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Myrbeir the Drowned

Undulave, The Hazeth Sea

Applicable Knowledges: Ardashir, History

Once called Myrbeir the Golden for its glorious wheat fields, this land now exists as a drowned, silt-covered field of ruins. A territory under Ardashir’s sovereignty, Myrbeir collapsed under the waves of the Hazeth Sea at the conclusion of the Godslayer’s War when Ihoshi was split from the Cithon Peninsula. Tens of thousands immediately perished, and thousands more in the days and weeks afterward. The territory of Myrbeir, collateral damage of an epic battle, consisted of three cities and dozens of villages, although little more than exaggerated legends, dangerous shipping lanes, and often-salvaged ruins exist now.

Nelani-Krag

Pre-Flood Population: 15,000 free citizens, 10,000 privately-owned slaves
Economy: Robust; Agriculture
Language: Ardasi

Nelani-Krag existed as a quickly-growing settlement prior to the Godslayer’s War, an outpost of farming plantations located along a spine of rolling hills. The area was thriving with investments from across Ardashir, where fertile frontiers tempted ambitious entrepreneurs. Recent prospects had discovered iron ore deposits in the nearby hills, but at the time of the cataclysm little more than exploratory infrastructure had been completed.

Those who survived the immediate flooding were those who lived on the Nelani-Krag highlands, and it is almost certain that a remnant of survivors managed to endure for months in the cave systems that honeycombed the nearby hills. According to rumor, these people ultimately resorted to cannibalism when food became scarce and the souls of these savage survivors now reside in the bodies of ghouls and ghasts lurking within those very hills.

Sombria

Pre-Flood Population: 50,000 free citizens, 120,000 privately-owned slaves
Economy: Steady; Agriculture, Slave Trade
Language: Ardasi

In the centuries prior to Ardashir’s rise, the ancient landscape of Myrbeir knew only the infamous rule of Sombria. Understanding the geography, people, and diplomacy of the region cemented the city’s unshakable control; it was from this verdant plain that crusades against foreign nations were planned, armed, and executed. The city conducted regular raids on neighboring countries, subjugating or conscripting every able-bodied man, woman, and child who survived their coordinated attacks.

The rise of the Ardasi Empire was not, historians allege, an unfortunate event for the Sombria sovereigns. The transition in power was surprisingly bloodless, negotiated through diplomatic agreements that entitled the Sombria lords to retire as wealthy gentry no longer burdened with governing an overwhelming, and often rebellious, slave force. The city remained a forced labor and military capital throughout its existence, faithfully serving Ardashir’s eastern frontier until the rise of the Hazeth Sea. Little remains of the flatland region now but sunken, crumbling buildings, sea-bottom fields, and memories of an efficient, if ruthless, capital.

Undulave

Pre-Flood Population: 200,000 free citizens, 30,000 privately-owned slaves
Economy: Steady; Agriculture, Ocean Trade
Language: Ardasi

One of the largest, and certainly one of the oldest, of the Ardasi cities, Undulave was founded as a seafaring outpost along the once gentle coast of the Cithon Peninsula. Originally under Sombrian control, the city was ravaged by repeated sieges from numerous countries, ranging in sovereigns from the exotic Dhakhari civilization to migrant barbarians from the Ahaltic Plains. As a result, the city was segmented with various architectural styles and cultures and became precipitously more difficult to manage with each transition, let alone defend.

The Empire of Ardashir had managed to control the city for several decades prior to the Godslayer’s War with the threat of rigid food rationing; an unruly people, the Ardasi empire ruthlessly averred, is more quickly quelled by hunger than sword. After months of inadequate provisions following Ardashir's conquest, trade routes were reopened and those who continued acts of disobedience were arrested, driven into slavery, and sold across the empire. The cataclysm that ultimately destroyed Myrbeir had transformed Undulave, the unruly metropolis of a dozen countries, into an incredible prospect for salvagers and tomb raiders.