DR. LandmarksEdit The Circle A large square in the center of the city that housed market stalls and caravans.[12] In the center of the Circle was the Master's Hall.[5] Everfire Master's Hall Crowded group of towers and battlements that houses the city's government. It is located at the very center of the city on the Circle.[12] Undercity TemplesEdit Hall of Everlasting Justice Temple of Tyr and Torm. Overseen by Defender of Justice Lathkiera Morlund.[7] Hall of Vigilance Temple of Helm. Overseen by Winterlord Senior Steeleye Mraskin Thoelaunth in 1372 DR.[7] Located close the the Eastgate.[5] InnsEdit Baldiver's Similar in appearance to an old castle, this quiet, spacious inn catered to the older, quieter clientele of the city.[13] Firestar Chariot This lively inn[7], which featured loud music and furnishings, was quite popular among Sundabar's younger bar patrons.[13] Malshym's House A clean, quiet inn whose no-nonsense aesthetic made it popular with traveling merchants.[7] The Trumpet Luxurious and expensive,[7] this discreet establishment was home to a number of adventuring companies.[13] TavernsEdit Halabar's Horn of Spirits A filthy dive on Lanthalar street whose patrons stumbled and fought out into the streets.[14] Maiden at Midnight This rather famous festhall was the only of its kind within the Circle of Sundabar. The Maiden featured the often-favorite "trapdoor room" within its cellar.[14] Sighing Sylph A quiet, fairly indistinguishable bar for the locals who lived on Northwind street.[15] Tabbard & Tankard Similarly unremarkable as the Sylph, this tavern had the dubious distinction of being fairly overpriced.[15] Unshimble's Ugly Face A rowdy tavern named after the gigantic signboard of a goblin's head that adorned its entrance.[15] ShopsEdit Sundabar featured some of the finest craftsmen of both the North, and all of Faerûn. Among these were master carpenters, wheelwrights[16] and of course, blacksmiths.[17] The city housed the following shops: Blackraven Wagons, Doors, and Shutters • Feldar's Wheels and Wagons • Furjur's Flying Carpet • Gullaxe's Stairs, Rails, Poles, Staves and Handles • Hammerlar's Fine Floors and Housework • Krystryn's Shelves • Larantarn's Chairs and Stools • The Lutery • Mith's Carved Whimsies and Woodcuts • Naeth's Nails, Pegs, Locks, and Other Woodfinery • Old Anvil Smithy • Old Block • Old Fireblower Pouch & Pipe Shop • Old Ornar's Beds and Tables • Shyndle's Lutes & Pipes • Thimm's Shingles, Shakes, and Finefinish Tabletops HistoryEdit Sundabar was originally Citadel Sundbarr, a primarily subterranean dwarven citadel of the Delzoun empire, built around the year -500 DR. The hold garnered its strength from massive foundries built around the underground inferno known as the Everfire. The citadel's most skilled metalworkers and forgers could craft massive works and work with alloys that were typically too volatile without such intense heat.[3] In the Year of the Black Unicorn, as the great underground northkingdom of Delzoun fell around them, Citadel Sundbarr was saved by the ingenuity of its master forgers. They created a massive, molten wall that protected the dwarven stronghold.[3] Over the years to follow, however, Sundabar's influence and strength waned as its population lessened. In 329 DR, the surface fortress was assaulted and plundered by orcs. Continued monster attacks would plague the city for over the next 500 years, though it never fully succumbed to the onslaught.[3] In 882 DR, one of the High Captains of Ascalhorn, Prince Simberuel Astalmé, fled his city with a group of refugees to Sundabar Vale, pursued by vrocks. The refugees were saved at the last minute by the Forgemaster of Sundbarr. Astalmé gave his life to save the Forgemaster, and in return, the humans were allowed to settle in the abandoned surface portion of Citadel Sundbarr.[3] A city rebornEdit The next 500 years would be much more fortuitous for the citadel. As the new human inhabitants settled in and united with their dwarven brethren, the reconstruction of the stronghold led to the birth of a new city. As dwarven craftsmanship became perfectly interwoven with human mercantilism, the newly-named Sundabar flourished into the symbol of strength it would become in the North.[3] In the 13th century DR, the foundries and workshop closest to the Everfire rift were destroyed by a surge of fire and never repaired. Since then, the fires burned without any control by the the dwarves.[7] In 1355 DR, Helm Dwarf-Friend became the sixth Ruling Master of Sundabar after the previous Master died defending the city from orcs.[3] In 1369 DR, fiends from Hellgate Keep attacked Sundabar, burning much of the city before being forced out.[10] Just four years later, in 1373 DR, Kaanyr Vhok attempted to take control of the city because of a rivalry he had with Helm Dwarf-Friend. He first used Aliisza to infiltrate Helm Dwarf-Friend's house, then allied with Zasian Menz and Banite priests. His plan ultimately failed.[18][19] In 1369 DR, Sundabar was one of the city-states to join together in the League of the Silver Marches, later renamed "Luruar", alongside Silverymoon, Citadel Adbar, Deadsnows, Jalanthar, Quaervarr, Citadel Felbarr, Everlund, and Mithral Hall. The goal of the alliance was to protect the North from the growing hordes of orcs in the mountains.[citation needed] In 1488 during the War of the Silver Marches Sundabar was conquered by a orc army commanded by the warlord Hartusk and renamed Hartusk Keep.[20][page needed] The Silvaeren were blamed for providing insufficient aid for Sundabar, whose surface population had been completely wiped out. As a result, all of the dwarven states left the League of Silver Marches, and without their support, Luruar collapsed.[21]Adventuring charter
The government office of Sundabar maintained a standing list of jobs they needed to have completed and would hire adventuring companies to this end. The adventurers were granted a city charter, which granted them limited authority to complete their specified task. This charter was to be made available to any city official upon demand.[8] Pay for these jobs varied, depending on what was needed, the time of year and whether the task involved a significant threat to the city. Fewer adventurers and increasingly dangerous weather in the winter led to more gold for the hired swords. However, the charters came with a provision that 10% of the value of any loot or valuables gathered by adventurers during their contract, be contributed to Sundabar as a fee for being granted a contract.[8]Economy
The city was a trading hub for ore from Citadel Adbar and the dwarves of Fardrimm.[9] It was also the source of magical weapons enchanted by the Everfire volcano.