[Lil La Luna]

---

A Report Concerning The Grand Sorcerer Kingdom of Myrad

Written by Agrok Kazmel on behalf of the Bismuth Clan Guilds in Myrad⠀

---

This is the Bismuth Clan Expedition's report to the Crown Estate Commission, regarding our expedition's progress in settling the previously thought to be desolate lands of Myrad and the fortunes and misfortunes we have suffered here.
Only a few years ago our expedition set out from the Queensland towards the lands we now know as Myrad, after our prospectors reported finding huge quantities of tetrahedrite in the hills there. Upon our arrival we began construction of two settlements, one in the hills meant to protect our newly established mines there, as well as to query stone for the construction for both settlements, and one on the coast meant for processing of the ore into silver and copper goods and then for shipping said goods back to the Queensland for trade. A few months after we first landed we learned that the land upon which we had settled was not as desolate as we had thought, local gnoll tribes started attacking our settlements and the convoys bearing ore between them. We had originally thought the land to be largely uninhabited but upon our scouts going further inland we found that it is in fact inhabited by a large number of different gnoll tribes. In the beginning the attacks of the local gnolls was only a minor if costly inconvenience, even if all of our attempts to broker some sort of peace with them had been quite literally laughed off by them. Not long after our mining operation were truly up and running an enormous army of gnolls, led by strange monstrosities laid siege to our cities. The monsters, which we later learned were called beasts of Myrad by the gnolls, demanded that our cities pay tribute to their tyrant queen lest they raze our newly founded settlements and drive us back into the sea. Our leaders felt we had no choice but to comply with their demands, and in fact this has not been too bad for business as being under the protection of these monsters dissuades at least some of the gnoll tribes from attacking us. Since we became subjects of the beasts of Myrad we have learned much more about the land and the monsters that inhabit it, leading to this report to the Crown Estate Commission, because although the tyrants of Myrad do not bow to anyone least of all the seasonal court, we still thought that the Queensland should know about the land in which we now live.

---

A short overview

Myrad, or as the local rulers call it The Grand Sorcerer Kingdom of Myrad, is a dangerous and inhospitable land ruled over and inhabited by creatures most civilized folk would consider monsters. Its faraway jungles are inhabited by chaotic ape-men, its vast wastelands and scorching savannas are stalked by cackling gnolls, and its cursed hills are ruled over by large fur covered, scaly monsters only known as the beasts of Myrad. Our two dwarven cities straddle the edge of the holdfast and are the only place in Myrad where one might find any sort of hospitality. Dangerous magic is rampant in Myrad, and large parts of the hold are cursed or drained of life due to the exploits of the many sorcerers who have fought for control of the holdfast throughout its history. Our holdfast is perhaps best known in the rest of the Warren for being a large source of silver, bronze, and billon.

---

Governing and leadership of Myrad

Though the rulers of Myrad refer to it as a kingdom it is only one nominally as it does not have a single ruler who has control over all of its territory. Instead the holdfast is carved up into dozens of ever changing fiefs ruled over by tyrants and warlords. The majority of Myrad is ruled by so called Sorcerer Tyrants, many of which have no magical ability what so ever, the title is used because it harkens back to some great beast of Myrad who ruled all of Myrad in the distant past when it was unified. Essentially all of the Sorcerer Tyrants are beasts of Myrad. One might think that being calleds tyrants would be seen as an insult, but the beasts of Myrad see nothing wrong with tyrannizing their subjects, indeed they see it as a sign of weakness not to. These tyrants have little care for actually ruling the lands they own, preferring to simply delegate all day to day ruling to local rulers. Of course should the tyrants come to visit their subjects they expect them to follow whatever orders they give and to satisfy their every whim, and most of them tend to regularly claim some sort of tribute from their subject, but they do not otherwise concern themselves with running their realms, instead caring more about opportunities to expanding them by fighting other tyrants.

The two dwarven settlements in Myrad are technically under the rule of a Sorcerer Tyrant called Yzandrin the Silver Sorceress, but apart from claiming annual tributes and sometimes levying dwarven workers and artisans for her own projects, she seldom takes any interest in ruling them. De facto the cities are ruled by a council of guild masters from the various guilds that now operate out of the two cities, making their decisions by majority vote.

The various gnoll and Gryti tribes are usually ruled by chieftains or warlords, most of which answer to one of the sorcerer tyrants, but a few of which are powerful enough or distant enough that none of the beasts of Myrad can or want to claim dominion over them.

