Nebligtode
| Nebligtode | |
|---|---|
| Culture Level | |
| Ecology |  Full[1]
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| Climate & Terrain | Temperate to cold seas; cold forests, marshes, hills, and plains.[1]
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| Year Formed | 635 BC[2] |
| Population | 4,000 (Approx.)[1]
|
| Races (%) | Human |
| Languages | Grabenite |
| Religions | |
| Government | |
| Ruler(s) | the Graben Family, on behalf of Meredoth |
| Darklord(s) | Meredoth |
| Nationality | Grabenite, Nebligtodite |
| Analog | |
| Related Categories | |
| Locations in Nebligtode | |
| Transportation in Nebligtode | |
| Inhabitants of Nebligtode | |
| Former Inhabitants of Nebligtode | |
| Flora of Nebligtode | |
| Fauna of Nebligtode | |
| Native Monsters of Nebligtode | |
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
Formed in 635 BC[2], Nebligtode was a domain consisting of a number of islands[3] floating in or reachable by the Sea of Sorrows and their surrounding waters. Graben Island, the most notable of the islands, along with Knammen Island and several smaller islets sat 75 miles away from the Lamordian coast.[4] The relatively bleak and barren island of Todstein lied 60 miles to the west of Graben.[3] In 750 BC, Nebligtode was ripped from the Sea of Sorrows, and its islands joined the Nocturnal Sea on the opposite side of the Core.[5]
For the most part, Graben Island surrounding it were nondescript prairies and rocky scrublands with a somewhat cold climate where severe weather was not too uncommon.[4] Despite the conditions, the diligent people of Nebligtode relied primarily on agriculture, chiefly sheep and goat farming but also cultivating cotton and various wheats in the prairies of the island. Weavers and other producers of textiles were also not uncommon.[6] Four small communities of note existed on Graben and the islands surrounding it, the largest of which was the Village of Graben (pop. only 1000).[4] Although the visit of strangers made the villagers slightly apprehensive[4], the Graben Family, the owners and rulers of Graben Island, were known to grant land to newcomers whom petitioned it.[7]
In contrast to the relatively livable Graben Island, Todstein was a freezing cold domain marked by artic winds even though it shared the same approximate latitude as Graben. To the Grabenites, this island was merely a realm of mausoleums they used to inter their dead. In secret, Todstein was the lair of the necromancer, Meredoth. Meredoth is both the darklord[3] and true ruler of Nebligtode, having murdered the Graben Family and reanimated them as subservient lebendtod undead shortly after the formation of the domain.[8] To Meredoth, all of the people in Graben (and ultimately all people whom draw breath) merely represent potential subjects for his necromantic research.[9]
History
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This section contains netbook-canon info from netbooks |
"Before the Great Upheaval, intermittent sailors’ reports placed Graben Island (and Todstein) in the Sea of Sorrows, yet the Grabenites attest that the seas around their isle ended at the Mists until 750 BC. In fact, Nebligtode was once an Island of Terror, like Souragne. Reports it could be found “northwest of Lamordia” came from travelers who had unwittingly sailed into an undocumented mistway, which once linked Nebligtode to the Sea of Sorrows and could be traversed only during storms. As precise navigation has a lower priority than merely keeping afloat in such gales, and the overcast skies of Nebligtode hid their view of the stars during their sojourns, these travelers never realized they had left the Core." [10]
Inhabitants
Meredoth dwells on Todstein, which is populated further by his undead creations, chief among them being lebendtod (from the German term "lebende Tote" - "living dead"). In his original realm on Mystara, Meredoth was awarded a barony. However, as the obligations of rulership constantly interfered with his ruthless experiments, Meredoth concocted a plan to murder all the inhabitants and turn them all into undead servants that would do his bidding without ever disturbing him again. It was this transgression that saw him snatched by the Mists and granted stewardship of Nebligtode.
