Overview

There’s a saying in the Death Marshes: “It’s safer to live in Mossvale than the Marsh… but not by much!” The people who make their home in Mossvale and the surrounding Barony are generally viewed as the bravest pioneers in the Kingdom. Living on the edges of the Death Marshes and having to contend with almost every dangerous creature in the realm is not something that many people survive for very long!

Mossvale is located between the Death Marshes and the Great Forest and is generally considered fairly dangerous: between bandit gangs, monsters and treacherous ground, the entire area could be labelled a “death trap”! The Barony of Mossvale includes the Death Marshes, but there is no expectation for the forces from the town to face and defeat the monsters that lurk within. Mossvale itself is a surprisingly small town, as most people don’t live within it, they have a farm in the lands surrounding it. The Guard in the area is often overstretched with responding to calls far away.

Founded by a great visionary who wanted to open trade relations with the Barbarians on the Eastern Plains, the town of Mossvale quickly attracted the most adventurous pioneers who wanted to prove that the area could be made inhabitable.

The town was present for several years but not legally allowed, due to its relationship with the Barbarian Tribes – the reasoning of the Kings at the time was that they invited ruin by allowing the barbarians to know their location so readily. As time passed and relations improved with the Tribes, the town was eventually afforded the same protection as the others within the Kingdom and assigned a Baron to watch over it.

Nobles

Baroness Ermina Feinblatt – A skeptic about adventurers. She blames them for many of the troubles her region faces, including the activities of Bran Throatslitter in the area. She occasionally arrests adventurers for acting within her region and has no tolerance for Lyres. Though generally a hard woman, the Baroness is known to have a soft spot for harp music, tragic comedies and oversized paintings of her twelve cats.

Population

Mossvale has around 1000 residents, including the outlying farms and hamlets. The people who are resident in this region are the hardiest you can meet – they are constantly under threat from the most fearsome monsters in the Kingdom, which emerge from the Death Marshes intending to kill anyone they encounter. The Barony as a whole is self-sufficient and, as a result, the people are often hostile to traders who carry goods similar to what they make themselves. Perhaps surprisingly, this area consistently wins the annual Yarnolth baked goods competition.

Laws and Customs

The Barony of Mossvale encourages people to administer their own justice – everyone knows that the Guard is unable to meet the needs of the people. Thus, I recommend that adventurers refrain from even appearing to threaten anyone in this area: routing unwelcome visitors in Mossvale is something of a local pastime where even the children and the very old participate. One adventurer reported being thrashed about the head by a troupe of elderly women with yarning baskets.

Creatures

Bandits, Bog Birds, Ogres, Trolls, Southern Manticores, Wererabbits, and Vinemen can all be found in the area around Mossvale, making it easily the most dangerous city in the Kingdom. There are even tales that Bran Throatslitter, the leader of the White Sickles, once seized the town for a short period of time. Anyone travelling here should make no mistake: this is the most perilous part of the kingdom.