[6]. Due to the access of such unique resources, Sundabar's coffers were often quite full, and allowed them to be more indulgent when it came to defense or other needs. Furthermore, the city was well-stocked, with larders that could feed the city for months, and had a protected source of fresh well water from the subterranean Lake Anfarra.Once a dwarven city, this fortress is now home to 36,000 humans. Most of these humans descended from refugees of Ascalhorn (now Hellgate Keep). Sundabar is the northeastern- most defensible post of civilization in the North. Thus, it serves as a base for many bold explorers, adventurers, and prospectors operating in the per¬ilous wilderlands around the Fork. The Lords’ Alliance and temples of Helm across the North sponsor the Sundabarian army of 2,000 well¬armed, veteran soldiers. This army seems to alternate between fighting orc hordes and fighting raiding par¬ties from Hellgate Keep. Sundabar is also home to the famous Bloodaxe Mercenary Company. One member of this company has risen to become Master of Sundabar. Helm Dwarf- Friend8 rules the city wisely and well, keeping it in the Lords’ Alliance. He also allocates the money taken in by the city to patrol the roads often, and to keep the city ready for war. This is no small issue. The city’s coffers are deep enough that they once hired the Flaming Fist mercenaries from Bal- dur’s Gate to slaughter an orc horde. “The Master’s Take” is a flat 5% tax on the sale of all goods in the city. This tax is willingly paid by local mer-chants, who see it used directly for their benefit. Sundabar has huge, guarded gra¬nary caverns below the city, and it also has deep wells. This prevents the town from being starved out by a siege. Sundabar trades with Citadel Adbar, Everlund, and Silverymoon. The city also trades below the surface, with dwarves from that part of the Underdark known as the Fardrimm. Sundabarian merchants are the exclusive dealers in the surface world for many dwarven products. Sundabar also has its own reputation for excellent artisans. The woodworkers of Sundabar make wonderful carved furniture, musical instruments, and handsome and durable travel chests. Sundabar also exports long clay pipes and caltrops that find their ways across Faerun in trade. Dwarves come from all over the North to a certain rift deep beneath Sundabar. This geologic site is known as the Everfire. Here, the dwarves forge the finest blades known in Faerun—blades that readily take enchantments, and outlast the people who wield them. The Everfire is guarded by a dedicated band of dwarves fed, armed, and healed by Sundabarians. This band, known as the Vigilant, must often fight off drow, duergar, and greedy humans seeking to gain control of the molten-rock rift. The Vigilant report that evil is rising in the ruins of Ascore to the east, as well as in Hellgate Keep, and mon sters have been coming through the Underdark from that direction in increasing numbers. The Fardrimm is not a wealthy region; its lodes have been largely worked out. Dwarves say that much metal lies northward, however, under the Coldwood and the Ice Mountains, and atop the nearest peak east of Sundabar. That would be the west¬ernmost fang of the Nether Moun¬tains, known as Dalagar’s Dagger. There, for some unknown reason, many aged and ailing dragons go to die—wyrms of the black, blue, and green species. They typically perish in a suicidal dive onto the sharp pinna¬cle. Their bones litter the upmost slopes. Among their skeletal remains wink the treasures they bore: rings, pendants, and even loose gems and coins that were once glued to dragon bellies by means of ancient drag- onhide oils and ointments. The Dag¬ger’s almost vertical lower faces are treacherous and crumbling, and the mountain is almost impossible to climb, so most of the treasure remains unclaimed. An unknown entity guards the peak against aerial forays from Hellgate Keep. Some say it’s a faerie dragon, others a ki-rin.
Landmarks
Like Mirabar, Sundabar is a city of stone, a frowning, no-nonsense fortress with little to delight the eye, and little welcome for the ambling sightseer. This is a place of work. Indolence and slick ways are not looked upon with favor. Excessive curiosity is also frowned on. This is another city whose fear of spies from Hellgate Keep (and also barabrian scouts, Zhentarim, and humans hired by orcs) has made maps of the city illegal. Strangers who poke about are apt to be questioned by the watchful city soldiers. They take suspicious people to the Hall of Vigilance (the local temple of Helm) or the Hall of Everlasting Justice (the local temple of Tyr). There, priests detect lies while questioning is going on. Accordingly, no map of Sundabar appears here. I can tell you that the city is circular, with double walls. There’s a moat in between them, rumored to be stocked with man-eat¬ing eels (I doubt they’d last, being frozen each winter). The city stands on the east bank of the Rauvin, and has three gates: Rivergate in the west, Eastgate in the east, and Turnstone Gate in the southeast, facing Turn¬stone Pass and Hellgate Keep, its evil uncomfortably close. Harsh winters and summer storms make outdoor markets, and even shopfront awnings, unknown in Sundabar. Everything is indoors, so look carefully for signboards. Most of Sundabar’s famous and skilled woodcrafters are located around the city’s central cobbled Circle. The Circle is the huge, open space surrounding the tall castle of the Master’s Hall. Caravans form up in it, and it’s kept clear to give shepherds a place to drive their stock into in the event of orc attacks, and as part of the city’s defenses. The Master’s Hall bris¬tles with catapults and heavy crossbow guns. If the outer parts of the city are invaded, survivors could retreat to the Hall and slaughter attackers trying to cross the open space of the Circle. All in all, the city is a safe refuge, but not a very attractive place to visit.Places of Interest in Sundabar
Shops
All the largest shops face onto the Circle. Sundabar’s carpenters and woodcarvers are justly famous; about a dozen vie for the title of best. Visi¬tors interested in these crafters can just ask the way to their shops. Not only do all locals know where they are, but they make a game of trading shops, so from season to season, they move around and around the central, cobbled Circle. All of Sundabar’s woodworkers are very expensive (all are rated at 5 coins), but all do first-rate work. Many visiting merchants buy an extra chair or stool here for their own use.Blackraven Wagons, Doors, and Shutters
Woodcrafter III II % %% % % Hundarr Blackraven is one of the dozen or so best of Sundabar’s justly famous carpenters and woodcarvers. He makes simple, large, and sturdy items of the three types he deals in with very strong joints (so they’ll hold together when the work of another might not). Hundarr prides himself and his shop ‘prentices in working both very well and very quickly; a custom-order door might take only an afternoon.Feldar’s Wheels and Wagons
Coach and Wagonmaker & # @ & & Where Hundarr Blackraven works quickly, Ildar Feldar (another of Sundabar’s best) is slow, painstaking, and fussy. If a piece of wood shows grain he doesn’t like the appearance of—even after it’s been finished, and is in place on a piece—he’ll replace it. His creations often take months and are usually ornate and beautiful. Feldar specializes in making grand coaches and ornamental carvings for adding to existing wagons.Furjur’s Flying Carpet
General Store This shop is owned by the famous Waterdhavian merchant Furjur the Flippant. He’s actually an absentee owner—running the shop in his stead are six delightful girls. The shop does indeed have a dusty flying carpet for sale—for the paltry sum of 45,000 gold pieces! The place is also crowded with brass lamps, skimpy clothing, beaded curtains, and other items from the warm lands of the Shining South. It’s the closest thing Sundabar has to a junk shop. This makes it vitally important to folk who need, say, a replacement window pane in a hurry, and know the nearest shop is in Silverymoon! The store is on Northwind Street, which bends and twists northeast from the Rivergate to the Circle.Gullaxe’s Stairs, Rails, Poles, Staves, and Handles
Ondabar Gullaxe is another of Sund- abar’s best woodworkers. He special¬izes in smooth-turned wood, and makes handles for all tools and weapons, including polearms of the finest quality. His talent is for weeding out wood with inherent weaknesses and faults, and in balancing some¬thing perfectly at the first attempt after once hefting the pike head, axe blade, arrowhead, or other metal part that needs a handle attached to it.Hammerlar’s Fine Floors and Housework
