Dur-Lance
In the shadow of the Dwarven Mountain, at the edge of the realms of the Dragon Lord Chronepsis, the realm of the beholder-power Gzemnid, and the Dwarven powers’ realms, lies the stark human city of Dur-Lance, the City of Crusades. This place, steeped in loyalty and brutality, is a sight for sore eyes – if you’re into that sort of thing.
Dur-Lance, nestled in the High Fangs Pass, is a martial city divided by walls into four quarters, each with its own dark and light. The Believers’ Quarter houses the followers of the Dragon Lord Chronepsis, living in a mix of fear and reverence. The Crusaders’ Quarter, brimming with barracks and training grounds, is where the city’s might is honed and sharpened like a well-used blade. Temples Quarter, with its myriad churches and monuments, is a testament to the Dragon Lord’s glory and the zeal of his priests. And then there’s the Unbelievers’ Quarter – not a place for the faint-hearted, with its prisons and torture chambers where faith is forged in fire and pain.
But Dur-Lance’s tale is not just about its grim quarters. Recently, a part of the Crusaders’ Quarter was turned into a mining field. An unwise tunnel into the abandoned lower level of the Dwarven Mountain—chant goes the crusaders were seeking to attack the dwarves from below—led to an ill-fated encounter with Normegol the Scourge, a Great Wyrm that had slumbered for aeons. The red dragon, now unleashed, haunts the mountains, a living legend and a terror even to the youngest of dwarves. This beast, linked to legendary weapons like Odin’s sword, is a nightmare come to life, and a challenge that even the powers tread lightly around, lest they anger nearby Chronepsis.
Dur-Lance is a city of contrasts – faith and fear, power and peril, glory and grimness – all under the watchful eye of the Dragon Lord and the looming presence of Normegol the Scourge. It’s a place that tells a story of devotion and dread, a perfect setting for tales of valor, intrigue, and survival.
Source: Martin Bourassa and Jon Winter-Holt, mimir.net
