Gazu

What Gazu knows...

Valley of the Fallen Stars

Gazu was on a journey in his native land when he was kidnapped and brought to the Ember Keep to serve as Queen Nostraya's alchemist. There he met other gnomes and specialists who had wound up in the Valley of the Fallen stars through similar means.

Gazu's freedom to travel was limited, but he did make his way occasionally to Seabriar.

Gazu's job was to create Healing Potions. These Healing Potions would always be boxed up and carted off to some place named Harvest.

One night, Gazu came upon a strange figure wandering the lowers hallways of the Ember Keep. It was a woman in noble clothing, her skin pale and drawn, her clothes torn and dirtied. Gazu recognized her as a guest who had come to the Ember Keep months ago; her beauty had struck him, and some of her elegance still showed despite her suffering. The noble woman said she had been trapped in a town called Harvest, unable to cross a thick poisonous mist surrounding the village. Other men and women, favorites of Nostraya, were trapped there as well. Many nights, Nostraya came and fed at her pleasure. Her victims were then force-fed Healing Potions to keep them alive for the Devil Queen's next visit.

The noble woman escaped into a nearby mine, close enough that the mists could only hurt, but not kill her. She wandered for days until she came upon a strange labyrinth running under the keep. She escaped through the Ember Keep's prison and up into its hallways, where she came upon Gazu.

Gazu could tell she was dying, but the woman requested that she not be healed. Gazu watched her pass away into a final rest.

Gazu escaped from the Ember Keep and tried to find Harvest, but no one seemed to know where it was located, and it was not marked on any maps. He did find the entry to the mine. Gazu became lost in its twisting tunnels and could not find the noble woman's path. The thick mist outside the mine was poisonous, and Gazu eventually had to flee. The gnome was hunted all the while by Nostraya's Ember Guards. The Valley proved too dangerous for Gazu, so he sought refuge in the Hagwood, the only place free from Queen Nostraya's wrath.

Ember Keep

The Ember Keep is a large and labyrinthine stronghold from which Queen Nostraya rules over her domain. It is guarded by the Ember Guard, an order of sadistic, fire-wielding soldiers, though their barracks are outside the walls of the Keep. Inside, the Keep's twisting hallways are almost empty of mortal life, except for the gnome servants. However, one who wanders too far may encounter zombies, ghosts, or even vampire spawn. Gazu heard that a massive red gem, a fallen star known as the Ember Heart, is kept somewhere within the Keep, but he never saw it.

Seabriar

Seabriar is a pirate city, full of smugglers, sailors, and thieves. Gazu would come to Seabriar to buy new alchemical supplies, often shipped in from exotic places all over the world. The main market in Seabriar is the Dragon Market, a massive indoor sprawl of shops and restaurants. Occasionally, Gazu saw plays or other entertainment at the Merry Theatre, and sometimes saw in the audience the Merry Lord Montblanc, vampire lord of Seabriar. Perhaps Gazu was even tempted to gamble at the House of Silver Smiles!

Brackish Bay

Brackish Bay is full of tiny island and rocky shoals, making it dangerous for ship. However, skilled smugglers regularly sail in and out of the bay, bringing supplies from all corners of the world.

Hagwood

When Gazu fled the Ember Keep, he wound up in the Hagwood, having heard that Granny O'gwa's power keeps the swamp protected from Queen Nostraya. Gazu would have gotten lost in the twisting paths and streams of the swamp, but he quickly made friends with the Border Knights. Around 20 years ago, Captain Corvroc became commander of the Border Knights. Though Gazu was still consulted for his arcane and tinkering skills, he noticed that the Border Knights became more withdrawn, and their mission in the Hagwood seemed to shift.

What Domyra knows...

Valley of the Fallen Stars

The Valley of the Fallen Stars has been home to tortles for time immemorial. The tortles here worshipped the stars themselves, and could summon fallen stars whose metals and gems contained great magic powers.

Over time, humans and other races established small kingdoms in the Valley. A rich trade was established all along the Gray Mare River. It was a peaceful valley, and sworn knights guarded their wards from raiders and beasts.

