Category:Geography

From Necrosis

A Guide to Local Katradorn

Welcome to the end of the world! Your humble guide is Alexander Shane, thrill seeker, merchant, and survivor. I built myself up from nothing and stayed on top of it all with a smile on my face. The trick is to accept death, an inevitable event now catalyzed by a ruined world. That's not as fatalistic as it seems. The mindset offers release from the anxiety and frustration caused by Katradorn's overwhelming dangers. Our meager lives become fun again, survival becomes a game. Enjoy the time you have left, players.

I'm amused that some, nearly four years after a Demon commonly called The Usurper slew Kelemvor and changed death, have frightfully exclaimed that the dead walk in endless, hungry droves. Perhaps the desperate, terrified masses have turned to Shar and prayed for blissful amnesia. Most of my acquaintances wish they could forget the horrific days when a simple scratch or bite was an inescapable harbinger of death. Their hands shake as they recall a sick neighbor rising from the dead and the bloody, indiscriminate chaos that followed. Many agree that we're through the worst of it. Brave scavengers walk the lands in search of food and profit, returning with clear signs of battle with the horde. I'm no theologian, and the plague is still unpredictably lethal, but I'm convinced this is a sign the Gods have made progress in their crusade against the disease's source.

I bet you found my observations at The River's Run Inn, a shithole that's dear to my heart. Everything and everyone can be found here, players, and it sometimes clashes in a delightfully explosive way. The place sells grog and tub gin that's cheap as and tastes like dirt. Fine Dwarven ales and Elven wines are available to those who can superfluously spend coin. Never piss off the management.

The establishment faces the Freyderer River, and following its waters in either direction will lead you to civilization. Travel south, then take the western path at Rowen's Bridge and you'll find Velesha, Katradorn's jewel. It is perfect and precious; those who would tarnish its image are dealt with accordingly. Horde makes the gates impassable to all but skilled arcanists, though there is easy access to cliff caves that provide passage to the area's major settlements. Always keep your weapons drawn until you can once again smell the shore's salty air.

Travelling north from the River's Run Inn will lead you to Fort Endeavor, your guide's childhood home. Once Vhengris' largest and most vibrant community, the area is a favorite spot for highwaymen. They strike in small groups that are able to outmaneuver and outrun the swarms of walking dead that pass through. A sad state of affairs for the local lands' most fertile farmland. Surely players, regardless of whether you're inclined to use or help those without skill and ambition, you understand they must be fed. The area can be claimed, tamed, and utilized. Do not underestimate the strength of such a symbolic victory against The Usurper's unacceptable rampage.

For now, Fort Endeavor serves as a path to other fortified refuges. An adventurous Gnome often waits at the docks to provide passage for those who would risk stepping foot in Ren'Duath, a Drow city that recently opened its gates to trade. Respect and submissiveness ensure that tourists have not reached their final destination. Some are reportedly thrown into an endless pit, others are given shackles and menial labor.

A different kind of danger awaits north of Fort Endeavor at Greystone Keep, where what is left of Vhengris rallies around their royal family. Their gates stay locked and entry is often gained by exploring the tunnels that reach out from the basements of burnt cottage husks that pockmark the river. While the rigidly organized humans may seem different from the Drow at first, the end result is often the same. What can be said in defense of people who hang criminals by the wrists off a tower to be eaten by deaders?

Travelling east from either Fort Endeavor or Greystone Keep will lead hungry travelers to Murkwood and its relatively plentiful game. Skilled explorers will discover a portal that leads to the Chokayae Outpost, the "multicultural" portion of the condescending and untamed Ghost elves' tribal lands. They insist their decision to grudgingly tolerate outsiders and to use them as meat shields against the horde is noble. Shockingly, some insist the Outpost is a peaceful paradise. Lost in the forest's natural splendor, they fail to see the wrath of wolves and the fury of storm.

Walk north along the forest's ravine and the trees will give way to treacherous mountain expanses. The only thing more dangerous than the frost giants are the gruff, distrusting humans who make their final stand against all they deem wrong in Toril. These Lathanderites, locked away behind snow covered gates and rigid doctrine, are best called the Cult of The Morninglord. You will find they are quick to call strangers a source of the world's problems and to show them the result of their endless martial training.

Choose your path carefully, players. The word "refuge" implies safety and that turns out to be a deadly lie in Katradorn. Nothing is as it seems, and those not claimed by the endless horde will be ensnared in terrible, obfuscated agendas. The walking dead destroyed your lives, players, but the biggest threats are the people who discreetly use you as pawns in their own games.

Something or someone will eventually kill you so be sure to enjoy the time you have. It is my sincere wish that you acquire excellent drinking stories on your way to the afterlife.

Alexander Shane, survivor