Marsember

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Overview

Marsember is the second largest city of Cormyr, and, like the capital at Suzail, is a seaport on the Dragonmere (the Lake of Dragons). The city is built on a series of small islands, with each island crossed and recrossed by a number of canals.

Marsember is the City of Spices, and is so named because four competing trading families based there have shipped spices to and from lands far across the Inner Sea for decades, drawing much of the trade in condiments for the region there.

Because of the large numbers of small fishing boats that work out of its harbor (or anchor in the mouth of the Wyvernflow, but bring their catches here for sale), Marsember is the kingdom's busiest port.

Marsember is infamous for the intricate network of sewer-like, narrow, winding canals that run throughout the entire city. Spans of stone connect the upper floors of close buildings, and light skiffs poled through the streets. The city was originally built on Marsember Marsh and expanded over time, taking what territory it might. Flat, hard ground is at a premium in Marsember, so that only the courts of the wealthy and places of government have large plazas laid out above the high water mark.

Marsember's sole large church is Morningmist Hall, a temple of Lathander under the control of High Morninglord Chansobal Dreen. He has 16 priests of various levels serving underneath him. There are also shrines to Tymora and Umberlee in the city.

The light skiffs used in the canals are much like coracles, but their dimensions are 8'-10' long, and 2'-4' wide.

Marsember was ruled in the name of the king by Ildool, a grasping political hack who retained his job in part by bemoaning how terrible it was so that no others covet his post. He was executed when orcs invaded the city in the summer of 1403, and after the orcs were driven out of the city, his post was filled by his former herald, Bledyrn Scoril, an upstanding and well-thought of man.

City Statistics

Armed Forces

A garrison of 3,000 Purple Dragons, led by two men: Ayesunder Truesilver, Warden of the Port, and Felis Strongarm, the Captain of the Guard. All Dragons are good swimmers, and wear leather armor with metal helms and breastplates. Serving as police and customs agents, they pole skiffs along the canals, armed with 20-foot-long 'lawhooks' for grappling vessels, docks, or flotsam, and gaffing those seeking to escape or fight.

The Purple Dragons in Marsember are even more strict than they are in other cities in Cormyr. With the rising level of corruption, the Dragons are charged with enforcing the local laws to the letter if necessary. As such, it is not uncommon for what would normally be considered a minor offense to escalate into several nights of incarceration for misspoken words under one's breath.

An Imperial Navy detachment of 12 major ships and crews (2,200+ trained sea warriors) is also based here. They patrol the coast, guard the navy dry-docks, and train recruits (typically 240+, using four old, leaky carracks).

Skiffs: Both soldiers and citizens use small skiffs for getting about. Made of stout wood sealed with fish oil or tar, these are flat-bottomed, 2 to 4 feet wide by 8 to 10 feet long, and have upswept gunwales and ends, so that either end can serve as the bow.

A typical skiff has two long, hook-ended poles, two paddles or oars, and a canvas cover that doubles as a lateen sail when rigged with the skiff's poles. Leeboards (wooden side-rudders) are used when sailing.

In accordance with the laws of Cormyr, all those who carry weapons are required to have them peace-knotted at all times. Failure to do so results in the severest of consequences, ranging from nights in jail to being banned from the city altogether. Those individuals not capable of peace-knotting their weapons can contact the War Wizards for assistance.

Notable Mages:

• Delthrin the Deadmaster, infamous for animating many undead to defend the city against a pirate raid; a recluse devoted to necromantic experiments.
• Filfaeril Stormbillow, a retired adventurer who makes magical items and has grown very rich selling items and potions to adventurers and buying magical components from them.
• Vindala Chalanther, a known tutor and mage for hire.

Notable Churches:

• Morningmist Hall, temple of Lathander; High Morninglord Chansobal Dreen, a shrewd investor in new ventures, who enjoys ceremonially consecrating new ships and is a deadly foe of pirates and smugglers, whom he often sends his priests to fight; 16 priests, 12 followers.
• Shrines to Tymora, Umberlee, and Waukeen.

Notable Rogues' and Thieves' Guilds:

• None known. The War Wizards and Harpers between them root out all actively dishonest groups; the Harpers use Marsember as a safe port on the Inner Sea, and take care to keep it that way.

Equipment Shops: Full. Marsember, being the second largest city in Cormyr and its largest port, is a shopping haven for everyone, from adventurers looking for equipment to nobles looking for exotic rarities.

