by Giulio N. Caroletti

Foreword by the Author

I wrote this Gazetteer in order to complete the information found in CM1: Test of Warlords and Dawn of the Emperors, which explained briefly how 1,000 dragons lived in the Wyrmteeth range in Norwold. The presence of such a large dragon population was apparently unknown to people due to the ability of the Dragon King of Wyrmteeth, a cunning red dragon who avoided mass attacks against Norwold in order to keep his home free of human armies that probably would crusade against the "foul beasts."

But I thought to myself: would a large red dragon really hide himself in a shell like a trembling mortal human in a city, or a dwarf in the mountains? Are not red dragons one of the greatest races of the World? So why hide? A red dragon that old would surely make himself one of the protagonists in the world theatre. So obviously, I had to change something. Humans are inferior beings, but may prove useful; a large army of human servants would be a fine toy in the hands of a dragon. The kingdom begun to form in my mind; I have tried to build it in the most believeable way, taking into consideration (a) dragon philosophy (we are better than the other races; we are free and don't need anyone; humans are servants); (b) dragon political beliefs (political plots and intrigues can appeal to any dragon as well as an open confrontation, and the evil nature of some of them make them perfect to plan projects that can kill many people if necessary without shedding a tear); and (c) the schemes of dragon Immortals. In the final section, I have traced a way you can fit Wyrmteeth's history inside the recent wars of the Wrath of Immortals. {Note: For my own purposes, I have changed the gender of the dragon Immortal Pearl. As Immortals may change their appearance at will, I did not see this as a great dilemma.]

If creators of Mystaran web pages would use my information partially or totally to build material for their Mystara,  I would like to be informed, although they may of course do as they wish with this information in their own campaigns.

PLAYER'S GUIDE

The Kingdom of Wyrmteeth: What Everyone Knows

Jasper, a guard in the city of Alpha:

"Why do you want to go to Wyrmteeth? Ain't you got enough dirty work in this country? Ain't you got monsters enough, here 'round Alpha? Ah, I see, it's too hot here, so you wanna cool down with a holiday in the mountains, heh? Boy, I don't wanna scare you, but you see, Norwold's a big place enough to find trouble, if you search for some. You can get killed in Landfall two minutes after you're there, if you enter there dressed like that - boy, I know you're a mage, but Norwold isn't Alphathia, and they'll just stab you in your back if you think you might be revered just because you know the power words for 'fireball,' got me? So, if you really wanna know somethin' 'bout the wyrms down there, well, listen to me and try dress like a man on your trip round Norwold.

"Wyrmteeth...first of all, you see the mountains. Ice everywhere, and you'll wonder how to get there. The roads seem to be all the same: you walk until you're as cold as the snow filled tops, then a stronghold will block the way, and then you'll see the members of the army. They'll fill your head with questions, and they'll check your answers, and if something doesn't match or seems strange, well, you can turn your back and forget to enter the country. Then they'll give you the permit on parchment to enter. And they will check it in every town you pass through, so you'd better take care of it, or it's jail for a long, long time. The cities are no cities. They call them so, but they are not more than military barracks mingled with dark wooden houses and shady inns. Military everywhere. Think people in Norwold are reclusive? Well, you never hear a word in Wyrmteeth. Nobody speaks with strangers; they seldom speak to each other. They who're not soldiers are mercenaries, adventurers or people who's hiding or wants to be left alone. No fun up there. The only ones to speak are treacherous Thyathians that will play you all sort of nasty trick as soon they understand where you come from. And the laws are strict. Break them and you're in prison, and after that you're thrown out the country, and no way to get back. No one is stupid enough to do that, anyway.

"And then there are the dragons. You never see them. You never talk to them. They live alone in their lairs, and leave the people in peace. They have armies to help them when their raids against us get to be too much for us to tolerate anymore. And if they decide to, they feed themselves on people in Norwold, or Wendar, or humanoids in Denagoth. There are plenty enough for them, so they don't care 'bout humans in their realm. They are served and revered, and protected in case of war. Dragons treat their servants well."

The dwarf Balin of Rockhome, in a Corunglain tavern:

"Well, you 'civilized' humans ain't wise enough to understand those people. They just want to be left alone, and do as they wish without asking anything of anyone. They have a strict society. The rules are simple: Stay out of trouble. Don't bother your neighbours. Don't bother the dragons. If you follow them, that's ok, it's a perfect place to live in. If you don't, you're out, they don't want problems so they erase them. It's simple. You humans think it is cruel, but it's just life as we dwarves see it. There are many dwarves in Wyrmteeth. It's the only place outside our clans where we can live without being annoyed by your exuberant ways. Wanna' live in peace with humans? Wyrmteeth. All religions tolerated; mages and clerics the same status as fighters; no thieves, no bandits, no rogues; lycanthropy is legal but controlled very well. Maybe too much army. But the dragons there ain't stupid or evil. They, too, just wanna' be left alone. It has worked until now - you don't annoy dragons, dragons don't attack you. Simple enough for a dwarf...but you humans are too stubborn to understand."

