Who Rules: King Egrem the Bold (CN, Human Male, F6) is a weak-minded, effeminate weakling who has an overdeveloped sense of self-worth that he maintains by fighting drugged slaves in his private arena at the castle. He is also the 11th member and deciding vote on the Royal Council, though he can overrule any decision they pass.

Who Really Rules: General Drakat Splitshield (NG, Dwarf Male, F19) is a member of the council and head of Morde's armed forces. He is also the holder of the hereditary and tradition role of King's Champion and Trainer. He despises the king, is repulsed by his actions in his arena, and runs roughshod over the king as if he were a child and not the 23 year old man that he is. Drakat, though, would hesitate to cal him a man. Because of some of the king's actions during the early stage of the war with Turmish Drakat has had to champion the king on twelve different occasions, and while he detests defending the king for his actions, he has managed to disarm his opponents and keep damage to a minimum. He also hates part of himself for being so honor bound that he cannot look the other way at the assassination attempts that have been on the rise.

Population: 16,640 (75% human, 20% dwarf, 3% elf, 2% mixed races).

Major Products: Sheep, cattle, leather goods, vellum, glue, smoked meats, cheese, red white, red beer, fountains, onyx, obsidian, mining equipment, and Hue & Cry, a very strong and heady brandy made from a secret blend of 8 different types of wine.

Armed Forces: 1,400 troops (250 cavalry of varied types, 300 light infantry/archers, 200 heavy infantry, 100 dwarven shock troops, 200 artillerists/engineers, 250 alpine scouts, and 100 gnomish arquebus-men who are all armed and also man a mobile bombard. Because of its natural defense of mountains Morde isn't as accessible as Enfold so Morde's defenses are only augmented by an additional 2,500 troops. Of these there are 500 cavalry, 1,000 dwarven infantry, and the rest are mixed troops of varying types.

Notable Mages: Kalgarler the Lean (LE, Human Male, W18) hates the king even more than General Drakat. It is Kal who is responsible for most of the challenges and the assassination attempts, though nothing can be directly linked to him. When not plotting regicide he can be found researching heraldry and alteration spells.

Sayunt of the Lost Ruins (CN, Human Male, F13/W12) is a slightly crazed, slightly absent-minded eccentric wizard who loves flying. He is an expert on aerial combat and on flying spells. He sells instruction and scrolls on the side, when he can remember that he needs to make money.

Notable Churches: Tempus, Tyr, Eldath, Silvanus, Lathander.

Notable Rogues' and Thieves' Guilds: Independent thieves operate throughout the town, and the town doesn't go too far out of its way to catch anyone, unless the crime deserves it. However, the town is ruthless in putting down any organization of thieves that gets too big. It won't stand for an organized guild. Presently, Ardnal Blackguard (NE, half-orc male, T15) is loosely holding together a guild of 17 thieves. At one point, it was up to 38, but most have either been killed or fled town. Ardnal currently has a price of 20,000 gp on his head and at least 6 bounty hunters searching for him. It looks like it might take a while to finally track him down and kill him.

Equipment Shops: Full, though because of the war, it is considered half for weapons and things like tents, healing kits, etc. What items aren't reserved for the military are expensive at the moment.

Adventurers' Quarters: Adventurer's are normally welcome throughout town, but vacant rooms are very scarce, and very expensive. Just inside the second ring is a large, privately owned park. The owner rents out his land to anyone with a tent. He can also rent out a tent if need be.

Important Characters: Kristine Gelden (LN, Human Female, P6) is a priestess of Eldath and she owns a fountain making company, which has quite a few dwarf and gnome craftsman working in its shops. New orders are slow coming in but her backlog of work should hold her over for a year or two. She hopes the war won't drag on that long.

Giler Clovenfoot (CN, Satyr Male, R15) runs a mountaineering school outside of town. The school also has its own rope and climbing gear manufacturing facilities, as well as several blacksmiths. The school itself can only be reached via a climb of some difficulty, so as to weed out undesirables before they even make it to the school.

Important Features in Town: Morde is located in a large, fertile valley set about 30 miles into the mountains. There are also a fair number of glens branching off from this valley that are lush and fertile. It is because of the large number of farms and pasture lands that Morde maintains a cavalry. The cavalry also defends the four main passes that lead to Morde. The town itself is built alongside a deep, swift, frigid river that flows down from the north, and exits into an underground channel several miles south of town. The town is made up of 5 concentric circles with two gates in each wall. The outer ring's gates are on the north and south sides. The next wall in has its gates on the east and the west. The third section's gates are on the north and south side, etc. The innermost ring is the oldest wall and guards the royal palace and most of the administrative buildings in town.

There are a total of 8 monasteries located in the surrounding mountains, all devoted to different god or goddesses. Most of these are merely religious retreats, but two of them openly train warrior monks. One of the other retreats is the official sanctuary of the Ansar Knights.

Local Lore: At one point there were over 50 monasteries in operation in the surrounding mountains. Rumors still abound of buried treasures within the ruins of this monastery or how that one was overrun by a certain tribe of orcs/kobolds/trolls/etc. and the wealth is now hidden deep within caves off to the north/south/east/west. The number of rumors equals the number of actual dem-human denizens that do roam the surrounding mountains. Numerous adventure seekers are constantly going off to chase this rumor or that. Most return with nothing. Some don't return at all. Some actually come back rich.