Krezk Map and details

[vipera aspis]

I am looking for a map of Krezk in Barovia or any further info on it. I have the black-box, red-box, Gaz one and many other books but i haven't been able to locate much. Also does anyone know what the Needle of the Ghaddar looks like?

[ChrisNichols]

Rough maps were drawn up and sent out for each Barovian town, including Krezk, for Gazetteer 1, but were not used for space reasons.

Since they were submitted to White Wolf, I have no idea whether Andrew Wyatt, the original creator can actually distribute them or not. You have to ask him.

Chris Nichols

[vipera aspis]

all?! wow. would that ever be useful!

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

As far as published stuff, I think you've got it all. According to the catalog, there was some mention of Krezk in I Strahd II, TWWA. But any info from there would naturally be out of date, since it took place ages ago.

[Ail]

I pretty much imagined a bit of Krezk. I never made a map, but some parts of it were clear in my mind as I described it to the players.

For me, Krezk has a central square (or roundabout). Northwards it leads to the Morning Lord Sanctuary. Northwest would be the richer part of the city and to the Northeast the way to the Lake and the fishermen's houses.
To the Southeast, there is a road that is a kind of permanent market. To the Southwest, leaves a street that leads to the Gundarakite slums. There are lots of abandoned houses here and occasional militia interventions looking for rebels.

Eventually, from the slum area springs a road that leads to the forests just south of Krezk and that extend southwards almost ininterruptibly up to south of the Dread Pass and the Old Gundarak.

On the east side of town, but slighly south of the square, is a new area that has been growing from commerce. The warehouse of the Red Vardo Traders is here, but on a street without much light.

I don't remember if I included the Needle or not, but if so, that would be on the west side.

And that's it. Don't know if this is useful to anybody, but there's always a chance.

Alex

[Bloody Morgan]

I did a doodle map for the city once, but Ail's description sounds much better. Isn't it built on a river though? Or am I getting myself confused?

[vipera aspis]

wow thanks guys thats great!

[Ail]

I did a doodle map for the city once, but Ail's description sounds much better. Isn't it built on a river though? Or am I getting myself confused?

Hmmm... I don't remember a river. Lake Zarovich is to the north of Krezk and I guess all the rivers that end there come from farther to the north.

Alex

[Ail]

I did a doodle map for the city once, but Ail's description sounds much better. Isn't it built on a river though? Or am I getting myself confused?

Hmmm... I don't remember a river. Lake Zarovich is to the north of Krezk and I guess all the rivers that end there come from farther to the north.

Alex

Hi there,

first, a correction. The Lake near Krezk is not lake Zarovich, it's lake Krezk, iirc. But aside that, I was preparing some logs of my campaign to submit to the Varanda and there is a small description of Krezk in one of the sessions in there. It is not exactly as I had said earlier, and it has some more colour than what I gave above. For that reason, I transcribe here some excerpts that may be useful.

"
Krezk was a big city, about twice the size of Vallaki. [...] It stood on a plain at the base of the mountain, but its outskirts already began to climb the lower slopes of the Balinoks. To the southwest, a large forest snuggled into Krezk. To the north, spread a large lake, big enough to hold two Krezks within it, but still smaller than Lake Zarovich. Some strange red fluid seemed to seep from the ground around the lake into the water, tingeing it with a characteristic, slightly unpleasant tonality. Unlike in Vallaki, here there was no activity in the lake. [...]


The division of the city into quarters wasn’t immediately apparent from above. It had a high citadel opposite the mountainside that was heavily fortified. These seemed to be the old city walls of Krezk, which had outgrown them immensely, stretching up to the limits imposed by the forest, the lake and the mountains. Only the western side had still margin for further growth. The most striking features of Krezk were a tall tower in the centre square and the intense activity on the streets. There seemed to be selling stands sprouting everywhere, and a particular area where the crowd was more pervasive. This was all they could understand about Krezk itself.

They ended their descent about noon as they entered the busy streets of Krezk. Immediately, they felt immersed in a kind of permanent fair. There were stands lined uninterruptedly along the street side, advertising all kind of mundane and exotic items. These last ones caught Gregor’s attention and he inspected them slowly. He found several oddities he had never heard of: Verbrekan mushrooms, still moist, which was an amazing feat, considering that between Krezk and Verbrek, they still had to cross the whole of Borca. And according to the seller, who stressed this information with a low voice and a conspiratorial tone, leaving Verbrek alone was perhaps the most difficult part of bringing the mushrooms at all. He nodded to reinforce his own assessment, and adjusted the mushrooms anew with the reverential attitude of one who is cleaning holy relics. Gregor and Gheata feigned understanding and moved on. They had never heard of Verbrek and the sinister reputation that it had.
A bit farther ahead, they spotted marble statues of Ezra from Borca and pipes of fine wood from Mordent. Another stand interested them with sights they had never seen: large ivory tusks sculpted with curious and obscene (to their eyes) drawings of voluptuous women and several-legged deities, tropical woods made into statues, carved ebony; strange vests the seller called saris and scents unknown to their nostrils: sandal, lotus, and several kinds of incense.
“Come, feast your eyes into the exotic. Admire the worked teeth of the elephants of Sri Raji, the delicacy of the tunics from the goddesses; sense the perfumes of that far away land; or admire these works of ebony and tropical wood: these come from the very Wildlands themselves, from some lost tribe that has made peace with the jungle. I lie you not! A recent expedition from Sri Raji managed to bring these few items from there. Truly, these are priceless artefacts!”
They shrugged and moved along, to admire a stand where proud steeds where in exhibition
“Nova Vaasan horses! Nova Vaasan horses! The best in the whole Core, the preferred by the Vistani.”
Indeed, they were excellent animals, but their interested was immediately diverted by a stand a few metres ahead. The two sellers spoke with a thick Forfarian accent and talked eagerly to each other as the customers eyed over their wares. The highlights of the stand were given to a barrel of water-of-life and a strange instrument they called a bagpipe. Gregor was incensed by the view of the barrel
“This water of life, what is it?”
“Ah, lad, if ye not kno’ it, yer missin’ the best drink o’ the world. Aye, ‘tis the best drink in the whole land, the nectar of the gods” said one of the sellers.
The other completed
“’Tis a spir’t drink from Forlorn, brewed from malt and the special herbs that grow only in the Forfarian hills, by the Loch of Red Tears. The Tears of Aggie, they say. This is decanted for 12 years at least before being brought to ye, the happy customer.”
“To drink the Úisge-beatha is a gift from above. Here, have a bottle.”
“How much is it?”
“A trifle, sir, a mere trifle. Aye, for what it is, you canna say 25 gold coins is too much. This is a rare preciosity.”
Gregor coughed. He had nearly been seduced by the drink and the sellers’ talk, but this was much more than he was willing to spend.
“Oh, perhaps some other day then. Bye!”

After much browsing like this, they left the market and arrived to the centre square. There they could see the tower was a tall square minaret, without obvious entrances. Asking around, they found it was the Needle of Ghaddar, dating from the time of the Tergs, and that it had no obvious use. No one knew what it meant nor why it was there, still standing. [...] Asking around, he found that Krezk was divided into four quarters that all flowed into the main square: they had entered by the Fine Commerce quarter. It bordered the General Commerce one, dedicated to more worldly things like food, inns, and the several crafts. The last two quarters were dedicated one to residences and the other to temples. Going in this direction, they found the Sanctuary of First Light was just the first building in this area. It was an impressive construction, light and gracious, but tall and massive.
"