Adventurer's Quarters

• The Roaring Griffon Inn
• The Old Oak Inn and Tavern: once grand, now run down
• The Cloven Shield Inn and Tavern: a noisy, ramshackle place
• The Barrelstone: a leaking, gnome-run place, full of fun and good music. The food is terrible and the damp rooms host fungi and vermin.

Important Characters:

• Blentra Whaelbuckler, Harper agent and scourge of evil who enjoys pouncing on pirates, slavers, and thieves by night.
• Elestra Blaebur, a popular party singer and dancer who secretly carries messages for War Wizards, Harper and other well paying patrons. Her specialty is midnight bedside message deliveries to unsuspecting, well-guard persons.
• Maerun Stoutbold of Suzail, usually winters in Marsember, where his coins are very active in shipbuilding.
• Scoril, King's Herald of Marsember, registers births, deaths, deeds, and tax payments, and witnesses contracts, promissory notes, and sentencings.
• Szwentil, a founding partner of the Six Coffers Market Priakos, a busy overseer of ship and structure construction investments.
• Tannuth Ormbyr finds and hires adventurers and mercenaries for clients requiring discretion.

Important Features in Town

Marsember stands on the west bank of the River Starwater, where it empties into the Inner Sea. Wise sailors from other lands avoid the treacherous Starmouth sandbars put in at Marsember to let local vessels carry their wares inland up the Starwater--or to save money over Suzail's more expensive docking fees.

Such fees vary by the season, but usually 1 gp/berth. A ship too large for a single 90-foot long dockside berth, must pay for two berths, or anchor in the the basin at a cost of 2 gp and be unloaded by shuttle barges. Suzail's fees follow identical rules, but are twice as high.

Named for Marsember Marsh, the desolate bog that once lay here, Marsember extends out into the water by means of low stone bridges, which link the shore to many sandy islands.

In Marsember's early days storms and high spring tides regularly swept away island docks and buildings. Since the reign of Palaghard II (great-grandfather of the present King Azoun), the crown has paid for annual cartloads of quarry rubble from mines near Tyrluk to be dumped along island shores, to guard the sandy soil against the hungry sea.

In olden days, only a few fishermen and ferry-men lived near the dismal marsh (infamous for many will-o-wisps-and, legend holds, even worse inhabitants). The Starwater is remarkably free of rapids, and in small boats is navigable as far north as Redhand Pool in Eveningstar. As trade between Cormyr and older Inner Sea lands grew, a port appeared where seagoing ships unloaded cargo onto small skiffs or rafts for the trip upriver, which in turn brought logs and smelted ore down from the interior to the ships.

A sprawling, chaotic series of docks and precarious trestle bridges arose. Marsember today still has something of a ramshackle air about it. By King Azoun's decree all new buildings must be built of stone, reinforced by stucco that must be renewed on orders of local crown inspectors. The use of cedar or slate roofs is also required. Older wooden warehouses and boat sheds still stand, however, many visibly rotting and sagging into the water.

Because everyone wants their own water access to carry on trade without paying docking fees (which reimburse the crown for the costs of constant stone hauling and canal dredging), the islands on which Marsember stands are crisscrossed by a webwork of narrow, winding canals. These serve as local sewers, and can be politely described as unpleasant. Their stench is incredible during hot, dry summers, and the heat of decomposition keeps their steaming waters clear of ice even in the coldest winters.

Local Lore:

Marsh monsters are popular in local tavern tales. Old Marsembians tell of will-o-wisps knocking over bridge lamps in night fogs and posing as the lamps, moving to lead the unwary into watery bogs.

Those who drown in the Starmouth, it is said, come back to seek out friends, lovers, family, and especially enemies and debtors. Dripping, they walk by night in sodden undeath, and drag the living down to join them. Even hardy adventurers admit that strange creatures lurk near the Starmouth, and that there is something fey about Marsember's murky canals.

Marsember is also a center for smuggling, though this practice is not as rampant as it once was. There are tales of full, lost wine-casks rotting under the water, and of sunken slave-cages discovered crowded with drowned unfortunates when warehouses were torn down.

There are also, of course, whispers of treasure hidden in the muddy waters. It is certain that at least one of Gondegal's gold-laden payboats was lost in the area. Marsembian elders also speak of skiffs full to the gunwales with elven gems, scuttled deliberately somewhere in the canals on a dark night to avoid seizure by Zhentarim agents. They also tell of Sissra, a half-elven princess who died four hundred years ago. Her corpse was laid in a slim riverboat with gold, gems, and magic arrayed about her. Set afire, it burned to the waterline while drifting in the Starmouth.

Searchers have never found it, but many believe Sissra's ashes and treasure lie beneath some old city warehouse, in the all-concealing mud.