The Scepter

1491 DR

In Faerûn , on the eastern-most edge of The Spine of the World lies the upstart industrial haven called The Scepter. The Scepter is planted at the end of a powerful river known only by a bad translation of its old Elvish name, The Roots of the Sea. Despite the northern chill, the valley itself resides over hot springs and mild volcanic activity that thaw the river and the frosted mountain peaks. Summers are warm and winters are mild inside the valley.   Though the history has been paved over, the valley where The Scepter rests was once home to a rare city-state, Elvenstone, one of the few Elf mining colonies that competed with Dwarf metalworkers of that era. Their unique mining process did little to disturb the topography, so not much trace of their operation was left, save for a few great mountain halls that were later made rat holes by bandits and wanderers. One vault crafted by the early Elven occupants, nicknamed The Dragon's Womb, has never been breached, and remains closed to present day.   In modern times, the ruins were occupied by enterprising bandits who saw the location as a perfect hub of safety for sea-side raids, with good protection from the steep mountain range on nearly all sides, but close access to major trade routes both on the seas and the roads.   Fear grew in the local cities of the bandit kingdom amassing, and the land was promised to those who could slay the bandits and restore order to the area (order of course meaning cooperation with the local towns) and the prize was easily won by a pair of notorious warlords known only as Yellow and Blue, brother and sister twins. Their victory was relatively bloodless and more of a regime change than anything. They set to work immediately to turn The Scepter and its capital city Gavenlow into a center for profit, trade, and industry--more or less continuing the reign of terror over the local areas, but this time of a legal, economic kind. The cities that had set the bounty and reward profited greatly and made no more complaints.   In present day, The Scepter is a bustling, independent, and highly insular metropolis, with heavily regulated exports, and generous imports of immigrants for labor. The heart of The Scepter is the city of Gavenlow. The city's true soul is in advancing the arcane science of mineral powered vessel flight using a rare compound called Rose Sulphur, with Yellow and Blue's ultimate dream of conquering the stars above using their rockets to reach and occupy the nearest moon, thought by modern theologians to be the realm of the goddess Selûne. At the festival celebrating Selûne's blessing of the full moon, Gavenlow's city council, The Emerald Forces, has unveiled this new vision to scores of visiting dignitaries, politicians, nobles, kings and queens, barons and generals, bards and celebrities and travelers from all over Faerun along with a demonstration of the rocket itself: the Star Capsule.