Drowning Handout

Timeline

• ~1753(??) - Cristóbal Baeza discovers Igor'tpka but keeps his discovery secret.
• 1761 - Three Exploratory Fleet ships are caught in a storm in the eastern part of the Gleaming Ocean. Two ships are lost. The surviving ship, HMS Corona, emerges from the storm near the north-western coast of Igor'Tpka. Her captain, Collin Moroe, is credited with the discovery of the continent.
• 1764 - Bridge Isle(later Port Stonebridge, drow Naidhil'sathempe) is discovered by a second expedition led by Moroe. Expedition maps a significant portion of the north-western coastline, but is unable to progress further due to what Moroe described as "conspiracy of treacherous waters, treacherous skies and most of all relentless beasts".
• 1765 - HMS Corona returns from Igor'tpka a second time. Stories of the crew and Moroe himself spread through the crownlands. Trading companies start getting interested.
• 1767 - A major expedition force, funded in large part by "Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers"(Chartermen), sets out to the continent. Waypoint Isle is settled. First contact with the drow rapidly escalates to hostilities. Several ships are sunk off the coast of Bridge Isle by drow magic. Necessity of the Navy involvement becomes apparent.
• 1768 - Her Majesty's Navy and Royal Diplomatic Corps dispatch forces to bolster colonization and exploration efforts. Chartermen continue to fund expeditions and lobby heavily for the Crown increasing its interest in the continent.
• 1773 - After almost a hundred days siege and a series of extensively bloody battles, Port Stonebridge is captured from the drow. A "peace treaty", establishing drow reservation at the center of the island and Crown dominion over its coasts, is signed by Collin Moroe, Honourable Charterman Ichabod Boyle, Admiral Johnathan Rothschild and the assembly of drow priestesses and commanders.
• 1776 - Collin Moroe mounts an expedition inland with the plan to follow the river delta up to the mountain range that can be seen from the coast. Several other prominent explorers and researchers, Percival Peltier among them, join the endeavor. None of them return.
• 1778 - Douglas Abbot, then a businessman of some repute, seeks funding and interest for the establishment of a settlement far up the river delta, farther inland than any other Crown settlement to date. "Bayer, Bayer & partners"(then without Normann) offer financing. Lord Francis Geigerling, modestly renowned architect, expresses interest in building up the town, expecting to create a colonial wonder. Waywheel Synod directs Jacob Coolidge to head the prospective parish.
• 1779 - A suitable location is found, when prospectors report sufficient deposits of coal and plentiful silver veins in forested hills at the south-western banks of Lake Moroe(drow - Eerst'eowe). Fishmonger's End is founded. Abbot, Geigerling, Coolidge and Philip Normann are founding fathers. Abbot becomes bailiff, signing a contract with "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & partners".
• 1782 - Several drow tribes make a habit of passing near Fishmonger's End every few months. Somewhat reluctant trade is established.
• 1785 - Reginald Clarke retires from Her Majesty's Navy and almost immediately finds employment with "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & partners" as warehouse headmaster at Fishmonger's End.
• 1788 - Easily accessible silver veins are depleted, further extraction becomes hazardous. Funds from "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & partners" begin to dry up as a consequence.
• 1791 - Mae'ense("The People") tribe settles in the hills near Fishmonger's End. Some are solicited to work the mines along the crownspeople. This influx of manpower improves the output somewhat, but not enough to avert the decline of funding.
• 1791/3 - Watermill grinder near the silver mine closes, workers are fired with little to no compensation, as silver mine output fails to provide an adequate workload. Bailiff Abbot cites cost of operation as cause.
• 1791/5 - Sheriff Hugo Marshall leaves Fishmonger's End, residents told he was put up for promotion. Bailiff Abbot cites declining funding and low priority of the position in neglecting to appoint or invite a replacement. Most of sheriff's staff join what is becoming baillif's private army of goons and thugs.
• 1792/2 - Having heard of Mae'ense and their settlement near Fishmonger's End, Phileas Norton, a financier and self-titled merchant prince, visits the town with the intention of exploiting trade in indigenous produce and exotica. He stays as a guest of the bailiff and rents a warehouse near the riverside harbor, but then suddenly leaves for no apparent reason. He fails to arrive at Port Stonebridge. It is believed that his private ship sunk somewhere along the river, or the drow took him for some slight or offense, or some other ill befell him on the way.
• 1792/11 - Francis Geigerling dies of a fever, after returning from an inspection trip to the coal mine. He is buried at the local cemetary. Geigerling family fails to retrieve his servants, they remain essentially stranded in his estate.
• 1793/4 - Eleanor Hayes, known to Fishmonger End's residents as Wise Elle(also Cloudy Elle, Fishmonger's Widow, and other monikers), self-proclaimed faith healer and seer, dies of a heart attack, after an apparently prolonged illness. There's no one to bury her, so Jacob Coolidge does it himself.
• 1793/7 - Mycroft Osbourne, an engineer in the employ of "Ljutic's Big Lights, Lamps and Torchieres" arrives at Fishmonger's End to head the operation of lake lighthouse. Finding no lighthouse was built, or even planned, and Geigerling dead, he begins investigation into bailiff's activities, and writes several letters to Port Stonebridge accusing Abbot of fraud and embezzlement. Osbourne goes missing shortly thereafter. The letters never arrive.
• 1793/12 - Douglas Abbot challenges the Mae'ense drow "best warrior" to a duel, with the intention of forcing them to leave. Avaeyakh, then head of his own hunter cadre, accepts the challenge and easily defeats Abbot. Bailiff's followers scatter, taking his body. Avaeyakh proclaims himself "chief of the pale people".
• 1794/3 - Tejano Baeza, Sebastian Peltier, Brun Kadinger and Zane Nemo arrive at Fishmonger's End.

