The Tower of Ixion (Icks-EYE-on)

Many tales are told in the north of the White Isle, but none have been more alluring to adventures than the stories surrounding the Archmage Ixion.  This powerful and mysterious figure has long been associated with the lands controlled by the Mormaer of Fiobha in general and the port town of Inverkeithing in particular.  He is known to have built the town's harbor defenses as well as its keep, both of which were instrumental in repelling the humanoids who swept down from the north after the fall of their leader Iuz.  He especially cultivated alliances with the dwarf-holds in the hills west of Din Eidyn and helped turn back a massive Saxon horde encroaching from the south.
But the Archmage was also said to have been engaged in his own secretive and arcane experiments. He built a tower in the wild hills above Inverkeithing, where savage creatures dwelt in wood and fen. Visitors were discouraged-often those who wandered too close to the tower disappeared without a trace. Those who did come back reported seeing groups of deformed humanoid creatures lurking in the shadows of the wood. When the Mormaer of Fiobha sent a detachment of soldiers to investigate the area, the group was never seen again. In the meantime, the only contact between Ixion and the outside world were the dwarves who were supposedly building a warren of dungeon passages below the tower itself.
And then, suddenly, Ixion and his dwarf-engineers disappeared entirely. Some said the wizard was destroyed in an experiment gone wrong, others that he had traveled north to seek out the ruins of Ironguard, or that he was whisked away to the Abyss. A few folk suspected that he had only locked himself away in his own dungeons where he continues his bizarre experiments and researches to this day.
Whatever the truth of these rumors, they have attracted adventurers from the nearby lands and others even further afield.  Great treasure and magic are said to lie in the dungeons of Ixion's tower, but only the very brave or foolhardy would attempt to seize it.  For if the wizard should return to find his tower being pillaged, his wrath would be great and the vengeance he would take could only be imagined.

The Lands of the Firth

The Firth of Forth is a large bay in the northern portion of The White Isle formed by the estuaries of several rivers. Cymbrians still call it Merin Iodeo-the "Sea of Iudeu"-after the fortress on its southern shore that was destroyed by a combined army of Saxons and Cymbrians more than half a century ago. The Skanni, more simply, call it Myrkvifiörd, the "Boggy Fjord."
The estuary is filled with small islands, some of more strategic import than others. Most important is Innis Gharbhaidh, the Rocky Isle, which protects the Firth at a narrow crossing. The island is also called the Isle of Manawyddan after the Cymbrian god of water travel whose shrine is found here and whose priests control the ferry crossing. To the west of this is the town of Din Eidyn, now controlled by the Saxons of Beirneach. South of the shore a series of hills arise-in which some of the dwarf clans that had been driven from their halls in the icy mountain peaks across the sea to the east have established small holds.
The north shore of the area is controlled by the Mormaer of Fiobha. And one of the most important of the port towns here is Inverkeithing, situated on the northern shore of the ferry crossing. The town technically falls under the dominion of the Mormaer, and may not have ever risen to its current distinction had it not been that it came under the notice of the Archmage Ixion. Perhaps because the wizard found the port useful for his researches (in particular for obtaining rare tomes and strange substances from as far away as Byzantios), he extended both his patronage and his protection. A seemingly endless supply of gold built the harbor and its defenses, as well as the keep that protects the town on the north. Ixion built his own tower northwest of the city, employing dwarven engineers from the hills to the south. The Mormaer may have been inclined to take from the town's swelling coffers, but with the town under the protection of the wizard, he did not dare. Even now that Ixion is gone, the town maintains a semi-independent status.
Although Inverkeithing is not as large (or as raucous) as its rival Din Eidyn, it still attracts Frisian and Frankish merchants, traders from the Skanni kingdoms, and on occasion travelers from more distant lands. Mercenaries can be found there aplenty, with wizards and clerics not strangers to its streets. It is thought that a small group of thieves from Din Eidyn has recently established a headquarters in the town, but this is not known for certain. Men who swear allegiance to the Mormaer keep order in the streets, but they are in the pockets of the town's burghers as well-so the Mormaer's writ may not be as extensive as it is pretended.