Hundreds of years ago, the Dread came to the valley. The history of what happened has been lost to the mists of time. What is known is that the valley transformed.

Since the Dread, the Devil Queen Nostraya von Strahd has ruled over the Valley of the Fallen Stars. She maintains order through her vampiric minions, who have enslaved the tortles and feed off the mortals in their domains.

The worship of the stars is now illegal, and the tortle religion faded into mere rumors and myths. No tortle can remember ever seeing the stars, as the Valley is always enshrouded by thick, roiling clouds and creeping walls of fog.

Umber Dell

Tortle cities once spread over all the Valley of the Fallen Stars, but for all of Domyra's life the tortles of the valley have been kept to Umber Dell. It is a small town of tortles and humans, controlled by the dogmatic Proctor Doviaen (doe-vee-ANE). The priest of the Eternal Lords force the tortles to toil in peat bogs, sending the peat down the river to Seabriar and the Ember Keep. Other tortles are trained as personal servants and gardeners to the wealthy humans who inhabit finely crafted manors.

Rothvel

The few tortles who live outside Umber Dell reside in the barony of Rothvel. Domyra knows Baron Rothvel as an enigmatic and frightening figure, one of Queen Nostraya's undead supplicants. It is said he hosts annual tourneys to choose the strongest men and women of his village to serve as his personal hunters.

Moonstone

The Gray Mare River slows for a time into a small lake surrounding Moonstone Island. On the island rests a giant, half-buried blue crystal, one of the fallen stars of legends old. It is too hard to be chipped with any mortal tools. Its twin, a red crystal fallen star, sits within the Ember Keep.

Fallen Sisters

Domyra knows that at before the Dread, these crumbling facades were once well-manned castles. It is said that there is a town there among the ruins, ruled by one of Queen Nostraya's vampire minions.

Granny O'gwa's Tower

In ages past, it is said that the tortles shared the Valley of the Fallen Star with fey: dryads and nymphs, pixies and redcaps. Now to see a creature of the feywild means doom, for they serve the terrible hag Granny O'gwa. Though she rarely leaves her strange tower in the middle of the Hagwood, Granny O'gwa controls the various tribes of fey who poison crops, kidnap children, and curse the land and water the tortles live upon.

The Ember Keep

The Devil Queen Nostraya rules the Valley of the Fallen Stars from her throne in the Ember Keep. It is a thick-walled castle that houses a fire-red fallen star. Though the Ember Keep is Queen Nostraya's home, she is everywhere in the valley. Any shadow can serve as a doorway, the mist itself is her spy, and she takes the form of wolves and bats and swirling clouds of locusts at will.

Seabriar

When tortles go down the river to Seabriar, they do not come back. Domyra knows that Seabriar is a city of thieves, smugglers, and pirates. The peat that tortles dig up in Umber Dell is sold in Seabriar, and so are tortle servants and slaves.

Aldertree

At one time, tortles lived throughout all of Umber Dell. Now their homes are restricted to the neighborhood of Aldertree. It is a swampy territory, the ground a mire of mud and reeds, bordered by towering petrified trees. The tortle homes are suspended from these trees in a web of rope and wooden walkways.

Vetch

A human town of tall, finely worked stone buildings surrounded by luscious gardens. Tortle servants and slaves keep the gardens and streets impeccably clean.

Citadel of Eternal Sorrows

A temple to the Eternal Lords, gods and saints of immortality. Proctor Doviaen rules over Umber Dell from his pulpit in the citadel.

Tower of the Laughing Lords

Home to the gnolls who work for Proctor Doviaen and oversee the tortle peat miners.

Blind Hollow

A wide valley of peat bogs, filled with fog and firepits. Tortle servants work day and night digging up the peat for Proctor Doviaen to sell down the river in Seabriar.

Howling Grounds

Ancient temples infested by wild tribes of troglodytes.

Lake Omyr

It is said that long ago the tortles of Umber Dell gathered at Lake Omyr for now-forgotten religious ceremonies.

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