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Euthville

The Ruins of Euthville can be found just off the Imperial Highway north of Scorn.

Present Day

FIXME Make something up, have to base it on the maps.

The Origins of the City

The Codex Skudensis tells that Euthville was founded by the Euthanasia the Builder, hence its name.

Past and Destruction

(copy paste from IRC, Lauwenmarks story. Put here by Mithzi)

Ah, Euthville - “City of the Pearl”, in Old Hemdalite, has indeed a rather sad story!!

If you went there about half a millenia ago, you'd have seen something very different than the field of haunted ruins it has since become. It was initially founded by a handful of industrious, clever dwarves, that had found a mystical way to locate fields of precious Karitta, the famous metal that is as transparent as a pearl of the North Sea, yet as strong as the best irons of Navar.

And thus, they found at the location of Euthville a lot of that raw metal, which quickly made the city one of the richest of all. And for a long time, it stayed so. The inhabitants of Euthville weren't interested by war, work, or anything else too tiresome - they preferred to pay somebody else to do all of this. And with the advanced technical knowledge brought by the dwarves, working was less and less an issue for them.

Yet they were facing a problem. All their devices, all their machineries, all their tricks to cheat with nature required energy. Lots of energy. They relied first on the strength of horses and donkeys, but it wasn't enough. Then, they tamed the dangerous Wyverns of Kal-Durandasi, so that the hot lizards would provide them with the full force of their steamy breath. But soon, it wasn't enough. They also used the hidden power provided by the Faeries of the Tarniska river, building a dam, so that they could put the invisible horses of water that the sylphids are rumored to breed in use.

But even so, their hunger for power wasn't satisfied, and became an increasing nuisance for them. So, the Commander of Euthville (which was, more or less, the equivalent to our King at Scorn), finally decided to send messengers across the whole Continent, calling the world for a challenge. Whoever would be able to fulfill the needs of Euthvillians of energy would become the new Commander, thus the ruler of the richest city ever built since Khelens.

Many answered the call, of course, and many failed. Wind, Sun, Stars, even dwarven beer were proposed, but nothing seemed to be enough. For years, wizards tried. And failed.

And then came a boy. He wasn't a wizard, nor pretended to be one. He was young, but the story didn't kept the record of his name, and some now think it is because he was damned. Who knows? The Boy sat in the middle of the city, playing with his flute, laughing whenever he saw one of the demonstrations of the powerful wizards and engineers, who were failing again and again.

After several days, the Commander noticed the Boy, and said: “who are you to laugh, you, who has only a flute ?” “I have only a flute for sure - but there's more in my simple pipe than in those legions of wizards.” “Really ?” said the Commander, half-laughing, half-curious, “so you think you can solve my challenge ?”

The Boy smiled. “Not only I can, but I shall - and my price will be quite acceptable to give you the energy you need.” “And that would be…?” - “A new pipe.” came the reply “That one is becoming old.” “Agreed, you have your chance.”

The Boy then started to play an amused melody. It sounded like an invitation to a great feast, the opening of a meeting where everybody was invited. And then came from earth itself sounds of steps, climbing from the depth. The fountain that stood in the middle of the place crumbled, leaving a great hole from which flames emerged. But the fire seemed to dance at the rythm of the music itself.

The Boy then said to the Commander: “As long as you keep playing for the Demons there, at least 23 hours each day, you'll get them to make whatever you need.” And he gave them the score, took a brand new silver flute, and left, and never was seen again at Euthville.

At first, things seemed fine, and the Commander couldn't believe his luck, as a pipe was a feeble price to pay for such a powerful recipe of prosperity. Who wouldn't want to tame the Demons themselves? Quickly, though, it appeared obvious that, for enough demons to be there, that music needed to be played rather loudly. And if, at first, it sounded entertaining, joyous, and funny, it quickly grew on the nerves of many. And especially because it was played 23 hours a day.

Finally, the Commander decided that the city couldn't stand this anymore, and ordered that the Demons had to be attracted faraway from the city. On this fateful day, a whole fanfare left the city, hoping that the demons would follow, attracted by the music.

And so, they did. One after another, they climbed out of Earth itself, and walked in the direction of the music, obviously unaware of the hundreds of buildings they were crushing by their giant footsteps, and the thousands of inhabitants that they toasted with their dark fire. Seeing that, even the bravest ones went mad, and ran for their lives, leaving pipes, clavicelles and harpsichords fall on the ground.

The rest of the story is easy to understand: Demons, free from the magical music that enslaved them, crushed what remained of the city, in a bloody fest that they will forever keep in their twisted memories.

The Commander went mad, of course, and it is said that his madness was so strong that his mind was unable to understand that he was dead. If you search enough in the ruins of Euthville, you'll probably encounter his ghost, as well as those of the many who perished for having believed that mortals could enslave the hell. Some demons stayed there, obviously enjoying the area and its newborn ashes that smelled fresh blood and carnage. Euthville is now, of course, a dangerous, deserted place, and the richesses that are still sleeping below the ruins of its former palaces are now guarded by powerful entities of the 9th Circle.

Many said that, if the Enchanted Music could be found, it would open the gates of many treasures, but because none of the former Euthvillians survived, and because nobody knows where the Boy went afterwards, those gates are still closed. I've heard that the School of Daemonology was precisely founded to rediscover that spell. But who am I to claim this to be true? I'm only a man of the past that tells stories before a fire, and the fire is dying, and so has my tale reached the end.

Misc

the Kiritani Pass

The “Kiritani Pass” is the part of the map you can see on world_104_114, between the two random caves and the forest full of hidden stuff. Nowadays, it is marsh and beach, but centuries ago, it was a passage for boats sailing from and to Euthville.

Sannistra

Shortly summarized, the Sannista is a legendary flying boat that was powered by the reaction of a fire and a water elemental. It was built by the tenth Commander of Euthville, Farkennis, as a gift for the 18th Birthday of his daughter, Sannista. That's the boat that was stolen by Fax when he fled from Euthville, and that he used to get to Khelens. Giusitta the Verbous then sailed it back to the Continent, and hid it “somewhere in the mountains of Euth”.

So I *guess* she would have put it there, although I'm not *sure*. Many people thought the story was speaking about the mountains just east of the ruined city, but now that I've discovered those two caves, I'd rather bet on them - it seems more logical.

world/euthville.txt · Last modified: 2018/03/23 19:21 by karl