Chronology
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
- Mid 300s BC False History Svidi Full-Sails of the Anatal leads his tribe to colonize Graben Island, displacing the resident monastic community at the Black Chapel. The nuckalavee is conjured by the expelled clergy, then geas-bound and sent into hibernation by the Anatal. To placate malign powers such as it, the Anatal begin sacrificing condemned humans, creating the Strangled.[11]
- Mid 400s BC False History Svidi's colony is wiped out by a plague, leaving behind ruins and the Island's ancient runestones. The nuckalavee remains quiescent.[11]
- 580 BC False History Graben Manor is built on Svidi's former island by a wealthy ][jewel-thief]] from the south.[11]
- 610 BC False History The Graben Family moves onto the Island full-time, adopting the island's name for their own.[11]
- 630 BC False History Ancestors of the Grabenite villagers arrive on Graben Island, as refugees fleeing the Óvinur Ódn (= "enemy storm") besetting the "North Wild" (March). Graben-town is founded (August). Settlers are initially led by clerics, with assemblies filling an advisory role.[12]
633 BC Alphatian Empire (Mystara) Meredoth accepts the title of Baron of Norwold with the understanding he would not be interrupted from his research. He gains an island of the coast.[14]
- 635 BC[2] In a brutal winter, Meredoth poisons his subjects and reanimates them as lebendtod to keep them from bothering him for help. His island (or a version of his island) is taken to an unfamiliar land.[14] The domain of Nebligtode forms as a number of islands[3] in the Sea of Sorrows.[4] After spending some time exploring, Meredoth kills and reanimates the Graben Family.[8] Meanwhile, the storm that marks the domains formation causes Kirchenheim to become abandoned for the next several years.[13]
- 635 BC Genuine Graben Island history begins. The 336-day Anatal calendar loses step with the seasons. The All-Father's Muting strips the godi of both clerical and political powers, leaving assemblies in charge of Grabenite government. The nuckalavee awakens, but finds itself confined to the Aassumpf and Senkenwiese.[12]
- 640 BC Lars Viggsen and the Óndskapur discover Todstein,visiting it again each year until 644, when the vessel fails to return to Graben Island.[12]
- 641 BC Domestic reindeer are brought to Graben Island from Todstein.[15]
- 643 BC Curious about Viggsen's repeated trespassing, Meredoth investigates Graben Island and its natives. Early reports of "Aegir's Jackdaw" circulate in response to the wizard's broom-mounted flights over the Island.[12]
- 647 BC The first reports of Meerdorf on Knammen Island date from this year.[12]
- First Grabenite records of the Misty Border.[13]
- 651 BC On Graben Island, Kirchenheim is resettled permanently[12] following the building of its seawall.[13]
- 657 BC The Yeomanry is organized after a series of reaver attacks on Graben Island.[12]
- 658 BC First documented trade between Graben Island and vessels from the Sea of Sorrows. The Call of the Claw Mistway connects Nebligtode to the Core at this time.[12]
- 659 BC On Graben Island, Seeheim is founded in response to repeated sea reaver attacks.[12]
- {672 BC The Graben Family Massacre In Nebligtode, Colin Graben murders his his aunt and uncle, but then Meredoth massacres him along with the rest of the Graben Family. Meredoth reanimates the lot of them as lebendtod and commands them to gather subjects for his vile experiments.[16]
- 708 BC Matthias Graben loses his (un)life in a shipwreck, leaving Colin Graben as acting head of the Graben family.[17]
- 724 BC The old ship captain Captain Killian retires and leaves his ship, the Endurance, to his nephew, Garvyn[18]
- 734 BC Captain Garvyn, his crew, and his ship, the Endurance become cursedfor dumping overboard the corpses of Madeline Stern, Jacob, and Charlotte Reisland which he had been hired to deliver to Todstein.[19] As a consequence, the Endurance became the Ship of Horrors.
- 737 BC With the delivery of the corpses to their proper resting places, Captain Garvyn and the Endurance are freed from their curse[20] as the 2nd Verse of Hyskosa's Hexad comes to pass.[21]
- 737 BC Adventurers kill Meredoth and most of the undead Graben Family. Meredoth's clone animates. Both the new Meredoth clone and his Obedient Dead undergo several changes.[22]
- 750 BC the Nocturnal Sea and its islands appear.[21] The Isle of Ravens and a number of other islands form from domains previously not in the Core.[23]
- 751 BC Meredoth sends lebendtod scouts to investigate the mass undead reanimation in Necropolis. Death gains control over them, preventing their return.[24]
- 760 BC The Fraternity of Shadows explores the Nocturnal Sea, seeking the fugitive lich Van Rijn.[25] Meredoth catches onto their antics in Todstein and sends them packing through violence and treachery. Several of their servants are murdered, and one is reanimated into a lebentod. However, one of the Fraternity thinks of a nasty surprise in retaliation.[26]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 128
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Domains of Dread, p. 16
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ship of Horror (Module) p.54
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Ship of Horror (Module) p.43
- ↑ Domains of Dread p. 17, 78-80
- ↑ Ship of Horror (Module) p.44
- ↑ Ship of Horror p.50
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Domains of Dread p.79-80
- ↑ Domains of Dread p.67
- ↑ Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer, p. 132.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 387
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 12.9 Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 388
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 172
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Domains of Dread p. 80
- ↑ Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 163
- ↑ Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 389
- ↑ Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 390
- ↑ Ship of Horror (Module) p.13
- ↑ Ship of Horror (Module) p.12,38-39
- ↑ Ship of Horror (Module)
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Domains of Dread p. 17
- ↑ Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 391
- ↑ Domains of Dread p. 78-80
- ↑ Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 392
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 393
- ↑ Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 210-216
