Midmeadow

Midmeadow is a city located between the Nutherwood and the Gamboge Forest. It stands on the borderlands between Nyrond and the Theocracy of the Pale.

Midmeadow was once a beautiful city. Built largely of Gamboge and Phostwood woods, elven architects had a major hand in its design and even many commoners' houses are pleasant to the eye. Richer residences are often works of art, with cross gabbling, complex roof thatching and even leaded arched windows. The richest mansion houses, with stone great halls and oriel blocks of intricate workmanship, were a delight to behold.

Times have changed in Midmeadow. The 12,000 people who live here are close to anarchy. The local administrator, Sir Sermend Mastersein, is a cowering and feeble man. Midmeadow's old ruler was slain by Stonefist men in the grueling Phostwood campaigns, and Sermend was a disastrous choice by Archbold as a successor. The man hides when hard decisions have to be made. When the townspeople riot he orders his 600 militia to secure important public buildings, including his home and the homes of his cronies, while the streets are abandoned to the rioters.

The people of Midmeadow have much to riot about. While they go hungry, local produce, and even Gamboge produce sold on at a profit, is shipped north to the Pale for badly needed revenues. The wagon trains are defended by heavy militia escorts, but that hasn't stopped them being raided by large gangs of peasants. Midmeadow itself suffered a plague of arson attacks early in the year, culminating in the looting and sack of a major part of the richer merchants' homes on the north side of town. The rioters are learning that Sermend simply doesn't use force against them, so they are gaining the taste for riot and mayhem. To add to the city's woes, there was an outbreak of plague earlier in the year.

Many decent folk, even those who are poor, are appalled at rioters who may have a genuine grievance but who have begun to sack and pillage for more than they need. Hence, the Valorous League of Blindness has begun to gain adherents in Midmeadow and the lands around. This has resulted in some interesting, and sometimes bizarre, events. Phalanxes of Pholtus-revering flagellants stand along the border with the Pale, delivering their solemn renditions of "0 Blinding Light" to all Nyrondese who approach. Processions of Pholtus's pilgrims trek through the streets of Midmeadow, demanding extreme penalties for rioters. They offer their help to the militias, who regard them as yet another problem they'd rather avoid, so the men of Pholtus stand watch over many buildings by night as vigilantes.

A pitched battle between these people and the unruly elements in Midmeadow is only a matter of time and Grishken, leader of the league in Midmeadow, is urging his followers to prepare for a day of reckoning against the "fiend worshipers", as he labels all who don't see eye to eye with him. Just to make matters still worse, some northern Nyrondese have even taken to the placation of evil deities, notably Incabulos, since outbreaks of disease are not rare among underfed folk. The league recently uncovered a shrine to the foul god of disease and death, and as noted earlier have used this as an excuse for a frenzy of "fiend hunting". Add to this some 2,000 half-starving and wretched souls in shanty camps around the city walls, and this city is truly a powder-keg, only one spark away from an explosion.