Mirabar

[bwatford]

---

MIRABAR

---

 

Life in Mirabar
Mirabar, like much of the Sword Coast, is now firmly under Vecna’s rule. It was originally given to the orcish Kingdom of Many-Arrows, but years later, the extensive undercity of Mirabar was converted into Vecnan birthing labs. This increased Mirabar’s importance to Vecna and led to the establishment of his own agents and clergy. The orcs, resentful of this new oversight, have given over the rule of Mirabar to the Kreeth goblin tribe. The goblins rule nominally, serving as expendable muscle for Vecna.

An abundance of mineral wealth, combined with an isolated economy and harsh living conditions, has greatly devalued traditional currency. Gold coins flow more freely than food. And gemstones are found in greater abundance than serviceable firewood. This scarcity of essential resources has led to a barter-based economy. A shopkeeper is more inclined to trade for planking that he can use to replace his rotted shelves than he is for traditional currency. So, too, a blacksmith for a bucket of nails that can be melted into iron. Most valuable of all are secrets, of any kind, which can be traded for food at the Ministry of Secrets.

The city bolsters a current population of roughly eight thousand. About half of this population is composed of the original inhabitants of Mirabar. These inhabitants are almost entirely human, since the dwarves of Mirabar marched east during Vecna’s conquest to reinforce their kin. The other half of the city’s residents are AAOs. The occupying Kreeth goblins number between three and four hundred. They live in and around the Hall of Sparkling Stones, Mirabar’s former seat of government. Nearly two hundred gnome bioengineers, devoted to the worship of Gelf Darkhearth, quarter within the undercity. Another hundred Vecnan clergy reside in and around the Ministry of Secrets.

Volo’s Guide to the North described Mirabar as, “...a city of grim folk, hard work, long hours, hard drinking, and exhausted slumber.” After years of Vecnan occupation, this description still holds, along with some newer principles and sentiments.

[bwatford]

Death Worship
Mirabarrans tend to have a stoic acceptance of the ever-present reality of death. This is characterized by the Vecnan principle, “Life only through Death.” This statement is literal truth in the case of the AAOs, who are always grown in pairs. At the end of the maturation process one of the pair always dies, stillborn, so that the other might live. Because of this, “Life only through Death” is a common greeting amongst AAOs.

This principle is also an accepted truth at a more symbolic level. Even those born naturally (referred to by Mirabarrans as trueborns), recognize that most food, the literal fuel of life, comes only through the death of some plant or animal.

In recent years, death has been glorified as the ultimate service one might give to Vecna and many of the city’s inhabitants look forward to their eventual demise. This glorification is explicitly evident on the first of each month. At this time a lottery, referred to as the Culling, is held to randomly select one hundred AAOs for celebratory execution. The flesh from these executions is often used for the incubation of new AAOs.

[bwatford]

Forbidden Love
Romantic love is expressly forbidden, upon penalty of torture and death. Vecnan philosophy posits that love is a fiction, fabricated to facilitate procreation. It is now heralded as one of the many societal scourges such as famine, pestilence, and warfare, that Vecna has successfully eradicated. Creations of art that romanticize love are sought out and destroyed, leaving only those that illuminate the great pain inflicted by (often unrequited) love. Thus far, Vecna has been unable to completely suppress his AAOs’ natural drive toward love. However, these urges are substantially dampened relative to trueborns.

[bwatford]

An Economy of Secrets
Goblins patrol the streets of Mirabar, bullying AAOs and trueborn alike. They think of themselves as the city’s guards and the Vecnan clergy humor this delusion. The actual reality, however, is that Mirabar is self-policed.

Critical resources are scarce within Mirabar. The priests of Vecna grow edible fungus within the undercity. They also hunt for game in the nearby wilderness. They hoard this food, sharing it only with the citizens in exchange for “secrets.” Such secrets are inevitably about one’s neighbors, which has effectively created a society in which the residents are constantly spying upon one another. It is through this process that the priests of Vecna proactively quash any burgeoning rebellions.

Treasonous action is further suppressed by the Eyes of Vecna, twenty will-o’-wisps, that ceaselessly fly throughout the city. It is said that Vecna watches directly through these eyes. Although the truth is far more prosaic, the will-o’-wisps are effective spies and even more effective deterrents. They report directly to the Vecnan clergy whenever they observe anything suspicious.