Carpenter Olen Hammerlar’s works, of all the fine Sundabarian woodcrafts, will be most familar to common folk: He’s a house carpenter, all whistles and chewing tobacco, whose speciality is the “one-day porch.” He has the knack for lightning-fast work, and can bring his own horse-driven sawmill to any¬ place his wagon will go. He restricts his work to within six days’ travel from Sundabar. He promises to put up any cabin or palisade in a tenday or less (except in winter).Krystryn’s Shelves
Woodcrafer and Cabinetmaker Krystryn Danard, another of Sund- abar’s finest woodworkers, is tall and thin, with floor-length, very straight brown hair. It hangs around her in a halo, and is usually full of wood chips and curled shavings. She works and lives alone, demanding complete pri¬vacy for her art, and makes shelves, strongchests, and wardrobes. Krys- tryn always gives her work a very smooth finish. Some of her rivals insist she uses magic to do it. Ommagol Larantarn is one of the excellent woodworkers of Sundabar, but looks more like a cook; he’s a very fat, pompous man with two little, pointed mustaches and a pursed and plum-colored mouth. He’s never with¬out an open wine bottle or three as he works, and sings loudy (and badly) as he toils, gleefully hurling finished legs and seats over his shoulder to crash into the far wall as each one is done at the lathe. The wall is hung with heavy tapestries, and more are wadded up on the floor below it—Ommagol has no wish to damage his work. Ommagol has such a keen eye that he can make a stool and then create another of exactly the same size and shape without referring to the first. Jonstal Haerdrun is a grim, sharp- chinned giant of a man who makes all manner of wooden musical instru¬ments. He’s an accomplished musi¬cian, but refuses to perform or to tutor, spending his free time in hunting for just the right trees deep in the north¬ern forests. He often hires guards on these long, perilous expedition—and on more than one such expedition has proven himself a deadly swordsman as he cut his way out of orc ambushes. He’s something of a mystery man in Sundabar; some say he hails from Neverwinter, and others from Rashe¬men or points east. He has very white skin, a slight build, and a long mane of unruly coal-black hair that he wears tied back in a long tail.Mith’s Carved Whimsies and Woodcuts
Woodcarver Mith Tlalant is a soft-voiced, childlike man who delights in playing with children and takes an almost inno¬cent delight in the world around him. His hand-sized wooden carvings of birds, monsters, and people find their way as far afield as fabled Kara-Tur, and even Maztica. They cost as much as 700 gp each, but collectors resell them for thousands in gold.Naeth’s Nails, Pegs, Locks, and Other Woodfinery
Fine Woodcarver Naeth Robilar is another of Sund- abar’s fine woodcrafters. He is per¬haps the most skilled carver of them all, and whittles wooden locks, nested spheres, and similar exacting pieces. He can look at any lock mechanism that is missing part of its workings and draw, explain: or even whittle the missing parts (if those parts can be shaped in wood).The Old Anvil Smithy
Blacksmith This noisy, sooty barn of a place stands just inside Turnstone Gate and is the abode and workshop of master smith Alabuth Helfyn. He makes armor, anvils, and caltrops—an export for which Sundabar is widely known. These spiky devices were invented in Sundabar (independently of other places in the Realms) to break deadly mounted barbarian charges in places where no wood large and long enough could be had to fashion rows of pointed stakes. Faernden Laurauth and Basmel Torlstar are the two bickering, pettish co-owners and master craftsmen of this shop. To hear them fighting, you’d never think they were among Sund- abar’s “best” anything—but the fine fur¬niture they produce, especially easy chairs and blanket chests, is ordered in the hundreds by Waterdhavian nobles, rich families in Amn, and folk even far¬ther afield. Barges go up and down the Rauvin all the time with loads of their output. Owning Old Block furniture is a badge of wealth and good taste even in places as far off as the Tashalar and the city-states around the Lake of Steam.The Old Fireblower Pouch & Pipe Shop
Tobacconist Sundabar’s woodworkers—he trained many of the best. Now, in the twilight of his years (he’s seen 112 or more win¬ters!), he contents himself with whit¬tling walking sticks that have fearsome faces for amusement, while importing and selling fine, but plain, beds and tables to those who can’t afford the work of the other fineworkers. Most of Sundabar’s best charge 30 gp for even the smallest and most insignificant piece, and large canopied beds or the like can often run into the thousands of gold pieces. Ornar’s most expensive bed, by con¬trast, is 18 gp, and most of his stock is 8 gp or less. He is an expert at identi¬fying woods—even from charred fragments.Shyndle’s Lutes & Pipes
Talbut Minshar’s old, narrow, crammed, and strong-smelling shop stands on Lantbalar Street about mid¬way along its straight run from the Cirle to Turnstone Gate. He sells exotic tobaccoes from all over Faerun, makes a few himself (adding crushed moun- tam juniper essence and winterberries dissolved in winter wine to imported tobacco leaves, for instance), and is famous (ranked among Sundabar’s best) for his elegant carved pipes. He even makes a flute-like pipe that can be played as an instrument as one blows smoke out of it!Old Ornar’s Beds and Tables
Furnitu remaker Ornar Myntul is the grand old man of & & & & & Anar Shyndle is the only one of Sund- abar’s excellent woodworkers not to have his shop on the Circle. His abode and workshop stands just inside the Rivergate, and there he makes the musical instruments said to be the best in all the North (saving perhaps a few workers in Silverymoon). “Pipes so good, the satyrs play ‘em” is his motto, and it’s true that some satyrs once stole all the pipes in his shop. What use they put them to, none can say, so Anar made the logical assump¬tion. None of them has returned to correct him, he told me cheerfully. Shoppers should be aware that Anar and Jonstal Haerdrun of the Lutery are deadly foes.Thimm’s Shingles, Shakes, and Finefinish Tabletops
Carpenter and Roofer Olosk Thimm is a placid giant of a man who spends his days putting replacement legs and tops on dam¬aged furniture, except when he’s up on a roof, replacing it. He was once attacked by a bugbear patrol when splitting shingles alone in the forest and used his axe to slaughter the lot of them, bringing their heads back as proof. This was long ago, but folk still talk of Olosk calmly bowling the heads down one of Sundabar’s streets to frighten an aggressive neighbor who’d been pestering him over some incident or other. Needless to say, he was successful. Merchants beware: He doesn’t seem like the sort one should anger.Taverns
The city has many mediocre taverns. Both inns and taverns here serve food, generally of the boar-and-beans, ribsticking-but-simple, almost unsea¬soned variety.Halabar’s Horn of Spirits
This filthy place sports broken furni¬ture and broken-down patrons to go with it. It stands—slumps, rather—on Lanthalar Street, although patrons often reel out onto the street with their tankards or roll out into it fight¬ing. A place to go if you want to break things.... Why not? Everyone else has been there before you, and done it already....The Maiden at Midnight
