Sample file Original Concept:  Fiction: Ed Greenwood Writing & Design: Jim Butler, Jennifer Brozek, Steve Creech, Darrin Drader, Sean Everette, Ed Greenwood, Brian Gute, Tim Hitchcock, Alex Jacobs, Tom Knauss, Todd R. Laing, Kevin W. Melka, Montgomery Mullen, James M. Ward Editor: Brian Gute  Fiction Editor: Peter Archer  Proofreader: Christy Everette Project Manager: Sean Everette  Layout & Typesetting: Sean Everette Art Director: Renae Chambers  Cover Artist: Donato Giancola Interior Artists: Christopher Appel, Drew Baker, Patrick Ballesteros, Joel Beebe, Mike Bielaczyc, Paul Bielaczyc, Bruce Colero, Jason Engle, Toby Hampton, Kristina Knopse, Ron Lemen, Jennifer Meyer, Therese Mitchell, Stefan Moroni, Dzu Nguyen, Jessica Renk, Daniel Roe, Douglas Sirois, Beth Trott, Fabiola Vargas, Gareth Verleyen, Michelle Weber, Fredy Wenzel Cartographer: Sean Macdonald  Graphic Designer: Sean Macdonald

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PRINTED IN THE USA Published by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. 253 Center Street #126 Lake Geneva, WI 53147-1982 United States www.castlemourn.com Introduction...... 4 “The Night of Three Strangers” by Ed Greenwood...... 5 Chapter 1: Characters...... 17 Races...... 17 Classes...... 39 Birthlands...... 54 Feats...... 57 Chapter 2: Magic...... 63 Magic’s Past...... 63 Magic Today...... 63 Estemel...... 63 Spells of Castlemourn...... 64 Magic Items...... 75 Chapter 3: Religion & Astrology...... 100 Behold the Gods...... 101 The Starry Sky...... 115 Chapter 4: Lands of Castlemourn...... 119 Harrag...... 119 Mistcloak Forest...... 121 Firelorn...... 122 Baerent...... 125 Jamandar...... 128 Foreshore...... 130 The Debatable Lands...... 132 Tantanthar...... 133 Lothran...... 134 Ormscar...... 137 Ironfell...... 139 Yarhoon...... 141 Lyonar...... 143 The Starhaven Reach...... 147 Asmrel...... Sample file 147 Ghandalar...... 149 Luuthaven...... 151 Dragonhead...... 154 Sparruk...... 156 Estorna...... 158 Marrovar...... 159 Khalandorn...... 161 Haunt of Eagles...... 163 Broken Lands...... 167 Iron Barony...... 168 The Iron Isles...... 170 Nor Umber...... 170 Arshroon...... 171 Bel’s Sharth...... 172 Halar...... 172 Orthmael...... 173 Blackoon...... 173 Dunnklaer...... 174 Stormsharr...... 174 Glamryn Bay & the Isle of Tamrune...... 175 Tamrune...... 175 Chapter 5: Life in Castlemourn...... 178 The Calaunthra...... 178 Days and Months...... 178  Times of Day...... 179 The Passing Years...... 179 Directions & Distances...... 179 Travel...... 180 Folk Beliefs & Customs...... 181 Cooking & Food...... 182 Drink...... 183 Toiletry...... 184 Bedding...... 184 Dress...... 184 Carried Gear...... 185 Currency...... 185 Wages...... 185 Chapter 6: Schemers & Their Schemes...... 186 Uldrinath Sedmond...... 186 Aundreth Lororn...... 187 Thander “The Black Flame”...... 187 Esgrym Desper...... 188 Wren o’ Lothran...... 189 Darthar...... 189 Ilmurth Malandar...... 190 The Drifting Dead...... 191 The Skull...... 191 Arkamma Ruendeir...... 192 Tellotheer Unshrokh...... 193 Dorath Deen...... 193 Aumun...... 194 Azuulae Sadara...... 195 Jalandar Blacklock...... 195 Adarra Shanroone...... 196 Indul Daramir...... 197 Mundarth the Cloaked Traveler...... 197 Chapter 7: Mysteries of Castlemourn...... 198 Mysteries and Questors...... 198 Using Mysteries...... Sample file 199 Mysteries...... 200 What happened to Castlemourn? (Greater)...... 200 Reigning Long Years (Greater)...... 202 Tamrune Isle (Greater)...... 203 Magic Fountains (Lesser)...... 205 Golem Villages (Lesser)...... 207 Estemel (Lesser)...... 209 The Iron Isles (Lesser)...... 210 The Thaele (Lesser)...... 212 Stone Circles (Lesser)...... 213 The Sunken Castle, Orn Doalryn (Lesser)...... 215 Appendix 1: Creatures of Castlemourn...... 217 Swamp Larthar...... 217 Gone Snake...... 218 Moonskull...... 220 Pouncelar...... 221 Sharae...... 222 Tangleclaw...... 224 Treecat...... 225 Whirlshard...... 227 Whisperlips...... 228 Appendix 2: A Brief History of Castlemourn...... 230 The Telling of the Years...... 230  ome folks collect bowling trophies, some rebuild cars in their driveways, and some try not to miss a single televised moment of football. I dream up worlds. SI started worldbuilding in my childhood, imagining what grew into The ® (now a shared world that continues to grow through the dreamings of literally millions of readers and gamers). It was just the first of over a dozen worlds I’ve played with since. This is one of them and a particular favorite of mine. Welcome to Castlemourn. Or rather, welcome to the many petty baronies, merchant confederacies, and kingdoms that were once, before the Fall, the great and glorious land of Castlemourn. More than a dozen different, and often warring, territories crowded together between the mountains and the sea, plus nine isles that are all that’s left undrowned of the lost an-sekhovynd (southern) half of Castlemourn. All of these areas are inhabited by Mournans who no longer know what lies beyond the mountains or across the seemingly endless sea in the world they call Umbrara. Like the Realms, this is a shared world; within these pages and the books to come, many designers and writers will dive into Umbrara, spinning new tales and revealing new color and details for us all. I’m delighted that my friends, the gaming veterans at Margaret Weis Productions, have given us all the chance to play in this new sandbox. I’ve tried to make Castlemourn “feel real.” In these pages, you’ll find believable people living in a world full of mysteries, ancient magics, and lurking intrigues unfolding right now. It’s an ideal home for fantasy roleplaying campaigns, with power groups, throne-strife, and scheming villains enough to keep things interesting for years, even to players whose characters elect to spend much of their time reclining on couches, flagons in hand, watching the world go by! As much as mere curved squiggles of ink on a page can make it, Castlemourn is alive. It’s also flexible. Via theestemel , characters from other worlds can readily arrive in Castlemourn. Cities, fortresses, and dungeons from other fantasy settings can easily be placed in the surrounding mountains or in the Mists to the aerho (east) and luthsurl (west) of known Castlemourn. Magic from other places and other worlds can effortlessly be thrust into the castles of Tamrune. Substitute , ogres, or hobgoblins for the golaunt or any really exotic race of creatures for the thaele—or make such creatures allies of those Mournan races, dwelling with them as guards and strike forces. Castlemourn campaigns can focus on particular areas or kingdoms that offer different flavors of adventure, from piracy on Glamryn Bay to merchants’ strivings in Dragonhead and Luuthaven, from the glittering high society of Asmrel to the haughty dukedoms and thundering knights of Lyonar—or from the deadly caverns of the Yarhoon to the sun-dappled farms of Jamandar and from the mist-shrouded menace of Nighdal to the hardy mining and fishing life of the IronSample Isles. From the beast-roamedfile woods of the Haunthills to the perilous mountains where larger, more numerous monsters prowl. From the life of an outlaw in…but my point is made: Castlemourn offers every style of campaign play. Detailed churches await players who want to play priest characters; Castlemourn is awash in wizard-riveting tales of old magics from before the Fall being unearthed in ruins. Thievery and outlawry are rife, and realm after realm is arming or covertly hiring adventurers to swing swords for them. This bright and pleasant land between the mountains is stirring; it’s a time for heroes. How swiftly—or even if—Castlemourn slides into widespread war will be different in every campaign. This book introduces a setting that, if general peace holds, can readily serve as a backdrop for long-term play concentrating on court intrigue, ruins exploration, or even building a mercantile empire along the caravan roads and from port to port along the Bay. No fantasy world should be all drawn swords, dragons toppling castles, grimly onrushing doom, and lurking peril. It should fascinate and soothe, as well, offering people and places we want to know more about and visit. People and places we wish were real. People and places worth fighting for. From princes trying to regain their rightful thrones to beggars just trying to survive and from street peddlers to rich and ambitious would-be nobles trying to buy titles, Castlemourn holds many colorful characters for players to meet or even become. Guide your own characters to prominence among them, and dream your own dreams about them. Dreams again. Yes. In an increasingly hectic real world, we all need a home for our dreams, an imaginary world to be our refuge and playground. So turn the page and step into our new sandbox. Make Castlemourn your own. Make Castlemourn your home.