Former Thyathian ambassador Lucius Balbus:

"Wyrmteeth is a strange and gloomy country. You can live there for years and not know anything about anyone you have met in the streets each morning of your residence there. You see dwarves, humans, dragonkin, half elves, and they're ready to share a beer in the tavern, paying no attention at all whether you are a peasant or the emperor of Alphatia - but they will keep mouth shut on their lives, their origins, their ideals in politics and religion, even if you consider them to be friends. People who live there are all soldiers of fortune in the army, misanthropes, solitaries, refugees, or people who had enough of their troubles and want to live unnoticed and unannoyed. It's a very unnerving place to live if you are fond of social life, parties, games, jokes, or just of a good brawl in a tavern, except in Seel. The people are as cold as the air around them.''

General Stats

Area

The official Wyrmteeth Kingdom area is 48,822 km² (19,071 square miles), though dragons live beyond the official borders on the cliffs of Wyrmteeth Range, Icereach Range, and Final Range. Most of the area of the official territory is not settled.

Population

The Wyrmteeth population is composed of 28,000 humans and humanoids of different races. The people live only in towns and cities, because the harsh climate makes it nearly impossible to survive in the wilderness. The most represented race are the humans (20,500), of which 13,500 are of Antalian, Heldann, and Northern Reaches descent. 5,000 are Thyatians. Of these humans, approximately 4,000 are werewolves. The 7,500 non-humans comprise 3,000 dwarves; 1,500 dragonkin; 2,500 lizardmen and lizardkin; and 500 of other races (elves, gnolls, half elves, etc.). Apart from these, in the Norwold Mountain Ranges (both inside and outside the official territory of Wyrmteeth), there are approximately 1,200 dragons. Most of them swear fealty to the Dragon King of Wyrmteeth.

Language

The official language of Wyrmteeth is the common chromatic dragon tongue. Most inhabitants of Wyrmteeth, and all the natives, speak it. Other used languages are dwarvish (Stormhaven dialect), Antalian, and Thyatian.

Coinage

The Wyrmteeth official coin is the elke, a coin which bears on one side the simbol of Pearl, the Moon Dragon Ruler, Immortal of the sphere of Matter, and on the other the rising moon accompanied by an animal. When the coin is in silver (the common elke), its value is 1/10 of a gp, and it bears the symbol of a wolf; if it is in gold, it bears the symbol of a dragon (value 1 gp). If it is in copper, it bears the symbol of a boar (in honor of the dwarves of Wyrmteeth, which recognize the boar as their symbol), and is worth ½ silver elke (1/20 gp).

Economy

The economy of the region deals with two principal occupations: the first is the work done by freemen, soldiers of the army, clerics and wizards in agriculture (who, by their efforts, are able to produce potatoes and wheat enough to sustain the population, along with lamb and beef; fruit and other meats are imported), and woodcutters. The second economic base is the mining of minerals and iron. These mines are owned by the dragons, who usually employ dwarven engineers and miners to oversee work conducted by criminals when possible, and by specialized dwarven miners when the need arises. Some citizens also work as artisans (many dwarves craft jewels for the dragons; humans and dwarves alike are weapon forgers) or to provide services (cartographers, astronomers, sages, mercenaries, innkeepers). Many Wyrmteeth citizens are adventurers who hold Wyrmteeth as their home.

Life in Wyrmteeth

Most of the people of Wyrmteeth are humans, mainly of Antalian descent (people from Norwold or the Northern Reaches), but there are Thyatians, lycanthropes from Averoigne, dwarves, and members of other races. The customs are varied, because each group is normally devoted to his personal traditions. The people from different races keep themselves loosely in touch, and some national holidays are celebrated locally. Obviously, there is no nobility in Wyrmteeth - or, better said, there is no humanoid nobility in Wyrmteeth. Its true lords are dragons.

Most people in Wyrmteeth are very serious, due in part to the influence of dwarven culture and the harsh climate. The normal humans of Wyrmteeth are generally cold and unfriendly Heldanners or Viking types who embody the more asocial aspects of the Northern Reaches populations. They talk very little, and they have few social activities. Additionally, many Wyrmteethians are descendants of refugees or exiles, so a many have developed a sort of cultural paranoia, believing that strangers (particularly those of the race from which they have fled) are hostile at best, and searching for them, or their family, at worst. They don't like people messing around, asking too much questions, and making too much noise. Otherwise it wouldn't have been possible for dragons to coexist with them. This feeling is less present in the Thyatians, and Seel is nearly a normal city. Life in Wyrmteeth is mainly work and rest, for citizens of all races. And then there are the dragons: The dragons live on their own, and are rarely seen. Most of them have learned spells to look like humans or dwarves, and they often visit the cities in disguise, but no one knows who they are, and no one really cares.

Population is controlled by the authorities. Families are restricted to four children; those who have more must leave, or give the child up for adoption. In the future, if the population continues to grow, the authorities will surely reduce the number to three or two, if necessary. The dragons don't want new cities and too many humans around.

continued

Copyright 1999, Giulio N. Caroletti. All rights reserved. Used by permission.