Places

Port Stonebridge

Geography

~14 sq.km., evidence of landfilling at southern coast and around the two bays at western coast. The bays are separated by a wide rocky ridge. Stone buildings atop said ridge are believed to be the temple district of the drow palace complex that goes deeper inland. Eastern coast hosts what appears to have been the gatehouse of the Great Bridge and assorted structures of similar architecture. Those structures appear to have been abandoned by the locals some years prior to the exploration fleet's arrival(one assumes around the same time the Bridge collapsed/was sabotaged), and are now occupied by the colonial branch of Crown University. Northern coast is almost entirely jagged cliffs. Several sea caves were identified but could not be safely reached for exploration. Remains of crane-like mechanisms atop some of the cliffs and unmaintained but complex network of rope bridges at the majority of cliff faces suggest existence of an auxilary harbor(or sea-mining operation of some sort) here at some point in the past. Under Colonial Administration, western, eastern and southern coasts are all claimed as holdings of the Crown, though no territory is claimed deeper than 3 km. inland. The entire rest of the island is drow reservation.

Notables, Names, Places and Sights.

• The Twin Bays - Bay of Her Eminence and the Bay of St. Vecna. Western coast.
• Temple Ridge - rocky ridge separating the Twin Bays. Western coast.
• Promenade - a never-quite-finished project to connect the Twin Bays by building a stone pier around the base of Temple Ridge. Mostly under construction, now and for the forseeable future. Western coast.
• Colonial Administration Building and Port Stonebridge urban sprawl("The Districts"). No less than a third of town buildings are repurposed drow construction. Southern coast.
• Her Majesty's Navy garrison, fort network and harbor. Bay of Her Eminence, western coast.
• Trade port, Shipwright's Guild Building, Port Authority Terminal("Coinhouse"), Guild Warehouses. Bay of St. Vecna, western coast.
• "Flint's Lock" Officer Club, "Waxing Moon" brothel & cabaret, "Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners" colonial branch HQ and employee hostel. The Districts, southern coast.
• Guild Market Hall("The Shakedown") - a market hall bult in and around the gates from the trade port, opposite Port Authority Terminal.
• Market Hospital - an establishment adjacent to Guild Market Hall, trading lodgings for menial work. Has a small chapel(Life).
• Crown University Of Natural Sciences and Thaumaturgy campus and main building(The Gatehouse). Eastern coast.
• "The Keyhole", university staff pub(which is barely any different than a student pub). Eastern coast.
• Cathedral of the Arcane Revealed(Knowledge, Arcane, Trickery, Light). Eastern coast.
• Church of Last Rites(Storm, Death). Bay of St. Vecna, western coast.
• "Ljutic's Big Lights, Lamps and Torchieres" Guildhouse. Eastern coast.
• Black Harbor - delegations of Stonebridge drow are allowed to use this collection of wooden piers and boatsheds to fish or sail to Collin's Clearing and trade for food. Eastern coast
• Staring Street - a wide street leading from the drow reservation towards Black Harbor. The only place in the city where crownspeople are allowed, though not encouraged, to interact with the Stongebridge drow. Occasional drow traders, rare entertainers and exiles from the reservation set up their tents here.
• "Rush Fair" Market - a marketplace set up some way to the side half way through Staring Street, occupying a pre-existing city square that apparently served a similar function for the Stonebridge drow. It is chartered to operate for three days every two months(during which the majority of stalls at the Guild Markethall are closed for business), but it tends to spring up whenever a ship carrying especially desired goods makes port, or the drow send out a large trading party from the reservation.