This tavern and festhall on the Circle is the only exception to the rather depressing tavern prospects of Sund- abar. It’s justly famous in the Interior. This delightful place can readily be found by its huge, gently glowing signboard. It depicts an elegant lady looking shocked, with one hand to her mouth and the other clutching at the front of her evening gown. Inside, the Maiden is dimly lit and hushed. The walls are thickly hung with carpets and tapestries. The staff of highly trained escorts includes lizard women, gnomes, halflings, and sprites, as well as human women. The famous Trapdoor Room, favored by adventurers, is in the cellar. There drinks are served down through the ceiling by means of small trapdoors over each table. Table dancers descend into the room and then rise back out by means of drop bars. The Maiden is always crowded, but never seems so. It’s a fun place, broken up into seemingly private alcoves and corners by means of many tapestries. It has a ward that prevents all fires, including magical ones, from burning. This is to keep the tapestries from catching alight. Once they caught fire the place would burn down in a few breaths! Because of this problem, the kitchens and dining room are in a separate building next door. They may be easily reached via a tunnel. The ward also prevents smoking, so those who dislike the clouds of heavy smoke in most taverns enjoy coming here.The Sighing Sylph
This tavern is a quiet neighborhood drinking spot. It stands on Northwind Street, and is unremarkable—except for its rather tasteless, life-size wooden door-statue of an immodest sylph. Pranksters often carry her off and perch her somewhere else in the city—someplace interesting, whimsi¬cal, or just embarrassing (such as in the chancel of a temple, or on the roof of a rich merchant’s home). Alterna¬tively, they paint her interesting hues, or cast cantrips on her to make her say rude things, glow in interesting places, or appeal to beckon passersby. Would that the tavern behind her were half as interesting.The Tabard & Tankard
This overpriced tavern stands on Antar Street (which runs north from North- wind Street just inside the Rivergate, along the inside of the inner city wall). Its name alludes to its haughty preten¬tions to serving scholars, heralds, titled nobles, senior clergy, and powerful wizards—some of whom may actually have enjoyed a drink here. If one doesn’t care about money, one can can enjoy relative privacy here (for the high prices make patronage scant). It’s not a horrible tavern, just a dirty, tired, unre¬markable one. The walls are covered with shields, buntings, cloaks, and tunics emblazoned with arms and devices of those who drank here (or so the tavernmaster would have you think). I recognized several badges of noble families who’ve been extinct for much longer than the tavern’s been here, I’m afraid.Unshimble’s Ugly Face
This rowdy tavern is named for its signboard, a gigantic, carved, and lamp-lit screaming goblin head. This sign guides all but the blind to it, even though it’s tucked away on a little lane off Antar Street. It is the gather¬ing place of ‘prentices and laborers, who come here surly, aching, dog tired, and ready for a fight. Many nights, they get one—or two, or a score. Beware flying bottles: This is the sort of tavern your mother warned you about—er, if she did.Inns
Baldiver’s This old, quiet, elegant inn is deco¬rated with dark wood paneling, leather hall railings, and old, faded portraits of local knights and heroes. It is for the older, quieter visitor; others are refused entry or ejected if they beome unruly. Many retired war¬riors stay here in the coldest months, abandoning their chilly homes in the city. The owner, Baldiver, a retired warrior himself, gives them reduced rates (2 cp per room/night). Baldiver’s looks like an old castle sprawling along Northwind Street for a fair dis¬tance, and local legend insists that it can be defended as one if the city is attacked, having concealed armories and the like at the ready. The Firestar Chariot Located' on Undle Lane (which runs due south from the Circle), this estab¬lishment is named for its vividly painted signboard, bought from a carnival in Tethyr. The board depicts two fire giants riding into battle on a chariot of flames, drawn by a flaming winged horse, and trailing stars. Inside, the place is given over to loud music and even louder furnish¬ings. It is patronized by young folk looking for thrills, and is prowled by so many evening escorts that some folk of Sundabar consider it little bet¬ter than a festhall. Thankfully, the rooms are luxuriously furnished and sound-proofed. A complimentary bot¬tle of “firestar wine” (amber sherry, doctored with a little ruby cordial, but very good nonetheless) is included with every room each evening you stay. Rooms run 9 sp to 2 gp/night, depending on size and appointments. Malshym’s House This inn on Lanthalar Street caters to merchants, goodfolk, and other travelers who want no fripperies or nonsense in their accommodations. It is basic, unpretentious, and unexciting, but safe and clean. Would that more inns could make that boast in truth. The Trumpet Merchants, adventurers and other seasoned travelers stopping in Sundabar usually come to the Trumpet. They stay here because of the quiet luxury and the tolerance. Soldiers leave patrons alone, and eavesdropping is done magically and discreetly (if any is attempted). The inn isn’t hard to find: Its signboard is a brass longhorn from Amn that stretches a full 20 feet out across Mattock Lane. The inn is the home base of such adventuring bands as the Claws of the Crag Cat, the Ready Blades Band, and the Company of the Feystag. The Trumpet specializes in putting patrons in touch with Sundabarians who discreetly provide needed services. These include healing, disposing of carrion, moneychanging, selling and bartering weapons and armor, purchasing thieving tools, and so on. Innkeeper Gaurlar Darym and his staff are famous for calmly handling anything. The tale is still told in Sund- abar of a baatezu being summoned into the lobby of the Trumpet. It was coolly destroyed by the staff, right before they ejected the mage who’d summoned it.nce a dwarven city, this fortress houses 36,000 humans, most descended from refugees of Ascalhorn. Sundabar is the northeastern-most post of civilization, serving as a base for explorers, adventurers, and prospectors around the Fork. The Lords' Alliance and temples of Helm sponsor the 2,000-man veteran army. Sundabar is home to the Bloodaxe Mercenary Company. One member has risen to become Master of Sundabar. Helm Dwarf-Friend (NG hm F14) rules wisely and well, keeping it in the Lords' Alliance. He allocates the money taken in by the city to patrol the roads and to ready for war. This is no small issue; the coffers are so deep that the city hired the Flaming Fist Mercenary Company to slaughter an orc horde. The Master's take is a 5% sales tax paid by local merchants, who see it used to their benefit. Sundabar has huge, guarded granary caverns and deep wells below the city. Sundabar trades with Adbar, Everlund, and Silverymoon. The city also trades below the surface, with dwarves from a part of the Underdark called Fardrimm. Sundabarian merchants are the exclusive dealers in the surface world for many dwarven products. Sundabar has a reputation for excellent artisans. The woodworkers of Sundabar make carved furniture, musical instruments, and handsome and durable travel chests. Sundabar also exports long clay pipes and caltrops. Sundabar is a city of stone, a frowning fortress with little to delight the eye and less welcome for the sightseer. Slick ways and excessive curiosity are looked upon with disfavor. Strangers who poke about are apt to be questioned by the city soldiers. They take suspicious people to the Hall of Vigilance or the Hall of Everlasting Justice. There, priests use detect He spells during questioning. The city is circular, with double walls. There's a moat between them, rumored to be stocked with man-eating eels. Most of Sundabar's famous woodcrafters are located in the city's central Circle, a huge open space surrounding the Master's Hall. Caravans form in it, and it's kept clear to give shepherds a place to drive stock in the event of attack. The Hall bristles with catapults and heavy crossbow guns. If the outer parts of the city are invaded, survivors retreat to the Hall and slaughter attackers crossing the open space of the Circle.
