WildCoast_Narwell.docx

7/27/2019 WildCoast_Narwell.docx

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The Wild Coast has always been a free-wheeling land of bandits, pirates, slavers and brutality. It

flourished on the borders of the wilderness and eventually the “civilized” world for a thousand

years, until the Greyhawk Wars of 582 - 584 forced a change. The land is fertile, with amplerainfall and several small rivers running throughout it. Hunting is good year round, as is logging

and there is plenty of stone to be had. While the Suss Forest, and to a lesser degree the

Welkwood, are dark places filled with mystery and danger, the Wild Coast has its share of haunted ruins, strange occurrences and legends. The Wild Coast regioin has many parts thatvary from nests of black-hearted bandits to nearly civilized, sociable places. Underlying this is a

strong independent streak in the people and a general distrust of large government organizations.

As of 595 CY, there isn`t open war on the southern frontier at the present time; the Orcish

Empire of Pomarj is not showing signs expanding north. At most, small groups of humanoids

will foray into the Domain of Greyhawk on basic raids of terror to keep the populace alwaysthinking that the real army could be coming next. After eleven years of this pattern though, the

locals have become accustomed to these raids and nearly treat them the same as the fox in the

hen house. Thus, Greyhawk has not moved a large standing army into the Wild Coast since the

majority of forces retreated in 586 CY at the demand of the citizens of Narwell as part of theMillennium Celebrations of the city’s founding as Naer’s Well. The Directing Oligarchy of

Greyhawk has left major garrisons Safeton and Narwell and can support them swiftly withmarines and militia from Hardby. Virtually every able-bodied person in the Wild Coast has athand a weapon of some sort and a scrap or two of armor and has received some training in their

use. Still there is a corrosive fear in the Wild Coast among all but the most aggressive and evil

of souls. A massive horde of humanoids lays a few leagues south and is ever present in the mindsof the survivors of the original raids upon Badwall, Elredd, Fax and Cantona, now refugees

barely eking an existence in the Wild Coast freelands. Most believe that these lands will

eventually fall.

This fear manifests in a variety of ways.

Some people have fled the Wild Coast to one of the free cities to the north (Greyhawk, Dyvers,

Verbobonc). Others grimly hang on, just hoping to see out their days before the end comes.

Some are determined to stay put and kill as many orcs as they can when the day of reckoningcomes. Still others have become even wilder than the name of the land suggests; drunkenness,

debauchery and bullying have never exactly been alien to Wild Coast folk, but these problems

are worse now more than ever.

A few folk have become stirred to bravery, overcoming their fear, and now turn to militant

faiths. Trithereon, Hextor, and other martial deities are respected and often revered; peaceable

deities such as Rao have virtually no following and nature deities are likewise forgotten andneglected in most places except for Phyton in Narwell.

The Wild Coast is a land of extremes, and polarization. There is true valor among some of its people, but there is also deceit, cowardice and backstabbing aplenty. There is little

respect for property, given the fear of being conquered by an alien orcish horde, and in most

places possession is ten-tenths of the law and might is right. These are not lands for the faint-hearted. After the orcs invaded the southern cities of the Wild Coast in the spring of 584, fear



and paranoia took over the people of the land. The result was The Night of Terror, when every

orc, half-orc, hobgoblin and half-ogre in Safeton, Narwell, Phlandish, Zulern and a dozen smaller

towns was lynched, poisoned or burned alive out of fear they were Pomarjian spies. People donot speak of that night now, and if pressed for details may become hostile. There are very few

civilized humanoids currently in the upper Wild Coast region with each one needing a sponsor.

Most find this with the Greyhawk Merchants’ Guild as labourers.

Safeton

Safeton is the closer of the two major cities to the expanded Pomarj Empire. It has a population

of 5,500. Fishing, trade, laboring, quarrying and mercantile seamanship are all sources of

income here, but life is hard for most. The city has an atmosphere of paranoia and fear. It issubject to military rule by 550 Greyhawk militiamen, with nighttime curfews outside

the notorious Dock District (which is patrolled by Hardby Marines, not the militia). Three war

galleys are stationed at Safeton, and the Marines are training Safeton men in the hard military

duties expected of them under the new conscription law. Life is tough and bloody here; many of

the native folk are of evil alignment and some of them are as brutal as any orc. Most of themercantile survivors of Fax and Elredd reside in Safeton attempting to maintain their holdings as

best as they can.

Safeton`s defenses are being strengthened as a matter of priority. A complete wooden stockade

wall has been erected and within that a stone wall is being built with two massive entry gates.Sea defenses are strong but the land threat is the greatest, so work continues at all hours. Slaves

were once the norm in Safeton with many being sold to the infamous Slave Lords of the pre-

Orcish Empire Pomarj, a horrible irony. Greyhawk law does not allow slavery so the slaves have

been “freed” as work-house billeted people for essential construction work that assures thatSafeton will be able to resist the initial attack of any humanoid force.

Narwell

Narwell is farther from the Orcish Empire than Safeton and this city has a different atmosphere.It is less metropolitan than Safeton (population 4,200) with more open space and bordering

farmlands. It’s only stone wall surrounds the Baron’s keep while a wooden stockade was just

finished to surround the remaining core buildings of the town. While Safeton is brute force andstrength, Narwell is a subtler, wilier kind of city. Narwell would keep most paladins very busy

bringing “light to the darkness” but most “evil doers” tend to be pickpockets and con men.

Narwell is jointly administered by its hereditary ruler, Baron Janstin, and Captain Rupert

Nenshen of Greyhawk. Law here is not as strict as in Safeton; there is conscription for example, but no curfews. The Temple of Trithereon’s followers, particulary a band known as the ShiningSpears, patrols the city and maintains order better than Baron’s own Town Watch. Never less,

protection rackets abound in the city with concern that the Greyhawk militia may have brought

more than “fighting men” to Narwell.

Narwell has always been a popular launch spot for expeditions to the eastern Kron Hills andWelkwood in search of ancient ruins. Aside from the Suloise ruins rumoured in the Welkwood,

there a tales of a massive city of the ancient Flan that hold artifacts of great power. It is believed



that the city’s founder, Naer a priest of Phyton, found an ancient Flan well of magical properties

that is now hidden in the basement of the Phyton temple. Indeed, it’s rare for anyone in Narwell

to not stumble upon some evidence of prior civilizations anytime a hole is dug to a depth of tenfeet. In fact, one crypt with some rather irked denizens oozing green worms did not appreciate

the placement of a wall tower’s foundation during the raising of the wood stockade. The “sons

of Kyuss” were destroyed but murmurs of the coming “Age of Worms” has only become louder in some religious circles.

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WildCoast_Narwell.docx