Waypoint Isle

Relatively small island approx. 2 km away from Port Stonebridge. Was a staging point for the siege and eventual storming of the city and, therefore, technically the first Crown settlement on Igor'Tpka. Currently considered a prestigious location to settle or work in, due to the fact that "Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers" chose to locate its colonial HQ here.

Notables, Names, Places and Sights.

• "Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers" colonial branch HQ.
• Waypoint Lighthouse. Main lighthouse for Port Stonebridge
• Her Majesty's Navy maritime patrol contingent harbor.
• Manors and townhouses of several colonial officials(including the Governor) and prominent citizens("The Posh Row").

Collin's Clearing

A somewhat struggling(understandably) farming community at the mainland side of the Great Bridge. The plantations themselves are mostly the legacy of Stonebridge drow, taken over by the colonists.

Mangrove Cove

Small settlement which was founded as a staging point for Crown University's field work endeavors, located some 5 km. down the mainland coast from Collin's Clearing.

Apex Altar

Preserved remains of drow temple complex at the top of a hill amidst overgrown ruins of an ancient drow city. Two day's way from northern bank of Lake Moroe.

Stone Of High Grass

Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. A two week's way down the coast from Mangrove Cove

Stone Of Birds

Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. Eastern bank of Lake Moroe

T'weadth'eowe

Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. A smaller lake, three day's way north-east from Lake Moroe.

Bowing Spire

Put on party's map after speaking with Naat'ste. A day's way east from Apex Altar.

People & Companies

Bayer, Bayer, Normann & Partners

• Speciality: Silver mining, bulk goods, civic colonial sponsorship & logistics, moneylending
• Chief Representative: Phillip Normann, primary partner(since 1779), colonial branch HQ, Port Stonebridge

Apparently bought the right to manage and govern FIshmonger's End from Colonial Administration at some point during the last five years.

Governor and Company of Honourable Merchants and Explorers

• Speciality: Banking, Navy and Exploration Fleet contracts, military and civic colonial sponsorship & logistics, worldwide trade
• Chief Representative: Honourable Charterman Moubray Boyle(oldest son of the late Ichabod Boyle), hereditary branch director, colonial branch HQ, Waypoint Isle.

The oldest trading company under the Crown, the company representatives were called "Chartermen" for so long, the company adopted the title into its hierarchy. Over the course of its history, the company arose to account for easily more than a third of all the world's trade(including whatever happens in the Thousand Cities). Were a major player in and lobbyist of Igor'tpka colonisation, and remain so to this day. It is rumored that Her Majesty Eugenia II Herself is amongst the company's shareholders and it is known that a significant number of Colonial Administration functionaries also hold positions within the company.

Her Majesty's Esteemed Guild of Shipwrights in Lands Under Her Majesty's Law

• Speciality: construction and maintainance of sailing ships and steam-powered vessels
• Chief Representative: Lord Barnabas Hawthorne, Shipwright's Guild Building, Port Stonebridge

Since the majority of maritime engineers, shipwrights and sailmakers at least apprenticed with the Guild, or still hold membership - most every letter of passage, ticket or company contract of transportation contains a clause for the paying of tax to the Guild.

Colonial Administration

• Governor: Speaking Peer Hamish Boyle(younger brother of Ichabod Boyle), Port Stonebridge Administration Building
• Port Authority Officer: Hoyt Pickering(Chartered Merchant), Port Authority Terminal, Port Stonebridge