Places of Interest
Baldiver's: This quiet, elegant inn is decorated with dark wood paneling, leather hall railings, and portraits of local knights and heroes. It's for the quiet visitor; others are refused entry or ejected if they're unruly. Many retired warriors stay here in the cold months, abandoning their chilly homes. The owner, Bal- diver, a retired warrior himself, gives them reduced rates. Baldiver's looks like a castle from a distance, and legend insists it can be defended as one if the city is attacked. Blackraven Wagons, Doors, and Shutters: Hundarr Blackraven is one of Sundabar's justly famous carpenters, making large, sturdy items. Hundarr prides himself and his shop apprentices in working both well and quickly. Feldar's Wheels and Wagons: Where Hundarr works quickly, Ildar Feldar is painstaking and fussy. If a piece of wood shows grain he doesn't like he replaces it. His creations take months and are ornate and beautiful. Feldar specializes in making grand coaches and ornamental carvings for adding to existing wagons. The Firestar Chariot: This establishment is named for its vividly painted signboard, bought from a carnival in Tethyr. The board depicts two fire giants riding into battle on a chariot of flames, drawn by a flaming winged horse and trailing stars. Inside, the place features loud music and louder furnishings. It's patronized by young folk and prowled by so many evening escorts that some folk consider it little better than a festhall. The rooms are luxuriously furnished and noise- proofed. Complimentary bottles of Firestar wine are included with every room. Furjur's Flying Carpet: This shop is owned by the Waterd- havian merchant Furjur the Flippant. He's an absentee owner; running the shop are six delightful women. The shop does have a dusty flying carpet for sale, for a sum of 45,000 gold pieces. The place is crowded with brass lamps, beaded curtains, and other items from the Shining South. This is the closest thing Sundabar has to a junk shop. Gullaxe's Stairs, Rails, Poles, Staves, and Handles: Ond- abar Gullaxe, a talented woodworker, specializes in smooth- turned wood, and makes handles for all tools and polearms. His talent is weeding out wood with inherent weaknesses and balancing perfectly at first attempt after once hefting the pike head, axe blade, arrowhead, or other metal part needing a handle. Hammerlar's Fine Floors and Housework: Olen Hammer- lar's work is most familiar to common folk. He's a house carpenter whose specialty is the one-day porch. He does lightning-fast work and can bring his own horse-driven sawmill to any oplace his wagon goes. He restricts his work to a six-day range around Sundabar. Krystryn's Shelves: Krystryn Danard is tall and thin, with floor-length hair that's usually full of chips and curled shavings. She works and lives alone, demanding privacy for her art. Krystryn gives her work a very smooth finish. Some rivals insist she uses magic to do it. Larantarn's Chairs and Stools: Ommagol Larantarn is an excellent woodworker, but he's never without a wine bottle, singing badly as he toils, hurling finished legs and seats over his shoulder to crash into the far wall as each one is done at the lathe. The wall is hung with heavy tapestries, and more are wadded up on the floor below it; he has no wish to damage his work. Ommagol has such a keen eye that he can make a stool and create another the same size and shape without referring to the first. The Lutery: Jonstal Haerdrun's a grim, sharp-chinned giant of a man who makes wooden instruments. He's an accomplished musician, but he refuses to perform or tutor, spending his free time hunting for just the right trees deep in the northern forests. He often hires guards on these long, perilous expeditions and has proven himself a swordsman. Jonstal's a mystery man, hailing either from Neverwinter, Rashemen, or points east. The Maiden at Midnight: This tavern and festhall is the only exception to the depressing tavern prospects of Sundabar. It's justly famous in the interior. This place can readily be found by its huge glowing signboard. It depicts a lady looking shocked, with one hand to her mouth and the other clutching the front of her gown. The Maiden is dimly lit and hushed. The walls are hung with carpets and tapestries. The staff of escorts includes lizard women, gnomes, halflings, sprites, and humans. The Maiden is crowded but never seems so. It's a fun place, broken up into seemingly private alcoves and comers by means of tapestries. It has a ward that prevents fires, including magical ones. This keeps the tapestries from igniting. If they caught fire, the place would bum in a few breaths. Because of this, the kitchen and dining room are in a building next door, reached via a tunnel. The ward also prevents smoking. The Trap Door Room is in the cellar. Drinks are served through the ceiling by means of trap doors over each table. Malshym's House: This inn caters to merchants, good folk, and other travelers who want no fripperies or nonsense in their accommodations. It's basic, unpretentious, and unexciting, but it's safe and clean. Mith's Carved Whimsies and Woodcuts: Mith Tlalant is a childlike man who enjoys children and takes an almost innocent delight in the world around him. His hand-sized wooden carvings of birds, monsters, and people find their way as far as Kara-Tur and Maztica. Naeth's Nails, Pegs, Locks, and Other Woodfinery: Naeth Robilar is the most skilled carver of them all, whittling wooden locks, nested spheres, and similar pieces. He can look at any lock mechanism that's missing part of its workings and draw, explain, or even whittle the missing parts (if it can be shaped in wood). The Old Anvil Smithy Blacksmith: This noisy, sooty barn is the abode and workshop of master smith Alabuth Helfyn. He makes armor, anvils, and caltrops, an export for which Sundabar is widely known. These spiky devices were invented in Sundabar (independently of other places) to break mounted charges The Old Block: Faernden Laurauth and Basmel Torlstar are the bickering co-owners of this shop. To hear them fighting, if s hard to believe they're among Sundabar's best anything, but the furniture they produce is ordered in the hundreds by nobles, rich families, and folk further afield. Barges travel the Rauvin all the time with loads of their output. Owning Old Block furniture is a badge of wealth and good taste in places like the Tashalar and the city-states around the Lake of Steam. The Old Fireblower: Talbut Minshar's old, narrow, crammed, and strong-smelling shop sells exotic tobaccos. He even makes a few himself and is famous for his carved pipes. Talbut makes a flute-like pipe that can be played as an instrument while one blows smoke out of it. Old Ornar's: Ornar Myntul is the grand old man of Sundabar's woodworkers — he trained many of the best. Now, in his twilight years, he contents himself with whittling walking sticks with fearsome faces, while importing and selling fine beds and tables to those who can't afford the work of the other fine workers. Shyndle's Lutes & Pipes: Anar Shyndle is the only woodworker not to have his shop on the Circle. His abode and workshop stands inside the Rivergate, and there he makes instruments said to be the best. “Pipes so good, satyrs play 'em," is his motto, since satyrs once stole all the pipes in his shop. Shoppers should be aware that Anar of the Lutery is a deadly foe. The Sighing Sylph: This is a quiet drinking spot. It's unremarkable, except for its tasteless, life-size, door-statue of an immodest sylph. Pranksters often carry her off and perch her elsewhere in the city. Alternatively, they paint her interesting hues. The Tabard & Tankard: This overpriced tavern's name alludes to its pretension to serving scholars, heralds, nobles, clergy, and wizards. If one doesn't care about money, one can enjoy privacy here. If s not a bad tavern, just unremarkable. The walls are covered with shields, buntings, cloaks, and tunics emblazoned with the arms of those who supposedly drank here. Thimm's: Olosk Thimm is a giant of a man who puts replacement legs and tops on damaged furniture, except when he's up on a roof. He was once attacked by a bugbear patrol when splitting shakes alone in the forest and used his axe to slaughter them, bringing their heads back as proof. This was long ago, but folk still talk of Olosk calmly bowling the heads down one of Sundabar's streets to frighten an aggressive neighbor who'd been pestering him over some incident or other. The Trumpet: This inn is the base of such adventuring bands as the Claws of the Crag Cat, the Ready Blades, and the Company of the Feystag. The inn specializes in putting patrons in touch with Sundabarians who provide discreet services. Innkeeper Gaurlar Darym and his staff are famous for handling anything. The tale is told of a baatezu being summoned in the lobby of the Trumpet. It was coolly destroyed by the staff, right before they ejected the mage who summoned it. Unshimble's Ugly Face: This tavern is named for its signboard, a gigantic, screaming goblin head. Laborers gather here, aching, dog tired, and ready to fight.Sundabar has huge, guarded gra¬nary caverns below the city, and it also has deep wells. This prevents the town from being starved out by a siege. Sundabar trades with Citadel Adbar, Everlund, and Silverymoon. The city also trades below the surface, with dwarves from that part of the Underdark known as the Fardrimm. Sundabarian merchants are the exclusive dealers in the surface world for many dwarven products. Sundabar also has its own reputation for excellent artisans. The woodworkers of Sundabar make wonderful carved furniture, musical instruments, and handsome and durable travel chests. Sundabar also exports long clay pipes and caltrops that find their ways across Faerun in trade. Dwarves come from all over the North to a certain rift deep beneath Sundabar. This geologic site is known as the Everfire. Here, the dwarves forge the finest blades known in Faerun—blades that readily take enchantments, and outlast the people who wield them. The Everfire is guarded by a dedicated band of dwarves fed, armed, and healed by Sundabarians. This band, known as the Vigilant, must often fight off drow, duergar, and greedy humans seeking to gain control of the molten-rock rift. The Vigilant report that evil is rising in the ruins of Ascore to the east, as well as in Hellgate Keep, and mon- sters have been coming through the Underdark from that direction in increasing numbers. The Fardrimm is not a wealthy region; its lodes have been largely worked out. Dwarves say that much metal lies northward, however, under the Coldwood and the Ice Mountains, and atop the nearest peak east of Sundabar. That would be the west-ernmost fang of the Nether Moun¬tains, known as Dalagar's Dagger. There, for some unknown reason, many aged and ailing dragons go to die—wyrms of the black, blue, and green species. They typically perish in a suicidal dive onto the sharp pinna¬cle. Their bones litter the upmost slopes. Among their skeletal remains wink the treasures they bore: rings, pendants, and even loose gems and coins that were once glued to dragon bellies by means of ancient drag¬onhide oils and ointments. The Dag-ger's almost vertical lower faces are treacherous and crumbling, and the mountain is almost impossible to climb, so most of the treasure remains unclaimed. An unknown entity guards the peak against aerial forays from Hellgate Keep. Some say it's a faerie dragon, others a ki-rin. Landmarks Like Mirabar, Sundabar is a city of stone, a frowning, no-nonsense fortress with little to delight the eye, and little welcome for the ambling sightseer. This is a place of work. Indolence and slick ways are not looked upon with favor. Excessive curiosity is also frowned on. This is another city whose fear of spies from Hellgate Keep (and also barabrian scouts, Zhentarim, and humans hired by orcs) has made maps of the city illegal. Strangers who poke about are apt to be questioned by the watchful city soldiers. They take suspicious people to the Hall of Vigilance (the local temple of Helm) or the Hall of Everlasting Justice (the local temple of Tyr). There, priests detect lies while questioning is going on. Accordingly, no map of Sundabar appears here. I can tell you that the city is circular, with double walls. There's a moat in between them, rumored to be stocked with man-eat¬ing eels (I doubt they'd last, being frozen each winter). The city stands on the east bank of the Rauvin, and has three gates: Rivergate in the west, Eastgate in the east, and Turnstone Gate in the southeast, facing Turn¬stone Pass and Hellgate Keep, its evil uncomfortably close. Harsh winters and summer storms make outdoor markets, and even shopfront awnings, unknown in Sundabar. Everything is indoors, so look carefully for signboards. Most of Sundabar's famous and skilled woodcrafters are located around the city's central cobbled Circle. The Circle is the huge, open space surrounding the tall castle of the Master's Hall. Caravans form up in it, and it's kept clear to give shepherds a place to drive their stock into in the event of orc attacks, and as part of the city's defenses. The Master's Hall bris¬tles with catapults and heavy crossbow guns. If the outer parts of the city are invaded, survivors could retreat to the Hall and slaughter attackers trying to cross the open space of the Circle. All in all, the city is a safe refuge, but not a very attractive place to visit. Places of InTeresT in Sundabar Shops All the largest shops face onto the Circle. Sundabar's carpenters and woodcarvers are justly famous; about a dozen vie for the title of best. Visi¬tors interested in these crafters can just ask the way to their shops. Not only do all locals know where they are, but they make a game of trading shops, so from season to season, they move around and around the central, cobbled Circle. All of Sundabar's woodworkers are very expensive (all are rated at 5 coins), but all do first-rate work. Many visiting merchants buy an extra chair or stool here for their own use. Blackraven Wagons, Doors, and Shutters Woodcrafter Hundarr Blackraven is one of the dozen or so best of Sundabar's justly famous carpenters and woodcarvers. He makes simple, large, and sturdy items of the three types he deals in with very strong joints (so they'll hold together when the work of another might not). Hundarr prides himself and his shop ‘prentices in working both very well and very quickly; a custom-order door might take only an afternoon. Feldar’s Wheels and Wagons Coach and Wagonmaker f $ f M & & Where Hundarr Blackraven works quickly, Ildar Feldar (another of Sundabar's best) is slow, painstaking, and fussy. If a piece of wood shows grain he doesn't like the appearance of—even after it's been finished, and is in place on a piece—he'll replace it. His creations often take months and are usually ornate and beautiful. Feldar specializes in making grand coaches and ornamental carvings for adding to existing wagons. Furjur’s Flying Carpet General Store This shop is owned by the famous Waterdhavian merchant Furjur the Flippant. He's actually an absentee owner—running the shop in his stead are six delightful girls. The shop does indeed have a dusty flying carpet for sale—for the paltry sum of 45,000 gold pieces! The place is also crowded with brass