---

Species and peoples of Myrad

Beasts of Myrad
The fey creatures known commonly as the beasts of Myrad are large monstrous creatures seldom seen outside of Myrad. The beasts stand on all four legs when they walk, their gait being most similar to that of a large cat both when walking and running. Standing on all four the beasts measure a little more than 2 meters at their withers, but if standing on their hind legs they may be closer to 4 or 5 meters in height. The bodies and necks of the creatures are covered in long fur, whilst their legs are hairless and covered in scaly plates. Both their scales and fur come in almost any colour one can imagine, and the colouration of both seem to be random rather than heritable. Both their fore- and hindlegs end in four digit claws, with their front paws looking and functioning closer to clawed hands than feet. Their necks are long and flexible, as are their tails. Their heads look humanoid with the face and ears of an elf, though their mouths are fanged maws and their noses are short snouts. The beast are generally very slender, and though they are comparable in size to the largest of horses they seldom weigh more than a ton. Despite their largely animal like looks, the beasts of Myrad are intelligent and are quite capable of both speech and magic. Their strength and speed are both considerable, and their scaly hides are extremely tough. The beast of Myrad hatch from eggs and are considered adult at around the age of 20. It is unknown if the beasts of Myrad ever die of old age, because almost all of them die violently long before the hypothetical natural end of their lives. It is safe to say that they can comfortably live a couple hundred years however, as some beasts of Myrad are known to be more than 200 years old.

Gnolls
The gnolls of Myrad are hyena like humanoids that inhabit the dry lands of the hold. They are a bit larger than humans, usually growing to be 2 meters tall, but have short legs and long arms relative to their body size. Their fur is usually some shade of brown, and commonly has black spots or stripes. Gnolls have powerful bites and they can gnaw through bone without much trouble. They have strong constitutions and can eat both bone and raw meat if needed. Gnolls usually live to be around 50 years old, though this is in part due to the harsh conditions they normally live in. Female gnolls are usually a bit bigger and stronger than male ones, and generally fill most important rolls in gnoll society.

Bismuth Clan Dwarves
The dwarves that inhabit Myrad settled there only recently having previously lived in the Queensland. Dwarves are generally stocky of build and usually stand somewhere between 1,2 and 1,5 meters tall. Male dwarves of the Bismuth clan are known for their long braided beards, and though most female dwarves can also grow beards it is considered fashionable to only grow out their sideburns. It is fashionable amongst all the dwarves in Myrad to grow out their hair and wearing it in large, wild and eye-catching styles. The dwarves of the Bismuth clan generally have dark hair, ranging between brown, black, and dark blue. Dwarves can normally live into their mid 200's, and a few have been known to reach 300 years of age. They see well even in the dark, and generally have strong constitutions. Like all dwarves, the dwarves of the bismuth clan love alcohol.

Ape-men of Gryt
The ape-men of Gryt, commonly referred to simply as Gryti, are a people of small monkey looking humanoids native to the jungles of Myrad. They usually stand somewhere close to 1,2 meters tall, and have long arms for their size as well as very long prehensile tails. Their bodies are almost entirely covered in fur, save for their faces, chests, bellies, fingers and toes. Their fur comes in a wide range of colours spanning most natural hair colours, and they often have patterns such as stripes or spots on their fur. Gryti are great climbers, and both their hands, feet and tails can be used for grabbing and manipulating tools and climbing in through trees. The Gryti have a strange ability that makes it so that magic makes them grow much larger than they would naturally, and for this reason Gryti mages are much bigger then their none magical counterparts. The most powerful of their mages grow to enormous proportions.

---

The population of Myrad is:

Beasts of Myrad = 500 (most of which are hatchlings)
Gnolls = 40000
Gryti = 30000
Dwarves = 5000
Various others = 100 (mostly humans and elves)

---

Military:

The various tyrants and warlords of Myrad have a surprisingly small "standing army" at most times, with each tribe perhaps having a few dozen professional soldiers, which mostly consist of charioteers amongst gnolls and heavily armoured clubmen amongst the gryti. The dwarves of the holdfast also have a small force of guards, who could function as soldiers in times of war. Sorcerer tyrants will usually also have a small retinue of elite soldiers, but during relative peacetimes there will be less than 1000 soldier in the entire holdfast.

Most of the holds military consists of levied gnolls and gryti, many of whom are quite skilled at warfare even if they are not professional soldiers, as skirmishes and raids between tribes are an everyday occurrences. Should all of the tyrants and warlords of the hold mobilize their forces, the total force of the hold might number close to 10000, mostly consisting of gnoll and gryti warriors. 

---

The Natural and Processed goods of Myrad are:

[ Total points available: 8 ]
[ Total points used: 7 ]
Tetrahedrite (copper and silver) = 1 point
Cassiterite (tin) = 1 point
Gemstones = 1 point
Jewelry = 2 points
Bronze arms and armour = 2 points

Myrad is rich in minerals and gemstones, indeed the abundance of ore in the ground of the holdfast is the reason the dwarves of the bismuth clan came to the holdfast at all. Both the dwarves and gryti of the holdfast do metalworking on a large scale, but mostly dwarven made jewelry, arms, and armour is exported to the rest of the warren.

Myrad is lacking good places to grow food, and especially the dwarven population is reliant on importing foodstuff. The sorcerer tyrants of the hold are also very interested in importing magical reagents.

---

Please give a very brief (a sentence or two) overview of the Holdfast:

Myrad is dangerous land ruled by cruel monsters called beasts of Myrad. It's savannas are home to warlike gnolls, and it's jungles are home to chaotic ape-men. Dwarven miners recently made their home on the coast of the holdfast, but they too bow to the savage tyrants who rule the land.

---

Extra notes:

Myrad as a whole does not recognize the authority of Seasonal Court or the Queensland, but the dwarves that live there do consider themselves subjects of the queen.