The Grayflood Keeps

Three stone keeps are in the process of construction at the sites shown on the map. Two more are planned farther east along this river. Slave labor is used for building, together with convicts. Because speed is deemed to be vital, mages use levitation and Tenser's floating disc spells to speed up building work. Half of them are low-level mercenaries, many being apprentices fleeing the wrath of their masters for some reason or another (such as fleeing with a choice selection of master's spell books, hoping to sell them for badly needed gold).

If an adventurer wanted to hear interesting tales about some of Aerdy's more powerful mid-level mages, pouring plenty of ale or wine down the throat of these malcon tents would be a good way to go about it.

South of these keeps, with their strong garrisons, the lands are increasingly anarchic. While South Province patrols still try to protect the richer and more fertile farmsteads, the border lands of the Glorioles, Rieuwood, and Hollow Highlands all offer excellent shelter for bandits, Sunndi raiders, army deserters, and worse. There have been several reports of monsters, possibly liberated by the Scarlet Brotherhood, including warped and mutated creatures of real ferocity. A manticore with poisonous spines and a fringe of venomous snakes around the crown of its head was destroyed recently, and its head is mounted in the feast hall of the westernmost keep. Little wonder that Reydrich desires to fall back to the readily defensible position these keeps will offer, when completed.