lamps, skimpy clothing, beaded curtains, and other items from the warm lands of the Shining South. It's the closest thing Sundabar has to a junk shop. This makes it vitally important to folk who need, say, a replacement window pane in a hurry, and know the nearest shop is in Silverymoon! The store is on Northwind Street, which bends and twists northeast from the Rivergate to the Circle. Gullaxe’s Stairs, Rails, Poles, Staves, and Handles Woodturner Ondabar Gullaxe is another of Sund- abar's best woodworkers. He special¬izes in smooth-turned wood, and makes handles for all tools and weapons, including polearms of the finest quality. His talent is for weeding out wood with inherent weaknesses and faults, and in balancing some¬thing perfectly at the first attempt after once hefting the pike head, axe blade, arrowhead, or other metal part that needs a handle attached to it. Hammerlar’s Fine Floors and Housework Carpenter Olen Hammerlar’s works, of all the fine Sundabarian woodcrafts, will be most familar to common folk: He’s a house carpenter, all whistles and chewing tobacco, whose speciality is the “one-day porch.” He has the knack for lightning-fast work, and can bring his own horse-driven sawmill to any¬place his wagon will go. He restricts his work to within six days’ travel from Sundabar. He promises to put up any cabin or palisade in a tenday or less (except in winter). Krystryn’s Shelves Woodcrafer and Cabinetmaker Krystryn Danard, another of Sund- abar’s finest woodworkers, is tall and thin, with floor-length, very straight brown hair. It hangs around her in a halo, and is usually full of wood chips and curled shavings. She works and lives alone, demanding complete pri¬vacy for her art, and makes shelves, strongchests, and wardrobes. Krys- tryn always gives her work a very smooth finish. Some of her rivals insist she uses magic to do it. Larautarn’s Chairs Woodworker Ommagol Larantarn is one of the excellent woodworkers of Sundabar, but looks more like a cook; he's a very fat, pompous man with two little, pointed mustaches and a pursed and plum-colored mouth. He's never with¬out an open wine bottle or three as he works, and sings loudy (and badly) as he toils, gleefully hurling finished legs and seats over his shoulder to crash into the far wall as each one is done at the lathe. The wall is hung with heavy tapestries, and more are wadded up on the floor below it—Ommagol has no wish to damage his work. Ommagol has such a keen eye that he can make a stool and then create another of exactly the same size and shape without referring to the first. The Lutery Instrumentmaker Jonstal Haerdrun is a grim, sharp- chinned giant of a man who makes all manner of wooden musical instru¬ments. He's an accomplished musi¬cian, but refuses to perform or to tutor, spending his free time in hunting for just the right trees deep in the north¬ern forests. He often hires guards on these long, perilous expedition—and on more than one such expedition has proven himself a deadly swordsman as he cut his way out of orc ambushes. He's something of a mystery man in Sundabar; some say he hails from Neverwinter, and others from Rashe- men or points east. He has very white skin, a slight build, and a long mane of unruly coal-black hair that he wears tied back in a long tail. Mith's Carved Whimsies and Woodcuts Woodcarver Mith Tlalant is a soft-voiced, child-like man who delights in playing with children and takes an almost inno- as 700 gp each, but collectors resell them for thousands in gold. Naeth's Nails, Pegs, Locks, and Other Woodfinery Fine Woodcarver Naeth Robilar is another of Sund- abar's fine woodcrafters. He is per¬haps the most skilled carver of them all, and whittles wooden locks, nested spheres, and similar exacting pieces. He can look at any lock mechanism that is missing part of its workings and draw, explain: or even whittle the missing parts (if those parts can be shaped in wood). The Old Anvil Smithy Blacksmith This noisy, sooty barn of a place stands just inside Turnstone Gate and is the abode and workshop of master smith Alabuth Helfyn. He makes armor, anvils, and caltrops—an export for which Sundabar is widely known. These spiky devices were invented in Sundabar (independently of other places in the Realms) to break deadly mounted barbarian charges in places where no wood large and long enough could be had to fashion rows of pointed stakes. cent delight in the world around him. His hand-sized wooden carvings of birds, monsters, and people find their way as far afield as fabled Kara-Tur, and even Maztica. They cost as much The Old Block Furnituremaker Faernden Laurauth and Basmel Torlthink they were among Sund- “best” anything—but the fine fur- they produce, especially easy and blanket chests, is ordered in star are the two bickering, pettish co¬owners and master craftsmen of this shop. To hear them fighting, you’d never abar’s niture chairs the hundreds by Waterdhavian nobles, rich families in Amn, and folk even far¬ther afield. Barges go up and down the Rauvin all the time with loads of their output. Owning Old Block furniture is a badge of wealth and good taste even in places as far off as the Tashalar and the city-states around the Lake of Steam. The Old Fireblower Pouch & Pipe Shop Tobacconist f I f f Talbut Minshar’s old, narrow, crammed, and strong-smelling shop stands on Lantbalar Street about mid¬way along its straight run from the Cirle to Turnstone Gate. He sells exotic tobaccoes from all over Faerun, makes a few himself (adding crushed moun- tam juniper essence and winterberries dissolved in winter wine to imported tobacco leaves, for instance), and is famous (ranked among Sundabar’s best) for his elegant carved pipes. He even makes a flute-like pipe that can be played as an instrument as one blows smoke out of it! Old Ornar’s Beds and Tables Furnitu remaker Ornar Myntul is the grand old man of Sundabar’s woodworkers—he trained many of the best. Now, in the twilight of his years (he’s seen 112 or more win¬ters!), he contents himself with whit¬tling walking sticks that have fearsome faces for amusement, while importing and selling fine, but plain, beds and tables to those who can’t afford the work of the other fineworkers. Most of Sundabar’s best charge 30 gp for even the smallest and most insignificant piece, and large canopied beds or the like can often run into the thousands of gold pieces. Ornar’s most expensive bed, by con¬trast, is 18 gp, and most of his stock is 8 gp or less. He is an expert at identi¬fying woods—even from charred fragments. Shyndle’s Lutes & Pipes Instrumentmaker Anar Shyndle is the only one of Sund- abar’s excellent woodworkers not to have his shop on the Circle. His abode and workshop stands just inside the Rivergate, and there he makes the musical instruments said to be the best in all the North (saving perhaps a few workers in Silverymoon). “Pipes so good, the satyrs play ‘em” is his motto, and it’s true that some satyrs once stole all the pipes in his shop. What use they put them to, none can say, so Anar made the logical assump¬tion. None of them has returned to correct him, he told me cheerfully. Shoppers should be aware that Anar and Jonstal Haerdrun of the Lutery are deadly foes. Thimm’s Shingles, Shakes, and Finefinish Tabletops Carpenter and Roofer & & & Olosk Thimm is a placid giant of a man who spends his days putting replacement legs and tops on dam¬aged furniture, except when he’s up on a roof, replacing it. He was once attacked by a bugbear patrol when splitting shingles alone in the forest and used his axe to slaughter the lot of them, bringing their heads back as proof. This was long ago, but folk still talk of Olosk calmly bowling