Mirestrand

Start-class article · First seen: s4 · Last seen: s19
Mirestrand
Mire Strand · Maestrand · Myer Strand
Portrait of Mirestrand.
Location
StatusActive
First seens4
Last seens19
FactionVelkris

Mirestrand is a fog-choked marsh town on the road between Gloamhearth and Umbrafall, poor and so bound to Velkris that masked Velkris tax agents work its shops. The party stayed one night in session 4 at The Still Current Inn, where Hugo first met The Black Mask [2]. Since then it has come up only as a stop on the way to Velkris.

Overview

Mirestrand is a fog-choked marsh town on the road between Gloamhearth and Umbrafall, so bound to Velkris that the DM called it almost an extension of the city [7]. The party stayed one night there in session 4, at The Still Current Inn, where Hugo first met The Black Mask. Since then it has come up only as a place on the map.

Geography and appearance

A poor town living from hand to mouth, with the essentials and little else: a blacksmith, a tavern and a general store, a marsh port that Velkris has claimed [8]. A fog that never really lifts chokes the whole place and hides ambushes and contraband well [9]. The road from Gloamhearth runs on through Mirestrand to Umbrafall [10], whose walls are about four hours’ walk beyond the marsh [11]. In session 17 Hugo placed it at the second bridge over the river west of Eldwythe, where a north-west road runs on towards the forest [12].

Government / control

A dependency of Velkris: masked Velkris tax agents work the shops, darting in to collect coin and out again [9][13]. No local council or ruler is named.

Notable features

  • The Still Current Inn: an inn half sunk at the bend of a choked channel, on stilts blackened with algae, its main room a creaking platform over the water, lit by lanterns that glow dimly through the fog [14]. Hugo knew it as a relatively safe place where he usually stayed [15].

History in the campaign

Session 4: The Still Current, the Black Mask, and Hugo’s Pact

Main article: Session 4

The party reached Mirestrand towards evening after a long day on the road [16]. The fog, the poverty and the masked tax agents told the party at once whose town it was [7][9]. On a History check Hugo remembered it as the midway town where one finds liaisons between Umbrafall and Velkris, and the Still Current Inn [14]. That night the Black Mask drew Hugo, Caelumn and Terry into a black void at the inn [2][17]. In the morning the party left through the same fog, past the same masked collectors, for Umbrafall [18][13].

Session 16: Through the Sewers, Onto the Skiff

Main article: Session 16

Weighing whether to carry the news of the lost egg back to Sevryn before facing Aurelia, Hugo first said Gloamhearth and then corrected himself to Mirestrand [4]. It looks like a slip: asked the same question in session 14, the DM had answered Gloamhearth [19]. Nobody went there. The party chose to sail for the White Lantern Shrine instead [20].

Session 17: New Hands, the Black Mask’s Renegotiation, and the Rimeclaw

Main article: Session 17

Nessa, fleeing Aurelian officers with her two children, asked how she could reach Gloamhearth [21]. Reading the world map, Caelumn told her to go west until she saw Mirestrand and go on from there [22], and Hugo spelt out the road: west along the river to the second bridge, where Mirestrand stands, then the north-west road past it towards the forest [12].

Session 19: A Penitent Priest, an Unmade Leash, and the Pixie in the Dark

Main article: Session 19

Asked for the quickest way to Velkris, the DM said that, from where the party stood, it ran through Eldwythe, Umbrafall, Mirestrand and then Velkris, or else by skiff or barge [6]. Mirestrand was named only as a stop on that list. The party’s own next move was to rest for the night and head for the shrine [23].

Status

As of session 23. Not visited since session 4. It remains the third stop on the DM’s land route from Eldwythe to Velkris [24].

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 4, line 812-842: The arrival: fog, poverty, masked Velkris tax agents; Hugo's History check recalls the Still Current Inn.
  2. ^ Session 4, line 1064-1072: First meeting with the Black Mask at the Still Current Inn.
  3. ^ Session 4, line 1390-1436: The morning departure through the fog, and the road to Umbrafall.
  4. ^ Session 16, line 1678: Hugo names Mirestrand as where to report the lost egg to Sevryn; the DM had placed that meeting at Gloamhearth (s14 L1634-1635).
  5. ^ Session 17, line 997-1005: Directions to Gloamhearth for Nessa: west to the second bridge over the river, where Mirestrand stands.
  6. ^ Session 19, line 289-290: DM names Mirestrand as a node on the land route to Velkris (Eldwythe -> Umbrafall -> Mirestrand -> Velkris); referenced, not visited.
  7. ^ Session 4, line 812: Inline citation.
  8. ^ Session 4, line 812-816: Inline citation.
  9. ^ Session 4, line 820: Inline citation.
  10. ^ Session 4, line 188-190: Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 4, line 1436: Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 17, line 1005: Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 4, line 1428: Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 4, line 842: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 4, line 844: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 4, line 812-814: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 4, line 1344: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 4, line 1390: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 14, line 1634-1635: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 16, line 1735-1753: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 17, line 997: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 17, line 1004: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 19, line 359: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 19, line 290: Inline citation.