 Ed greenwooD The Night of Three Strangers A Castlemourn Tale by Ed Greenwood

Sample file lune pulled her nightcloak tighter and shivered again. On her cheeks and nose and the battered metal hood of her lantern, the mists of Lothran curled and clung, cold and clammy . . . as they always did at this time of year, when days wereA still warm but nights turned sharply cold. Full nightfall had come two tollings ago, but under the line of lamps Alune had lit three bells back, the road was still busy. Though sneak thieves and dark-knives lurked everywhere in Castlemourn, the Grand Duchy was well patrolled and “safe enough.” No one could remember the last time an arrow had come out of the night seeking the life of anyone on watch in the aerhopeak, but Alune preferred to keep her lantern tight- shuttered and use it for warmth rather than make herself a beacon. Propping an old hat on a stick in the corner of the peak, she sat down at ease below it, curled around the lantern and peering out into the night through the gap left by the broken board. The huge buckle of the battered old sword-belt Theldor had just given her seemed to catch the heat of the lantern, warming her well enough. A pity its welcome fire only reached her lap. Across the road, the lanterns in their great cages shed a bright, steady light on the rumbling wagons and jingling riders still passing along Raudar’s Way in a hastening flood, despite the hour. More than a few of them drew up at the gate to seek lodging. When Alune swung around to peer out the firing-port, she could see Theldor striding back and forth, a hulking figure in his old war-armor, taking their coin and directing them over to the coach-house or around to the stables with casual waves of his great halberd.