the heads down one of Sundabar’s streets to frighten an aggressive neighbor who’d been pestering him over some incident or other. Needless to say, he was successful. Merchants beware: He doesn't seem like the sort one should anger. Taverns The city has many mediocre taverns. Both inns and taverns here serve food, generally of the boar-and-beans, ribsticking-but-simple, almost unsea¬soned variety. Halabar’s Horn of Spirits This filthy place sports broken furni¬ture and broken-down patrons to go with it. It stands—slumps, rather—on Lanthalar Street, although patrons often reel out onto the street with their tankards or roll out into it fight¬ing. A place to go if you want to break things.... Why not? Everyone else has been there before you, and done it already The Maiden at Midnight This tavern and festhall on the Circle is the only exception to the rather depressing tavern prospects of Sund- abar. It’s justly famous in the Interior. This delightful place can readily be found by its huge, gently glowing signboard. It depicts an elegant lady looking shocked, with one hand to her mouth and the other clutching at the front of her evening gown. Inside, the Maiden is dimly lit and hushed. The walls are thickly hung with carpets and tapestries. The staff of highly trained escorts includes lizard women, gnomes, halflings, and sprites, as well as human women. The famous Trapdoor Room, favored by adventurers, is in the cellar. There drinks are served down through the ceiling by means of small trapdoors over each table. Table dancers descend into the room and then rise back out by means of drop bars. The Maiden is always crowded, but never seems so. It’s a fun place, broken up into seemingly private alcoves and corners by means of many tapestries. It has a ward that prevents all fires, including magical ones, from burning. This is to keep the tapestries from catching alight. Once they caught fire the place would burn down in a few breaths! Because of this problem, the kitchens and dining room are in a separate building next door. They may be easily reached via a tunnel. The ward also prevents smoking, so those who dislike the clouds of heavy smoke in most taverns enjoy coming here. The Sighing Sylph This tavern is a quiet neighborhood drinking spot. It stands on Northwind Street, and is unremarkable—except for its rather tasteless, life-size wooden door-statue of an immodest sylph. Pranksters often carry her off and perch her somewhere else in the city—someplace interesting, whimsi¬cal, or just embarrassing (such as in the chancel of a temple, or on the roof of a rich merchant’s home). Alterna¬tively, they paint her interesting hues, or cast cantrips on her to make her say rude things, glow in interesting places, or appeal to beckon passersby. Would that the tavern behind her were half as interesting. The Tabard & Tankard horrible tavern, just a dirty, tired, unre¬markable one. The walls are covered with shields, buntings, cloaks, and tunics emblazoned with arms and devices of those who drank here (or so the tavernmaster would have you think). I recognized several badges of noble families who’ve been extinct for much longer than the tavern’s been here, I’m afraid. Unshimble's Ugly Face This rowdy tavern is named for its signboard, a gigantic, carved, and lamp-lit screaming goblin head. This sign guides all but the blind to it, even though it’s tucked away on a little lane off Antar Street. It is the gather¬ing place of ‘prentices and laborers, who come here surly, aching, dog tired, and ready for a fight. Many nights, they get one—or two, or a score. Beware flying bottles: This is the sort of tavern your mother warned you about—er, if she did. Inns This overpriced tavern stands on Antar Street (which runs north from North¬wind Street just inside the Rivergate, along the inside of the inner city wall). Its name alludes to its haughty preten¬tions to serving scholars, heralds, titled nobles, senior clergy, and powerful wizards—some of whom may actually have enjoyed a drink here. If one doesn’t care about money, one can can enjoy relative privacy here (for the high prices make patronage scant). It’s not a Baldiver’s This old, quiet, elegant inn is deco- rated with dark wood paneling, leather hall railings, and old, faded portraits of local knights and heroes. It is for the older, quieter visitor; others are refused entry or ejected if they beome unruly. Many retired war¬riors stay here in the coldest months, abandoning their chilly homes in the rates (2 cp per room/night). Baldiver's looks like an old castle sprawling along Northwind Street for a fair dis¬tance, and local legend insists that it can be defended as one if the city is attacked, having concealed armories and the like at the ready. The Firestar Chariot MM Located on Undle Lane (which runs due south from the Circle), this estab¬lishment is named for its vividly painted signboard, bought from a carnival in Tethyr. The board depicts two fire giants riding into battle on a chariot of flames, drawn by a flaming winged horse, and trailing stars. Inside, the place is given over to loud music and even louder furnish¬ings. It is patronized by young folk looking for thrills, and is prowled by so many evening escorts that some folk of Sundabar consider it little bet¬ter than a festhall. Thankfully, the rooms are luxuriously furnished and sound-proofed. A complimentary bot¬tle of “firestar wine” (amber sherry, doctored with a little ruby cordial, but very good nonetheless) is included with every room each evening you stay. Rooms run 9 sp to 2 gp/night, depending on size and appointments. Malshym’s House This inn on Lanthalar Street caters to merchants, goodfolk, and other is basic, unpretentious, and unexciting, but safe and clean. Would that more inns could make that boast in truth.
The Trumpet
XT Merchants, adventurers and other seasoned travelers stopping in Sundabar usually come to the Trumpet. They stay here because of the quiet luxury and the tolerance. Soldiers leave patrons alone, and eavesdropping is done magically and discreetly (if any is attempted). The inn isn't hard to find: Its signboard is a brass longhorn from Amn that stretches a full 20 feet out across Mattock Lane. The inn is the home base of such adventuring bands as the Claws of the Crag Cat, the Ready Blades Band, and the Company of the Feystag. The Trumpet specializes in putting patrons in touch with Sundabarians who discreetly provide needed services. These include healing, disposing of carrion, moneychanging, selling and bartering weapons and armor, purchasing thieving tools, and so on. Innkeeper Gaurlar Darym and his staff are famous for calmly handling anything. The tale is still told in Sund- abar of a baatezu being summoned into the lobby of the Trumpet. It was coolly destroyed by the staff, right before they ejected the mage who'd summoned it.Защита
Armed forces
Шилдсарцы - 526 тяжелых пехотинцев; 240 стрелков; 125 легких кавалеристов; 53 тяжелых кавалеристов (946) Каменные Щиты - 60 городских стража Пристальные - 40 шпионов, сыщиков и осведоми¬телей, в большинстве своем воров 3 уровня и выше, экспертов и обывателей.Промышленность
Известный Импорт: Продовольствие (особенно зерно, домашний скот и плоды, которые высоко ценят), древесина, текстиль.
Известный Экспорт: Доспехи, оружие, изделия из глины (главным образом трубы и плитка), кожа, золото, серебро, медь, древесина, мебель, инструменты.
Imports - Grain, livestock, fruit, lumber, textiles
Exports - Armor, clay wares, copper, furniture, gold, lumber, pelts, silver, tools, weapons
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Тип
Large city
Население
8300
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